143 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
143 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE
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BY
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WILLIAM STRUNK, Jr.
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PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
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IN
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY
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NEW YORK
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HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY
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COPYRIGHT, 1918, 1919, BY
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WILLIAM STRUNK, JR.
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COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
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HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.
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THE MAPLE PRESS YORK PA
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CONTENTS
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Page
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I. Introductory 5
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II. Elementary Rules of Usage 7
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1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding _'s_ 7
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2. In a series of three or more terms with a single
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conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last 7
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3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas 8
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4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing a
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co-ordinate clause 10
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5. Do not join independent clauses by a comma 11
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6. Do not break sentences in two 12
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7. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must
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refer to the grammatical subject 13
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III. Elementary Principles of Composition 15
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8. Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph
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to each topic 15
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9. As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end
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it in conformity with the beginning 17
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10. Use the active voice 19
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11. Put statements in positive form 21
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12. Use definite, specific, concrete language 22
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13. Omit needless words 24
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14. Avoid a succession of loose sentences 25
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15. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form 26
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16. Keep related words together 28
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17. In summaries, keep to one tense 29
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18. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end 31
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IV. A Few Matters of Form 33
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V. Words and Expressions Commonly Misused 36
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VI. Spelling 48
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VII. Exercises on Chapters II and III 50
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I. INTRODUCTORY
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This book aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of
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plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and
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student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few
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essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most
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commonly violated. In accordance with this plan it lays down three rules
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for the use of the comma, instead of a score or more, and one for the
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use of the semicolon, in the belief that these four rules provide for
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all the internal punctuation that is required by nineteen sentences out
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of twenty. Similarly, it gives in Chapter<65>III only those principles of
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the paragraph and the sentence which are of the widest application. The
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book thus covers only a small portion of the field of English style. The
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experience of its writer has been that once past the essentials,
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students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of
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their own work, and that each instructor has his own body of theory,
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which he may prefer to that offered by any textbook.
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The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting
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manuscript.
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The writer's colleagues in the Department of English in Cornell
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University have greatly helped him in the preparation of his manuscript.
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Mr. George McLane Wood has kindly consented to the inclusion under
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Rule<EFBFBD>10 of some material from his _Suggestions to Authors_.
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The following books are recommended for reference or further study: in
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connection with Chapters II and IV, F. Howard Collins, _Author and
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Printer_ (Henry Frowde); Chicago University Press, _Manual of Style_;
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T.<2E>L. De Vinne, _Correct Composition_ (The Century Company); Horace
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Hart, _Rules for Compositors and Printers_ (Oxford University Press);
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George McLane Wood, _Extracts from the Style-Book of the Government
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Printing Office_ (United States Geological Survey); in connection with
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Chapters III and V, _The King's English_ (Oxford University Press); Sir
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Arthur Quiller-Couch, _The Art of Writing_ (Putnam), especially the
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chapter, Interlude on Jargon; George McLane Wood, _Suggestions to
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Authors_ (United States Geological Survey); John Lesslie Hall, _English
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Usage_ (Scott, Foresman and Co.); James P. Kelley, _Workmanship in
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Words_ (Little, Brown and Co.). In these will be found full discussions
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of many points here briefly treated and an abundant store of
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illustrations to supplement those given in this book.
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It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes disregard the
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rules of rhetoric. When they do so, however, the reader will usually
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find in the sentence some compensating merit, attained at the cost of
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the violation. Unless he is certain of doing as well, he will probably
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do best to follow the rules. After he has learned, by their guidance, to
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write plain English adequate for everyday uses, let him look, for the
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secrets of style, to the study of the masters of literature.
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