_General Notes_
The position of words in a sentence is often very important.
Misplacement will frequently cause ambiguities and absurdities which punctuation will not remove. What does the phrase "I only saw him" mean?
A newspaper advertis.e.m.e.nt describing a certain dog which was offered for sale says "He is thoroughly house-broken, will eat anything, is very fond of children." As a rule modifiers should be kept close to the words, clauses, or phrases which they modify, but due regard should be given to sense and to ease of expression.
A word or phrase which can be easily supplied from the context may often be omitted. Care must be used in making these omissions or the result will be either ambiguous or slovenly.
Washington is nearer New York than Chicago.
What exactly does this mean? One might get into serious trouble over the interpretation of the phrase "He likes me better than you."
_All day_ and _all night_ are recognized as good expressions sanctioned by long usage. _All morning_ and _all afternoon_ are not yet sanctioned by good usage and give a decided impression of slovenliness.
Another objectionable omission is that of _to_ before _place_ and similar words in such expressions as "Let"s go some place" and the like.
It should be _to some place_ or, generally better, _somewhere_.
A decidedly offensive abbreviation is the phrase _Rev. Smith_. It should be _Rev. John Smith_ or _Rev. Mr. Smith_. _Rev._ is not a t.i.tle, or a noun in apposition, but an adjective. It would be entirely correct to say _Pastor Smith_ or _Bishop Smith_. The same error sometimes occurs in using the prefix _Hon._
A knowledge of the correct use and combination of words is fully as important as a knowledge of their grammatical forms and their relations.
This knowledge should be acquired by the use of books on rhetoric and by careful study of words themselves. The materials for such study may be found in the books named in the "Supplementary Reading" or in other books of a similar character.
The task of the writer or speaker is to say what he has to say correctly, clearly, and simply. He must say just what he means. He must say it definitely and distinctly. He must say it, so far as the subject matter will permit, in words that people of ordinary intelligence and ordinary education cannot misunderstand. "The right word in the right place" should be the motto of every man who speaks or writes, and this rule should apply to his everyday talk as well as to more formal utterances.
Three abuses are to be avoided.
Do not use slang as a means of expression. There are occasions when a slang phrase may light up what you are saying or may carry it home to intellects of a certain type. Use it sparingly if at all, as you would use cayenne pepper or tabasco sauce. Do not use it in writing at all.
Slang is the counterfeit coin of speech. It is a subst.i.tute, and a very poor subst.i.tute, for language. It is the refuge of those who neither understand real language nor know how to express themselves in it.
Do not use long, unusual words. Use short and simple words whenever they will serve your turn. It is a mistake to suppose that a fluent use of long words is a mark either of depth of thought or of extent of information. The following bit of nonsense is taken from the news columns of a newspaper of good standing: "The topography about Puebla avails itself easily to a force which can utilize the heights above the city with cannon." What was meant was probably something like this, "The situation of Puebla is such as to give a great advantage to a force which can plant cannon on the high ground overlooking the city."
Do not use inflated or exaggerated words.
A _heavy shower_ is not a _cloud burst_; a _gale_ is not a _blizzard_; a _fire_ is not a _conflagration_; an _accident_ or a _defeat_ is not a _disaster_; a _fatal accident_ is not a _holocaust_; a _sharp criticism_ is not an _excoriation_ or _flaying_, and so on.
_Rules for Correct Writing_
More than a century ago the great Scotch rhetorician Campbell framed five canons or rules for correct writing. They have never been improved.
They should be learned by heart, thoroughly mastered, and constantly practiced by every writer and speaker. They are as follows:
Canon 1.--When, of two words or phrases in equally good use, one is susceptible of two significations and the other of but one, preference should be given to the latter: e. g., _admittance_ is better than _admission_, as the latter word also means _confession_; _relative_ is to be preferred to _relation_, as the latter also means the telling of a story.
Canon 2.--In doubtful cases regard should be given to the a.n.a.logy of the language; _might better_ should be preferred to _had better_, and _would rather_ is better than _had rather_.
Canon 3.--The simpler and briefer form should be preferred, other things being equal, e. g., omit the bracketed words in expressions such as, _open_ (_up_), _meet_ (_together_), _follow_ (_after_), _examine_ (_into_), _trace_ (_out_), _bridge_ (_over_), _crave_ (_for_), etc.
Canon 4.--Between two forms of expression in equally good use, prefer the one which is more euphonious: e. g., _most beautiful_ is better than _beautifullest_, and _more free_ is to be preferred to _freer_.
Canon 5.--In cases not covered by the four preceding canons, prefer that which conforms to the older usage: e. g., _begin_ is better than _commence_.
_The Sentence_
The proper construction of sentences is very important to good writing.
The following simple rules will be of great a.s.sistance in sentence formation. They should be carefully learned and the pupil should be drilled in them.
1. Let each sentence have one, and only one, princ.i.p.al subject of thought. Avoid heterogeneous sentences.
2. The connection between different sentences must be kept up by adverbs used as conjunctions, or by means of some other connecting words at the beginning of the sentence.
3. The connection between two long sentences or paragraphs sometimes requires a short intervening sentence showing the transition of thought.
_The Paragraph_
The proper construction of paragraphs is also of great importance. The following rules will serve as guides for paragraphing. They should be learned and the pupil should be drilled in their application.
1. A sentence which continues the topic of the sentence which precedes it rather than introduces a new topic should never begin a paragraph.
2. Each paragraph should possess a single central topic to which all the statements in the paragraph should relate. The introduction of a single statement not so related to the central topic violates the unity.
3. A sentence or short pa.s.sage may be detached from the paragraph to which it properly belongs if the writer wishes particularly to emphasize it.
4. For ease in reading, a pa.s.sage which exceeds three hundred words in length may be broken into two paragraphs, even though no new topic has been developed.
5. Any digression from the central topic, or any change in the viewpoint in considering the central topic, demands a new paragraph.
6. Coherence in a paragraph requires a natural and logical order of development.
7. Smoothness of diction in a paragraph calls for the intelligent use of proper connective words between closely related sentences. A common fault, however, is the incorrect use of such words as _and_ or _but_ between sentences which are not closely related.
8. In developing the paragraph, emphasis is secured by a careful consideration of the relative values of the ideas expressed, giving to each idea s.p.a.ce proportionate to its importance to the whole. This secures the proper climax.
9. The paragraph, like the composition itself, should possess clearness, unity, coherence, and emphasis. It is a group of related sentences developing a central topic. Its length depends upon the length of the composition and upon the number of topics to be discussed.