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- Correction Symbols
- Diction
- Punctuation
- Source Citation
- Technical Writing
- Books on Style
-
- :Diction
-
- Proper words in proper places, make
- the true definition of a style.
- --Swift
-
- Never use a long word where a short word will do. An
- accomplished writer can have a large vocabulary without
- always using large words. Speak directly, choosing the right
- word for the task. Avoid unnecessary jargon.
- ::
-
- 1. Use specific concrete terms.
-
- Vague: A certain nobleman appears on the scene.
- Concrete: Fortinbras returns from Poland.
-
- Vague: Professor Max is a tough grader.
- Concrete: Professor Max regularly awards more F's than A's
- and more D's than B's.
-
- ::
-
- 2. Avoid jargon. Each profession has its necessary
- technical vocabulary, but choose the more common term when
- it is available.
-
- Jargon: When the keyboard locks up, do a cold boot.
-
- Ordinary
- Language: When the keyboard locks up, restart the
- computer with the off/on switch.
- ::
-
- 3. Avoid archaic, stilted, and overly formal diction. Don't
- talk like a bureaucrat, a carpet-bag politician, or other
- stuffed shirt.
-
- Stilted: The means whereby I earn extra cash...
- Direct: My parttime job...
-
- Stilted: Objective consideration of the phenomena
- compelled the conclusion that the concentration of
- sucrose had rendered the solution unpotable.
- Direct: The coffee was so sweet I couldn't drink it.
- :
- :Punctuation
- Periods
-
- The period which ends a sentence ordinarily
- falls within the a quotation mark.
-
- Example: Fred said, "Don't give up the ship."
-
- The period follows the parenthesis when used within a
- sentence (but see the next sentence). (When the entire
- sentence is in parenthesis then so is the period.)
-
- ::
- Commas
- 1. Use commas to separate all the items in a series.
- Ex: We ate peaches, pears, and apples.
- 2. Use commas before coordinating conjunctions that join
- independent clauses.
- Ex: Jane usually pitches, and Fred catches every game,
- but I have to stay in the outfield.
- 3. Place a comma after long phrases or clauses preceding the
- main clause.
- Ex: Without giving a second thought to his platter of
- chicken enchiladas and refried beans, Jose ran off.
- 4. Place commas around appositives and other parenthetical
- elements. Ex: John, long-ball hitter, bats fourth.
- Apostrophes
- 1. Use an apostrophe and an s to form the possesssive of a
- single noun.
- Ex: a dog's tail, the boss's desk, Miss Jones's lifestyle
- 2. Use only the apostrophe to form the possessive of a
- plural noun ending in s.
- Ex: a players' loss, the cats' meal, the Joneses' house
- 3. You can for the plurals of letters with apostrophes, but
- not of abbreviations or numbers.
- Ex: p's and q's, 1800s and 1900s, SATs, GMATs, and GREs
- 4. Contractions require the apostrophe, but in semi-formal
- writing it is usually better the write out the words.
- Ex: it is for it's, had not for hadn't
- Quotations and Underlining
- 1. Prose: Use quotation marks when a direct quote is less
- than four typed lines.
- Ex: Wordsworth claims that Poetry "takes its origin from
- emotion recollected in tranquility."
- 2. Poetry: Quote one or two lines of poetry in quotation
- marks as part of your text, dividing the lines with a slash.
- Ex: Dickenson begins, "A Spider sewed at Night / Without
- a Light."
- 3. Indent longer quotations, omitting quotation marks.
- 4. Use quotation marks for titles of works published within
- larger works. Underline titles of works published under
- separate cover. Underline the titles of plays.
- Ex: He assigned _Richard _III. Read "Percieving Shape
- from Shading" in the August issue of _Scientific _American.
- :
- :Correction Symbols
-
- Here are symbols and abbreviations that your instructor
- might mark on your paper. For each, an example problem is
- shown in parentheses, followed by the correction.
-
- ab abbreviation (Honolulu, HA)
- Honolulu, HI
- adj adjective (He was real sick.)
- He was really sick.
- adv adverb (Hopefully, he smiled.)
- I hope he smiled.
- ant antecedent (No one likes their own voice.)
- No one likes her own voice.
-
- agr verb agreement (He is one of the many who runs.)
- He is one of the many who run.
- amb ambiguous (She only knows this.)
- Only she knows this. -or- She knows only this.
- awk awkward expression (Either she or I am going.)
- Either she is going or I am going.
- cap capitalize (He saw president carter and pope Paul.)
- He saw President Carter and Pope Paul.
- cst sent. construction (The reason I lie is because...)
- I lie because...
- d diction (The presidential candidates were groovy.)
- The presidential candidates were exceptional.
-
- dm dangling modifier (Being drunk, the dog led.)
- Being drunk, Clyde let the dog lead.
- frag sentence fragment (If John saw it, and Jim agreed.)
- If John saw it, and Jim agreed, then it was a UFO.
- lc lower case (The bear was BIG.)
- The bear was big.
- mm misplaced modifier (She dreams of skating in class.)
- In class she dreams of skating.
- // parallel (Ann is a hitter, and can pitch and run.)
- Ann hits, pitches, and runs well.
- p punctuation (Ann said; "Yes I have no bananas".)
- Ann said, "Yes, I have no bananas."
- pass passive verb (Eating is an activity ejoyed by Al.)
- Al likes to eat.
- run-on run-on sentence (The metal was hot it glowed.)
- The metal was hot; it glowed.
- # space (The player had a bigfoot.)
- The player had a big foot.
- shift in tense/person (The bank said that they will agree.)
- The bank said that it would agree.
- sp spelling (Their is an odd symetry to this cemetary.)
- There is an odd symmetry to this cemetery.
- thesis State your thesis in the first paragraph of an essay.
- topic Make the first sentence of the paragraph the topic
- sentence.
- tr transpose (She spaeks oto lsowly.)
- She speaks too slowly.
- und underline (Jane starred in "As You Like It.")
- Jane starred in _As _You _Like _It.
- vb wrong verb form (Several days has went bye.)
- Several days have gone bye.
- wordy wordy (It has come to my attention that your car...)
- Your car...
- ww wrong word (I represented his cowardly temerity.)
- I resented his cowardly reluctance.
- :
-
- :Technical Writing
-
- 1. Technical Writing is writing with a purpose. Analyze your
- audience. Determine what information they need, and devise
- strategies to help them assimilate that information as
- efficiently as possible. An effective document will lighten
- the load on its readers.
-
- 2. Be technically accurate. Check your work at each step.
- Consult experts. Have your finished document read and
- reread. Test the document by giving it to readers new to the
- subject.
- ::
-
- 3. Take utmost care in the first pages of a document. It is
- easy for a writer to pass over underlying concepts, and
- initial assumptions that readers must master before they can
- understand anything else.
-
- 4. Provide numerous examples. Concrete examples can enliven
- dead abstractions and render tedious explanations readable.
- Begin with simple examples. For instance, a typical first
- computer program prints "Hello world" on the screen. Lead up
- to more complex problems and considerations. Take your
- reader with you.
- ::
- 5. Tabulate, list, and number the steps, whenever writing
- instructions that require action. Divide complex procedures
- into sub-procedures and give each a title. Put instructions
- in the active, imperative voice (the command form).
- Ex: When the food is ready (see "Preparing Food" above)
- you may begin packing the jars as follows:
- Canning Fruits
- 1) Pack the jars firmly without crushing the fruit.
- 2) Fill the jars with sugar sirup to within 1/2 inch
- of the top.
- 3) Expell any trapped air using a long thin spatula.
- 4) Carefully wipe off the top of the jar.
- 5) Using manufacturer's procedures seal the lids.
- 6. It is your ethical (and often legal) responsibility to
- anticipate dangers and provide eyecatching notes and
- warnings. It is good style to insert advice, and helpful
- hints. If you know what helped you learn a concept or master
- a skill, be sure to pass the tip on to your reader.
- Ex:
- IMPORTANT: When canning at high altitudes add 1/2
- pound of pressure for every 1,000 feet.
-
- | WARNING |
- | The boiling water bath process is not suitable for |
- | canning meats, fish, and nonacid fruits and vegatables |
- ::
-
- 7. Illustrate copiously. Provide tables, charts, diagrams,
- and simple line drawings. Where appropriate use shading to
- give a crisp sense of three dimensionality. (Mechanical
- drawings are often as difficult as complex prose and photos
- usually do not reproduce well.)
- :
-
- :Source Citation
-
- Plagiarism
-
- To plagiarize is to use other people's words or ideas
- without acknowledging them. You are guilty of plagiarism
- whenever you try to pass off as your own, something another
- said or wrote. You must acknowledge borrowings whether the
- source is a roommate or an encyclopedia article.
- ::
- Parenthetical Citations
- Give credit to your sources and cite them parenthetically
- in the text.
-
- Ex: According to Robert M. Durling, Dante's Hell is a giant
- projection of the human body. ("Deceit and Digestion in
- the Belly of Hell," in _Allegory _and _Representation,
- ed. Stephen J. Greenblatt, 61).
-
- Ex: _Time says that Ronstadt's _Canciones _de _Mi _Padre is
- "headed for platinum" (July 11, 1988, p. 73).
- ::
- List of Works
- Include a list of works cited (a bibliography) at the end
- of your paper if you use several sources or if your
- instructor requests it. Then when you cite a work in you
- text you can keep the parenthetical reference brief.
-
- Ex. Particularly, the Malebolge associates the belly with
- Fraud (Durling, 65).
- Ex. Ramachandran supposes that we assume only one light
- source "because our brains evolved in a solar system that
- has only one sun" (76).
- Ex. The drought will cause meat prices to fall until
- November and the rise sharply (_Time, 44).
- Indented Passages
- When quoting a passage long enough to indent, place the
- citation outside of the quoted material.
-
- Ex. The speaker exhibits the synesthesia of a visionary:
-
- How the Chimney-sweepers cry
- Every blackning Church appalls,
- And the hapless Soldiers sigh,
- Runs in blood down Palace walls
- (Blake, 27)
- :
- :Books on Style
-
- Recommended Texts
-
- Students should always have at hand a desk-sized
- dictionary, such as _Webster's _New _Collegiate _Dictionary.
- (If you can afford it, the new _Random _House _Dictionary is
- readable and up-to-date.) In addition, we recommend that you
- consult the following works on questions of style.
-
-
- Bly, Robert W. and Gary Blake. _Technical _Writing:
- _Structure, _Standards, _and _Style. New York:
- McGraw_Hill (latest edition).
-
- _Chicago _Manual _of _Style. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press
- (latest edition).
-
- Gibaldi, Joseph and Walter S. Achtert. _MLA _Handbook _for
- _Writers _of _Research _Papers. New York: The Modern
- Langauge Association of America (lastest edition).
-
- Lanham, Richard A. _Revising _Prose. New York: Scribner's,
- 1979.
-
- _____________. _Style: _An _Anti-Textbook. New Haven:
- Yale, 1974.
-
- Prentice-Hall, Inc. _Words _Into _Type. Englewood Cliffs,
- New Jersey: Prentice-Hall (latest edition).
-
- Strunk, William, Jr. and E. B. White. _The _Elements _of
- _Style. New York: Macmillan (latest edition).
-
- Turabian, Kate L. _A _Manual _for _Writers. Chicago: Univ.
- of Chicago Press (latest edition).
-
- :
-