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Elements of
Style
also see "story"
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Form the
possessive singular
of nouns by adding 's -- except hers its theirs
yours ours.
Its vs. it's.
Sociology's mandate is far and wide: Mauss’s idea of
reciprocity, Durkheim’s idea organic solidarity, the
cheerful robots of C. Wright Mills--of this and more
sociology is made. The
tablets of Moses are suitable subject
matter for sociology. Sociology has its work cut out
for it because it’s everywhere.
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In a series of 3 or more,
each item gets a comma after it except the last: the
last hurrah, the last goodbye, and the last laugh.
Age, sex, and race are common cuts made by a sociologist.
Sociologists also study hierarchies of religion, power, and
status.
One sociology student entered the cafeteria for some
ethnography. She looked at the men at the table, sized
them up, and sat down with her tray next to the kindest
looking one. He smiled, the middle one snorted, and the
last one gazed at the television.
If our three founding fathers were a law firm, they
would be: Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.
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Parenthetical
comments go inside commas:
Sociology, though it is called a social science, rests
heavily on the sociologist's emotional and political
leanings. Weber, the third of the three founding
fathers, did not feel we ever could be objective.
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Put a
comma before
a
conjunction [and, but, or, though] that introduces a
second independent clause. This is like getting to
string together two sentences. For example:
C. Wright Mills called for sociology to ask the big
questions way back then, and the call remains
unanswered.
In sociology we try to be objective, but we realize this
is an impossible goal. Sociology is captured in and by
emotions, values, and visions, but still we try to
deliver facts. Sociology is a science, but it is a
science of subjectivity.
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Do not join independent
clauses with a comma. [Use a semicolon
instead - or a period.]
Sociology is
vast; it contains the study of many groups and strata of
society and looks at them with many conceptual schemas.
Patrick Henry: I know not what course others
may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
Auguste Comte, the founder of
sociology, married Caroline Massin; they
divorced in 1842. Comte’s work was skeptically viewed; he named himself the Pope of
Positivism.
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Do not break sentences in
two. [It causes a fragment--"frag."] WRONG: Sociology divides into conflict
perspectives and consensus perspectives. Neither
one being complete. RIGHT: Sociology
divides into conflict perspectives and consensus perspectives; neither
one is complete.
ASSIGNMENT: THREE EXAMPLES OF THE FOLLOWING TWO STRUCTURES (7
AND 8)
DUE WEDNESDAY.
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Use a
colon after an independent clause to introduce a
list of particulars, an appositive, amplification, or an
illustrative quotation.
A happy whittler requires
just three things: a knife, a
piece of wood, and a back porch.
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Use a
dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption
and to announce a long appositive or summary.
Sociology--which
is a branch of the social sciences- helps people
understand how humans socially interact with each other
in many different aspects of life. Many say that the
founding fathers of sociology are: Emile Durkheim, Karl
Marx and Max Weber--but
who’s to say that other sociologists agree.
Sociology- which is a branch of the social sciences-
helps
people understand how humans socially interact with each
other in many different aspects of life. Many say that
the founding fathers of sociology are: Emile Durkheim,
Karl Marx and Max Weber- but who’s to say that other
sociologists agree.
Sociology was the
Rodriguez’s major of choice for generations. Young Timothy
did not want to follow in the same path. When Timothy’s
father asked what major he’d decided on – shifting eyes and
a nervous babble began
Patrick
Henry: "Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace! Peace!' -- but
there is no peace."
Durkheim believed
that the best parts of a human being – our morality,
values, and sense of purpose – come from society.
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The number of the subject determines the number of
the verb. EXAMPLE: No one (or none) gets an A+ on this
particular paper. The bittersweet flavor of
youth-its trials, its joys, its adventures, its
challenges-are
not soon forgotten.
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Use the proper case of pronoun. Example from the text:
INCORRECT From after the Civil War
until only a generation or so ago, the urban middle
class of America was, in part, composed of men with
expanding business,
whom were taking over instruments of
production and gaining political power as well as social
prestige.(89)
CORRECT From after the Civil War
until only a generation or so ago, the urban middle
class of America was, in part, composed of men with
expanding business, who
were taking over instruments of production and gaining
political power as well as social prestige.(89)
Bring my husband and me some coffee.
Bring me some coffee.
Bring I some coffee.
She and I want some coffee.
I want some coffee.
Me want some coffee.
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A participle phrase at the beginning of a
sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.
Often rebellious, teenagers try to take
advantage of situations in order to get what they want.
Rule# 12- Use
definite, specific, concrete language
The typical idea
of fun for most American children in today’s society
consists of chatting online, searching music videos
on YouTube, and playing video games rather than
reading, bike riding, or drawing.
The typical idea of fun for most American children in
today’s society consists of chatting online, searching
music videos on YouTube, and playing video games rather
than reading, bike riding, or drawing.
Sociology
studies people in groups, in conflict and in concert.
Rule # 12
Theory is a set of interrelated ideas
that explains how the world works, human behavior,
and social events. There are macro and micro
theories. Grand theory attempts to answer all
questions about the world.
...
Rule#13- Omit needless
words. Write some Sociology with some typical
needless words and
then cross them out.
According to C. Wright
Mills, what occurs in any one individual's life is
interrelated with society as a whole.
The
fact that children learn
from20their environment means that whether
they know right from wrong or not, children
will always mimic what they see.
Rule#13- Omit needless words. Write some Sociology
with some typical needless words and then cross them
out.
According to C. Wright Mills, what occurs in
any one
individual's life is interrelated with society as a
whole. C.Wright Mills says that what occurs in a
life is to be related to the social context.
The
fact that children learn from their
environment means that whether they know right
from wrong or not, children will always mimic
what they see.
Children learn
from their environment; they mimic what they see.
Rule # 13
We are
in a financial crisis. Unaware of the long term
effects, people spend less money. Dining out is
a rarity but make-up is a must.
In society
today, we can sometimes feel the need to conform out
there to the expectations and we also can feel the need
to express ourselves.
We conform,
rebel, and create.
Rule # 13. To understand any given phenomena, you must look
at empirical aspects of history, find out what the
motivations were at the time, as well as link empirical
aspects to conceptual tools that can help us create
generalization of the world.
#14 Use the active voice
A sociologist will study hierarchies within society.
vs. Sociologists study
social hierarchies.
Sociology can be found
everywhere. vs. Sociology is everywhere.
#15 Put statements in
positive form
Often sociology is not well
understood by those who have not studied it. vs.
Sociology is often misunderstood.
Sociology does not think that
stereotypes are insignificant. vs. In sociology,
stereotypes are significant.
#16 Use definite, specific,
concrete language.
It is generally understood that
sociology makes a study of societal norms, among other
social aspects. vs. Sociology includes the study of
social norms.
Although sociology is not my
foremost field of interest, it is related to my primary area
of study. vs. I am an anthropology student.
Rule #17: Omit needless words.
Max Weber argued that
bureaucracies profoundly affected
social relationships.
Rule #18: Avoid a succession of loose sentences.
George Herbert Mead laid the foundation for symbolic
interactionism, which is
had been one of the major
perspectives in Sociological Theory since the middle of
the twentieth century.
Rule #19: Express co-ordinate ideas in similar
form.
Aristotle and Confucius were both less concerned
with explaining social dynamics than with prescribing a
perfected, moral social world.
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