Plain English
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Plain English, by Marian Wharton
E-text prepared by Mark C. Orton, Anita Hammond, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
By MARIAN WHARTON
For the Education of the Workers by the Workers
PUBLISHED BY THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE FORT SCOTT, KANSAS 1917
¶ He who aspires to master the art of expression must first of all consecrate himself completely to some great cause and the greatest cause of all is the cause of humanity. He must learn to feel deeply and think clearly, to express himself eloquently. He must be absolutely true to the best there is in him, if he has to stand alone.
¶ Such natural powers as he may have should be cultivated by the study of history, science and literature. He must not only keep close to the people but remember that he is one of them, and not above the meanest. He must feel the wrongs of others so keenly that he forgets his own, and resolve to combat these wrongs with all the power at his command.
¶ The most thrilling, inspiring oratory, the most powerful and impressive eloquence is the voice of the disinherited, the oppressed, the suffering and submerged; it is the voice of poverty and misery, of rags and crusts, of wretchedness and despair; the voice of humanity crying to the infinite; the voice that resounds throughout the earth and reaches Heaven; the voice that awakens the conscience of a race and proclaims the truths that fill the world with life and liberty and love.
—EUGENE V. DEBS.
Every generation has added a little to the store of truth of which the human race has possessed itself throughout the long sweep of the centuries. Every truth expressed and preserved by those who lived in the past, is a contribution which enriches the lives of those who live in the present. We, as members of the human race, are not separate atoms independent of the universe, but we are atoms of it. We are the product of all time, and partake of the truth of all preceding generations, in which the power to express ideas and preserve them has existed.
Marian Wharton
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PLAIN ENGLISH
PLAIN ENGLISH
Open Letter
USE YOUR DICTIONARY
OUR LANGUAGE
WHEN WE BEGIN TO THINK
OUR EXPRESSION
THE THOUGHT AND THE WORD
A COMPLETE THOUGHT
Exercise 2
SUBJECT AND PREDICATE
SPELLING
WORDS—THEIR USES
Exercise 2
WORDS THAT ASSERT
WORDS ADDED TO VERBS
Exercise 2
WORDS USED IN PLACE OF NOUNS
PREPOSITIONS
CONJUNCTIONS
INTERJECTIONS
SPELLING
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
ABSTRACT NOUNS
Exercise 2
POSSESSIVE FORM
Exercise 2
INCOMPLETE VERBS
PAST TIME
Exercise 2
DOING DOUBLE WORK
LET US SUM UP
PERFECT TIME
PAST PERFECT
Exercise 2
LET US SUM UP
VERBS—SUMMARY
TIME FORMS
TENSE
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
Exercise 2
PARTICIPLE PHRASES
Exercise 2
DON'TS FOR INFINITIVES
SHOULD AND WOULD
Exercise 2
MAY AND MIGHT
CAN AND COULD
THE VERB "BE"
A FREQUENT MISTAKE
WITH HELPING VERBS
Exercise 2
PAST TIME FORMS
VERBS OF SIMILAR FORM
COMMON ERRORS
IN PLACE OF A NOUN
COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS
SINGULAR AND PLURAL
Exercise 2
POSSESSIVE FORM
POSSESSIVE FORM
OBJECT FORM
GENDER
PERSONIFICATION
REMEMBER
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
COMMON ERRORS
Exercise 2
CLASSES OF ADJECTIVES
QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES
LIMITING ADJECTIVES
Exercise 2
ARTICLES
INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES
INDEFINITES
SPELLING
ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS
ADJECTIVES AS NOUNS
ADJECTIVES WITH PRONOUNS
COMPARISON
DESCENDING COMPARISON
PARTICIPLES AS ADJECTIVES
PARTICIPLE PHRASES
USES OF ADJECTIVES
Exercise 2
WORDS ADDED TO VERBS
HOW TO TELL ADVERBS
Exercise 2
CLASSES OF ADVERBS
INTERROGATIVE ADVERBS
PHRASE ADVERBS
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
NOUNS AS ADVERBS
POSITION OF ADVERBS
Exercise 2
ADVERBS AND INFINITIVES
COMMON ERRORS
DO NOT USE TOO MANY ADVERBS
USED AS ADVERBS
Exercise 2
PREPOSITIONS
ADVERBS AND PREPOSITIONS
PHRASE PREPOSITIONS
A GOVERNING WORD
COMMON ERRORS
THE PREPOSITION WITH VERBS
Exercise 2
Exercise 2
CLASSES OF CONJUNCTIONS
CO-ORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS
NOUNS
PRONOUNS
VERBS
ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS
PHRASES
CORRELATIVES
CLASSES OF SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS
SUMMARY
PHRASE CONJUNCTIONS
Exercise 2
NOUN CLAUSES
THE INTRODUCING WORD
Exercise 2
WHICH RELATIVE PRONOUN TO USE
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH CONJUNCTIONS
THE LITTLE WORD "AS"
CONNECTIVE WORDS
Exercise 2
EXCLAMATORY WORDS
YES AND NO
OTHER INDEPENDENT EXPRESSIONS
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION
SPELLING
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
THREE KINDS OF SENTENCES
ANALYSIS—SIMPLE SENTENCES
ANOTHER ELEMENT
COPULATIVE VERBS
THE COMPLETE PREDICATE
THE OBJECT OF THE VERB
VERBS OF STATE OR CONDITION
Exercise 2
MODIFIERS OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
SPELLING
COMPLEX SENTENCES
KINDS OF DEPENDENT CLAUSES
NOUN CLAUSES
Exercise 2
ADVERB CLAUSES
ANALYZING COMPLEX SENTENCES
KINDS OF COMPOUND SENTENCES
Exercise 2
SENTENCE ANALYSIS
SUMMARY
ESSENTIALS OF A SIMPLE SENTENCE
THE SUBJECT
THE PREDICATE
SIMPLE SUBJECT ENLARGED
SIMPLE PREDICATE ENLARGED
RULES FOR THE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS
Exercise 2
COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS
THE COMMA
WORDS WHICH FORM A SERIES
CLAUSES USED IN A SERIES
THE SEMI-COLON
RULES FOR THE USE OF THE SEMI-COLON
RULES FOR THE USE OF THE COLON
RULES FOR THE USE OF THE PERIOD
Exercise 2
PATIENTS or PATIENCE
NEGLIGENCE or NEGLECT
OBSERVANCE or OBSERVATION
RELATIVES or RELATIONS
SECTS or SEX
STATUE or STATUTE
THE INTERROGATION POINT
THE DASH
PARENTHESIS
OTHER USES OF THE PARENTHESIS
THE BRACKET
THE QUOTATION WITHIN A QUOTATION
PUNCTUATION WITH QUOTATION MARKS
THE APOSTROPHE
ADDITIONAL MARKS OF PUNCTUATION
MARKS OF ELLIPSIS
MARKS OF REFERENCE
THE END AND THE BEGINNING
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