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free guidance notes on writing skills and English Language, sample pages, How-to guides, and study resources

free guidance notes on writing skills and English Language, sample pages, How-to guides, and study resources

Assessment criteria for essays

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

sample from HTML program and PDF book

1. What follow are the assessment criteria used by a humanities department in a typical UK university.

2. Most institutions use similar criteria, but not all of them take the trouble to make them explicit to students. [However, this is beginning to change because of political pressure.]


First Class (70+%)

A first class answer has a thoughtful structure, a clear message displaying personal reflection informed by direct use of primary source material and/or wide reading of scholarly literature, and a good grasp of detail (as evidenced by the choice of relevant examples which are well integrated into the answer’s structure). Complete with no errors or omissions. Professionally presented including scholarly apparatus.

First class answers are ones that are exceptionally good for an undergraduate and which excel in at least one and probably several of the following criteria:

  • comprehensiveness and accuracy
  • clarity of argument or expression
  • integration of a range of materials
  • close analysis of texts
  • insight into theoretical issues
  • relates topic to wider field of knowledge

Excellence in one or more of these areas should be in addition to the qualities expected of an upper second class answer. Although there is no expectation of originality of exposition or treatment, a first class answer is generally expected to spot points rarely seen. A high first (75+%) is expected to display originality and excel in most if not all the aforementioned criteria.


Upper Second Class (60-69%)

An upper second class answer generally shows a sound understanding of both the basic principles and relevant details of the topic supported by examples which are demonstrably well understood and which are presented in a coherent and logical fashion. The answer should be well presented, display some analytical ability and contain no major error or serious omissions. Not necessarily excellent in any area. Professionally presented including scholarly apparatus.

Upper second class answers cover a wider band of students. Such answers are clearly highly competent and typically possess the following qualities:

  • generally accurate and well-informed
  • reasonably comprehensive
  • well organised and structured
  • provides evidence of general reading
  • shows a sound grasp of basic principles
  • shows understanding of relevant details
  • succinctly and cogently presented
  • displays some evidence of insight

One essential aspect of an upper second class answer is that it must have competently dealt with the question set. It should also demonstrate an ability to evaluate the secondary sources used in writing the essay and should, where appropriate, offer evidence of an ability to observe closely and evaluate material evidence.

Lower Second Class (50-59%)

A substantially correct answer which shows an understanding of the basic principles. Lower second class answers display an acceptable level of competence, as indicated by the following qualities:

  • generally accurate
  • adequate answer to the question
  • work based on secondary sources and class notes
  • clearly presented
  • no real development of arguments
  • may contain errors or omissions

A lower second class answer may also be a good answer (that is, an upper second class answer) to a related question, but not the one set by the examiner.


Third Class (40-49%)

A basic understanding of the main issues, but not coherently or correctly presented. Third class answers demonstrate some knowledge or understanding of the general issue, but a third class answer tends to be weak in the following ways:

  • descriptive only
  • does not directly answer the question
  • misses key points
  • contains important inaccuracies
  • covers material sparsely
  • assertions not supported by evidence
  • poorly presented

Below Third Class

A pass presents the minimum acceptable standard at the bottom of the third class category. There is just sufficient information to indicate that the student has a general familiarity with the subject. Such answers typically:

  • contain little material
  • lack accuracy or depth of argument
  • adopt a cursory approach
  • are poorly written and presented

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Filed Under: Writing Essays Tagged With: Academic writing, Assessment, Assessment criteria, Essays, Grades, Study skills, Term papers, Writing skills

Assonance – how to understand it

August 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

free pages from our English Language software program

Assonance – definition

assonance Assonance is a figure of speech featuring the repetition of vowel sounds.

redbtn The repetitions are usually close together, to create a euphonious effect.


Examples

‘The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.’

‘We love to spoon ‘neath the moon in June.’

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye

[TENNYSON – ‘The Lady of Shalott’]


Use

redbtn You can see from these examples that the device is used a lot in song lyrics and poetry.

redbtn Because the vowels are ‘open’ sounds, it creates a generally soothing effect.

redbtn The repeated sound also makes the text easy to memorise.

redbtn It is also popular in advertising, for the same reasons.

redbtn NB! This device can easily become cloying.

redbtn The repetition of vowel sounds creates rhyme and a generally soothing effect.

redbtn Phonologically, it is interesting to note that the same sound may be represented by different combinations of letters:

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye

redbtn The same sound here is produced by /ei/, /i/, /ie/, and /ye/.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: Assonance, English language, Grammar, Language

Audience – how to understand it

August 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

free pages from our English Language software program

Audience – definition

audience Audience is a term used to refer to the reader of a text, or the listener to what we say.

redbtn The audience might be any of the following:

single person
selected
specialist
all the same kind
group of people
random or accidental
non-specialist
very mixed

Examples
Personal letter single selected
Note to milkman single specialist
MA dissertation single specialist targeted
Insurance claim group selected specialist
Novel group random non-specialist

Use

redbtn The main purpose of speaking or writing is to communicate.

redbtn An awareness of audience helps to make speech or writing more effective.

redbtn Efficient writers and effective speakers target their audience as clearly as possible.

redbtn NB! Sometimes a piece of writing may have more than one audience.

redbtn An awareness of your audience is a critical factor in efficient communication for both speech and writing.

redbtn Efficiency can be improved by choosing the vocabulary, tone, and style which are appropriate for the audience.

redbtn Publishers, advertisers, poets, and novelists all target their readers or listeners.

redbtn The vocabulary of a newspaper is chosen very carefully with its readership in mind.

redbtn Radio and television programmes adapt their use of language to their target audiences.

redbtn We write letters to our friends in a style which is different to that we use for the bank manager or someone we don’t know.

redbtn If someone stops you to ask for directions, they won’t be interested in how long you’ve lived in the town, and what it used to look like before the War. On the other hand, if you’re a member of the History Society you may be invited to give a half-hour lecture on that very topic. Your audience is different in each case.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Bibliographies in essays

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

sample from HTML program and PDF book

1. Bibliographies are lists of books placed at the end of essays. They are a compilation of any works you have consulted or from which you have quoted. The list is called a bibliography.

2. The traditional manner of recording this information is to use the following sequence:

AUTHOR – TITLE – PUBLISHER – DATE

Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory, Oxford: Blackwell, 1983.

3. In more scholarly works, such as dissertations and theses, this information may be given with the author’s surname listed first – as follows:

Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory, Oxford: Blackwell, 1983.

4. If you are using the Harvard system of notation, the date follows the author’s name – thus:

Eagleton, T. (1983), Literary Theory, Oxford: Blackwell

5. When using a word-processor, put the book title in italics. [They are in bold here because italics don’t show up very well on screen.]

6. If you are using a ‘standard’ text, give the editor’s name first, as in the following examples:

Mark Amory (ed), The Letters of Evelyn Waugh, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980.

Frank Kermode (ed), The Tempest, Methuen, 1954.

7. List the items of a bibliography in alphabetical order according to author’s or the editor’s surname.

8. Do not list works you have not consulted or from which you have not quoted. To do this creates the impression that you are trying to claim credit for work you have not actually done.

9. You might find that your bibliography repeats much of the information given in your endnotes. Don’t worry about this: these two separate lists have different functions. In addition, your bibliography may contain works from which you have not directly quoted.

10. See References for details of more complex bibliographic issues. Here is an extract from the bibliography of a second year undergraduate essay on the sociology of domestic labour:


Bibliography

Beeton, I., Beeton’s Book of Household Management, Chancellor Press, 1991.

Best, G., Mid-Victorian Britain 1851-75, Fontana, 1979.

Branca, P., Silent Sisterhood, Croom Helm, 1975.

Burman, S. (ed), Fit Work for Women, Croom Helm, 1979.

Burnett, J., Useful Toil, Allen Lane, 1974.

Darwin, E., ‘Domestic Service’, The Nineteenth Century,
Vol.28, August 1890.

Davidoff, L., The Best Circles, Croom Helm, 1973.

Davidoff, L., ‘Mastered for Life: Servant and Wife in Victorian and Edwardian England’, Journal of Economic and Social History, Vol.7, 1974.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Bleak House close reading

September 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

reading skills in the critical analysis of a text

What is close reading?

1. Close reading is the most important skill you need for any form of literary studies. It means paying especially close attention to what is printed on the page. It is a much more subtle and complex process than the term might suggest.

2. Close reading means not only reading and understanding the meanings of the individual printed words; it also involves making yourself sensitive to all the nuances and connotations of language as it is used by skilled writers.

Bleak House close reading3. This can mean anything from a work’s particular vocabulary, sentence construction, and imagery, to the themes that are being dealt with, the way in which the story is being told, and the view of the world that it offers. It involves almost everything from the smallest linguistic items to the largest issues of literary understanding and judgement.

4. Close reading can be seen as four separate levels of attention which we can bring to the text. Most normal people read without being aware of them, and employ all four simultaneously. The four levels or types of reading become progressively more complex.

Linguistic
You pay especially close attention to the surface linguistic elements of the text – that is, to aspects of vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. You might also note such things as figures of speech or any other features which contribute to the writer’s individual style.

Semantic
You take account at a deeper level of what the words mean – that is, what information they yield up, what meanings they denote and connote.

Structural
You note the possible relationships between words within the text – and this might include items from either the linguistic or semantic types of reading.

Cultural
You note the relationship of any elements of the text to things outside it. These might be other pieces of writing by the same author, or other writings of the same type by different writers. They might be items of social or cultural history, or even other academic disciplines which might seem relevant, such as philosophy or psychology.

5. Close reading is not a skill which can be developed to a sophisticated extent overnight. It requires a lot of practice in the various linguistic and literary disciplines involved – and it requires that you do a lot of reading. The good news is that most people already possess the skills required. They have acquired them automatically through being able to read – even though they havn’t been conscious of doing so. This is rather like many other things which we learn unconsciously. After all, you don’t need to know the names of your leg muscles in order to walk down the street.

6. The four types of reading also represent increasingly complex and sophisticated phases in our scrutiny of the text.

Linguistic reading is largely descriptive. We are noting what is in the text and naming its parts for possible use in the next stage of reading.

Semantic reading is cognitive. That is, we need to understand what the words are telling us – both at a surface and maybe at an implicit level.

Structural reading is analytic. We must assess, examine, sift, and judge a large number of items from within the text in their relationships to each other.

Cultural reading is interpretive. We offer judgements on the work in its general relationship to a large body of cultural material outside it.

7. The first and second of these stages are the sorts of activity designated as ‘Beginners’ level; the third takes us to ‘Intermediate’; and the fourth to ‘Advanced’ and beyond.

8. One of the first things you need to acquire for serious literary study is a knowledge of the vocabulary, the technical language, indeed the jargon in which literature is discussed. You need to acquaint yourself with the technical vocabulary of the discipline and then go on to study how its parts work.

9. What follows is a short list of features you might keep in mind whilst reading. They should give you ideas of what to look for. It is just a prompt to help you get under way.


Close reading – Checklist

Grammar
The relationships of the words in sentences
Examples

Vocabulary
The author’s choice of individual words
Examples

Figures of speech
The rhetorical devices used to give decoration and imaginative expression to literature, such as simile or metaphor
Examples

Literary devices
The devices commonly used in literature to give added depth to the work, such as imagery or symbolism
Examples

Tone
The author’s attitude to the subject as revealed in the manner of the writing
Examples

Style
The author’s particular choice and combination of all these features of writing which creates a recognisable and distinctive manner of writing.
Examples


10. Now here’s an example of close reading in action. The short passage which follows comes from the famous opening to Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.

London. Michaelmas Term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets, as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill. Smoke lowering down from chimney pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full grown snowflakes – gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun.

This is the sort of writing which many people, asked for their first impressions, would say was very ‘descriptive’. But if you looked at it closely enough you will have seen that it is imaginative rather than descriptive. It doesn’t ‘describe what is there’ – but it invents images and impressions. There is as much “it was as if …” material in the extract as there is anything descriptive. What follows is a close reading of the extract, with comments listed in the order that they appear in the extract.

London
This is an abrupt and astonishingly short ‘sentence’ with which to start a six hundred page novel. In fact technically, it is grammatically incomplete, because it does not have a verb or an object. It somehow implies the meaning ‘The scene is London.’

Sentence construction
In fact each of the first four sentences here are ‘incomplete’ in this sense. Dickens is taking liberties with conventional grammar – and obviously he is writing for a literate and fairly sophisticated readership.

Sentence length
These four sentences vary from one word to forty-three words in length. This helps to create entertaining variation and robust flexibility in his prose style.

Michaelmas Term
There are several names (proper nouns) in these sentences, all signalled by capital letters (London, Michaelmas Term, Lord Chancellor, Lincoln’s Inn Hall, November, Holborn Hill). This helps to create the very credible and realistic world Dickens presents in his fiction. We believe that this is the same London which we could visit today. The names also emphasise the very specific and concrete nature of the world he creates.

Michaelmas Term
This occurs in autumn. It comes from the language of the old universities (Oxford and Cambridge) which is shared by the legal profession and the Church.

Lord Chancellor sitting
Here ‘sitting’ is a present participle. The novel is being told in the present tense at this point, which is rather unusual. The effect is to give vividness and immediacy to the story. We are being persuaded that these events are taking place now.

Implacable
This is an unusual and very strong term to describe the weather. It means ‘that which cannot be appeased’. What it reflects is Dickens’s genius for making almost everything in his writing original, striking, and dramatic.

as if
This is the start of his extended simile comparing the muddy streets with the primeval world.

the waters
There is a slight Biblical echo here, which also fits neatly with the idea of an ancient world he is summoning up.

but newly and wonderful
These are slightly archaic expressions. We might normally expect ‘recently’ and ‘astonishing’ but Dickens is selecting his vocabulary to suit the subject – the prehistoric world. ‘Wonderful’ is being used in its original sense of – ‘something we wonder at’.

forty feet long or so
After the very specific ‘forty feet long’, the addition of ‘or so’ introduces a slightly conversational tone and a casual, almost comic effect.

waddling
This reinforces the humorous manner in which Dickens is presenting this Megalosaurus – and note the breadth of his vocabulary in naming the beast with such scientific precision.

like an elephantine lizard
This is another simile, announced by the word ‘like’. Here is Dickens’s skill with language yet again. He converts a ‘large’ noun (‘elephant’) into an adjective (‘elephantine’) and couples it to something which is usually small (‘lizard’) to describe, very appropriately it seems, his Megalosaurus.

up Holborn Hill
There is a distinct contrast, almost a shock here, in this abrupt transition from an imagined prehistoric world and its monsters to the ‘real’ world of Holborn in London.

lowering
This is another present participle, and an unusual verb. It means ‘to sink, descend, or slope downwards’. It comes from a rather ‘poetic’ verbal register, and it has a softness (there are no sharp or harsh sounds in it) which makes it very suitable for describing the movement of smoke.

soft black drizzle
He is comparing the dense smoke (from coal fires) with another form of particularly depressing atmosphere – a drizzle of rain. Notice how he goes on to elaborate the comparison.

as big as full grown snow flakes
The comparison becomes another simile: ‘as big as’. And then ‘full grown’ almost suggests that the snowflakes are human. This is a device much favoured by Dickens: it is called ‘anthropomorphism’ – attributing human qualities or characteristics to things which are themselves inanimate. Then ‘snowflakes’ is a well-observed comparison for an enlarged flake of soot, because they are of similar size and texture. Notice next how Dickens immediately goes on to play with the notion that whilst soot is black, snowflakes are white.

gone into mourning
This reinforces the anthropomorphism. The inanimate world is being brought to life. And of course ‘mourning’ reinforces the atmospheric gloom he is trying to evoke. It also introduces blackness (the colour of mourning) to explain how these snowflakes (actually flakes of soot) might have changed from white to black.

the death of the sun
This is why the flakes have changed colour. And if the sun has died the light and life it brings to earth have also been extinguished – which reinforces the atmosphere of pre-historic darkness he is creating.


We will stop at this point. It would in fact be possible to say even more about the extract if we were to relate it to the novel as a whole – but almost everything listed was accessible even if you were reading the passage for the first time.

Literary studies are not conducted in such detail all the time, but it is very important that you try to develop the skill of reading as closely as possible. It really is the foundation on which everything else is based.

The next point to make about such close reading is that it becomes easier if you get used to the idea of reading and re-reading. The Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov (famous for Lolita) once observed that “Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only re-read it”.

What he meant by this apparently contradictory remark is that the first time we read a book we are busy absorbing information, and we cannot appreciate all the subtle connexions there may be between its parts – because we don’t yet have the complete picture before us. Only when we read it for a second time (or even better, a third or fourth) are we in a position to assemble and compare the nuances of meaning and the significance of its details in relation to each other.

Finally, let’s try to dispel a common misconception. Many people ask, when they first come into contact with close reading: “Doesn’t analysing a piece of work in such detail spoil your enjoyment of it?” The answer to this question is “No – on the contrary – it should enhance it.” The simple fact is that we get more out of a piece of writing if we can appreciate all the subtleties and the intricacies which exist within it. Nabokov also suggested that “In reading, one should notice and fondle the details”.


Bleak House close readingStudying Fiction is an introduction to the basic concepts and the language you will need for studying prose fiction. It explains the elements of literary analysis one at a time, then shows you how to apply them. The guidance starts off with simple issues of language, then progresses to more complex literary criticism.The volume contains stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Katherine Mansfield, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, D.H. Lawrence, and Charles Dickens. All of them are excellent tales in their own right. The guidance on this site was written by the same author.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
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Charles Dickens Bleak HouseBleak House (1852-53) is a powerful critique of the legal system. Characters waiting to gain their inheritance from a will which is the subject of a long-running court case are ruined when the delays and costs of the case swallow up the whole estate. At the same time, Ester Summerson, one of Dickens’ most saintly heroines, is surrounded by mystery regarding her parentage and pressure to marry a man she respects but does not love. Unraveling the mystery results in scandal and deaths. Many memorable characters, including ace sleuth Inspector Bucket; Horace Skimpole a criminally irresponsible house guest; and Krook – the ‘chancellor’ of the rag and bone department, who dies from spontaneous combustion – something which Dickens actually believed could happen.

Bleak House Buy Bleak House at Amazon UK
Bleak House Buy Bleak House at Amazon US

© Roy Johnson 2009


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Blogging – publish your writing

October 1, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a selection of resources + how to get started

If you want to try the latest thing in Net publishing, it’s called Blogging. A Blog (short for Web Log) is usually a combination of a personal diary, links to items of interest on the Internet, a commentary on them, plus personal thoughts and essays. It is a form of self-publishing, and because you can write whatever you wish is very popular with authors who have strong and unorthodox opinions.

Blogging began as a medium for Web-based personal diaries, and most people still use it for this purpose. But some bloggers have started to develop the medium for what is essentially self-publishing. They might post notes reflecting briefly on a topic or discuss it with other bloggers, but they also upload essays, articles, or opinion pieces which count as serious pieces of journalism, expressing ideas and points of view which might not be available elsewhere.

The mainstream media (MSM) made fun of blogging when it first appeared – but now they can’t get enough of it. Newspapers, radio and TV stations, and magazines of all kinds have their own blogs – and they can’t get enough user-generated content either. That’s writing done by you and me, which they don’t have to pay for.

Some bloggers with access to popular information have suddenly found their hobby has been transformed into a thriving business. Paul Staines’ Guido Fawkes started as an amateur political gossip blog, but now gets 2 million visitors a month and makes him a full time living via advertising. Ric Turner’s Blue Moon did the same thing for supporters of Manchester City FC.

In fact the latest generation of bloggers at the time of writing are uploading digital photographs, video clips, and audio files – which have spawned the term podcasting. It’s also free and easy to do. You simply add your own text into a ready-made form and press the SEND button.

Essential BloggingEssential Blogging offers a tour of the best blogging sites, how to upload and maintain your pages, and how to configure the options to get the best effects. A series of chapters, clearly written by enthusiasts, takes you through which Blog sites and software are available – from Blogger, Radio Userland (free software), Moveable Type, WordPress, and Blosxom. Some of these have developed rapidly beyond mere blogging tools into small-scale content management systems.

Are you likely to make an income from all this? Not directly – but there are all sorts of possible spin-offs. Lots of bloggers sign up as affiliates to Amazon, Google, and other commercial sites. They earn a small residual income from sending potential customers to buy books and software. Click one of the Amazon ads on this page, and you’ll see how it works.

There’s also the possibility of micro-payments. This is a system in which people are prepared to pay a small amount for downloading an article of interest. There’s still some resistance to this idea, but it’s now fairly common in downloading music files – so it might catch on.

 

Blogging GeniusBlogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content Biz Stone covers most of these new possibilities in his book. He shows how to log onto the most popular site of all – Blogger – and establish your Web presence. Then he shows you how to add colour, text manipulation, and layout variety to your pages, then on to the serious business of making money.

There’s a chapter on arranging archives of your blogs, which can be done on a weekly or monthly basis. He also shows you how you can increase traffic to your blog. This text shows how to turn your home page into a microportal with fresh content to keep your readers coming back.

There are now all sorts of blogging support and development services springing up as the number of bloggers gets bigger and bigger. These range from online tutorials which will show you how to get set up — try BlogBasics — to tracking and site visitor statistics — try BlogFlux. And just to repeat the point yet again — it’s all free. If you want to see our blog, go to mantex.blogspot.com

 

The Weblog HandbookThe Weblog Handbook Rebecca Blood’s book is for anyone who has ever thought about starting a Weblog but isn’t sure how to post, where to find links, or even where to go to register. She certainly knows what she’s talking about, as you can see if you look at her own blog at RebeccaBlood.net.

She blogs regularly on topics which range from food and knitting to political activism and blogging itself. The Weblog Handbook is a clear and concise guide to everything you need to know about the phenomenon that is exploding on the Web. She expertly guides the reader through the whole process of starting and maintaining a Weblog and answers any questions that might pop up along the way, such as the elements of good Weblog design and how to find free hosting.

 

Blogging for DummiesBlogging for Dummies Brad Hill’s advice is aimed at getting you up and running as quickly as possible – though he begins with what blogs are – and what they are not. He explains the different types of blogs, and how and why they are different from web sites. The good thing is that he looks at all the options and draws up comparison charts which show the features, cost, and options offered by the various providers and software programs.

 

return button Publish your writing

© Roy Johnson 2009


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Bookseller jargon

February 11, 2013 by Roy Johnson

understanding the language of the book trade

Bookseller jargon
When buying second-hand books you’ll often come across bookseller jargon used to describe the goods they have on offer. These descriptions appear in both printed catalogues and on web site bookstores.

The bookseller is giving an accurate description of a book and its condition, but the description often contain lots of abbreviations and specialist terms (jargon). This can sometimes appear like a secret code, and might even include abbreviations of their own bookseller jargon terms.

There is a huge specialised vocabulary involved in the book trade – terms such as ‘foxing’ to describe discoloured pages, or ‘half-binding’ to indicate that the spine will be bound in a different material, usually leather.

It’s not necessary to learn all these terms, and you can often guess at the meaning of some of them. But knowing a few of the most common expressions can help you to get a better idea of what’s on offer – and save you from making a mistake.

Knowing something about this jargon can also help you to spot bargains when buying books for as little as a penny on Internet bookshop sites.


Bookseller jargon – example I

Let’s start with a fairly straightforward example from an advert on Amazon. It’s a second-hand copy of Charles Dickens’ novel Martin Chuzzlewit. The description is quite simple, but it does introduce a few bookseller jargon terms.

Published 1935, illustrations by Phiz. Burgandy boards with gold inscription to spine, author’s signature on front. Possibly published 1935. Corners bumped and boards a little grubby. Tanning to edges, Binding is pretty tight and very little staining to pages. A few pages turned at corners. Others in series are available. Quick dispatch from Oxford based hospice charity,

author’s signature – This is very misleading, because it’s not a signature. Dickens’ signature is printed on the cover.

Corners bumped – The corners of the book covers are bent or creased with use and age.That’s fairly normal in an old book.

Tanning – The colour of the covers is fading because of exposure to light.

Binding tight – The book will not open easily and generally does not want to remain open to any given page.

pages turned at corners – A previous reader has bookmarked pages by turning down the corner of some pages.

One interesting thing to note here is that the publisher is not mentioned. In fact the publisher is Odhams, and this series was a mass-produced very cheap edition. Copies are very easy to obtain anywhere – so the price being asked for this copy (£6.85) is far too high.


Bookseller jargon – example II

Here’s a relatively simple example from AbeBooks. It’s an advert for a first edition copy of Christopher Isherwood’s novel Goodbye to Berlin. You will notice that although the advert is descriptive, a few more bookseller jargon terms creep in.

Book Description: London, The Hogarth Press, 1939, 1939. Octavo. Original rough grey cloth, titles to spine in red, top edge stained red. With the dust jacket designed by Humphrey Spender printed in black and red with a photograph of a park scene by Hans Wild. Light partial toning to endpapers, an excellent copy in the lightly rubbed dust jacket with just a couple of minor nicks and creases. First edition, first impression. Published March 1939; 3,550 copies printed.

Octavo – This is the size of the book – five inches wide and eight to nine inches tall.

toning – One of many euphemisms booksellers use to describe the discoloration of paper with age.

endpapers – The sheets of paper pasted onto the inner covers of the book

lightly rubbed – This is wear caused to the edges of the book or its dust jacket as a result of being moved on and off a shelf. Another term might be ‘scuffed’.

nicks and creases – Nicks are small cuts or abrasions, and creases are permanent folds in paper which often occur on book jackets and inner pages.

first impression – The book comes from the first batch to be printed for this title – this is a guarantee of the book’s rarity.

As you can tell from this, book collectors are very concerned about the physical condition of the books they buy — with good reason. This one was for sale for £3,750.00


Bookseller jargon – example III

Here is a much more detailed and complex example. This an advert for a set of volumes which are a genuine rarity and an antiquity from the eighteenth century essayists Addison and Steele.

Addison, Johseph; Steele, Sir Richard. THE SPECTATOR. London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper 1749.
8 vols. T.p. devices., engraved frontiss., dec. head and tail pieces. Some sporadic very light browning, ex-libris Sir Thomas Miller Bt. and with sm. ownership signature, top edge of a couple of leaves in vol. 4 sl. chipped, slightly rubbed gilt filleted edges with some sl. wear to corners, full speckled calf with some minor light staining to a couple of boards, raised bands dec. gilt compartments and leather title labels to rubbed and slightly chipped spines..
£125.00

Eight volumes – This is a genuine eighteenth-centry collection for only £120.00 – which seems good value to me.

T.p. devices – Title page with devices. This page lists the title and any subtitle; the author; the publisher; and the printer.

engraved frontiss – This is an engraved illustration at the beginning of the book, usually facing the title page.

dec. head and tail pieces – A decorative ornament found at the start of a chapter or a division in a book (very common in the eighteenth century).

very light browning – This is signs of discolouration in the paper – an indication of its age.

ex-libris – A Latin term which means ‘from the library of’. This is often indicated by a small label pasted into the book’s inside cover.

sm. ownership signature – A small signature of a (or the) previous owner.

sl. chipped – Slightly chipped. This usually means that small parts of the page are missing or frayed.

gilt filleted edges – Fillets are decorative lines impressed on a book cover. These have been rubbed, and perhaps lost some of the gilding.

sl. wear to corners – Worn perhaps as the books have been taken on and off shelves.

full speckled calf – The volumes have been bound in leather – and ‘speckled’ means the calf’s hide has been treated to create small dark spots or specks.

boards – This is the heavy-duty cardboard used in the construction of the book covers.

slightly chipped spines – Futher signs of use and age. This is to be expected on something three centuries old.


Red button A full glossary of bookseller jargon

Red button Common abbreviations used by booksellers

Red button Book formats and sizes

© Roy Johnson 2013


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Brackets – how to use them

August 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Brackets – definition

brackets Brackets are used to show that a word or phrase has been inserted into a sentence.

redbtn The technical name for this device is a ‘parenthesis’.


Examples
  • Most of the suspects (seven in all) were questioned by the police.
  • Put your scrap paper (or cardboard) into the dustbin.
  • The next person to arrive (a very attractive woman) caused a sensation.

Use

redbtn The words inserted between brackets are usually an explanation, an illustration, or an aside.

redbtn They often carry the meaning ‘that is to say’.

redbtn NB! Brackets are always used in pairs. Once they are ‘open’, don’t forget to close them.

redbtn Round brackets are used to represent an aside or an extra piece of information which is closely related to the main subject of the sentence.

Goodwin argues that Thompson’s policies (which he clearly dislikes) would only increase the problem.

redbtn Square brackets are used to indicate that something
is being added by the author. This is usually for clarification or comment.

The reporter added that the woman [Mrs Wood] had suffered severe injuries.

A mother wrote that her son was ‘fritened [sic] to go to school’.

redbtn When brackets are used at the end of a sentence, the full stop falls outside the bracket (like this).

redbtn Statements inside brackets should be grammatically separate from the sentence. That is, the sentence should be complete, even if the contents of the brackets are removed.

The republican senator (who was visiting London for a minor operation) also attended the degree ceremony.

redbtn If a quotation contains a mistake in the original you can indicate that the error is not your own. This is indicated by the use of square brackets.

The senior government minister who was recently acquitted of kerb-crawling claimed that at long last his ‘trails [sic] and tribulations’ were at an end.

redbtn The expressions within brackets should be kept as brief as possible, so as not to interrupt the flow of the sentence.

redbtn The use of brackets should be kept to a minimum. If used too frequently, they create a choppy, unsettling effect.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Brackets in essays

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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1. The term brackets in essays is used to describe both square brackets [these] and round brackets (these) – whose technical name is ‘parentheses’.

2. The difference between the two is that a parenthesis represents an aside, an associated remark, or an additional piece of information which is closely related to the main subject of the sentence in which it is placed.

Goodwin argues that Thompson’s policies (of which he clearly disapproves) would only increase the national debt.

3. Square brackets on the other hand are used to indicate that something has been added to the original text for editorial purposes of clarification or comment.

The reporter added that this woman [Mrs Wood] had suffered severe injuries.

A mother wrote to the headmaster that her son was ‘fritened [sic] to go to school’

4. A common use for the parenthesis in academic writing is to indicate a bibliographic reference within the text of an essay – particularly when using the Harvard (or the short title) system of referencing.

Sartre’s account of ‘bad faith’ (Sartre 1938) differs slightly from that offered by Simone de Beauvoir (de Beauvoir 1949).

5. Notice that when a parenthesis occurs at the end of a sentence, the full stop falls outside the bracket (as this one does).

6. Any statement within brackets should be grammatically independent of the sentence in which it occurs. That is, the sentence should be gramatically complete, even if the contents of the brackets were to be removed.

The republican senator (who was visiting London for a minor operation) also attended the degree ceremony.

7. If a quotation contains a mistake in the original you might wish to indicate that the error is not your own. This too is indicated by the use of square brackets.

The senior government minister who was recently acquitted of kerb-crawling claimed that at long last his ‘trails [sic] and tribulations’ were at an end.

8. The expressions within brackets should be kept as brief as possible, so as not to interrupt the flow of the sentence in which they are placed.

9. The use of brackets should be kept to a minimum. If used too frequently, they create a choppy, unsettling effect.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Filed Under: Writing Essays Tagged With: Academic writing, Brackets, Essays, Punctuation, Study skills, Term papers, Writing skills

Capital letters – how to use them

August 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Capital letters – definition

capital letters Capital letters are used to show the importance of particular words.

redbtn They are always used for proper nouns (people’s names) ; at the start of sentences ; and for places and events of a public nature.


Examples
  • He entered the room, accompanied by Christine Bowman.
  • John wrote a letter to the Bishop of Chester.
  • We will visit Sherwood Forest at Easter this year.

Use

redbtn Capital letters are always placed at the beginning of a sentence.

redbtn They are also used to indicate names and titles, as well as holidays and well-known public places.

redbtn NB! Avoid continuous capitals.

THEY LOOK VERY UNSIGHTLY AND ARE HARD TO READ

redbtn Capitals are used to denote the names of particular or special things.

days of the week Wednesday, Friday
places East Anglia
rivers the river Mersey
buildings the Tate Gallery
institutions the Catholic Church
firms British Aerospace
organisations the National Trust
months of the year April, September

redbtn However, when such terms are used as adjectives or in a general sense, no capital is required:

the King James Bible / a biblical reference

Oxford University / a university education

the present Government / governments since 1967

redbtn Capitals are used when describing intellectual movements or periods of history:

Freudian – Platonism – Cartesian – the Middle Ages
the Reformation – the Enlightenment

redbtn They are also used in the titles of books, plays, films, newspapers, magazines, songs, and works of art in general. The normal convention is to capitalise the first word and any nouns or important terms. Smaller words such as ‘and’, ‘of’, and ‘the’ are left uncapitalised:

A View from the Bridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
North by Northwest
The Marriage of Figaro

redbtn Notice the difference between the same term used in a general and a particular sense:

The children’s Uncle Fred is seventy.
Their uncle is the oldest in the family.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: Capital letters, English language, Grammar, Language, Spelling

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