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The Little Brown Handbook

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encyclopaedia of writing skills + exercises and examples

Don’t be misled by the title. This book is neither little nor brown. It’s a reference guide to all aspects of academic writing that its authors say will “answer almost any question you have about writing…find out how to get ideas, punctuate quotations, search the Internet, cite sources, or write a resumé”. That’s a bold claim, but in almost one thousand densely packed pages, I think they live up to it. The Little, Brown Handbook has become a classic style guide over its many editions.

The Little, Brown HandbookFowler and Aaron start with the standard academic essay and its requirements, then cover grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence construction, vocabulary, and research. However, these simple headings belie the richness of the material they provide. The latest edition takes full account of computers and the Internet for writing and research, advice for users of English as a second language, plus the latest (1998) MLA guidelines.

It actually starts with a chapter on critical thinking and reading, then puts its emphasis on writing as a process of development, drafting, and revising. These sections act as a thorough course in essay-writing techniques, from formulating ideas to revising, editing, and proofreading the final drafts.

It’s full of handy hints. They suggest for instance the use of two-column reading journal – left column for summaries, and an empty right column which will “beckon you to respond” with critical notes. Every point is illustrated with examples, and there are exercises at the end of each chapter [though you have to work out the answers for yourself].

This is a book that could be used for reference [“Where does the comma go?”] as a teaching aid [“Work through exercises 4 and 5”] or as a source of self-instruction [Outliners and how to use them in generating structure]. For students, there are some very useful examples of revised drafts, tips on essay introductions and conclusions, the generation and substantiation of arguments, and recognising fallacies of argument. For tutors, they make suggestions for coursework.

The section on sentence construction is also an introduction to the basics of English Language and grammar. Like many other guides of its kind, it assumes that readers need to know about ‘prepositional phrases’, ‘subordinating conjunctions’, and ‘restrictive apositives’. Every single case and difficulty is listed, to the point of exhaustive completeness. The problem is that it might not be easy for students to locate the case they require from index entries which read ‘Commas – with conjunctive adverbs and transitional expressions’.

After sections on grammatical correctness, it goes on to questions of taste, style, and conventions in language-use. This embraces choosing the appropriate word, being concise, eliminating dross, and extending one’s vocabulary. The vexed issue of spelling is explained with all its common exceptions, and the latter part of the book discusses meta-issues such as planning a research project, using the Internet to good effect, evaluating sources, the traditional skills of taking notes, and the latest MLA conventions on text citation. At the end, there are sections on writing under exam conditions, business writing (with plenty of examples) and appendices on page layout, document design, oral presentations, and writing with a computer. These latter sections will be of interest to more advanced users.

For students, there are some very useful examples of sample research papers and an examination essay – not only the complete text, but a running commentary on the right-hand page explaining points of detail and commenting on structure, format, citation, and the handling of secondary sources. They even include revised drafts and notes made in the composition of the papers. This is an excellent resource, and just about the closest you could get to live tuition in the subtleties of academic writing.

This may be a book that will appeal more to course tutors, instructors, and librarians than to the students it is written for, but for anyone concerned with the development of writing skills Fowler and Aaron cover all (and I mean all) the details. It might be an expensive investment, but if you’re teaching writing skills it’s the most comprehensive resource I’ve ever come across, and if you’re just starting your academic career, it will see you through to post-graduate studies and beyond.

© Roy Johnson 2009

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H. Ramsey Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, Little, Brown Handbook, (7th edn) New York: Longman, 11th edition 2009, pp.992, ISBN: 0205734960

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The Oxford Comma

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also known as the serial or the Harvard comma

What is the Oxford Comma?

the Oxford comma
The Oxford comma is a name given to the mark of punctuation used before the final and when listing a series of items. Here’s an example.

There were a number of items on the table: a handbag, a penknife, a clock, and a walking stick.

The Oxford comma is the comma which comes before the last item – , and a walking stick.

The Oxford comma gets its name from the fact that is has traditionally been recommended by the Oxford University Press in its instructions to typesetters and printers. The latest OUP style guide, New Hart’s Rules continues to urge its use. It’s also known as the ‘serial comma’, or the ‘Harvard comma’ in the USA.

When a number of items are listed in a sentence, the normal way to present them is separated by commas. However, there are two schools of thought about the need for the final comma.

The sentence above would still be understandable if it were written as follows:

There were a number of items on the table: a handbag, a penknife, a clock and a walking stick.

Some people argue that the final comma can be omitted in many cases because it breaks up the natural flow of the sentence. That’s true in this example – but only because all the items are quite distinct and carry equal weight. The comma in this case can be used or omitted. However, in other cases ambiguity can easily arise if the comma is omitted.

This is particularly true if the list includes things of a different kind.

cider, real ales, meat and vegetable pies and sandwiches

This example could mean that in addition to cider and real ales, the list includes meat, plus vegetable pies, plus sandwiches. But is more likely to mean meat and vegetable pies, plus sandwiches.

A famous instance of the same thing is that attributed to the American science fiction writer Teresa Hayden, who dedicated one of her books in the following way.

To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

What she meant of course was ‘I am dedicating this book to my parents, to Ayn Rand, and to God’. Even that would have been pretentious enough, but the way she has expressed it, without the Oxford comma, the implication is that her parents were Ayn Rand and God.

A comma after the final and is not required when the last two items are a single expression or a ‘pair’

The menu offered us several options: roast beef, pasta bake, lamb chops, or fish and chips.

The comma should also be used if there is a grammatical extension to the list, as in this example.

brass, copper, bronze, and other non-ferrous materials

The need for the final comma become more acute when the list is a series of clauses in a single sentence.

The main points to consider are whether the competitors are skilful enough to complete the course, whether they have trained sufficiently for such a long race, and whether they are used to running at high altitude in these temperatures.

The commas in this example help the reader to understand a long statement made up of complex parts.

When the clauses in a complex sentence are themselves puctuated by commas, the separate clauses should be punctuated using the semicolon.

The outbreak of war was caused by a number of factors: Hitler’s determination to occupy Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland; the longstanding desire of Chamberlain and Daladier, as opposed to Winston Churchill, to avoid war at all costs; and Stalin’s cynical, last-minute pact with Hitler.

Even though the comma before the final ‘and’ is sometimes not required, it’s worth noting that it is never wrong. This is a good argument for always using it – to remove any possible ambiguity.

© Roy Johnson 2011

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The Psychology of Writing

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attitudes to writing amongst professional authors

Anyone who has attempted to produce a piece of half-way serious writing will know that the psychological states we go through can range from anxious anticipation, thoughtful cogitation, through anguished production, to teeth-gnashing editing and re-writes. Ronald Kellog’s excellent study The Psychology of Writing examines every one of these stages in the process. The structure of the book follows the development of writing from its (sometime) origin in thought, through pre-writing and planning [very thoroughly explored] to the varieties of text production and the psychological states which sometimes assist it (including trance and alcohol abuse).

Writing a letterHis method in each chapter is to launch the topic theoretically (Knowledge, Writing Strategies) then discuss empirical and anecdotal evidence, and finally inspect the scientific research. Some of the results are of the uninspiring ‘47% did, 53% didn’t’ variety, but the result is commendably thorough. He draws on many types of writing for his examples, yet keeps coming back (for understandable reasons) to creative writing. Why then in the attempts to ‘measure’ or explain quality in writing didn’t the exceptions to his claims not occur to him? Yes – most writers need long and hard-earned experience, and practice and skill development. But how does one explain the Rimbauds, Chattertons, and Keats of this world who were producing masterpieces at an age when the rest of us were struggling with our ‘A’ levels?

I would guess that those following this line of psychological research might profit from taking (for example) concepts such as the intentional and the affective fallacy into account. There also seemed to be an unspoken assumption that the writer and reader are part of what the literary critic Stanley Fish calls the same ‘interpretive community’. A quick dose of deconstruction might not go amiss in helping to shake this idea a little.

Some of the jargon might be accessible to psychologists, but I can’t help feeling that terms such as ‘relative automatization’ and ‘satisficing [sic] heuristic’ will deter many potential readers. On the other hand there were occasional inspired flashes which I wished could have been developed further – on plagiarism, ideas processors and ‘invisible writing’ for instance.

Even though the prose was rather dry and the argument occasionally sagged in ploughing its way through the data, everything perked up again with the concluding chapters. The scholarship throughout is exemplary, and the book is rounded off with a magnificent bibliography and a good index. Computer users may be interested to know that there are chapters dealing with word-processing packages and outliners – as well as programmes which cause the screen to flash if your writing slows down!

© Roy Johnson 2000

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Ronald T. Kellog, The Psychology of Writing, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp.253, ISBN: 0195081390

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The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics

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solving moral dilemmas in research projects

You might not think there is a book-length study to be made of the ethical issues in academic research, but Paul Oliver makes a convincing case that there are moral considerations to be made at every stage of the process – from the original concept to the publication of results. The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics starts off with the need to define terms. Is someone a subject, a participant, or an interviewee? Each term contains its own nuances, and these can have an ethical bearing on the relationship between researcher and the people being studied.

The Student's Guide to Research EthicsThe book is mainly aimed at students in education and the social sciences who might be likely to gather information from interviewing people. However the issues it raises are general ones and might be encountered by anyone conducting a research project or doing market research. Tracing the development of a research project from methodology, through data collection and analysis, to publication, he looks in detail at the moral dilemmas which might arise between researcher and subject – including even people who are dead at the time the information is gathered.

Many of the topics he inspects involve making fine distinctions between the rights and responsibilities of the researcher and the interviewee – and sometimes between the researcher and the information that is being gathered. These issues are explored in what becomes a practical philosophic manner, so that the underlying ethical issues are brought to the surface.

He deals with the difficulties of obtaining genuinely ‘informed consent’ amongst respondents, researching vulnerable groups of people, and dealing with problems of permissions and protocols. Even the manner in which data is recorded can raise ethical issues.

He covers issues of privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, ethnocentrism, differences in gender, ethnicity, and religion, participant observation, and the disposal of data when a research project has been completed. It’s all done in a fair and even-handed manner, without any sense of taking sides or favouring the researcher.

He also looks closely at the potential – and actual – difficulties arising from the funding of research projects, of intellectual property rights, and the dissemination of research findings via publication. Although he speaks against Internet publication earlier in the book, I was surprised at this point that there was no mention of it in his discussion of plagiarism.

This will be of particular interest to students in sociology, psychology, management and organisational studies, communication studies, education, and the health service. And although the title suggests it’s for students, I can think of quite a few supervisors who would profit from considering the issues it raises.

© Roy Johnson 2005

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Paul Oliver, The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics, Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2nd edition 2010, pp.224, ISBN: 0335237975

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The Way We Write

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interviews with award-winning writers

There are any number of books on the theory of writing (Ron Kellogg, Mike Sharples, Naomi Baron) but we rarely hear from writers themselves about how they tackle this most personal of all expressive mediums and the writing techniques they use. Barbara Baker interviewed award-winning writers in a number of genres: writers of children’s fiction, novelists, play and screen writers, poets, and short story writers. And even though the interviews were conducted by phone, fax, or face to face, the editor is scrupulously absent, leaving the writers to talk for themselves. The most immediate and interesting thing is how unromantic most of them are about writing. They see the process of creation as a practical matter, and are much rooted in physical practicalities.

Writing techniquesRaymond Briggs for instance talks about how cartoon stories have to fit into thirty-two pages, because it has to be a multiple of eight because of the way paper is folded. It’s also interesting to note that the majority of the writers interviewed still write their first drafts by hand: “I write with a fountain pen and black ink. My fountain pens are very precious to me and I would never take them out of the house.” (Graham Swift). These might then be transferred to word-processors for editing, but there seems to still be a charm or intimacy about writing with pen on paper – a feeling I recognise, having just done that for this review.

Most of them like to be alone, and to write in their own workroom, no matter how cluttered or unprofessional it might be. However, the poet U.A.Fanthorpe doesn’t have a room, can write anywhere, and even uses the back of her hand if there’s no paper available. And people tempted by a puritanical ethic might keep in mind that writers as distinguished as Vladimir Nabokov, Marcel Proust, and Patrick White wrote in bed.

Julian Fellowes has some interesting things to say about writing for the screen – most notably how little directions are necessary:

One of the things I think is fatal is the film-school idea of writing the directions in very abrupt shorthand. It is impossible to read and puts off 99 people out of 100, and I cannot imagine why they tell students to do it!

Another feature which crops up amongst most of them is not knowing what the ending of a novel will be whilst they are writing it. Many just start with an idea, a character, or just an image – then work forwards.

And it’s amazing just how insecure even some of the most successful are. Margaret Dabble – Lady Holroyd – daughter of a novelist and wife of a famous biographer – speaks of “The insecurity of a writer’s position is extreme … With every [book] I think, ‘This is the one that will be turned down’.”

Some of the authors come across as incredibly smug: “Writing comes easily to me…I have a gift for language” but most of them are very modest – happy if they can find the time for writing and grateful for being published. And that majority also have one other thing in common – they find writing hard work; they go through several drafts before they are satisfied; and they are writing all the time.

Aspirant writers might take comfort from the fact that out of eighteen writers (and award-winners at that) only two had any formal training. Anyone who aspires to producing some published story, poem, novel, or screenplay will find interest and encouragement here.

© Roy Johnson 2008

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Barbara Baker (ed), The Way We Write: Interviews with Award-Winning Writers, London: Continuum, 2007, pp.234, ISBN: 0826491227

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The Weekend Novelist

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fundamental  techniques of novel-writing explained

The Weekend Novelist is a guide to novel-writing techniques which teaches by two principal features. The authors Robert J. Ray and Bret Norris (both experienced creative writing workshop tutors) first take you through the basics elements of novels by showing structure, character, and plot being created in the work of successful novelists. Then they set exercises which allow you to practise the techniques you have just learned. Actually, there’s a third strand too.

The Weekend Novelist Running through the chapters is a practical example of a novel in the process of being created – though Trophy Wives reads as if it’s going to be closer to a Jackie Collins novel rather than Nostromo or To the Lighthouse. Nevertheless, they are demonstrating for would-be novelists all the things they need to take into account. They start quite reasonably with the concept of structure, encouraging writers to sketch out diagrams of their stories.

This is backed up with some very useful analyses of novel plots, showing how they are built on standard models such as the journey, the quest, and the rise from rags to riches.

As points of reference they use contemporary fiction such as the Harry Potter novels, Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam and Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, as well as examples from classics such as Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, and The Great Gatsby.

Sometimes the advice is conveyed by emotive metaphors – “When your prose speeds up your brain catches fire. When your brain catches fire, ideas spark” – and at other times they draw heavily on a scene by scene construction technique which is drawn from the world of television and cinema.

In fact there is so much concentration on concepts such as ‘the back story’, ‘chain of events’, ‘climax’, and ‘the importance of carefully chosen objects’ that I suspect it will be just as much interest to screenwriters and dramatists.

There’s quite a lot of plot synopsis, and as a result of using the same plot lines in most of their exercises, there’s also a good deal of repetition and overlap. But the upside of this feature is that you get to consider these stories in depth, and they make you aware of the complexities and careful planning which goes into the development of a successful novel.

Given their title, I was surprised there wasn’t more advice on personal time management, but they are telling you how to write – not when. Besides which, I doubt if many people with serious designs on writing novels will limit themselves merely to free time at weekends.

The approach is very encouraging and hand-holding. You need to plan, plan, plan. Then write, stick at it, and be prepared to revise and edit.

It’s realistic, because it realises you don’t have all the time in the world. And it urges you repeatedly not to sit staring out of the window, but to get pen to paper, fingers to keyboard. Their advice is a mixture of writing techniques, warnings, and encouragement. All you need to do is follow it, and you could have a best-seller on your hands.

© Roy Johnson 2005

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Robert J. Ray and Bret Norris, The Weekend Novelist, London: A & C Black, 2005, pp.268, ISBN: 0713671432

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The writer’s marketplace

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a selection of resources

You’ve written a short story, a novel, poems, your memoirs, or even an article on goldfish or steam engines. The problem is, how to get your work published? How can you find a publisher who will accept what you have produced? You need to be aware of the writer’s marketplace.

If you’ve had a preliminary stab at this, you’ve no doubt received a few rejection slips. Don’t be put off. Everybody gets them. It is not necessarily to do with the quality of your work. It’s much more likely to be a question of matching what you have to offer with what a publisher is looking for. Publishers have audiences and markets. They want to supply these markets with the products which sell.

Some publishers specialise in antiques, travel, or local history; others concentrate on modern fiction, historical fiction, or science fiction. You need to match what you have to offer with what they are looking for. It’s no good sending your family saga to a publisher who specialises in chic lit or travel guides. And if the latest fad in publishing is for Running Over Lemons from a House in Provence – that’s what they will be looking for.

However, many long term best-sellers have been written for niche audiences – such as Walter Wainwright’s walking guides to the Lake District, or Elizabeth David’s cookbooks. So the first thing to do is get to know your market. Fortunately, this problem has been around so long that there are now several excellent books on the market to help you with all the issues involved.

Writer's MarketplaceThe Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook
Without doubt, this is the most successful. It’s a number one best-seller which offers details of publishers, agents, and outlets in the US and UK. It tells you what they are looking for, where to contact them, and how to submit your work. But the real value for beginners is in the short essays offering advice to would-be writers and media workers which punctuate the listings. They cover fiction and poetry; drama scripts for TV, radio, theatre, and film; graphic illustration and design; plus photography and music.

The other features which make it particularly useful are general information on publishing methods, copyright and libel, income tax and allowances, and a list of annual competitions and their prizes. Recent editions have also included lists of the year’s bestsellers – including both the number of copies sold and the amount of money they’ve made. It is issued annually, and gets bigger each year.
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writer's marketplaceThe Writer’s Handbook
Barry Turner’s rival book does much the same thing – but focuses its attention on writers, and covers a slightly broader spread of media. In addition to the key areas of UK and US book publishers and agents, magazines, screen writing, TV and radio, theatre, film and video and poetry, this edition contains features on the appeal of biography; the uses and abuses of the English language; the challenges and rewards of self-publishing; writing poetry; and media contracts. This is well worth considering as an alternative.

Both of these books have extensive listings of all the outlets for creative work – fiction, journalism, sound broadcasting, photography, reporting, and editing. They also include mini-essays on various aspects of the publishing business, advising you how to place your work, where to find agents, and even how to sort out your tax problems after you hit the jackpot.
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writer's marketplaceThe Guardian Media Directory
If your writing is more geared to the mainstream media – newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, the Guardian annual directory is establishing itself as the major source of advice. It lists the addresses, phone numbers, websites and key personnel for companies in every sector of the media, from digital television to magazines, regional newspapers to publishing houses, think tanks to charities. This edition contains over 10,000 contacts and has been redesigned throughout.

There are lots of resources for writers on the Internet: the problem is knowing where to find them. Even trawling through search engine results can be time-consuming, and sometimes a dispiriting experience. Thank goodness then when somebody else has done all the research and written up the results.
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writer's marketplaceThe Internet: A Writer’s Guide
The main strength of Jane Dorner’s guide is that she is a professional writer who practices what she writes about. She writes for print and screen, and promotes her work via a personal web site. This book explores both the new opportunities for writers created by the Internet and the practicalities of publishing on your own site.

She touches on writing groups which exist in the form of mailing lists, websites, newsletters, chat groups, and conferences, and she also deals with eBooks plus annotated lists of all the sources a writer could possibly wish for – from libraries to bookshops, dictionaries to writing circles, newspapers to writing style guides, electronic publishers to free Internet service providers.
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Writer’s Market
This provides no-nonsense advice and authoritative guidance you need to get published and to get paid. With updated listings and ‘need-to-know’ publishing advice, Writer’s Market gives writers over 4,000 listings for consumer magazines, book publishers, trade journals, and contests and awards. It also includes complete contact information for fifty top literary agents.

There are dynamic interviews with established writers, plus publishers, editors and successful freelancers. This is essential publishing information and advice, including pay rates, a guide to book publisher imprints and valuable self-marketing tips. If you want to find out what’s available, or if you are really serious about placing what you have written with a commercial publisher – then sooner or later you will need one of these books. There are others, but these are the best; and every professional writer I have known has one or more of them on the shelf.
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writer's marketplaceWriters’ Questions and Answers
Writers who wish to publish their work are often baffled by some of the mysteries of the publishing process itself. How can you get the attention of a publisher? Do you need an agent? How much can you expect to get paid? Should you submit an outline – or the complete work? Gordon Wells’ book answers these question, plus lots more which are frequently asked by people trying to get a foothold in the world of published writing.

The press always seems to have stories of first-time authors who have been paid a five or six-figure advance for their first novel. But those who have tried to do the same thing know that it’s a far more common experience to be dealing with rejection slips. How do you break into this seemingly charmed world?

Well, these guidance notes certainly tell you how to learn from rejection – and what to do about it. The advice is all practical, realistic, and based on the clear-eyed realisation that if you wish to succeed in this extremely competitive world – you need to know how it works.

Wells tackles all the most frequently asked questions – Who is the best person to approach with your masterpiece? Does vanity publishing work? What makes a best-seller? What if somebody poaches your ideas? Which publishers pay best?

If you want to move beyond the comforts of your local writers’ circle into the world of commercial publishing, you should read what he has to say. Keep dreams of success in mind by all means, but take the trouble to learn how professional writers actually work.
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The Writer's MarketWriter’s Market UK 2009
This is a huge, 1,000 page compendium of advice, resources, and detailed information on how writers can locate markets and get their work into print. It has feature articles written by well-known authors giving advice on breaking into print. These are surrounded by listings of publishers, magazines, literary agents, and broadcast outlets. Then come specialized resources such as prizes and competitions, bursaries and fellowships, writers groups, and web sites.

The feature articles are precisely the sort of advice that aspirant writers are most likely to want and need. How to tackle the various genres of fiction writing: the short story, children’s writing, crime, and the novel. What agents and publishers are looking for – and how to approach them. Writing for radio, the Web, newspapers and magazines are all covered well,

There are essays on how books are designed, financed, and marketed, plus why you should know about contracts and legal issues. There are articles on the odd but very profitable field of ghost writing, and when you have made lots of money how to deal with agents, and how to promote your work once it’s published.

There are huge listings of bursaries, prizes, competitions, writers’ foundations, and all sorts of support to help the struggling want-to-be. And testing it out for being up to date, I found all sorts of on line resources for would-be writers: magazines, forums, self-help groups, web sites full of resources, writing software, plus competitions and prizes.

Given the differences in page and font sizes, it’s difficult to do a direct quantitative comparison with its two main rivals, but having looked through all three recently, I’d say that this gives the other two a very good run for their money.
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© Roy Johnson 2009

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Titles in essays

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sample from HTML program and PDF book

1. Publications of book length such as text books or novels should normally be presented by giving their titles in italics. [In hand-written essays, this will be denoted by underlining].

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
R.G. Lipman’s Positive Ergonomics

2. When using a word-processor you should use italics for titles (with bold reserved for special emphasis). Remember to be consistent throughout your document, and do not combine any of these attributes.

3. You should not combine underlining or italics with quotation marks.

4. The titles of short stories and songs are indicated by single quote marks:

Katherine Mansfield’s short story ‘The Voyage’
Kurt Weil’s show tune ‘September Song’

5. Thus, James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ is a celebrated short story, but his long novel Ulysses is even more famous.

6. When offering book titles in references and endnotes the sequence of information given is as follows:

AUTHOR—TITLE—PUBLISHER—DATE—PAGE

Valerie Shaw, The Short Story, Longman, 1983, p.56.

If you are using the Harvard system of referencing, remember to put the date of publication after the author’s name.

7. The titles of individual poems are indicated by using roman type and single quote marks, thus:

W.H.Auden’s ‘Night Mail’
Browning’s ‘Pippa Passes’

8. Where a long poem has been published on its own, it may be indicated as a book, thus:

T.S.Eliot’s The Waste Land
Milton’s Paradise Lost

9. Where a number of poems has been collected as a group, they are treated as a book, as follows:

‘Tess’s Lament’ is one of the poems in Thomas Hardy’s 1903 collection, Poems of the Past and the Present.

10. You should always make a clear distinction between fictional characters and books which are named after them. David Copperfield is a fictional character, whereas David Copperfield is the novel which bears his name. The same is true of Middlemarch (the fictional town) and Middlemarch (the novel).

11. Plays are indicated in the same way as novels, because they are usually published in single volume form.

Oscar Wilde’s play, Lady Windermere’s Fan
Shakespeare’s The Tempest

12. Magazines, newspapers, and journals are indicated in the same way as books:

The Economist     The Daily Telegraph
Architectural Review     English Studies

13. Individual articles from within these separate publications are indicated by single quotation marks and roman type, as follows:

A.B. Smith’s review article ‘Foreign Practices’ in The Observer business section of 27 October 1991.

14. The titles of films, radio and television programmes are also indicated by italics:

Double Indemnity     Round the Horne
Newsnight     World in Action

15. This convention also applies to the names of famous operas, ballets, paintings and sculptures:

The Magic Flute     Swan Lake
The Night Watch     David

16. When the title of a work includes mention of another book title, the second title should be placed in single quotation marks:

A.B. Smith, The Textual Development of ‘King Lear’, New York: Scholarship Press, 1986.

17. Notice that capital letters are used in the first word and any other important words of titles. Less important words such as ‘and’, ‘of’, and ‘in’ are not capitalised:

The Power and the Glory
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

18. The titles of works which are stored in electronic form will follow similar conventions, but are described separately.

19. Sometimes in documents stored as web pages, bold is used instead of italics because it shows up better on screen.

20. Whichever conventions you use, you should be consistent throughout your document.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Tone in essays

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sample from HTML program and PDF book

1. The tone in essays or any other piece of writing can be roughly defined as ‘the author’s attitude to the subject – as manifest in the writing’. In academic essays (unless you have been instructed otherwise) you should adopt a tone which is neutral and objective. Your attitude to the subject should be serious and formal.

2. For instance, too much use of ‘I think that…’ and ‘I feel that…’ has the effect of making an essay too personal and subjective in its tone, as in this example:

‘I think that E.H. Carr is a really brilliant historian, and when I first started reading his book The Bolshevik Revolution I suddenly felt … ‘

3. This approach is also likely to encourage a casual and conversational style, which is inappropriate in a formal essay.

4. Avoid using features such as slang (‘far-out’) contractions (‘can’t’ or ‘they’ll’) and vogue words (‘situation’, ‘ongoing’, ‘fantastic’) which create a tone which is too chatty and casual.

5. Avoid the use of ‘I think’ and ‘I believe’ by substituting impersonal expressions such as ‘It seems that…Carr argues that…but there is now increasingly good evidence to show that…’

6. The following example illustrates an inappropriate tone which combines chattiness with writing in note form. It is from a student essay on ‘The Origins of the Industrial Revolution’.

Easy access to raw materials – coal, iron, etc. And cheap labour too (all exploited of course!). Then inland waterways and the building of the ship canal. Lots of good markets overseas as well.

7. These notes should be expanded and expressed as grammatically complete sentences in a manner such as this:

In that part of the North West there was easy access to raw materials such as coal and iron. The sources of labour were also cheap at that time since there was such unchecked exploitation. A system of inland water ways provided good transportation. This was especially true following the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. In addition, Britain in the nineteenth century had access to (and in some cases a monopoly of) a number of overseas markets.

8. A manner of expression which is direct, simple, and clear is preferable to one which is flamboyant or wordy. Keep your sentences short and to the point. ‘He sent for the doctor’ is more direct than ‘He called into requisition the services of the family physician.’

9. Some people imagine that an ornate or flamboyant manner is necessary in order to create a good impression. This is not true. In fact the opposite is the case. Too many flourishes or a sense or wordiness will weaken your essay. Adopt a plain, straightforward prose style. Remember that academic essays are not exercises in creative writing. You will not give your work a sense of purpose or seriousness simply by adding literary decoration. Even when one is sorely tempted – one should eschew the grandiloquent. [That’s a deliberately bad example, by the way!]

10. All this is not a killjoy injunction against writing which is stylistically attractive. If you write fluently and include the occasional well-turned phrase, then your work will be more pleasant to read. If you are in any doubt however — Keep it plain and simple.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Topics in essays

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1. Topics are distinct units of meaning. They are normally sub-divisions of a subject, but they can sometimes stand as the purpose of an essay in their own right.

2. For instance, if the subject of an essay was ‘government’, the separate topics for discussion might be ‘finance and taxation’, ‘law-making’, ‘public health’, and ‘international diplomacy’. Each one of these however might, in a different context, be a subject on its own.

3. If ‘international diplomacy’ became the main subject of an essay, this might be considered by sub-dividing it into topics such as ‘government policy’, ‘political history’, ‘trade and industry’, and ‘foreign relations’.

4. In most essays, the subject in question can and should be broken down into a series of separate topics. These are then arranged in some persuasive or logical order at the planning stage to form your argument.

5. Remember that each paragraph normally deals with a separate topic. This should be signalled (usually by a ‘topic sentence’) at the outset. Its relevance to the subject in question should also be explained as part of the argument.

6. In the following essay plan the main subject is ‘French wine’ and the topics to be discussed are Loire wines, Bordeaux wines, Cotes du Rhone wines, and Burgundy wines.

Introduction

Loire
* red wine
* white wine

Bordeaux
* red wine
* white wine

Cotes du Rhone
* red wine
* white wine

Bugundy
* red wine
* white wine

Conclusion

7. In the following essay plan the main subject is ‘Congestion charging in city centres’, and the topics to be covered are – traffic density, ecology, economy, and politics.

Introduction

Part One – In favour of congestion charges
* [traffic] reduces volume
* [ecology] less air pollution
* [economy] generates local income
* [politics] positive social control

Part Two – Against congestion charges
* [traffic] public transport alternatives
* [ecology] transfers problem elsewhere
* [economy] reduces profitable activity
* [politics] punishes tax-payers

Conclusion

© Roy Johnson 2003

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