The Elements of Style

By

William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

I admit it right here right now I have awful grammar. My particular weakness is commas. I never put them in quite the right spot. So I depend on “The Elements of Style to help me learn how to use them correctly.  Yes, I still depend on Grammarly to double-check myself, but I’ve been doing well after I refreshed my memory.

• Use a comma in a series of three or more terms with single conjunction after each term except the last.
• Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.
• Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.
• Do not join independent clauses together with a comma.
• Do not use periods for commas.

Those are the basics that trouble me regularly and thanks to the work of Strunk and White I have a place to go for advice on how to handle that comma trauma. This is an outstanding reference book it is not a book for reading cover to cover. The language is arcane and boring but straightforward enough to get you through successfully.

The book covers commas and periods and run-on sentences, adverbs, hyphens, and an entire chapter on an approach to style. I would suggest that every person who is serious about writing have a copy of this book so they can perfect their writing skills and know where their chief errors lie. This is an important book and I give it 4 stars and recommend it to everyone.