The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.docx
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The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.docx
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TheElementsofStylebyWilliamStrunkJr
TheElementsofStyle
WilliamStrunk,Jr.(ProfessorofEnglish,CornellUniversity)
Assertingthatonemustfirstknowtherulestobreakthem,thisclassicreferencebookisamust-haveforanystudentandconscientiouswriter.Intendedforuseinwhichthepracticeofcompositioniscombinedwiththestudyofliterature,itgivesinbriefspacetheprincipalrequirementsofplainEnglishstyleandconcentratesattentionontherulesofusageandprinciplesofcompositionmostcommonlyviolated.
I.INTRODUCTORY
ThisbookisintendedforuseinEnglishcoursesinwhichthepracticeofcompositioniscombinedwiththestudyofliterature.ItaimstogiveinbriefspacetheprincipalrequirementsofplainEnglishstyle.Itaimstolightenthetaskofinstructorandstudentbyconcentratingattention(inChaptersIIandIII)onafewessentials,therulesofusageandprinciplesofcompositionmostcommonlyviolated.Thenumbersofthesectionsmaybeusedasreferencesincorrectingmanuscript.
ThebookcoversonlyasmallportionofthefieldofEnglishstyle,buttheexperienceofitswriterhasbeenthatoncepasttheessentials,studentsprofitmostbyindividualinstructionbasedontheproblemsoftheirownwork,andthateachinstructorhashisownbodyoftheory,whichhepreferstothatofferedbyanytextbook.
Thewriter'scolleaguesintheDepartmentofEnglishinCornellUniversityhavegreatlyhelpedhiminthepreparationofhismanuscript.Mr.GeorgeMcLaneWoodhaskindlyconsentedtotheinclusionunderRule11ofsomematerialfromhisSuggestionstoAuthors.
Thefollowingbooksarerecommendedforreferenceorfurtherstudy:
inconnectionwithChaptersIIandIV,F.HowardCollins,AuthorandPrinter(HenryFrowde);ChicagoUniversityPress,ManualofStyle;T.L.DeVinneCorrectComposition(TheCenturyCompany);HoraceHart,RulesforCompositorsandPrinters(OxfordUniversityPress);GeorgeMcLaneWood,ExtractsfromtheStyle-BookoftheGovernmentPrintingOffice(UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey);inconnectionwithChaptersIIIandV,SirArthurQuiller-Couch,TheArtofWriting(Putnams),especiallythechapter,InterludeonJargon;GeorgeMcLaneWood,SuggestionstoAuthors(UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey);JohnLeslieHall,EnglishUsage(Scott,ForesmanandCo.);JamesP.Kelly,WorkmanshipinWords(Little,BrownandCo.).
Itisanoldobservationthatthebestwriterssometimesdisregardtherulesofrhetoric.Whentheydoso,however,thereaderwillusuallyfindinthesentencesomecompensatingmerit,attainedatthecostoftheviolation.Unlessheiscertainofdoingaswell,hewillprobablydobesttofollowtherules.Afterhehaslearned,bytheirguidance,towriteplainEnglishadequateforeverydayuses,lethimlook,forthesecretsofstyle,tothestudyofthemastersofliterature.
WilliamStrunk,Jr.(1869–1946).TheElementsofStyle.1918.
II.ELEMENTARYRULESOFUSAGE
1.Formthepossessivesingularofnounswith's.
Followthisrulewhateverthefinalconsonant.Thuswrite,
Charles'sfriend
Burns'spoems
thewitch'smalice
ThisistheusageoftheUnitedStatesGovernmentPrintingOfficeandoftheOxfordUniversityPress.
Exceptionsarethepossessivesofancientpropernamesin-esand-is,thepossessiveJesus',andsuchformsasforconscience'sake,forrighteousness'sake.ButsuchformsasAchilles'heel,Moses'laws,Isis'templearecommonlyreplacedby
theheelofAchilles
thelawsofMoses
thetempleofIsis
Thepronominalpossessiveshers,its,theirs,yours,andoneselfhavenoapostrophe.
2.Inaseriesofthreeormoretermswithasingleconjunction,useacommaaftereachtermexceptthelast.
Thuswrite,
red,white,andblue
honest,energetic,butheadstrong
Heopenedtheletter,readit,andmadeanoteofitscontents.
ThisisalsotheusageoftheGovernmentPrintingOfficeandoftheOxfordUniversityPress.
Inthenamesofbusinessfirmsthelastcommaisomitted,as
Brown,ShipleyandCompany
Theabbreviationetc.,evenifonlyasingletermcomesbeforeit,isalwaysprecededbyacomma.
3.Encloseparentheticexpressionsbetweencommas.
Thebestwaytoseeacountry,unlessyouarepressedfortime,istotravelonfoot.
Thisruleisdifficulttoapply;itisfrequentlyhardtodecidewhetherasingleword,suchashowever,orabriefphrase,isorisnotparenthetic.Iftheinterruptiontotheflowofthesentenceisbutslight,thewritermaysafelyomitthecommas.Butwhethertheinterruptionbeslightorconsiderable,hemustneveromitonecommaandleavetheother.Suchpunctuationas
Marjorie'shusband,ColonelNelsonpaidusavisityesterday,
or
Mybrotheryouwillbepleasedtohear,isnowinperfecthealth,
isindefensible.
Non-restrictiverelativeclausesare,inaccordancewiththisrule,setoffbycommas.
Theaudience,whichhadatfirstbeenindifferent,becamemoreandmoreinterested.
Similarclausesintroducedbywhereandwhenaresimilarlypunctuated.
In1769,whenNapoleonwasborn,CorsicahadbutrecentlybeenacquiredbyFrance.
NetherStowey,whereColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMariner,isafewmilesfromBridgewater.
Inthesesentencestheclausesintroducedbywhich,when,andwherearenon-restrictive;theydonotlimittheapplicationofthewordsonwhichtheydepend,butadd,parenthetically,statementssupplementingthoseintheprincipalclauses.Eachsentenceisacombinationoftwostatmentswhichmighthavebeenmadeindependently.
Theaudiencewasatfirstindifferent.Lateritbecamemoreandmoreinterested.
Napoleonwasbornin1769.AtthattimeCorsicahadbutrecentlybeenacquiredbyFrance.
ColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMarineratNetherStowey.NetherStoweyisonlyafewmilesfromBridgewater.
Restrictiverelativeclausesarenotsetoffbycommas.
Thecandidatewhobestmeetstheserequirementswillobtaintheplace.
Inthissentencetherelativeclauserestrictstheapplicationofthewordcandidatetoasingleperson.Unlikethoseabove,thesentencecannotbesplitintotwoindependentstatements.
Theabbreviationsetc.andjr.arealwaysprecededbyacomma,andexceptattheendofasentence,followedbyone.
Similarinprincipletotheenclosingofparentheticexpressionsbetweencommasisthesettingoffbycommasofphrasesordependentclausesprecedingorfollowingthemainclauseofasentence.ThesentencesquotedinthissectionandunderRules4,5,6,7,16,and18shouldaffordsufficientguidance.
Ifaparentheticexpressionisprecededbyaconjunction,placethefirstcommabeforetheconjunction,notafterit.
Hesawuscoming,andunawarethatwehadlearnedofhistreachery,greeteduswithasmile.
4.Placeacommabeforeandorbutintroducinganindependentclause.
Theearlyrecordsofthecityhavedisappeared,andthestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.
Thesituationisperilous,butthereisstillonechanceofescape.
Sentencesofthistype,isolatedfromtheircontext,mayseemtobeinneedofrewriting.Astheymakecompletesensewhenthecommaisreached,thesecondclausehastheappearanceofanafter-thought.Further,and,istheleastspecificofconnectives.Usedbetweenindependentclauses,itindicatesonlythatarelationexistsbetweenthemwithoutdefiningthatrelation.Intheexampleabove,therelationisthatofcauseandresult.Thetwosentencesmightberewritten:
Astheearlyrecordsofthecityhavedisappeared,thestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.
Althoughthesituationisperilous,thereisstillonechanceofescape.
Orthesubordinateclausesmightbereplacedbyphrases:
Owingtothedisappearanceoftheearlyrecordsofthecity,thestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.
Inthisperiloussituation,thereisstillonechanceofescape.
Butawritermayerrbymakinghissentencestoouniformlycompactandperiodic,andanoccasionalloosesentencepreventsthestylefrombecomingtooformalandgivesthereaderacertainrelief.Consequently,loosesentencesofthetypefirstquotedarecommonineasy,unstudiedwriting.Butawritershouldbecarefulnottoconstructtoomanyofhissentencesafterthispattern(seeRule14).
Two-partsentencesofwhichthesecondmemberisintroducedbyas(inthesenseofbecause),for,or,nor,andwhile(inthesenseofandatthesametime)likewiserequireacommabeforetheconjunction.
Ifadependentclause,oranintroductoryphraserequiringtobesetoffbyacomma,precedesthesecondindependentclause,nocommaisneededaftertheconjunction.
Thesituationisperilous,butifwearepreparedtoactpromptly,thereisstillonechanceofescape.
Fortwo-partsentencesconnectedbyanadverb,seethenextsection.
5.Donotjoinindependentclausesbyacomma.
Iftwoormoreclauses,grammaticallycompleteandnotjoinedbyaconjunction,aretoformasinglecompoundsentence,thepropermarkofpunctuationisasemicolon.
Stevenson'sromancesareentertaining;theyarefullofexcitingadventures.
Itisnearlyhalfpastfive;wecannotreachtownbeforedark.
Itisofcourseequallycorrecttowritetheaboveastwosentenceseach,replacingthesemicolonsbyperiods.
Stevenson'sromancesareentertaining.Theyarefullofexcitingadventures.
Itisnearlyhalfpastfive.Wecannotreachtownbeforedark.
Ifaconjunctionisinserted,thepropermarkisacomma(Rule4).
Stevenson'sromancesareentertaining,fortheyarefullofexcitingadventures.
Itisnearlyhalfpastfive,andwecannotreachtownbeforeda
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