Twenty Rules for Good Writing: A Grammar Review
Dr. Nancy House, School of Art and Design
The Twenty Rules for Good Writing is an exercise I have used at the beginning of my
writing intensive class to review basic grammar. Writing consists of two aspects, the
content and the mechanics of writing that includes spelling, grammar, word usage,
punctuation and subject/verb disagreement. A paper may contain good ideas, have well
argued positions, as well as a sophisticated synthesis of ideas. Recurring lower order
concerns such as wrong tense use or subject/verb disagreement will ruin this same paper.
John Bean (2001) wrote that these errors are “violations of the structural conventions of
standard edited English” (p. 248).
College students often know what is correct, but through disuse or the adoption of slang
or colloquialisms, they have forgotten some basic rules. Using the computer for word
processing can compound the problem of word usage and subject/verb disagreement.
Under the Tools icon of Word, is the Spelling and Grammar tool. This tool purports to
correct spelling as well as grammar. In my own practice this is most useful as it does
indicate when words are spelled incorrectly, or when the verb and subject are not in
agreement. The tool does not correct for word usage as in to, too or two. It purports to
correct for grammar, but is it faculty’s or facultys’? Both forms are indicated as being
incorrect.
As a one-credit-hour course, ART 2123 meets 50 minutes a week. In this class students
will write a minimum of 17 papers. They observe in art classrooms in k-12 schools and
write about what they saw, including how the teacher related to the students, how the
lesson was taught and classroom management techniques. These future art teachers write
a paper titled Why I Want to be an Art Teacher. As a result there is not time to spend a
great deal of class time on the ‘recurring lower order concerns’ of writing. I found it
effective to begin the semester by having students briefly introducing themselves and
quickly complete the first project. Working in pairs, students were to read and correct as
necessary “20 Rules for Good Writing” (attached). Unbeknownst to the students, each
sentence contained the error described in the rule. William Safire referred to these as
“fumble rules” (Safire, NY Times, Nov 4, 1979, p. sm 4). For instance, the sentence
“Don’t abrev.” should be “Do not abbreviate”.
After working on the 20 rules and making the necessary corrections, students read
sentences in turn and make the necessary corrections. If students are unable to make the
necessary corrections, the entire class works to correct the sentence. In this manner, we
quickly work through the list of “20 Rules.” While correcting the sentences, I often hear
students remark “Oh, I remember that,” reiterating that this works as a good review of the
mechanics of writing.
Another benefit that comes from this assignment was that students laugh together while
working with the sentences, they learn the names of the other students and they relax.
Evidence in support for this activity derives from Brookfield (1994) who found people
learned better if they felt part of “an emotionally sustaining peer learning community” (p.
212). In his research, students felt part of a peer learning community when they
discovered they shared common concerns and they became familiar with one another.
When my students wrote their first composition about “Why I want to be an Art
Teacher”, they are aware of writing mistakes to avoid. In addition they are better
prepared for peer editing as they read one another’s paper, reading for content and
technique.
The “20 rules” has proven to be an effective exercise to use in my one-credit-hour course.
Not only does it provide a quick review of what Bean refers to, as lower order concerns
of grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation mistakes and awkwardness, the students
quickly form a peer learning community.
Note. I want to thank M. Parker for the information about fumble rules.
References
Bean, J.C. (2001). Engaging ideas. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Brookfield, S. (1994). Tales from the darkside: A phenomenology of adult critical
reflection. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 13(3) 203-216.
20 Rules for Good Writing
-Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1975
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
Just between you and I, case is important.
Verbs has to agree with their subject.
Watch out for irregular verbs which has cropped into our language.
Don’t use no double negatives.
A writer mustn’t shift your point of view.
When dangling, don’t use participles.
Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
Don’t use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it.
About sentence fragments.
In letters themes, reports articles and stuff like that we use commas to keep a
string of items apart.
Don’t use commas, which aren’t necessary.
Its important to use apostrophe’s right.
Don’t abrev.
Check to see if you any words out.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
In my opinion I think that an author when he is writing shouldn’t get into the
habit of making use of too many unnecessary words that he does not really
need.
And, of course, there’s that old one: Never use a preposition to end a sentence
with.
Passive voice should be avoided.
Check speling and punctuation
Last but not least, lay off clichés.