A Handbook of English Grammar


Book Description










The Elements of Style


Book Description

A Prescriptive American English Writing Style Guide The Elements of Style William Strunk, Jr. And E. B. White This book aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. In accordance with this plan it lays down three rules for the use of the comma, instead of a score or more, and one for the use of the semicolon, in the belief that these four rules provide for all the internal punctuation that is required by nineteen sentences out of twenty. Similarly, it gives in Chapter III only those principles of the paragraph and the sentence which are of the widest application. The book thus covers only a small portion of the field of English style. The experience of its writer has been that once past the essentials, students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work, and that each instructor has his own body of theory, which he may prefer to that offered by any textbook. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript. The writer's colleagues in the Department of English in Cornell University have greatly helped him in the preparation of his manuscript. Mr. George McLane Wood has kindly consented to the inclusion under Rule 10 of some material from his Suggestions to Authors. The Elements of Style is a prescriptive American English writing style guide in numerous editions. The original was composed by William Strunk Jr., in 1918, and published by Harcourt, in 1920, comprising eight "elementary rules of usage", ten "elementary principles of composition", "a few matters of form", a list of 49 "words and expressions commonly misused", and a list of 57 "words often misspelled". E. B. White much enlarged and revised the book for publication by Macmillan, in 1959. That was the first edition of the so-called "Strunk & White", which Time named in 2011 one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923. Cornell University English professor William Strunk, Jr. wrote The Elements of Style in 1918 and privately published it in 1919, for in-house use at the university. (Harcourt republished it in 52-page format in 1920.) Later, for publication, he and editor Edward A. Tenney revised it as The Elements and Practice of Composition (1935). In 1957, at The New Yorker, the style guide reached the attention of E.B. White, who had studied writing under Strunk in 1919 but had since forgotten "the little book" that he described as a "forty-three-page summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English". Weeks later, White wrote a feature story about Strunk's devotion to lucid English prose.







The Elements of Style Workbook


Book Description

The Elements of Style Workbook honors the original masterpiece by William Strunk, Jr. published in 1920, with relevant updates for modern times. We have adapted Strunk's original work to include essential exercises (with answer keys) to help novice writers gain command of stylistic structures and devices through guided practice, and to guide more experienced writers through the nuances of commanding style. Essential for today's writers, Strunk's original chapters regarding rules of usage and principles of composition are represented in this workbook. These original lessons, along with style exercises that teach writers to flex their writing style at will, include sentence writing, paragraph writing, and style writing exercises that amplify the impact of the original work by William Strunk, Jr. True to Strunk's original masterpiece, this Elements of Style Workbook addresses the most common and useful issues novice writers face, which are the same ones plaguing English writers for over a century. We honor Strunk's identification of these main writing challenges, and do not dilute the prominence of these points with either less difficult or more advanced grammatical lessons. In this way, we retain Strunk's original focus on the essentials. We have reproduced these essential lessons here and provided targeted practice to enable writers to strengthen those skills. While holding true to the original Elements of Style , this workbook also amplifies some troublesome yet vital stylistic points of practice with the following augmentations: -Grammar on past perfect -Expansive style section based on Noah Webster's style types -Extensive practice with the multitude of styles Webster delineates, using excerpts from literature masters as examples and guides None of these highly useful components were present in the original Elements of Style, nor have they been represented in any edition since then. Style Types The style section draws from Noah Webster's articulate delineations of style types. Each style type draws from a master of literature illustrating that particular style, then challenges writers to imitate, recreate, and alter styles at will. The following style types, identified by Webster, are included in this workbook: 1.Forceful 2.Vehement 3.Elegant 4.Brief 5.Copious or diffusive 6.Precise 7.Neat 8.Loose 9.Feeble 10.Plain Together, these style types represent the vast majority of writing styles used by literary masters in the English language. An English writing workbook like no other With its loyalty to the highly acclaimed and extremely successful original edition of Strunk's The Elements of Style , augmented by Webster's clearly defined articulation of style types and supplemented by ample, targeted, and clear exercises for each component, The Elements of Style Workbook offers an essential writing resource like no other. Whether you are beginning your journey to quality writing or would like to refine your command of voice and style, you will find this updated version of a tried-and-true resource, The Elements of Style Workbook , a vital aid and guide.




Essentials of English


Book Description

Updated and expanded, this book fills a double purpose as both a useful classroom text and a practical style manual for writers. It reviews English grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and correct word usage, and advises on adapting writing style to different formats, including both classroom assignments, business documents, and electronic communication. Readers will also find detailed instruction on essay writing, starting with outlining a subject, and going on to writing a draft and then editing and polishing it into a finished composition. New in this edition is a sample research paper that uses online sources and follows the widely popular MLA style for footnotes.




The Elements of Style


Book Description

First published in 1918, William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style is a guide to writing in American English. The boolk outlines eight "elementary rules of usage", ten "elementary principles of composition", "a few matters of form", a list of 49 "words and expressions commonly misused", and a list of 57 "words often misspelled". A later edition, enhanced by E B White, was named by Time magazine in 2011 as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923.




A Handbook of English Composition (1895)


Book Description

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.




The Elements of Style: Classic Edition (2018)


Book Description

This Classic Edition commemorates the 100-year anniversary of William Strunk's grammar primer, The Elements of Style. Generations of writers have learned the basics of grammar from Strunk’s little book. It was rated “one of the 100 most influential books written in English” by Time in 2011, and iconic author Stephen King recommended it as a grammar primer that all aspiring writers should read. Elements of Style: Classic Edition 2018 includes the full text of Strunk's original work, plus two new chapters, requested by college professors and students to help clarify points of confusion in modern writing: Basic Rules of Capitalization and Style Rules for Better Writing. It also features some other enhancements that make this grammar handbook even more useful: 1. Editor’s notes have been inserted throughout the book to flag grammar rules now considered obsolete and to provide up-to-date rules for students and writers. 2. Emojis have been added to help readers identify correct examples from errors at a glance. 3. A Study Guide is included in the last chapter. 4. The paperback version includes blank, lined pages in the back of the book for convenient notetaking. 5. The e-book versions have been restyled for improved display on the latest generations of digital book-reading devices. Elements of Style: Classic Edition is now being used as a textbook in courses at University of Minnesota, University of Texas, UC Berkeley and elsewhere, giving students and writers a blueprint that they can follow to write clearly and effectively while adhering to the fundamental rules of English Grammar.