Chapter I: Front Matter

WRITING AND REWRITING

BY
GEORGE CARVER
WILLIAM S. MAULSBY
THOMAS A. KNOTT
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

TO
THE MEMORY OF
J. SCOTT CLARK

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

INDEX TO ADMONITIONS ix

I. WHY LEARN TO WRITE 1

II. HOW TO WRITE 7

III. IDEAS FOR COMPOSITIONS 12

IV. THE WHOLE COMPOSITION 17

V. THE PARAGRAPH 31

VI. GRAMMAR 42

VII. SENTENCE CORRECTNESS 58

VIII. SENTENCE CLEARNESS 88

IX. SENTENCE VIGOR 100

X. WORDS 114

XI. SPELLING 132

XII. PUNCTUATION 139

XIII. MECHANICS 151

TO INSTRUCTORS

_Writing and Rewriting_ is based on the conviction that college freshmen can be taught to see and to correct their own errors and faults.

Criticism by means of marginal numbers, referring to pieces of advice in a rhetoric or a manual, has long been utilized to economize the instructor’s time. It has not been generally realized, however, that this method, which requires the student to inspect and rewrite a faulty sentence in the light of an illustration in his book, is successful also in teaching him to rewrite faulty sentences before he submits his manuscript to his instructor.

The best device to encourage the student in self-correction is the preliminary copy or rough draft. This may be written rapidly in pencil on theme paper or on scratch paper, with lines far apart to leave room for modifications. After this is written the student should read it with his eyes open for the appearance of his pet blunders, and should do his own rewriting. If the rough draft is submitted with the finished copy, the instructor can discover whether the student is endeavoring to correct his own faults.

The best way to use _Writing and Rewriting_ in class is to copy the faulty passages or to clip and paste them on cards. In class the student, using only the slip, may then be required to write the correct version on the blackboard, later reciting and specifying the fault, or the principle of style which is violated.

In colleges where the marginal numbering of errors and faults is supplemented by personal conferences, the swiftest improvement will be found to follow the practice of requiring the student, before the conference, to copy his faulty passages on a new sheet of theme paper, to copy also the admonition indicated by the marginal number, and to rewrite each passage in accordance with the admonition. A file of these sheets will reveal whether the student is improving or standing still.

_Writing and Rewriting_ has several relatively novel features. Chapters IV and V make it possible to criticize by marginal numbers the most common violations of the principles of the whole composition and of the paragraph. Although the admonitions criticize faults, the book contains few “don’ts.” Instead, the advice given is positive, constructive, and concrete. Each number refers to only a single fault. Few admonitions fill more than two lines of type. It has thus been possible to insert a criticism of every fundamental fault found in freshman themes. Probably every number ought to be used at least once in every hundred themes. The division of sentence criticisms into chapters on Correctness, Clearness, and Vigor is logical and obvious. The numbering of admonitions is not consecutive, but a new hundred begins with each chapter as a help in more quickly locating the number desired. Additional copies of the index to the admonitions will be furnished free on request to instructors who wish to paste it on a sheet of cardboard to facilitate their work in criticizing themes. The list of suggestions for subjects is a compilation of the practices of many successful teachers.

INDEX TO ADMONITIONS

The Whole Composition

100. Opening devices

101. Point of view

102. What to include

103. Distraction

104. Serious tone

105. Light tone

106. Sequence

107. Chronological order

108. Position

109. Abstract to concrete

110. Summary to detail

111. Important to less so

112. Familiar to unfamiliar

113. Climax

114. Welding

115. Connectives

116. Repetition

117. Recapitulation

118. Division

119. Space emphasis

120. Place emphasis

121. Conclusion

122. Title

123. Plan

124. Revision by plan

125. Practice

The Paragraph

200. Indention

201. Partly blank line

202. No indention

203. Conversation

204. Combination

205. Separation

206. Violent break

207. Irrelevant ideas

208. Topic sentence

209. Arrangement

210. Connectives

211. Linking

212. Shift in number

213. Shift in person

214. Shift in tense

215. Shift in voice

216. Shift in mood

217. Place emphasis

218. Space emphasis

219. Practice

Sentence Correctness Case

300. Subject in nominative

301. _Who_ as subject

302. _Who_ as subject after verb

303. Predicate nominative

304. Pronoun in apposition

305. Pronoun after _as_, _than_

306. Possessive with gerund

307. “Neuter” nouns not in possessive

308. Objective case

309. Objective with infinitive

310. Objective after infinitive

Agreement

311. _This kind_

312. Pronoun with antecedent

313. Verb with subject

314. Verb with _each_, _none_

315. Compound subject

316. Nouns with _or_

317. Collective nouns

318. Incorrect attraction

319. _There is_, _there are_

320. _Besides_, _with_

321. Nearer of two nouns

322. _Who_, _which_

323. Not with predicated noun

324. _Don’t_

325. Past and past participle

326. Correct principal parts

327. _Lie-lay_, _sit-set_, _rise-raise_

Shall and Will

328. _Shall_ and _will_

329. _Should_ and _would_

330. Questions

331. Determination

332. Parallel tenses

333. Universal present

334. Subordinate clause

335. Infinitive

336. Adverb of time

337. Contrary to fact subjunctive

338. _Have_, not _of_

339. _Had ought_

Fragments

340. Fragments

341. Phrases

342. Participial phrases

343. Clauses

344. Part of compound subject

345. Part of compound predicate

Incomplete Constructions

346. Unfinished construction

347. Give verb subject

348. Insert word

349. Insert material

350. Elements without construction

351. Insert _that_ after _say_, _feel_

352. Insert _that of_

353. Insert _as_ after positive adjective

354. Insert _much_ after _very_

355. Repeat verb

356. Repeat auxiliary

357. Repeat _is_, _was_

358. Repeat verb after auxiliaries

Inaccurate Constructions

359. Correct conjunction

360. Insert transitional element

361. Shifted construction

362. _One of the most_

363. Exact predication

364. Idiomatic verb

365. Idiomatic preposition

366. Different preposition

367. Idiom

368. Awkwardness

369. _Is where_, _is when_

370. _Is because_

371. _The fact that_

372. _Due to_, _owing to_

373. _Because of_, _on account of_

374. Omit _and_

375. Omit irrelevancy

376. Redundant _that_

377. Change participial phrase

378. _Of_-phrase with verbal noun

379. _Of_-phrase with abstract verbal noun

380. Separate main clauses

381. Join elements with _and_

382. Join clauses with _and_

383. Modifiers together

384. Double negative

385. _Or_, not _nor_

386. _Not hardly_

387. Adverb, not adjective

388. Predicated adjectives

389. _Who_, _which_, _that_

Sentence Clearness

400. Obvious antecedent

401. Position of pronoun

402. Ambiguous antecedent in indirect discourse

403. Antecedent in parentheses

404. Repeat distant noun

405. Unemphatic antecedent

406. Place of _only_, etc.

407. Place of negative

408. Use of correlatives

409. Place of correlatives

410. Place of subordinate clause

411. Place of relative clause

412. Confused verbs

413. Place of modifiers

414. Co-ordinate modifiers

415. Participial phrases

416. Participle with _thus_

417. Participle with conjunction

418. Adjective _due_

419. Gerund prepositional phrase

420. Repeat subordinating conjunction

421. Repeat auxiliary verbs

422. Repeat _to_ with the infinitive

423. Repeat preposition with object

424. Repeat article with noun

425. Repeat possessive with noun

426. Parallel structure

427. Summarizing word

428. Use of _and_

429. Use of _but_

430. Comparative degree

431. Superlative degree

432. Shift in person

433. Shift in number

434. Shift in tense

435. Shift in mood

436. Shift in voice

Sentence Vigor

500. Isolate

501. Separate

502. Condense

503. Combine

504. Vary structure

505. Vary beginning

506. Vary length

507. Loose to periodic

508. Striking ending

509. Climax

510. Emphatic position

511. Group related elements

512. Main ideas

513. Subordinate ideas

514. Simplicity

515. Far-fetched synonyms

516. Concreteness

517. Parallel structure

518. Repeat for emphasis

519. Monotonous repetition

520. Tautology

521. Pleonasm

522. Word in double sense

523. Consistent metaphors

524. Incongruous metaphors

525. Rhythm

526. Balanced sentence

527. Vivid predicate

528. Unemphatic passive voice

529. Awkward absolute phrase

530. Successive subordinations

531. Successive _but_ and _for_ clauses

Words

600. See dictionary

601. Words almost alike

602. Exactness

603. New words

604. Verbs as nouns

605. Slang

606. Harmony

607. Poetical words

608. Hackneyed expressions

609. Pretentious expressions

610. Contractions

611. Editorial _we_

612. Simple pronouns

613. Speaking of husband or wife

614. Illiterate usage

615. Reputable words

616. Present words

617. National words

618. Plural abstract nouns

Spelling

700. Doubling consonants

701. Single consonants

702. Final silent _-e_

703. _-ce_ and _-ge_

704. Single consonant after double vowel

705. CEI

706. EI as _ī_ and as _ā_

707. IE

708. Plurals in vowel and _-y_

709. Verbs in vowel and _-y_

710. Plurals in consonants and _-y_

711. Plurals in _-ves_

712. Foreign plurals

713. _Don’t_, _won’t_, _can’t_

714. _It’s_

715. _Its_, _yours_, _hers_

716. Spelling list

Punctuation

Use period after:

800. Declarative and imperative sentences

801. Abbreviations

No period after:

802. Incomplete sentence elements

Use question mark after:

803. Direct questions

804. Doubtful expressions

No question mark after:

805. Indirect questions

Use exclamation point after:

806. Exclamatory expressions

Use commas with:

807. Co-ordinate clauses with _and_ or _but_

808. Conjunction _for_

809. Parallel clauses

810. Dependent clause preceding

811. Descriptive clauses

812. Interchangeable adjectives

813. Words, phrases, clauses in series

814. _And_ in a series

815. Confused elements

816. Names in direct address

817. Appositives

818. Geographical names

819. Dates

820. Absolute phrases

821. Interjections and parenthetical expressions

822. Direct quotations

Never use a comma:

823. Between noun and its adjective

824. Around limiting clauses or phrases

825. With series of non-interchangeable adjectives

826. To indicate a pause

827. Before _that_ in indirect discourse

828. Between unjoined main clauses

Use a semicolon between:

829. Unjoined main clauses

830. Clauses joined by _however_, etc.

831. Long or complicated clauses

Never use a semicolon:

832. Between clauses not co-ordinate

833. After salutation in a letter

Use a colon to introduce:

834. Formal list of words, etc.

Use a hyphen with:

835. Fractions or numbers less than 100

836. Titles of two or more words

837. Divided words

838. Compound adjectives

839. Prefixes like _co-_ etc.

Use a dash with:

840. Broken thought

841. Informal parenthetical material

842. Summarizing expressions

Never use a dash:

843. Instead of a period

844. Instead of a comma

Use quotation marks with:

845. Direct discourse

846. Borrowed material

847. Quotation of more than one paragraph

848. Quotation within quotation

849. Quotation within second quotation

850. Quotation ending with comma or period

Never use quotation marks with:

851. Names of books, etc.

Use an apostrophe:

852. In contractions

853. With singular possessives

854. With plural possessives

Never use an apostrophe:

855. With possessive pronouns

Use parentheses to inclose:

856. Material foreign to unit of composition

857. Confirmatory figures

Never use parentheses to inclose:

858. Cancelled words

Use brackets to inclose:

859. Explanatory material in quotation

860. Practice

Mechanics

900. One side of paper

901. Place of title

902. Blank second line

903. Write legibly

904. Number pages

905. Spacing

906. Divided words

907. Place of hyphen

908. Margins

909. Indention

910. Below last line

911. Underscoring

912. Underscoring for emphasis

913. To indicate footnote

914. Place of footnote

915. No abbreviation

Capitalization

916. Proper nouns and pronouns

917. First word in sentence

918. First word in line of verse

919. Direct quotation

920. Names of social bodies, etc.

921. Reference to Deity

922. _I_ and _O_

923. Titles of books, etc.

924. Titles with names

925. Names of months, etc.

Figures

926. Word double numbers

927. Word sums in double numbers

928. Number sums in dollars and cents

929. Word sums less than one dollar

930. Word numbers as names

931. Beginning with figures

932. Sums as adjectives

Letters

933. Letter heading

934. Business letter salutation

935. Personal letter salutation

936. Close of business letter

937. Close of personal letter

938. Envelope address

939. Punctuation of address

940. Formal note

941. Signature

WRITING AND REWRITING