Grammatically correct : the essential guide to spelling, style, usage, grammar, and punctuation

Title:

Author:

Stilman, Anne, 1955- author.

Summary:

"Filled with self-test exercises and whimsical literary quotations, Grammatically Correct steers clear of academic stuffiness, focusing instead on practical strategies and intuitive explanations. Discussions are designed to get to the heart of a concept and provide a sufficient sense of when and how to use it, along with examples that show what ambiguities or misinterpretations might result if the rules are not followed. In cases where there is more than one acceptable way to do something, the approach is not to prescribe one over another but simply to describe the options."-- Publisher's website.

General Note:

Includes index.

Edition:

2nd ed., rev. & updated.

Contents:

The building blocks: word by word -- Spelling issues -- Vocabulary quirks and challenges -- Using type style for effect -- Punctuation -- Basic sentence structure -- Comma -- Semicolon -- Colon -- Period -- Question mark -- Exclamation point -- Hyphen -- Slash -- Parentheses -- En dash -- Em dash -- 2-em and 3-em dashes -- Brackets -- Quotation marks -- Ellipsis -- Apostrophe -- Structure and syntax -- Agreement between subject and verb -- Parallel structure -- Positioning of modifiers -- Tense and mood -- Pronouns -- Active versus passive voice -- Grammar grab-bag: miscellaneous problem areas -- Clarity -- Tone.

Physical Description:

342 pages ; 23 cm

Subject Term:

English language -- Grammar -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.

English language -- Rhetoric -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.

English language -- Usage -- Handbooks manuals, etc.

Publisher:

Writer's Digest Books,

Publication Date:

2010

ISBN:

9781582976167

Publication Information:

Call Number:

428.2 STILMAN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003237388	Adult Nonfiction	428.2 STILMAN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

How does good writing stand out?

If its purpose is to convey facts, findings, or instructions, it need be read only once for its content to be clear. If its purpose is to entertain or to provoke thought, it makes readers want to come back for more.

Revised and updated, this guide covers four essential aspects of good writing-

. Individual words - spelling variations, hyphenation, frequently confused homonyms, frequently misused words and phrases, irregular plurals and negatives, and uses of capitalization and type style to add special meanings
. Punctuation - the role of each mark in achieving clarity and affecting tone, and demonstration of how misuses can lead to ambiguity
. Syntax and structure - agreement of subject and verb, parallel construction, modifiers, tenses, pronouns, active versus passive voice, and more
. Style - advice on the less hard-and-fast areas of clarity and tone, including sentence length and order, conciseness, simplification, reading level, jargon and clicheÌs, and subtlety

Filled with self-test exercises and whimsical literary quotations, Grammatically Correct steers clear of academic stuffiness, focusing instead on practical strategies and intuitive explanations.

Discussions are designed to get to the heart of a concept and provide a sufficient sense of when and how to use it, along with examples that show what ambiguities or misinterpretations might result if the rules are not followed. In cases where there is more than one acceptable way to do something, the approach is not to prescribe one over another but simply to describe the options.

Readers of this book will never break the rules of language again - unintentionally.

Author Notes

Anne Stilman is a scientific/medical writer and editor.