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The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
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You Are Here: Books About Antiques > Blue Books > Item 341 of 480
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$9.00
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Available from Amazon
Price Last Updated : 7-30-2008
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Features
Paperback: 68 pages
Publisher: Jane Straus/Bare Bones; 7th edition February 2001
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0966722167
ISBN-13: 978-0966722161
Product Dimensions:
10.9 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
Kate Russell - BBC World/Click Online
Clearly presentedgreat for remembering the rules--such as where to place the apostrophe when dealing with possessive nouns.
Internet Cool Guide
Handpicked as one of the best referencesits explanations are straightforward and perfectly logical--it solved our who/whom usage questions forever.
Reader Reviews
Reading the praise of other readers, I expected a clear and concise book of rules to use with the English language. There are rules, such as, "'that' introduces essential clauses[,] while 'which' introduces non-essential clauses." Nobody in the English language uses phrases like 'essential' and 'non-essential' phrases. Notions like 'restrictive' and 'non-restrictive' clauses are wholly absent, replaced by the author's own clever, but largely private, jargon. Many of the rules are given without explaining the reason for English use in a certain way. Some of the rules seem so obvious as to be silly: "Use concrete rather than vague language." The rules for the use of 'effect' versus 'affect' are almost unintelligible. For example, "If none of the above [rules] fit, use 'affect.'" The two words have different uses that are clear to delineate, so why the abstraction by exclusion? Or, how about the rule, "Use commas to set off expressions that interrupt the folow of the sentence," which is used instead of a 'parenthetic phrase', which would have much more meaning. It's this avoidance of the classical language of grammar that is perhaps most annoying, but there are plenty of omissions that are equally affecting. Much attention is spent on the distinction between whomever and whoever (words not commonly used, and the reasons given are not all that clear). Even some illustrations are wrong. One example is: "I expect five hundred dollars ($500)," wherein the phrase "five-hundred" should be hypenated. When it comes to punctuation, no mention is made of brackets within parenthesis. With these many grievances, it is simply not possible to rate this grammar book highly. There are simply too many problems with grammatical rules, examples used as illustrations that are wrong, too many punctuation rules omitted, and absolutely nothing on style (as in "Elements of Style" by Funk and White). If someone wants a more detailed "Elements of Style" that concerns only grammar, I recommend the use of Blanche Ellsworth's "English Simplified," Fifth Edition (San Francisco: Harper & Row).
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The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus
Available from Amazon
Price: $9.00
on 7-30-2008
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