The Century Handbook of Writing Part 55

Right: Barnes played a mischievous trick one day--in fact, Barnes was always into mischief.

=d. The use of the dash to end sentences is childish.=

Childish: At dawn I went on deck--far off to the left was a cloud, I thought, on the edge of the water--it grew more distinct as we angled toward it--it was land--before noon we had sailed into harbor.

Right: At dawn I went on deck. Far off to the left was a cloud, I thought, on the edge of the water. It grew more distinct as we angled toward it. It was land. Before noon we had sailed into harbor.

=e. A dash should be made about three times as long as a hyphen; otherwise it may be mistaken as the sign of a compound word.=

Exercise:

1. The boy left the package on the where did that boy leave the package?

2. She was haughty independent as a queen in fact and she told him no.

3. The clatter of the other typewriters, the relentless movement of the hands of the clock, the calls from the press room for more copy, these made Sears write like mad.

4. He made her acquaintance what do you think of this by scribbling his name and address on some eggs he sold to a grocer.

5. He obtained a position in a big department store--his good taste was quickly recognized--within a month he was dressing the windows.

=Parenthesis Marks and Brackets=

=95a.= Parenthesis marks may be used to enclose matter foreign to the main thought of the sentence. (But see also 94a and 91e.)

Right: His testimony is conclusive (unless, to be sure, we find that he has perjured himself).

=b. A comma or a semicolon used at the end of a parenthesis should as a rule follow the mark of parenthesis rather than precede it.=

Right: If there is snow on the ground (and I am sure there will be), we shall have plenty of sleighing.

=c. When confirmatory symbols or figures are enclosed within parenthesis marks, they should follow rather than precede the words they confirm.=

Wrong: They earn (3) dollars a day.

Right: They earn three (3) dollars a day. [Or] They earn three dollars ($3) a day.

=d. Do not use parenthesis marks to cancel a word or pa.s.sage.= Draw a horizontal line through whatever is to be omitted.

=e. Brackets are used to insert explanatory matter in a quotation which one gives from another writer.= Explanatory matter inserted by the original writer is enclosed within parenthesis marks.

Right: "Bunyan's masterpiece (_The Pilgrim's Progress_),"

declared the lecturer, "is out of harmony with the spirit of the age that produced it [the age of the Restoration]." (Here the explanatory words _the age of the Restoration_ are inserted by the person who is quoting the lecturer.)

Exercise:

1. The supremacy of the horse-drawn vehicle is unless a miracle happens now gone forever.

2. My count shows (41) forty-one bales of cotton in the mill yard.

3. [Insert _the Marne_ as your explanation]: "It was this battle," said the lecturer, "that made the name of Joffre immortal."

4. [Insert _Florida_ as the explanation of the person you are quoting]: "In that state oranges are plentiful."

5. It was the opinion of Bailey and events proved him right that the government must a.s.sume control of the railroads.

=Quotation Marks=

=96a. Quotation marks should be used to enclose a direct, but not an indirect, quotation.=

Right: "I am thirsty," he said.

Wrong: He said "that he was thirsty."

Right: He said that he was thirsty.

=b. A quotation of several paragraphs should have quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the last paragraph.=

=c. In narrative each separate speech, however short, should be enclosed within quotation marks=; but a single speech of several sentences should have only one set of quotation marks.

Wrong: "Will you come? she pleaded.

Certainly."

Right: "Will you come," she pleaded.

"Certainly."

Wrong: He replied, "It was not for my own sake that I did this." "There were others whom I had to consider." "I can mention no names."

Right: He replied, "It was not for my own sake that I did this.

There were others whom I had to consider. I can mention no names."

=d. Quotation marks may be used with technical terms, with slang introduced into formal writing, or with nicknames=; but not with merely elevated diction, with good English that resembles slang, with nicknames that have practically become proper names, or with fict.i.tious names from literature.

Permissible: The rime is called a "feminine rime". He is really "a corker". Their name for my friend was "Sissy".

Better without the quotation marks: He was awed by "the grandeur of the mountains". "A humbug". "Fetch". "Stonewall"

Jackson. He was a true "Rip Van Winkle".

=e. Either quotation marks or italics may be used with words to which special attention is called.= (See the examples under 91e, Exception, 3.) Quotation marks are used with the t.i.tles of articles, of chapters in books, of individual short poems, and the like. Italics are used with the t.i.tles of books or of periodicals, with the names of ships, and with foreign words which are still felt to be emphatically foreign.

=f. A quotation within a quotation should be enclosed in single quotation marks; a quotation within that, in double marks.=

Right: "It required courage," the speaker said, "for a man to affirm in those days: 'I endorse every word of Patrick Henry's sentiment, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"'"

=g. When a word is followed by both a quotation mark and a question mark or an exclamation point, the question mark or the exclamation point should come first if it applies to the quotation; last, if it applies to the main sentence.=