Introduction to grammar and style. Rules and conventions ; Beyond the rules: writing with style -- Grammar basics. Brushing up on parts of speech ; Recognizing the parts of a sentence -- Using the parts of speech to build sentences. Using nouns and pronouns as subjects ; Taking action with verbs ; Describing words: adjectives and adverbs ; Wrapping up action with complements ; Using phrases ; Adding clauses -- Writing with style. The seven Cs of good writing ; Choosing the right words: diction ; Maintaining parallel structure ; Varying sentence structure ; Avoiding and fixing common errors ; Avoiding sexism, bias, and other no-no's -- Fine-tuning the mechanics. Basic punctuation ; Quotation marks and apostrophes ; Hyphens, dashes, parentheses, and brackets ; Spelling rules, tips, and tricks ; Capitalization, abbreviations, and numbers.
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