"The Masque of the Red Death" Skills and Explanations

1. "The Masque of the Red Death" Skills and Explanations Day 1 Capitalization of Titles Main words of all titles are capitalized. Capitalize the following: the first word the last word the first word after a colon indicating a subtitle the word after a hyphen in a compound word. Do not capitalize the following: articles (a, an, the) prepostions (before, of, between, under,through, etcetera) conjunctions (and but for, etcetera) the to in an infinitive (to run, to eat).

2. A versus An a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used) some + plural noun: some girls If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article: a broken egg an unusual problem a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound) Note also that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a profession, nation, or religion. Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. Comma after Introductory Phrases Use a comma after a phrase that introduces a sentence.

3. Day 2 Possession of Nouns Nouns take either an 's or an s' to show possession. Use of a Semicolon in a List When a list includes items that already have commas, separate the items in the list with semicolons. Compound Adjective A compound adjective is an adjective composed of two words. Use hyphens in a compound adjective only when it comes before the word it modifies. However, some compound adjectives are always hyphenated, such as well-balanced. a well-liked author/an author who is well liked a world-renowned composer/a composer who is world renowned

4. Day 3 Redundancy Redundancy refers to the idea that a word, phrase or sentence repeats information already given in a piece of writing (sentence, paragraph). Eliminate redundancy from your writing. Choppy Sentences In order to make it more pleasant to read, sentence variety--variations in length and sentence type--adds ease of reading and interest to a piece of writing. A series of short, simple sentences should be combined to add variety and make writing more concise.

5. Spelling: I before E Rule i before e except after c Or when sounded as "I" as in Einstein or when sounding like a as in neighbor and weigh Neither, weird, foreign, leisure Seize, forfeit, and height Are the common exceptions spelled right But don't let the C-I-E-N words get you uptight! Examples ie = believe, field, yield, priest, shield cei=receive, receipt, conceited, conceive "i" = eiEileen, height, sleight, stein, Einstein "a" = ei weigh, weight, neighbor, sleigh, heir, their "X" = eieither, weirdo, foreigner "X" = eiseizure, forfeiture, protein, caffeine, heifer cien = cien!=science, efficient, sufficient, conscience, ancient,

6. Day 4 Titles before Names Titles that come before a person's name should be capitalized. When using an abbreviated title before someone's name , put a period after the abbreviation. Mr. Duckworth, Mrs. Willington or Dr. Benway Choppy Sentences In order to make it more pleasant to read, sentence variety--variations in length and sentence type--adds ease of reading and interest to a piece of writing. A series of short, simple sentences should be combined to add variety and make writing more concise. Commonly Misused Words: Between and Among Use between when there are two elements. Use among when there are more than two elements.

7. Day 5 Punctuation of a Direct Quotation Direct quotations are another person's exact words--either spoken or in print--incorporated into your own writing. Use a set of quotation marks to enclose each direct quotation included in your writing. Put a comma between the tag line (such as he said or she said) and the quote. Use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of a whole sentence. Do not use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of part of a sentence. If the quotation is interrupted and then continues in your sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.

8. Comma after Introductory Phrases Use a comma after a phrase that introduces a sentence. Irregardless should be Regardless Use the word regardless rather than irregardless.