Recommendations, please...

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Ade Hill

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Can anyone suggest an advanced grammar book, a gem that may not be one of the usual suspects? I am surrounded by them: The Elements of Style, Eats Shoots and Leaves, etc.. I want to get extraordinarily good. I am not there yet, for I just earned my girlfriend a C on her English 101 essay. The rules are coming into focus, but there is much to learn. Thank you in advance.

- Mikey
 

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See Ari's post, but also look for any of the handbooks by Diana Hacker. You can find them used online for cheap.

These are manuals about grammar and prose style designed for college freshmen. They're good. My personal favorite is Hacker's A Writer's Reference.

That said, if I'm reading your post and you wrote someone's essay for them, that's very very very much a problem.
 

Maryn

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I'm a big fan of the St. Martin's Handbook, which is detailed enough to answer 95% of my questions. (Luckily I have Chase and others here for the rest.) It's factual and makes no attempt to entertain or be cutely memorable. Each rule has multiple examples, which is sometimes useful to me.

The current eighth edition is pricey (and oddly, costs less in hardcover than paperback), but any time one comes out, the previous edition gets quite cheap--and will do you just fine. I think I paid five or six bucks for the edition I use. Used copies are frequently available, too, as someone graduates and doesn't think they'll ever need to write well again. Who knows, maybe they're right?

Maryn, still learning this stuff, hoping to be literate before her death
 

Ari Meermans

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I'd like to take a moment here to try to dispel any idea that Sin & Syntax might fall under the category of "cutely memorable". The title is eye-catching, to be sure, as is the initial build-up. The basic premise of the book, though, is to help writers understand the purpose of grammar as that of a framework (the bones) on which our prose (the flesh) hangs. That the purpose of each of the rules of grammar must first be understood before you can make it work for you—there is no question of that left open in Sin & Syntax. Where Syn & Syntax departs from the dry grammars we're accustomed to is in the detailed examples of passages of writing we're all familiar with as readers—novels, famous speeches such as Dr. King's, and other works—instead of the usual examples of short common sentences and phrases we've already seen countless times. Each passage is dissected and an explanation of why it works is provided. In my opinion, that is what makes it more intelligible and memorable for the busy writer.
 

Maryn

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This thread is making me want all the titles mentioned. Think Santa knows I haven't been especially good?
 

Ade Hill

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I am guilty of that offense, but her essay was like um, you know... like um totally too short and omg it was like so off topic, but she will make a wonderful nurse. I weighed the consequences. If doctors refuse to learn 3rd grade penmanship, I think she can slide on a cause and effect essay.
 
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Ade Hill

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Maryn, thank you very much for the suggestion and for napping on the opportunity to moralistically trounce me
 

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I am guilty of that offense, but her essay was like um, you know... like um totally too short and omg it was like so off topic, but she will make a wonderful nurse. I weighed the consequences. If doctors refuse to learn 3rd grade penmanship, I think she can slide on a cause and effect essay.

Maryn, thank you very much for the suggestion and for napping on the opportunity to moralistically trounce me

Dude I run this server and this forum.

We routinely perm ban people who work for essay mills and shill here.

We've banned people who are asking for help completing a student's homework for pay.

A nurse who cheats on an essay may cheat again—possibly on something much more important.

Like her RN exams. Or worse. You still think it's OK? Because you're supposed to have ethics to be a nurse.

If you assist your girl friend in plagiarism, where do you draw the line for yourself?

Are you going to plagiarize again for her benefit or your own?

Am I supposed to tell writers that it was just that one time? Am I supposed to give you access to SYW? The access you appear to be making a dash for?

So it's not just "moralistically trouncing" [sic]; it's an issue of protecting the community, and frankly, I'm showing you the door.
 
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