SV or Agr: Subj-Vb Agreement.

1. Subjects must agree with verbs. 6. Indefinite pronouns.

2. Intervening words. 7. Complements.

3. Compound subjects. 8. Phrases like as well as and in addition to.

4. Or and nor. 9. Phrases that can be singular or plural.

5. Subject after verb. 10. Collective nouns, numbers, titles.

Back

Verbs.

Irr: irregular verbs. VT: verb tense.

Part: participial endings.

1. Sh or VT sh: verb tense shifts.

VTR or VI: transitive, intransitive verbs.

2. Past perf: past perfect tense.

VS: subjunctive mood.
PV: passive voice.

Back

Pronouns.

Agr: agreement.

3. case in compound constructions.

Ref: pronoun reference.

4. Wh: who and whom.

1. avoid the vague this.

a. wrong case.

2. avoid the vague which.

b. hanging prepositions.

3. avoid the vague it.

c. pronouns in two clauses at once.

h/s: he or she.

d. interrupted constructions.

Sh or Pro sh: pronoun reference shifts.

5. use possessive case with gerunds.

PC: pronoun case. Intensive and reflexive pronouns.

1. as or than.

1. subject of a verb.

2. subjective case.

2. object of a different subject.

Back

Ad: Adjectives and Adverbs.

1. Adjectives and adverbs.
4. Art: use articles.

2. Deg: comparative, superlative degree.

a. consonants and vowels.

3. Neg: double negatives.

b. indefinite articles and definite articles

c. a or an.

5. Modifiers ending in -ly.

Back

Prepositions.

1. Prep: hanging prepositions.

2. Prep x: unnecessary prepositions.

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Part Two: Sentences

FRAGMENTS.

RUN-ON SENTENCES.

DM: DANGLING MODIFIERS (and other MISRELATED MODIFIERS).

Mix: SHIFTS and MIXED CONSTRUCTIONS.

SS: SENTENCE STRUCTURE.

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Fragments

Frag: fragments.

1. subordinate word groups

2. but or and.

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Run-On Sentences

RO: run-on sentences.

1. CS: comma splices.

2. FS: fused sentences.

Back

DM: Dangling Modifiers (and other Misrelated Modifiers).

DM: dangling/misrelated modifiers. 5. Dangling transitions.

1. Misplaced modifiers. 6. Dangling appositives.

2. Adverbs. 7. Squinting modifiers.

3. Misrelated participles. 8. SI: split infinitives.

4. Dangling modifiers.

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Mix: Shifts and Mixed Constructions.

Mix: shifts and mixed constructions.

1. Mixed constructions.

2. Vague connective phrases.

3. Indirect and direct discourse.

4. Quoting literature.

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SS: Sentence Structure.

Ch: choppy sentences. Par: parallelism.

Fl: flabby sentences.

1. shift from one series to another.

Sim: simplify sentences.

2. action and linking verbs.

Var: vary sentence patterns.

3. and how.

Inter: artificial interruptions.

4. omitting words.

Comp: incomplete comparisons.

5. relative pronouns.

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Part Three: Words

G: GLOSSARY of USAGE.

Wdy: WORDINESS and REPETITION.

EFFECTIVE DICTION

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G: Glossary of Usage.

G or G1: Glossary of Usage.

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Wdy: Wordiness and Repetition.

Wdy: wordiness.

Red: redundancy.

Rep: repetition.

Circ: circular reasoning.

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Effective Diction

WW: wrong word. Inf: informal, slang, regionalisms.

Voc: meaningless or lifeless words. Cont: contractions.

Id: idioms, idiomatic prepositions. Cl: clichés.

J: jargon, pretentious language. Mixed met: mixed metaphors.

Back

Part Four: Mechanics

C: COMMAS. Paren or Paren X: PARENTHESES.

C2nd: ADDITIONAL COMMA NEEDED. Br or Br X: BRACKETS.

CX: UNNECESSARY COMMAS. Ell, Ell T, or Ell X: ELLIPSES.

SC or SCX: SEMICOLONS. Hy, Hy T, or Hy X: HYPHENS.

Col or Col X: COLONS. Cap or Cap X: CAPITALIZATION.

Ap or Ap X: APOSTROPHES. Abb or Abb X: ABBREVIATIONS.

QMT or QMX: QUOTATION MARKS. N: NUMBERS.

T: TITLES. Ital, Ital T, or Ital X: ITALICS.

EP: END PUNCTUATION. SP: SPELLING.

Dash or Dash X: DASHES.

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C: Commas.

1. Independent clauses. 10. Contrasts.

2. Introductory word group. 11. Absolute phrases.

3. Series. 12. Direct address.

4. Coordinate adjectives. 13. yes or no; interjections.

5. Nonrestrictive elements. 14. Tag questions and similar phrases.

6. Appositives. 15. Dialogue.

7. Transitions. 16. To prevent confusion.

8. Interrupting phrases and clauses. 17. Conventional uses.

9. Concluding elements.

Back

C2nd: Additional Comma.

C2nd: additional comma needed.

Back

CX: Unnecessary Commas.

1. Between compound elements. 7. Between preposition and object.

2. After short introductory word groups. 8. After a conjunction.

3. Between subject and verb. 9. Before subordinate clauses and restrictive elements.

4. Between verb and object or complement. 10. Before or after a series.

5. Between modifier and modified, or after a possessive noun or pronoun. 11. Before indirect statements or quotations.

6. Between cumulative adjectives. 12. Before certain quotations.

Back

SC or SCX: Semicolons.

SC: semicolons.

SCX: misuse of semicolons.

Back

Colons.

Col: colons.

1. noun phrases, lists, quotations and sentences.

2. Subtitles, time of day, Biblical chapter and verse, and salutations in business letters.

Col X: misuse of colons.

Back

Ap or Ap X: Apostrophes.

Ap: apostrophes.

5. contractions.

1. possessives.

6. its and it's.

2. plural nouns.

7. plurals of words, letters, abbreviations, numbers or dates.

3. singular nouns and plural nouns.

Ap X: misuse of apostrophes.

4. joint possession and individual possession.

Back

QM or QMX: Quotation Marks.

QM: quotation marks. 3. QQ: quotations within quotations.

1. QMD: dialogue.
4. Long quotations.

2. QMP: punctuation.
5. Words, letters, numbers, abbreviations.

a. periods, commas, question marks.

6. QMT: typography.

b. semicolons, colons and dashes.

QMX: misuse of quotation marks.

c. use only one end punctuation mark.

Back

T: Titles.

T: titles.

Back

EP: End Punctuation.

EP: end punctuation.

1. Close of a sentence.

2. Indirect and direct discourse.

3. Use only one end punctuation mark.

4. Exclamation points.

Back

Dash or Dash X: Dashes.

D or DT: dashes.

1. an abrupt but temporary turn of thought.

2. DT: typography.

DX: use dashes sparingly.

Back

Paren or Paren X: Parentheses.

Paren: parentheses

1. punctuation with parentheses.

2. conventional uses.

Paren X: use parentheses sparingly.

Back

Br or Br X: Brackets.

Br: brackets.

Br X: use brackets sparingly.

Back

Ell, Ell T, or Ell X: Ellipses.

Ell: ellipses.

1. omissions.

2. Ell T: typography.

Ell X: avoid ellipses.

Back

Hy, Hy T, or Hy X: Hyphens.

Hy: hyphens.

1. compounds and prefixes.

2. words at the end of lines

3. Hy T: typography.

Hy X: misuse of hyphens.

Back

Cap or Cap X: Capitalization.

Cap: capitalization.

4. directions.

1. proper nouns and common nouns.

5. titles of literary and other works.

2. first word of a sentence.

Cap X: misuse.

3. honorary titles.

Back

Abb or Abb X: Abbreviations.

Abb or Abb X: abbreviations.

Back

N: Numbers.

N: numbers.

1. Writing numbers or figures.

2. Figures.

3. Numerals.

4. Apostrophes.

5. Range of numbers.

Back

Ital or Ital X: Italics.

Ital: italics.

1. words, letters, numbers, abbreviations.

2. foreign expressions.

3. italics in quotations.

4. Ital T: typography.

Ital X: misuse.

Back

SP: Spelling.

SPL: spelling list.

Back

Part Five

MF: MANUSCRIPT FORM.

E: THE ESSAY.

L: WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE.

QL: QUOTING LITERATURE.

CW: CREATIVE WRITING.

DOCUMENTATION.

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MF: Manuscript Form.

1. Mrg: margins. 7. MFP: punctuation.

2. Hdg: heading. 8. MFQ: quotations.

3. MFT: title. 9. Cit: citations.

4. Spacing: spacing 10. Mat: materials.

5. Ind: indentation. 11. Hwtg: handwriting.

6. Pg: pagination.

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E: The Essay.

ET: titles.

3. vary sentence patterns.

1. use imagination.

4. avoid one-idea, one-example paragraphs.

2. vague and one-word titles.

ETrans: transitions.

EI: introduction.
EC: conclusion.

1. overused introductory devices.

EO: outlines.

2. avoid statements of obvious fact.

ETop or ETh: topic, thesis.

3. build up to your main point.

Rules.

EPara: paragraphs.

Theses in essays about literature.

1. avoid short paragraphs.

Exercise.

2. paragraph breaks.

Back

L: Writing About Literature.

1. LO: avoid mystery openings. 10. L Terms: avoid using literary terms for their own sake.

2. LC: place commas carefully. 11. LII: do not repeat what was said in class.

3. LTh: make your thesis interpretative. 12. L Tone: maintain objective tone.

4. L Sum: avoid plot summary, paraphrase. 13. L Org: mechanical organization.

5. LCon: provide context. 14. LA: refer clearly to the author.

6. LVT: use present tense. 15. L15: unnecessary background.

7. LT: avoid dull titles. 16. L16: secondary sources.

8. LI: avoid the irrelevant "I." 17. LR: avoid "in/of the poem/story/play."

9. LB: do not boast. 18. LSh: avoid "this shows that."

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QL: Quoting Literature.

1. QLD: documentation.

d. short, uninterrupted phrase.

a. never misquote the text.

e. omitting the end of a sentence.

b. use correct form.

f. omissi on of entire lines.

c. consecutive quotations.

6. QL Changes: changes in quotations.

d. different editions.

a. closing punctuation.

2. QLN: enumeration.

b. brackets.

a. poetry.

c. emphasis added.

b. drama.

d. sic.

3. QL Ex: extracted quotations.
7. QLI: introducing quotations.

4. QLP: quoting poetry

a. introducing every quotation.

a. quotations up to three lines long.

b. significance of the quotation.

b. quotations longer than three lines.

8. QLV: vary handling of quotations.

5. QL Ell: ellipses.

9. QL Punc: punctuation.

a. before and after each period.

a. QLC: comma.

b. between lines.

b. QL Col: colon.

c. middle of a sentence.

c. QL No punc: no punctuation.

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CW: Creative Writing.

GENERAL RULES. 10. CWD: introducing dialogue.

1. CWI: obey basic writing rules. 11. CW VT: verb tense.

2. CW Show: show, don't tell. POETRY.

3. CW Con: consistent style and tone. 12. PT: theme and idea.

4. CW Ad: use modifiers with restraint. 13. PD: diction.

5. CW Vul: vulgar language. 14. PLE: line endings.

6. CW6: archaic English. 15. PSS: sentence structure.

FICTION and DRAMA. 16. PP: punctuating poetry.

7. CWA: action. 17. PR: rhyme.

8. CWP: plot. 18. PM: meter.

9. CWC: characterization. 19. PF: formatting poetry.

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Documentation.

1. Doc Resp: responsibilities. 2. Doc Form: parenthetical citation.

Why is documentation important?

Foregrounding sources.

What must you document?

Doc Bib: bibliography.

Exercise.

Sample bibliography.

What constitutes plagiarism?

Doc Notes: notes.

Sample notes.

Back

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1. Subjects must agree with verbs.	6. Indefinite pronouns.
2. Intervening words.	7. Complements.
3. Compound subjects.	8. Phrases like as well as and in addition to.
4. Or and nor.	9. Phrases that can be singular or plural.
5. Subject after verb.	10. Collective nouns, numbers, titles.

Irr: irregular verbs.	VT: verb tense.
Part: participial endings.	1. Sh or VT sh: verb tense shifts.
VTR or VI: transitive, intransitive verbs.	2. Past perf: past perfect tense.
VS: subjunctive mood.	PV: passive voice.

Agr: agreement.	3. case in compound constructions.
Ref: pronoun reference.	4. Wh: who and whom.
1. avoid the vague this.	a. wrong case.
2. avoid the vague which.	b. hanging prepositions.
3. avoid the vague it.	c. pronouns in two clauses at once.
h/s: he or she.	d. interrupted constructions.
Sh or Pro sh: pronoun reference shifts.	5. use possessive case with gerunds.
PC: pronoun case.	Intensive and reflexive pronouns.
1. as or than.	1. subject of a verb.
2. subjective case.	2. object of a different subject.

1. Adjectives and adverbs.	4. Art: use articles.
2. Deg: comparative, superlative degree.	a. consonants and vowels.
3. Neg: double negatives.	b. indefinite articles and definite articles
	c. a or an.
	5. Modifiers ending in -ly.

DM: dangling/misrelated modifiers.	5. Dangling transitions.
1. Misplaced modifiers.	6. Dangling appositives.
2. Adverbs.	7. Squinting modifiers.
3. Misrelated participles.	8. SI: split infinitives.
4. Dangling modifiers.

Ch: choppy sentences.	Par: parallelism.
Fl: flabby sentences.	1. shift from one series to another.
Sim: simplify sentences.	2. action and linking verbs.
Var: vary sentence patterns.	3. and how.
Inter: artificial interruptions.	4. omitting words.
Comp: incomplete comparisons.	5. relative pronouns.

WW: wrong word.	Inf: informal, slang, regionalisms.
Voc: meaningless or lifeless words.	Cont: contractions.
Id: idioms, idiomatic prepositions.	Cl: clichés.
J: jargon, pretentious language.	Mixed met: mixed metaphors.

C: COMMAS.	Paren or Paren X: PARENTHESES.
C2nd: ADDITIONAL COMMA NEEDED.	Br or Br X: BRACKETS.
CX: UNNECESSARY COMMAS.	Ell, Ell T, or Ell X: ELLIPSES.
SC or SCX: SEMICOLONS.	Hy, Hy T, or Hy X: HYPHENS.
Col or Col X: COLONS.	Cap or Cap X: CAPITALIZATION.
Ap or Ap X: APOSTROPHES.	Abb or Abb X: ABBREVIATIONS.
QMT or QMX: QUOTATION MARKS.	N: NUMBERS.
T: TITLES.	Ital, Ital T, or Ital X: ITALICS.
EP: END PUNCTUATION.	SP: SPELLING.
Dash or Dash X: DASHES.

1. Independent clauses.	10. Contrasts.
2. Introductory word group.	11. Absolute phrases.
3. Series.	12. Direct address.
4. Coordinate adjectives.	13. yes or no; interjections.
5. Nonrestrictive elements.	14. Tag questions and similar phrases.
6. Appositives.	15. Dialogue.
7. Transitions.	16. To prevent confusion.
8. Interrupting phrases and clauses.	17. Conventional uses.
9. Concluding elements.

1. Between compound elements.	7. Between preposition and object.
2. After short introductory word groups.	8. After a conjunction.
3. Between subject and verb.	9. Before subordinate clauses and restrictive elements.
4. Between verb and object or complement.	10. Before or after a series.
5. Between modifier and modified, or after a possessive noun or pronoun.	11. Before indirect statements or quotations.
6. Between cumulative adjectives.	12. Before certain quotations.

Ap: apostrophes.	5. contractions.
1. possessives.	6. its and it's.
2. plural nouns.	7. plurals of words, letters, abbreviations, numbers or dates.
3. singular nouns and plural nouns.	Ap X: misuse of apostrophes.
4. joint possession and individual possession.

QM: quotation marks.	3. QQ: quotations within quotations.
1. QMD: dialogue.	4. Long quotations.
2. QMP: punctuation.	5. Words, letters, numbers, abbreviations.
a. periods, commas, question marks.	6. QMT: typography.
b. semicolons, colons and dashes.	QMX: misuse of quotation marks.
c. use only one end punctuation mark.

Cap: capitalization.	4. directions.
1. proper nouns and common nouns.	5. titles of literary and other works.
2. first word of a sentence.	Cap X: misuse.
3. honorary titles.

1. Mrg: margins.	7. MFP: punctuation.
2. Hdg: heading.	8. MFQ: quotations.
3. MFT: title.	9. Cit: citations.
4. Spacing: spacing	10. Mat: materials.
5. Ind: indentation.	11. Hwtg: handwriting.
6. Pg: pagination.

ET: titles.	3. vary sentence patterns.
1. use imagination.	4. avoid one-idea, one-example paragraphs.
2. vague and one-word titles.	ETrans: transitions.
EI: introduction.	EC: conclusion.
1. overused introductory devices.	EO: outlines.
2. avoid statements of obvious fact.	ETop or ETh: topic, thesis.
3. build up to your main point.	Rules.
EPara: paragraphs.	Theses in essays about literature.
1. avoid short paragraphs.	Exercise.
2. paragraph breaks.

1. LO: avoid mystery openings.	10. L Terms: avoid using literary terms for their own sake.
2. LC: place commas carefully.	11. LII: do not repeat what was said in class.
3. LTh: make your thesis interpretative.	12. L Tone: maintain objective tone.
4. L Sum: avoid plot summary, paraphrase.	13. L Org: mechanical organization.
5. LCon: provide context.	14. LA: refer clearly to the author.
6. LVT: use present tense.	15. L15: unnecessary background.
7. LT: avoid dull titles.	16. L16: secondary sources.
8. LI: avoid the irrelevant "I."	17. LR: avoid "in/of the poem/story/play."
9. LB: do not boast.	18. LSh: avoid "this shows that."

1. QLD: documentation.	d. short, uninterrupted phrase.
a. never misquote the text.	e. omitting the end of a sentence.
b. use correct form.	f. omissi on of entire lines.
c. consecutive quotations.	6. QL Changes: changes in quotations.
d. different editions.	a. closing punctuation.
2. QLN: enumeration.	b. brackets.
a. poetry.	c. emphasis added.
b. drama.	d. sic.
3. QL Ex: extracted quotations.	7. QLI: introducing quotations.
4. QLP: quoting poetry	a. introducing every quotation.
a. quotations up to three lines long.	b. significance of the quotation.
b. quotations longer than three lines.	8. QLV: vary handling of quotations.
5. QL Ell: ellipses.	9. QL Punc: punctuation.
a. before and after each period.	a. QLC: comma.
b. between lines.	b. QL Col: colon.
c. middle of a sentence.	c. QL No punc: no punctuation.

GENERAL RULES.	10. CWD: introducing dialogue.
1. CWI: obey basic writing rules.	11. CW VT: verb tense.
2. CW Show: show, don't tell.	POETRY.
3. CW Con: consistent style and tone.	12. PT: theme and idea.
4. CW Ad: use modifiers with restraint.	13. PD: diction.
5. CW Vul: vulgar language.	14. PLE: line endings.
6. CW6: archaic English.	15. PSS: sentence structure.
FICTION and DRAMA.	16. PP: punctuating poetry.
7. CWA: action.	17. PR: rhyme.
8. CWP: plot.	18. PM: meter.
9. CWC: characterization.	19. PF: formatting poetry.

1. Doc Resp: responsibilities.	2. Doc Form: parenthetical citation.
Why is documentation important?	Foregrounding sources.
What must you document?	Doc Bib: bibliography.
Exercise.	Sample bibliography.
What constitutes plagiarism?	Doc Notes: notes.
	Sample notes.