Chapter One  Mechanics

  1.1  Margins and Paragraphing

    1.1.1  Margins

    1.1.2  Paragraphing

  1.2  Handwriting

  1.3  Syllable Structure / Syllabification

  1.4  Abbreviations

  1.5  Numerals

  1.6  Capitalization

Chapter Two  Punctuation Marks

  2.1  Line-beginning Punctuation Marks

  2.2  Sentence-ending Punctuation Marks

    2.2.1  The Period / The Full Stop

    2.2.2  The Question Mark

    2.2.3  The Exclamation Point

  2.3  Internal Punctuation Marks

    2.3.1  The Comma

    2.3.2  The semicolon

    2.3.3  The Colon

    2.3.4  Quotation Marks

    2.3.5  The Dash

    2.3.6  Parentheses

    2.3.7  Brackets

    2.3.8  The Apostrophe

    2.3.9  The Hyphen

    2.3.10  The Virgule / Slant

    2.3.11  Italics / Underlining

  2.4  Some Points About the Use of Punctuation Marks

Chapter Three  Diction

  3.1  Appropriateness

    3.1.1  Sense of Style

    3.1.2  Degree of Word Formality

    3.1.3  Exactness and Use of Synonymous Words and Expressions

  3.2  Specificity, Concreteness, and Conciseness

    3.2.1  Specificity

    3.2.2  Concreteness

    3.2.3  Conciseness

  3.3  Imagery / Figures of Speech

    3.3.1  Metaphor and Simile

    3.3.2  Personification

    3.3.3  Hyperbole

    3.3.4  Euphemism

Chapter Four Sentence Writing

  4.1  Sentence Sense

  4.2  Basic Requirements of an Effective Sentence

    4.2.1  The Unity of a Sentence

    4.2.2  The Coherence of a Sentence

    4.2.3  The Completeness of a Sentence

  4.3  Sentence Elements

    4.3.1  Essential Sentence Elements: the Subject and the Predicate Verb

    4.3.2  Secondary Sentence Elements

  4.4  Sentence Patterns

    4.4.1  Basic Sentence Patterns

    4.4.2  Special Sentence Patterns

  4.5  Parts of Speech  and Their Respective Functions and

  Placements in a Sentence

    4.5. l  Nouns

    4.5.2  Pronouns

    4.5.3  Adjectives

    4.5.4  Adverbs

    4.5.5  Prepositions

    4.5.6  Conjunctions

  4.6  Phrases and Clauses

    4.6.1  Phrases

    4.6.2  Clauses

  4.7  Recognizing and Avoiding Sentence Fragments

  4.8  Classification of Sentences

    4.8.1  Classification in Terms of Communication Purpose

    4.8.2  Classification in Terms of Grammatical Structure

    4.8.3  Classification in Terms of the Development of Information

    4.8.4  Classification in Terms of Length

  4.9  Avoiding Comma Faults and Fused Sentences

    4.9.1  The Cbrnrna Faults / Comma Splices

    4.9.2  Solutions to Comma Faults

    4.9.3  Fused Sentences

  4.10  Ways of Achieving Sentence Variety

    4.10.1  Achieving Sentence Variety via Combination

    4.10.2  Achieving Sentence Variety via Coordination

    4.10.3  Achieving Sentence Variety via Parallel Structure

    4.10.4  Achieving Sentence Variety via Subordination

    4.10.5  Achieving Sentence Variety by Using Modifying Phrases ..

    4.10.6  Achieving Sentence Variety by Using Appositives

    4.10.7  Achieving Sentence Variety via Inversion

    4.10.8  Achieving Sentence Variety by Employing Emphatic Sentence Structure

    4.10.9  Achieving Sentence Variety by Using Inanimate Subjects

Chapter Five  Paragraph Writing

  5.1  Types of Paragraphs

    5.1.1  The Topical Paragraph

    5.1.2  The Introductory Paragraph

    5.1.3  The Transitional Paragraph

    5.1.4  The Conclusion Paragraph

  5.2  The Basic Structure and Qualities of a Topical Paragraph

    5.2.1  The Unity of a Topical Paragraph

    5.2.2  The Topic Sentence in a Topical Paragraph

    5.2.3  The Supporting Sentences in a Topical Paragraph

    5.2.4  The Conclusion Sentence in a Topical Paragraph

  5.3  The Coherence  of a Topical Paragraph

  5.4  The Development of a Topical Paragraph

    5.4.1  Time / Chronological Order

    5.4.2  Space Order

    5.4.3  General-to-particular Order

    5.4.4  Particular-to-general Order

    5.4.5  Order of Importance

    5.4.6  Cause-to-effect or Effect-to-cause Order

    5.4.7  Order of Comparison and Category Order

    5.4.8  Questi