The complete idiot guide part 27 pps

Chapter 18: Guide to Spelling: Hooked on Phonics 243 3. / before e except after c Remember this baby from the eighth grade? (Or were you too busy putting Clearasil on your nose and ogling the teacher to pay atten- tion to something as mundane as spelling?) Here's the rule (and it even has a bouncy rhyme to it): / before e except after c or when sounded as a as in neighbor and weigh Here are some words that fit the rule. i before e except after c sounded as a achieve conceit believe ceiling siege receive relief conceive grief deceit chief deceive fierce perceive fiend receipt piece receive shriek And here are some words that don't: • either • neither • foreign • height • leisure • seize • weird (Hey, is anything perfect? I never promised you a rose garden, only some neat-o spelling rules.) neighbor weigh freight reign sleigh vein weight 2W ParU: Tools of the Trade ieeeeeeeeeeeee! Add ie or ei to complete each word. 1. f rce 2- s ge 3. bel ve 4. rec pt 5. cone t 6. dec ve Answers 1. fierce 2. siege 3. believe 4. receipt 5. conceit 6. deceive 7 8 9 10 11 12 7 8 9 10 11 12 n ghbor c ling for gn rel f w rd v n neighbor ceiling foreign relief weird vein See and Say Some words are misspelled because they are often mispronounced. Sometimes extra letters are added; other times, letters are omitted. How many of the following words do you mispronounce? 1. Leaving out a consonant: February, recognize, surprise, government, library, eighth, Arctic, candidate, probably. 2. Adding an unnecessary vowel: forty, pronunciation, schedule, chimney, disas- trous, umbrella. 3. Leaving out an unstressed syllable: accidentally, superintendent, incidentally. 4. Leaving out an unstressed vowel: temperature, vegetable, original, miniature, interesting, diamond, chocolate. Chapter 18: Guide to Spelling: Hooked on Phonics 2W At other times, you're not at fault at all: The words are spelled differently from the way they sound. With such unphonetic words, you're working without a net. There are no rules, only spelling techniques like memorization and visualization. Of course, there are always dictionaries. These unphonetic words fall into three main categories: silent letters, tricky-dickie word endings, and y/i use. And here they are Silent Letters Never seem to meet the people you want to see, but can't get rid of the same old pests? The same is true of spelling words. Keeping this truism in mind, here are some words with silent letters that have no doubt been annoying you for years. Only now, you know why. • Silent b: doubtable, subpoena, subtle, undoubtedly • Silent h: exhaust, exhibit, exhilaration, ghastly, ghost, heir, rheumatism, rhyme • Silent g: align, design, gnarled, diaphragm • Silent p: cupboard, pneumatic, pneumonia, psalm, pseudonym, psychology, receipt • Silent t: bankruptcy, listen, mortgage, wrestle • Silent c: acquaint, acquire, acquit, ascertain, miscellaneous, ascend, fascinate, indict, muscle Tricky-Dickie Word Endings The following words confound even the best spellers because they don't end the way we think they should: • Words that end in -ar: beggar, burglar, Jm ^— L bursar, calendar, cellar, liar ÉHl^^ ^ Quoth the Maven • Words that end in -dan: electrician, ^cf Homonyms and homophones musician, pediatrician, politician • Words that end in -aim Britain, captain, certain, mountain, porcelain are especially tricky to spell and use correctly. See Chapter 24 for a complete list of these words. 2<t6 Part <i: Tools of the Trade Y/l Use Here are some words that sound like they contain an /. No such luck; each has a y creating the / sound. • abyss • analyze • cylinder • hypocrisy • paralysis • syllable • symmetry • symphony • synonym Spelling Demons How can you tell a spelling demon? They're the words that look wrong even when they're right. I know you can spell all right because it's the opposite of all wrong. Maybe you were lucky enough to learn that a lot is two words, rarefy has that pesky e, and sacrilegious has a whole lot of letters. There are still tons of words lying (laying?) in wait for you. Here are 10 common spelling demons that have no doubt been deviling you for years: Ten Touqh Spelling Words-and Ways to Make Them Tender 1. traveler. The British spell it with two /'s, but Americans don't double-up, except in accented syllables (such as controlled, referral, propeller). 2. coolly. Here, you're just adding the suffix to the root. (I know it still looks funny. But it's right. Trust me.) 3. embarrass. Two r's and two J'S. But then again, we have harass. 4. unparalleled. Memorize this sucker. There's no other way around it. Chapter 18: Guide to Celling: Hooked on Phonics 2W Strictly Speaking So what's it going to be: hare- brained or hairbrained? (The for- mer, as in harelip.) 5. nickel. Is there any justice in the world? 6. glamour. We can deal with this but what about glamorous? 7. resuscitate. That's why people learn CPR; they're too busy being heroes (not heros) to spell what they just did. 8. genealogy. Like its first cousins mi?ieralogy and analogy, one of a few words that doesn't end with -ology. 9. pavilion. That's what we get for taking words from the French. Cotillion and vermilion also pose difficulty. 10. dysfunction. Because so many people have it, better learn how to spell it (maybe a cure is easier?). Still game? Here's a list of spelling demons you're likely to encounter in daily life. Of course, there are many more, so don't write to me, e-mail me, or fax me your favorites. I'll give you a few lines at the bottom of the list where you can record your favorites. abbreviate abyss academic ache adjacent allotted bachelor balloon bicycle bigamy budget bureau capsule career carnival cellophane debtor decided defense deferred delicious deluge ecstasy efficient eighth eligible emperor emphasis fascinate feasible February fickle gallery ghetto grammar guess handicapped heaviness height heroes icing icy illegally illogical jeopardy journal journeying juvenile keenness kindliness laboratory larceny legend leisure maintain marmalade marriage mathematics neutral niece ZM) Part 4: Tools of the Trade ninety notary obnoxious obstinate offensive opponents pageant papal parallel paralysis rabid rebelled rebuttal referee sincerely sugar treachery turkeys The Least You Need to Know • Know your spelling rules. • Learn how to add prefixes and suffixes to improve your spelling. • Use a dictionary and other hints, such as air writing and visualizing. • Some words just don't follow the rules. These you must learn or look up. Part Style: All the Write Stuff Chartreuse stilettos, Pop Tarts and Pez, The Wolfman—what do these items have in common? They all have style, that elusive je ne sais quoi, the "I know it when I see it." The Wicked Witch of the West had it; Good Witch Gilda didn't. Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and Audrey Hepburn oozed style; pity poor Prince: Even with a symbol rather than a name, he has no style. Radioactive desert shrubs don't have style; Beemers, Batman, and boxers do. In this part, you learn how to give your writing its own distinctive style. You learn ways to develop your own distinctive writing style, including using figurative language, tone, and diction. Chapter What Is Style, and How Do I Get Some? In This Chapter • Define "style" in writing • Explore the 3C's of all effective writing styles: consistency, coher- ence, and clarity • Analyze different writing styles • Explore myths about writing styles "Every style that is not boring is good," wrote the French writer Voltaire. All good writing shares one common quality: It has style—no matter what form the writing takes. In this chapter, you explore the elements of writing style. Along the way, you analyze different writing styles to find the ones that work best for your purpose and audience. Style: Write On! A writer's style is his or her distinctive way of writing. Style is a series of choices—words, sentence length and structure, figures of speech, tone, voice, diction, and overall structure. r ^2 252 Part 5: Style; All the Write Stuff Think of style as the writer's voice or personality coming through the words. I use The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style in my college classroom. I assign a big chunk of reading as the first night's homework. The next class, my students always say, "As I read your You Could Look It Up _, book> j fek like you were talking to me? Dr Rozakis » That's because my style of writing in this book is very similar to my style of classroom teaching: per- sonal, informal, and funny. A writer's style is his or her distinctive way of writing. However, writers often change their style for different kinds of writing and to suit dif- ferent audiences. In poetry, for example, a writer might use more imagery and figures of speech than he or she would use in prose. My style is very different when I write a letter of complaint, a letter of condolence, or a business memo, for example. Some twentieth-century American writers celebrated for their lucid writing style include Truman Capote, James Thurber, Dorothy Thompson, Joan Didion, John McPhee, Tracy Kidder, and E. B. White. The late Mr. White, a long-time essayist and short story writer for The New Yorker, oozed so much style that he even co- authored a famous little writing manual called The Elements of Style. It's the ne plus ultra of writing style guides. But good writing style is not restricted to professional writers. People like you get ahead in part because of your ability to write clearly and effectively. For example • Lawyers need to make their briefs logical. • Accountants must write clear cover letters for audits. • Retail workers often write letters of recommendation and promotion. • Insurance brokers write letters soliciting business. • Educators write observations of staff members and reports on students. • Computer specialists write proposals. • Marketing personnel write sales reports. • Engineers must write reports, e-mails, and faxes. • Stock and bond traders write letters and prospectuses. And who among us doesn't write resumes, cover letters, memos, faxes, and business letters? We all need to develop good writing style. . structure. r ^2 252 Part 5: Style; All the Write Stuff Think of style as the writer's voice or personality coming through the words. I use The Complete Idiot& apos;s Guide to Grammar . don't follow the rules. These you must learn or look up. Part Style: All the Write Stuff Chartreuse stilettos, Pop Tarts and Pez, The Wolfman—what do these items have in common? They all. a complete list of these words. 2<t6 Part <i: Tools of the Trade Y/l Use Here are some words that sound like they contain an /. No such luck; each has a y creating the