The Practical Stylist The Classic Guide to Style

by Baker, Sheridan

• ISBN13: 9780321333490
• ISBN10: 0321333497
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-29
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Based on the premise that all writing involves arguing a thesis, this classic, authoritative rhetoric presents the essential tools for writing graceful, persuasive essays. Emphasizing thesis and the structural integrity of the essay,The Practical Stylistprovides a variety of organizational techniques to help students create sound essays, while the expository modes such as description, narration, and exposition are presented as strategies for supporting a thesis. Numerous essay models are provided to illustrate the principles of organization and explore the dynamics of language. A research paper chapter discusses online sources and the computerized library, and a brief handbook section provides help with grammar issues.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
1 The Point of It All	1	(13)
WRITE FOR YOUR SHARE	1	(1)
ATTITUDE	2	(3)
Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously	3	(1)
Consider Your Readers	4	(1)
THE WRITTEN VOICE	5	(4)
Make Your Writing Talk	5	(2)
Establish a Firm Viewpoint	7	(2)
THE POINT: ARGUMENTATION	9	(3)
Plan to Rewrite	9	(3)
AIMING FOR A STYLE OF YOUR OWN	12	(2)
2 Making a Beginning: From Subject to Thesis	14	(13)
GETTING SET	14	(1)
WHAT SHALL I WRITE?	14	(2)
FROM SUBJECT TO THESIS	16	(1)
WHERE ESSAYS FAIL	17	(1)
THE ARGUMENTATIVE EDGE	18	(5)
Find Your Thesis	18	(1)
Sharpen Your Thesis	19	(2)
Look for the Fallacies	21	(1)
Use Your Title	22	(1)
SAMPLE: FROM SUBJECT TO THESIS	23	(2)
USING THE THESIS IN OTHER WAYS	25	(1)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	26	(1)
3 Your Paper's Basic Structure	27	(9)
ARGUMENT: BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END	27	(1)
ARGUMENTATIVE TACTICS	28	(1)
Arrange Your Points in Order of Increasing Interest	28	(1)
ACKNOWLEDGING AND DISPOSING OF THE OPPOSITION	29	(4)
RUNNING COMPARISONS POINT BY POINT	33	(1)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	34	(2)
4 Paragraphs: Beginning, Middle, End	36	(17)
THE STANDARD PARAGRAPH	36	(2)
Plan for the Big Paragraph	37	(1)
Find a Topic Sentence	37	(1)
BEGINNING PARAGRAPHS: THE FUNNEL	38	(4)
State Your Thesis at the END of Your Beginning Paragraph	38	(4)
MIDDLE PARAGRAPHS	42	(4)
Make Your Middle Paragraphs Full, with Transitions	42	(1)
Check Your Paragraphs for Clarity and Coherence	43	(3)
END PARAGRAPHS: THE INVERTED FUNNEL	46	(2)
Reassert Your Thesis	46	(2)
THE WHOLE ESSAY	48	(2)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	50	(3)
5 Middle Tactics: Description, Narration, Exposition	53	(23)
DESCRIPTION	53	(3)
NARRATION	56	(2)
EXPOSITION	58	(16)
Comparison and Contrast: Run Contrasts Side by Side	59	(1)
Comparison and Contrast: Illustrate by Analogy	60	(1)
Comparison Versus Contrast	61	(2)
Cause and Effect: Trace Back or Look Ahead	63	(4)
Classification: Use the Natural Divisions	67	(3)
Definition: Clear Up Your Terms	70	(3)
Avoid the Pitfalls	73	(1)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	74	(2)
6 Straight and Crooked Thinking: Working with Evidence	76	(15)
DEGREES OF EVIDENCE	76	(4)
Write as Close to the Facts as Possible	76	(2)
Believe What You Write-But Belief Needs Argument	78	(1)
Handle Your Opinions with Care	79	(1)
Be Even More Careful with Preferences	79	(1)
ASSESSING THE EVIDENCE	80	(3)
Logical Fallacies	80	(1)
Cite Authorities Reasonably	80	(2)
Handle Persistences as You Would Authorities	82	(1)
Inspect Your Documentary Evidence	82	(1)
SOME INDUCTIVE TRAPS	83	(6)
Keep Your Hypothesis Hypothetical	83	(1)
Use Analogies to Clarify, Not to Prove	84	(1)
Look Before You Leap	85	(1)
The Common Logical Fallacies: Trust Your Common Sense	86	(3)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	89	(2)
7 Writing Good Sentences	91	(20)
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE	92	(1)
Use the Simple Active Sentence, Loosely Periodic	92	(1)
COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES	93	(12)
Learn the Difference Between Compound and Complex Sentences	93	(1)
Avoid Simple-Minded Compounds	93	(1)
Try Compounding Without Conjunctions	94	(1)
Learn to Subordinate	95	(2)
Try for Still Closer Connections: Modify	97	(4)
PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION	101	(4)
Use Parallels to Strengthen Equivalent Ideas	101	(1)
Watch the Paralleling of Pairs	102	(1)
Learn to Use Paralleling Coordinators	102	(3)
THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT	105	(3)
Experiment with the Fragment	106	(1)
Develop a Rhythm of Long and Short	107	(1)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	108	(3)
8 Correcting Wordy Sentences	111	(13)
COUNT YOUR WORDS	111	(1)
SHUN THE PASSIVE VOICE	112	(2)
CHECK THE STRETCHERS	114	(1)
BEWARE THE OF-AND-WHICH DISEASE	115	(2)
AVOID "THE USE OF"	117	(1)
BREAK THE NOUN HABIT	117	(3)
AVOID EXCESSIVE DISTINCTIONS AND DEFINITIONS	120	(1)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	121	(3)
9 Words	124	(15)
VOCABULARY	124	(2)
Build Your Stock Systematically	124	(2)
ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE	126	(2)
Learn Their Powers, Separate and Combined	126	(2)
DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION	128	(1)
EUPHEMISM	128	(1)
METAPHOR	129	(3)
Bring Your Words to Life	129	(3)
ALLUSION	132	(1)
Illuminate the Dim with a Familiar Light	132	(1)
DICTION	133	(3)
Reach for Both the High and the Low	133	(3)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	136	(3)
Handbook	139	(88)
I The Trouble with Grammar	140	(17)
AGREEMENT: SUBJECTS AND VERBS	140	(3)
ALIGNING THE VERBS	143	(5)
Use the Tense That Best Expresses Your Idea	143	(1)
Irregular Verbs	144	(1)
Keep Your Moods in Mind	145	(1)
Beware of Faulty Predication	146	(1)
Don't Mix Active and Passive Voice	147	(1)
AGREEMENT: PRONOUNS	148	(4)
Match Your Pronouns to What They Stand For	148	(1)
Use Nominative Pronouns for Nominative Functions	148	(1)
Use Objective Pronouns for Objective Functions	149	(1)
Use a Possessive Pronoun Before a Gerund	150	(1)
Keep Your Antecedents Clear	151	(1)
Give an Indefinite or General Antecedent a Singular Pronoun	151	(1)
Keep Person and Number in Agreement	152	(1)
MODIFIERS MISUSED AND MISPLACED	152	(3)
Keep Your Adjectives and Adverbs Straight	152	(1)
Make Your Comparisons Complete	153	(1)
Don't Let Your Modifiers Squint	153	(1)
Don't Let Your Modifiers or References Dangle	154	(1)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	155	(2)
II Punctuation, Spelling, Capitalization	157	(33)
THE PERIOD: MARKING THE SENTENCE	157	(1)
THE COMMA	158	(8)
FRAGMENTS, COMMA SPLICES, AND RUN-ONS	166	(4)
Beware the Comma Splice, and the Run-On	167	(3)
SEMICOLON AND COLON	170	(2)
PARENTHESES AND DASH	172	(1)
BRACKETS	173	(1)
QUOTATION MARKS AND ITALICS	174	(4)
ELLIPSIS	178	(1)
APOSTROPHE	179	(1)
HYPHEN	180	(1)
VIRGULE (SLANT, SLASH)	181	(1)
SPELLING	181	(4)
CAPITALIZATION	185	(2)
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISE	187	(3)
III A Glossary of Usage	190	(37)
Index	227