The Grammar Logs -- Number Thirty-Five

The
Grammar
Logs
# 35

Question When using song titles, do you underline or put quotes around them? For instance, is it "Hotel California" by Eagles? or are the words Hotel California underlined? It's for a college essay so I want to get it perfect. Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question New Orleans, Louisiana
20 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Use quotation marks around song titles.

Question
Is there a rule governing the punctuation of the quotation of the thoughts of fictional characters (as contrasted with direct quotation of their spoken words.) I've seen Italics used, and I've seen no punctuation at all. I'm quite certain I've never seen quote marks, but a literate friend says she has.
EXAMPLES:
I have to go on a diet, he thought as he glared at the mirror.
My brain wouldn't let the problem alone. What was I going to do if I couldn't find a job?
You need to stop at the post office, he reminded himself.
I've checked every reference I own and looked over your website and can find nothing on this. Please help. Thanks.

Source & Date
of Question Dayton, Ohio
20 October 1997
Grammar's
Response This is the second question about this in less than two weeks. How you handle self-directed, unspoken speech is going to be up to you pretty much, and it will depend on how much of it you do. If you're doing a lot of it, I recommend getting hold of a story or a novel where it seems to happen a lot, and copying that style. Try Graham Swift's recent Last Orders.
There's a difference between your second example and the other two. In the first and last example, there's an attribution of the speech, unspoken though it may be. I would put quotation marks around those quoted words, but I wouldn't put quotation marks around the self-directed, unspoken, unattributed speech of the second example. It's another level of discourse, and you don't really hear it as spoken or even thought-of language.

Question When using a quotation that begins with an upper-case letter, do you change the first letter to a lower-case letter in a bracket when the quotation fits grammatically into the sentence without a dialogue tag, e.g. Jones states that "The average person . . .."? Also, when introducing a quotation that doesn't being with an upper-case letter nor is it the beginning of a sentence, is it better to begin the quotation with an upper-case letter in a bracket or an ellipsis, e.g. Jones said, ". . . when . . . OR Jones said, "[W]. . ." OR Jones said, ". . . [W]hen . . . ." Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Portales, New Mexico
20 October 1977
Grammar's
Response The answer to your first question is yes, when you are using someone else's complete sentence, but it fits into the flow of your text, change the first letter to a lower-case letter. When you are using an incomplete sentence from someone else, however, capitalize the quoted material when you use it to open your sentence but not when you place it in the middle or at the end, and indicate any change in capitalization with brackets around the changed letter. So it would be Jones said, "[W]hen . . . " (assuming his "w" was lower case). No, an elision here is not appropriate.

Authority: The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers by Chris M. Anson and Robert A. Schwegler. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.: New York. 1997.

Question Is there any info about limiting adjectives (demonstrative, possessive, etc.)?
Source & Date
of Question Sonoma, California
20 October 1997
Grammar's
Response
There is a group of modifiers known as limiting modifiers: only, almost, hardly, just, scarcely, merely, simply, exactly, even. Is that what you mean? They have nothing to do with demonstrative or possessive. And they're not always adjectives, either; they can be adverbs. A limiting modifer nearly always modifies the word that comes immediately after it, but the placement of the modifier can be crucial to the sentence's meaning. See the section on Squinting Modifiers.

Question What should go into a closing paragraph? My closing paragraphs usually end up looking like my first paragraph.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
20 October 1997
Grammar's
Response There's certainly nothing wrong with a conclusion that recapitulates the paper's beginning. You don't want your final sentences to be identical, certainly, to your beginning, but you do want it to be clear that you've accomplished what you set out to accomplish. Frankly, it's easier to say what you don't want to do in a conclusion. What you don't want is to try to soar beyond what you've actually done; don't get too hifalutin' or claim too much. Don't bring in a big gun quotation at the end (better to leave with your own words ringing in your reader's ears) and don't think you have to have the final say in the matter (i.e., leave some room for further thinking on the subject). Bring it home for your reader, and tie it up nicely (boy! how many metaphors can I throw into this box?), but don't make the bows too pretty.

Question
Which of the following is correct?
Master's of Arts degree
Master's of Art degree
Master of Art's degree
For some reason, this is very confusing to me. Also, what should be capitalized?

Source & Date
of Question Atlanta, Georgia
23 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Actually, none of the above. You've got a Master of Arts degree there. This is easy for me to remember because the diploma for a Master of Arts degree from UConn is on the wall right in front of my face. It probably gets confusing because we also speak of a master's degree. In the first version, it's the proper name of a degree and would be capitalized in most instances.

Question Have you heard of punctuation mark called a terrabang? One of the students at Ventura High School, _________, said he used this mark, a combination of a question mark and an exclamation mark at Dhaharan Hills Elementary School in Saudi Arabia. I am at a loss to find an explanation for this mark in our school collection. Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
23 October 1997
Grammar's
Response
Nope, never heard of a terrabang. I must say, though, it sounds quite useful! Did he say what it was supposed to look like?
What(terrabang) You've never heard of a terrabang(terrabang)
Bring it on!

Question Hi there. Could you tell me why the 2nd sentence is not correct?

What he did was climb a tree.
What he thought was want a sport car.
Thanks in advance!
Source & Date
of Question Taipei, Taiwan
23 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Both sentences use linking verbs which behave very much like equation signs. The first noun clause "what he did" is equated with a verb phrase, "to climb a tree," (with the "to" of the infinitive understood) which can describe, in fact, what he did. The second noun clause "What he thought" is equated with a verb phrase, "want a sports car," which does not exactly describe what he thought (since thinking and wanting are not the same). In either sentence, however, it's rather a clumsy construction.

Question I have to write a proposal , not a statistical type proposal , but more of a business proposal, eg; trying to sell an idea.... including, executive summary, target audience, needs assessment etc.... need help, any suggestions, just having a hard time knowing what to put where. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
23 October 1997
Grammar's
Response This sort of goes beyond the scope of this Guide. I recommend that you visit the Purdue Univerisity Online Writing Lab and their section on Professional Writing.

Question Hi. My question is simple. I would like to know how to write a book report. I am in the 6th grade. Your help would be appreciated.
Source & Date
of Question Las Vegas, Nevada
23 October 1997
Grammar's
Response I would hope that your teacher could give you a sample of a book report that was successful. Are you talking about a book of fiction here? Although it goes beyond the needs of a sixth-grade report, I suggest you look at the Purdue University Online Writing Lab and see if that helps. For your purposes, I'm sure your teacher wants you to concentrate on one element of the book that you find most interesting -- the characterization (how do you end up knowing so well one of the important characters in the book), the way it's written (its style, what makes it easy [or hard] to read), any important symbol you see at work. Whatever you do, it's probably a good idea to give at least a couple of quotes from the book to put your reader in touch with the actual language of the book and to "ground" your report in the book itself.

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Question	Is there a rule governing the punctuation of the quotation of the thoughts of fictional characters (as contrasted with direct quotation of their spoken words.) I've seen Italics used, and I've seen no punctuation at all. I'm quite certain I've never seen quote marks, but a literate friend says she has. EXAMPLES: I have to go on a diet, he thought as he glared at the mirror. My brain wouldn't let the problem alone. What was I going to do if I couldn't find a job? You need to stop at the post office, he reminded himself. I've checked every reference I own and looked over your website and can find nothing on this. Please help. Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Dayton, Ohio 20 October 1997
Grammar's Response	This is the second question about this in less than two weeks. How you handle self-directed, unspoken speech is going to be up to you pretty much, and it will depend on how much of it you do. If you're doing a lot of it, I recommend getting hold of a story or a novel where it seems to happen a lot, and copying that style. Try Graham Swift's recent Last Orders. There's a difference between your second example and the other two. In the first and last example, there's an attribution of the speech, unspoken though it may be. I would put quotation marks around those quoted words, but I wouldn't put quotation marks around the self-directed, unspoken, unattributed speech of the second example. It's another level of discourse, and you don't really hear it as spoken or even thought-of language.

Question	Which of the following is correct? Master's of Arts degree Master's of Art degree Master of Art's degree For some reason, this is very confusing to me. Also, what should be capitalized?
Source & Date of Question	Atlanta, Georgia 23 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Actually, none of the above. You've got a Master of Arts degree there. This is easy for me to remember because the diploma for a Master of Arts degree from UConn is on the wall right in front of my face. It probably gets confusing because we also speak of a master's degree. In the first version, it's the proper name of a degree and would be capitalized in most instances.

Question	Have you heard of punctuation mark called a terrabang? One of the students at Ventura High School, _________, said he used this mark, a combination of a question mark and an exclamation mark at Dhaharan Hills Elementary School in Saudi Arabia. I am at a loss to find an explanation for this mark in our school collection. Thank you.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 23 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Nope, never heard of a terrabang. I must say, though, it sounds quite useful! Did he say what it was supposed to look like? What(terrabang) You've never heard of a terrabang(terrabang) Bring it on!

Question	Hi there. Could you tell me why the 2nd sentence is not correct? What he did was climb a tree. What he thought was want a sport car. Thanks in advance!
Source & Date of Question	Taipei, Taiwan 23 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Both sentences use linking verbs which behave very much like equation signs. The first noun clause "what he did" is equated with a verb phrase, "to climb a tree," (with the "to" of the infinitive understood) which can describe, in fact, what he did. The second noun clause "What he thought" is equated with a verb phrase, "want a sports car," which does not exactly describe what he thought (since thinking and wanting are not the same). In either sentence, however, it's rather a clumsy construction.

Question	When using song titles, do you underline or put quotes around them? For instance, is it "Hotel California" by Eagles? or are the words Hotel California underlined? It's for a college essay so I want to get it perfect. Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	New Orleans, Louisiana 20 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Use quotation marks around song titles.

Question	Is there any info about limiting adjectives (demonstrative, possessive, etc.)?
Source & Date of Question	Sonoma, California 20 October 1997
Grammar's Response	There is a group of modifiers known as limiting modifiers: only, almost, hardly, just, scarcely, merely, simply, exactly, even. Is that what you mean? They have nothing to do with demonstrative or possessive. And they're not always adjectives, either; they can be adverbs. A limiting modifer nearly always modifies the word that comes immediately after it, but the placement of the modifier can be crucial to the sentence's meaning. See the section on Squinting Modifiers.

Question	What should go into a closing paragraph? My closing paragraphs usually end up looking like my first paragraph.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 20 October 1997
Grammar's Response	There's certainly nothing wrong with a conclusion that recapitulates the paper's beginning. You don't want your final sentences to be identical, certainly, to your beginning, but you do want it to be clear that you've accomplished what you set out to accomplish. Frankly, it's easier to say what you don't want to do in a conclusion. What you don't want is to try to soar beyond what you've actually done; don't get too hifalutin' or claim too much. Don't bring in a big gun quotation at the end (better to leave with your own words ringing in your reader's ears) and don't think you have to have the final say in the matter (i.e., leave some room for further thinking on the subject). Bring it home for your reader, and tie it up nicely (boy! how many metaphors can I throw into this box?), but don't make the bows too pretty.

Question	I have to write a proposal , not a statistical type proposal , but more of a business proposal, eg; trying to sell an idea.... including, executive summary, target audience, needs assessment etc.... need help, any suggestions, just having a hard time knowing what to put where. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 23 October 1997
Grammar's Response	This sort of goes beyond the scope of this Guide. I recommend that you visit the Purdue Univerisity Online Writing Lab and their section on Professional Writing.

Question	Hi. My question is simple. I would like to know how to write a book report. I am in the 6th grade. Your help would be appreciated.
Source & Date of Question	Las Vegas, Nevada 23 October 1997
Grammar's Response	I would hope that your teacher could give you a sample of a book report that was successful. Are you talking about a book of fiction here? Although it goes beyond the needs of a sixth-grade report, I suggest you look at the Purdue University Online Writing Lab and see if that helps. For your purposes, I'm sure your teacher wants you to concentrate on one element of the book that you find most interesting -- the characterization (how do you end up knowing so well one of the important characters in the book), the way it's written (its style, what makes it easy [or hard] to read), any important symbol you see at work. Whatever you do, it's probably a good idea to give at least a couple of quotes from the book to put your reader in touch with the actual language of the book and to "ground" your report in the book itself.