A TEXTBOOK FOR COMMERCIAL AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS BY WILLIAM R. BOWLIN, Ph. B. INSTRUCTOR IN ENGLISH, LINDBLOOM HIGH SCHOOL, CHICAGO AND GEORGE L. MARSH, Ph. D. ASSOCIATE Professor of english, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1918 BY SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY M. L. Agric. BOOKWALTER-BALL-GREATHOUSE PRINTING COMPANY PRINTING AND BINDING INDIANAPOLIS TO THE TEACHER Each year it becomes more difficult for an American to "get along in the world" unless he speaks and writes good English. This book is an attempt to provide the main essentials of an English training sufficient for competent work in any ordinary vocation. Part One presents the principles of correct English-the laws of the language as to word formation, spelling, punctuation, and, above all, correct sentence making. The student who thoroughly masters Part One will not make the common blunders that mar the writing even of many college studentsblunders that sometimes give rise to the charge that our education fails to prepare young people for business. Part Two provides for practice in composition, both oral and written, of the kinds most directly useful in everyday life. It is not intended that Part One as a whole shall precede Part Two in teaching. Both parts will naturally be used to some extent side by side, the teacher assigning composition work from Part Two along with study of the principles developed in Part One. The following specific suggestions as to the use of the book may be helpful: (1) The first seven chapters make an obvious natural unit, providing a review of the grammatical foundation for correct speaking and writing. This study begins with the sentence and its main elements, because the fundamental necessity of intelligible composition is proper sentence structure. (2), Chapter VIII (Punctuation) can be used at any time after the student has a fair knowledge of correct sentence making, and will be valuable for reference throughout the course. (3) Chapters IX-XI inclusive may be studied at the teacher's discretion in relation to other parts of the work; but the word study of Chapter IX will be helpful as a basis for the spelling review in Chapter X. 478138 (4) Chapter XII is merely a source for exercises, which the teacher will assign whenever they fit. (5) The first few chapters of Part Two provide for a large amount of simple and practical composition, with a minimum of technical theory. The main essentials as to planning and paragraphing are given in Chapter XIV; practice directed toward the securing of good sentence structure is provided by the exercises of Chapter XVI; sound principles as to choice of words and the avoidance of wordiness are elucidated in Chapter XVII. (6) Chapters XIX-XXI inclusive contain material as to the form and language of letters that may be used whenever the teacher wishes to assign letter writing. Chapters XXII and XXIII are especially adapted for the latter part of a business course. The book assumes the ordinary grammar-school training in English; but the material is so developed as to be teachable even to students who have rather hazy notions of grammar. For such students additional help will be found in the Glossary of Technical Terms in the Appendix (pages 351 ff.). The material of this book is the result of experience and experiment. The exercises were largely collected from the work of students, and nearly all of them have been used successfully in the classroom for several years. The choice of topics for treatment has been determined primarily by the necessities arising from bad English. The procedure in selecting material has been from observed faults back to the principles which, once understood and diligently practiced, will eradicate those faults and establish right habits of expression. Material that does not function in this way has been rejected. It is believed, therefore, that the book presents á minimum of fundamentals for a maximum of needs of the young person who must make a living. Teachers of "business English" or "commercial English" have generally found that their courses must be primarily English. Laying great stress on business forms for students who do not know the laws of the language is like teaching advanced rescue methods to a boy who cannot swim. Consequently the material of this book is mainly English, only secondarily business, and the English part of it, at least, will be practically useful to any class of students. Attention is invited to the following special features: (a) It presents a complete review of those portions of English grammar that are fundamental to correct spelling, punctuation, and especially sentence structure. A Glossary of Technical Terms is provided for reference. (b) The grammatical exercises are all designed to cultivate right habits of expression and eradicate common faults in writing. These exercises are very numerous and comprehensive, illustrating all the material developed in the text. (c) Abundant composition subjects of a simple and practical character are given, in such variety as to enlist the interest of any student. (d) The list of common word roots (pages 151-153) provides an effective method of enlarging the student's vocabulary. (e) The lists of words commonly misspelled or mispronounced (pages 174-179) were prepared with great care to include the most frequent offenders. (f) Punctuation is treated in a new inductive manner, by showing why it is needed and thus leading to the methods adopted to meet the needs. Instead of a more or less arbitrary and disconnected set of rules, Chapter VIII develops principles that are observed in order to make the meaning clear with a minimum of effort for the reader. (g) All the technical material is treated in such a way that (with the aid of the very complete index) the book can be used for reference as to correct usage. |