Exercise 2

Notice carefully the following quotations and sentences and capitalize every word that should begin with a capital letter.

  1. iron, the twin brother of fire, the first born out of the matrix of the earth, a witness everlasting to the glory of thy labor, am i, o man.
  2. therefore i say unto you, banish fear from your hearts.
  3. but ye, plebs, populists, people, rebels, mob, proletariat, live and abide forever.
  4. and they came here from all parts of the earth, the syrians and the armenians, the thracians and the tartars, the jews, the greeks and the romans, the gauls and the angles and the huns and the hibernians, even from the deserts of the sands to the deserts of ice they came to listen unto his words.
  5. marx and engels wrote the communist manifesto.
  6. its closing words are; working men of all countries unite.
  7. italy was the last of the great powers of europe to become involved in the war.
  8. john randolph submitted an amendment to the constitution providing that the judges of the supreme court of the united states shall be removed by the president on the joint address of both houses of congress.
  9. eugene v. debs spent six months in woodstock jail for exercising his right of free speech.
  10. col. the abbreviation for colorado, is easily confused with cal. the abbreviation for california.
  11. the people's college is a college maintained by the working class.
  12. william jennings bryan won his first nomination for president of the united states by a very dramatic speech delivered in the national democratic convention.
  13. marion craig wentworth, a socialist playwright, has written a play called "war brides."
  14. the play closes with these words; a message to the emperor: i refuse to bear my child until you promise there shall be no more war.
  15. olive schreiner's "woman and labor" is full of fascinating thought.

Exercise 3

Notice carefully the use of capitals in the following quotations, and determine the reason for the use of every capital:

As the nobles of England wrung their independence from King John, and as the tradesmen of France broke through the ring of privilege enclosing the Three Estates; so today the millions who serve society in arduous labor on the highways, and aloft on the scaffoldings, and by the sides of the whirring machines, are demanding that they, too, and their children, shall enjoy all of the blessings that justify and make beautiful this life.—Frank Walsh.

"The toad beneath the harrow knows

Exactly where the tooth-point goes.

The butterfly beside the road

Doth preach contentment to that toad."

"When I came here, it was said that the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company voted every man and woman in their employ without any regard to their being naturalized or not; and even their mules, it used to be remarked, were registered if they were fortunate enough to possess names." From a letter written by Mr. L. M. Bowers, Chairman of The Board of Directors of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, to the Secretary of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., under date of May 13, 1913.

Master, I've done Thy bidding, wrought in Thy many lands.

Not by my sins wilt Thou judge me, but by the work of my hands.

Master, I've done Thy bidding, and the light is low in the west,

And the long, long shift is over ... Master, I've earned it—Rest.

It's O! to be a slave

Along with the barbarous Turk,

Where woman has never a soul to save,

If this is Christian work!

While there is a lower class, I am in it.

While there is a criminal element, I am of it.

While there is a soul in jail, I am not free.

When Adam delved and Eve span,

Who was then the gentleman?

The vilest deeds, like poison weeds,

Bloom well in prison-air;

It is only what is good in man

That wastes and withers there:

Pale Anguish keeps the heavy gate,

And the Warder is Despair.

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS

485. There are a number of words which we abbreviate or contract, in our every-day use. A contraction is a shortened form of the word used to save time or space and is made by omitting a letter or letters. The apostrophe is used to indicate the omission in a contracted word. As, for example:

When the word is contracted in this way and the apostrophe is used, these contractions are not followed by the period but are used just as the completely written word would be used. There is no accepted list of these contractions. We devise them according to our need at the moment.

An abbreviation, however, is an authorized contraction of the word. It is the shortening of a term which is habitually used to save time and space. The apostrophe is not used and the abbreviation should be followed by a period. As for example:

These abbreviations and contractions are very helpful to us in saving time and space but should not be used too frequently. Too many contractions or abbreviations make writing ridiculous. Take time to write out the majority of words. Only use abbreviations or contractions for certain accepted words. Avoid an excessive use of abbreviations.