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IV. A
FEW MATTERS OF FORM
Headings. Leave a blank line, or its equivalent in space, after the
title or heading of a manuscript. On succeeding pages, if using ruled paper,
begin on the first line.
Numerals. Do not spell out dates or other serial numbers. Write
them in figures or in Roman notation, as may be appropriate.
- August 9, 1918
- Rule 3
- Chapter XII
- 352d Infantry
Parentheses. A sentence containing an expression in parenthesis is
punctuated, outside of the marks of parenthesis, exactly as if the
expression in parenthesis were absent. The expression within is punctuated
as if it stood by itself, except that the final stop is omitted unless it is
a question mark or an exclamation point.
- I went to his house yesterday (my third attempt to see him), but
he had left town.
- He declares (and why
should we doubt his good faith?) that he is now certain of success.
(When a wholly detached expression or sentence is parenthesized, the
final stop comes before the last mark of parenthesis.)
Quotations. Formal quotations, cited as documentary evidence, are
introduced by a colon and enclosed in quotation marks.
- The provision of the Constitution is: "No tax or duty shall
be laid on articles exported from any state."
Quotations grammatically in apposition or the direct objects of verbs are
preceded by a comma and enclosed in quotation marks.
- I recall the maxim of La
Rochefoucauld, "Gratitude is a
lively sense of benefits to come." Aristotle says, "Art is
an imitation of nature."
Quotations of an entire line, or more, of verse, are begun on a fresh
line and centered, but not enclosed in quotation marks.
- Wordsworth's enthusiasm for the Revolution was at first unbounded:
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven!
Quotations introduced by that are regarded as in indirect discourse and
not enclosed in quotation marks.
- Keats declares that beauty is truth, truth beauty.
Proverbial expressions and familiar phrases of literary origin require no
quotation marks.
- These are the times that try men's souls.
He lives far from the madding crowd.
The same is true of colloquialisms and slang.
References. In scholarly work requiring exact references,
abbreviate titles that occur frequently, giving the full forms in an
alphabetical list at the end. As a general practice, give the references in
parenthesis or in footnotes, not in the body of the sentence. Omit the words
act, scene, line, book, volume, page, except when referring by only one
of them. Punctuate as indicated below.
- In the second scene of the third act
- After the killing of
Polonius, Hamlet is placed under guard (IV.
ii. 14).
- 2 Samuel i:17-27
- In III.ii (still better, simply insert III.ii in parenthesis at
the proper place in the sentence)
- Othello II.iii 264-267,
III.iii. 155-161
Titles. For the titles of literary works, scholarly usage prefers
italics with capitalized initials. The usage of editors and publishers
varies, some using italics with capitalized initials, others using Roman
with capitalized initials and with or without quotation marks. Use italics
(indicated in manuscript by underscoring), except in writing for a
periodical that follows a different practice. Omit initial A or The
from titles when you place the possessive before them.
- The Iliad; the Odyssey;
As You Like It; To
a Skylark; The Newcomes; A Tale of Two Cities; Dickens's Tale
of Two Cities.
William
Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946).
The Elements of Style. 1918.
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