The Century Handbook of Writing

by Garland Greever; Easley S. Jones

[g.] Avoid detailed subordination. Especially avoid a single subheading when it can be joined to the preceding line, or omitted.

• Too detailed:
  • The McClellan Orchard
    • Situation
      • On a northern slope
    • Nature of soil
      • Sandy
    • Kind of fruit
      • Apple
      • Cherry
• Right:
  • The McClellan Orchard
    • Situation: a northern slope
    • Nature of soil: sandy
    • Kind of fruit: apple and cherry

Exercise:

1. Give a title to an outline which shall include the following topics. Group the topics under two main headings, and give the headings names.
   1. Uses of the grape
   2. The Vine
   3. The Fruit Itself
   4. How Marketed
   5. How Cultivated
2. Place in order the sentences of the following outline on "Why Keep a Diary?" Subordinate some of the headings to others.
   1. A diary affords great satisfaction in future years.
   2. We sometimes record in a diary information which proves useful.
   3. A few lines a day will suffice.
   4. A diary is not hard to keep.
   5. We may find time for writing in our diary if we do not waste time at the table or on newspapers.
   6. We may write in our diary just before we go to bed.
   7. A diary will bring back the past.
   8. We all have some moments to kill.
   9. A diary gives us pleasure even in the present.
3. Place in order the headings of the following outline on "Ulysses S. Grant." Subordinate some of the headings to others.
   1. Obscurity in 1861
   2. Prominence in 1865
   3. Patience
   4. President
   5. General
   6. Perseverance and Resolution
   7. Character
   8. The Turning Point in His Career

[Letters]

The parts of a letter are the heading, the inside address, the greeting, the body, the close, and the signature. For these parts good use prescribes definite forms, which we may sometimes ignore in personal letters, but must rigidly observe in formal or business letters.

[87a.] The heading of a letter should give the full address of the writer and the date of writing. Do not abbreviate short words, or omit Street or Avenue.

• Objectionable: #15 Hickory, Omaha.
• Right: 15 Hickory Street, Omaha, Nebraska.
• Objectionable: 4/12/19; 10-28-'16; May 2nd, 1910.
• Right: April 12, 1919; October 28, 1916; May 2, 1910.
• The following headings are correct:
  • 106 East Race Street,
    Red Oak, Iowa,
    August 4, 1916.
  • 423 Michigan Avenue
    Chicago, Illinois
    May 20, 1918
  • Prescott, Arizona, June 1, 1920.

[Note.]—In personal letters the heading may be transferred to the end, below the signature, at the left-hand side. But it must not be so divided that the street address will appear in one place and the town and state in another.

The "closed" form of punctuation (the use of punctuation at the ends of the lines) is best until the student learns what is correct. Afterward, the adoption of the "open" form becomes purely a matter of individual taste and not a matter of carelessness or ignorance.