A helpful book for everyone who aspires to correct the everyday errors of speaking and writing.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE INTRODUCTION, . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I. TASTE, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 II. CHOICE OF WORDS, . . . . . . . . . . 15 III. CONTRACTIONS, . . . . . . . . . . . 118 IV. POSSESSIVE CASE, . . . . . . . . . . 124 V. PRONOUNS, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 VI. NUMBER, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 VII. ADVERBS, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 VIII. CONJUNCTIONS, . . . . . . . . . . . 156 IX. CORRELATIVES, . . . . . . . . . . . 162 X. THE INFINITIVE, . . . . . . . . . . 166 XI. PARTICIPLES, . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 XII. PREPOSITIONS, . . . . . . . . . . . 174 XIII. THE ARTICLE, . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 XIV. REDUNDANCY, . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 XV. TWO NEGATIVES, . . . . . . . . . . . 194 XVI. ACCORDANCE OF VERB WITH SUBJECT, . . 198
INTRODUCTION
Homer, in all probability, knew no rules of rhetoric, and was not tortured with the consideration of grammatical construction, and yet his verse will endure through time. If everybody possessed the genius of Homer, rules and cautions in writing would be unnecessary.
To-day all men speak, and most men write, but it is observed that those who most closely follow Homer's method of writing without rules are most unlike Homer in the results. The ancient bard was a law unto himself; we need rules for our guidance.
Rules of writing are the outgrowth of the study of the characteristics and qualities of style which distinguish the