This classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious* writer. It is designed for use in English courses in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature. It aims to lighten the task of instructor* and student by concentrating attention on a few essentials*, the rules of usage* and principles of composition most commonly violated*. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript*. The book covers only a small part of the field of English style, but the experience of its writer has been that once past the essentials, students profit* most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work. The writer’s colleagues in the Department of English in Cornell University have greatly helped him in the preparation of his manuscript. Mr. George McLane Wood has kindly consented to the inclusion under Rule 11 of some material from his Suggestions to Authors. It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes disregard* the rules of rhetoric*. When they do so, however, the reader will usually find in the sentence some compensating* merit*, attained at the cost of* the violation. (Difficulty: senior)