5. _Archaisms_, expressions which would be obsolete except for their
occasional use in poetry.
The term _Impropriety_ is used to designate reputable words misapplied.
_Slang_ is a general name for current, vulgar, unauthorized language. It
may take the form of barbarism or impropriety.
Use the fewest and simplest words that the subject will bear.
Specific words are usually more forcible than general terms.
Foreign and technical terms should be used with care.
Use idioms wherever it is possible.
_Coherence_ demands that the parts shall be so connected that the
thought will be clear and compact.
The length of sentences is governed by the effect to be produced. Short
sentences give vigor, emphasis, and rapidity. Long sentences give weight
and rhythm.
A well-constructed sentence keeps the same subject as long as possible.
All modifying elements should be placed as near as possible to the words
they modify.
A _Dangling Element_--one that modifies nothing--must be avoided.
Example: _Looking into the water_, a fish was seen.
A “_Squinting Construction_” is one that is so poorly placed in the
sentence as to modify equally well the part preceding and the part
following. Example: Will you say to Mr. Brown, _when he comes_, I will
be ready.
_Redundancy_--A weak repetition of an idea--must be avoided.
_Pleonasm_ consists in the addition of words which can be omitted
without affecting the construction or the meaning of the sentence.
_Tautology_, or repeating a thought that has just been stated.
_Verbosity_ or _Prolixity_ is the fault in sentence-making caused by
using needless words.
Don’t begin a sentence with--and, but, also, so, then, next, however,
after this, of course, in consequence, as a matter of fact.
THE PARAGRAPH.--A _Paragraph_ is a division in composition treating only
one part of the subject. A paragraph must conform to the same rules that
should govern the whole composition; that is, it must show unity,
massing, and coherence.
_Unity_ demands that all the thoughts in a sentence, in a paragraph, or
in the whole theme shall cluster about one main idea.
_Massing_ demands that the important thoughts shall be placed in
prominent places.
_Coherence_ demands that thoughts shall be closely connected.
The length of paragraphs is not to be regulated absolutely: the
subject-matter to be treated, the appearance of the page, and the
comfort of the reader must all be considered. In a dialogue a new
paragraph is begun with each change of speaker.
THE SENTENCE.--Rhetorically, sentences may be classified as periodic,
loose, and balanced.
A _Periodic_ sentence is one that holds the thought in suspense until
the end. Example: In all his long life, from the time when, as a
twelve-year-old boy, he was roaming in the fields and fishing the
streams, to the days of his manhood, when he was upholding the honor of
his state in the Senate, he showed the same simple, democratic nature.
A _Loose_ sentence is one in which there is no attempt to show suspense;
the different parts may come in where natural ease of expression
suggests.
A _Balanced_ sentence is one in which contrasting thoughts are stated in
similar forms. Example: God made the country and man made the town.
The periodic and the balanced sentence are likely to result in
artificiality of expression unless used with care. The loose sentence
gives ease and naturalness, but these desirable qualities may easily
change to slovenliness of expression in the hands of a careless writer.
Sentences, like paragraphs, should show unity, massing, and coherence.
_Unity_ demands that the sentence shall have one main idea. The unity of
a sentence is destroyed by putting together ideas that should be
separated, by making the wrong idea subordinate, or by making ideas
coördinate that are not of equal importance.