The Wayback Machine - http://web.archive.org/web/20160311170305/http://grammar.about.com/

Grammar & Composition

shark hyphens - (Stuart Westmorland/Getty Images)(id-work/Getty Images)

Punctuation Pointers: How to Use Hyphens Effectively in English

figure of thought - (John Lund/Getty Images)

What Is a Figure of Thought in Rhetoric?

George-Carlin_Napalm-And-Silly-Putty-680.jpg -

George Carlin's Essential Drivel: Euphemisms, Redundancies, and Soft Language

Our Grammar & Composition Expert
Grammar & Composition Essentials
Grammar & Composition Categories
Readers Recommend
View More
The Latest in Grammar & Composition
freewriting - (Peter Cade/Getty Images)
Examples of Student Freewriting for a Narrative Essay
Freewriting is a kind of nonstop writing without rules. Here's how one student used freewriting to discover a topic for a narrative essay.
- (Fuse/Getty Images)
What Are the Benefits of Freewriting in Composition?
Freewriting is a discovery strategy intended to encourage the development of ideas without concern for the conventional rules of writing.
Nikos Kazantzakis - (Bastian Parschau/Getty Images)
Read an Except from 'Report to Greco' by Nikos Kazantzakis
In this excerpt from his memoir Report to Greco (1965), Kazantzakis recounts an experience that for him illustrated the meaning of happiness.
Stephen Leacock - (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Stephen Leacock's Classic Essay on How to Live to Be 200
In the essay "How to Live to Be 200," Stephen Leacock pokes fun at the sort of earnest self-help literature that was almost as popular a century ago as it is now.
Ted Sorensen - (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Ted Sorensen's Advice for Speakers
President Kennedy's chief speechwriter identifies several rhetorical strategies worth adopting, regardless of the occasion or the size of the audience.
sentence processing - (Michaela Begsteiger/Getty Images)
Definition and Examples of Sentence Processing in English
Sentence processing is the study of the ways in which sentences are produced and understood.
Baboo Jabberjee - (Project Gutenberg)
What Is Babu English?
Babu English is a disparaging term for a variety of South Asian English marked in speech and writing by indirectness, stylistic ornamentation, and extreme formality and politeness.
David Sedaris - (David Corio/Getty Images)
David Sedaris's Description of a Nudist Trailer Park
In this excerpt from the essay "Naked," an account of a visit to a nudist colony, David Sedaris describes his living quarters and the surrounding neighborhood.
getty_toni_morrison-494047487.jpg - (David Levenson/Getty Images)
Toni Morrison on Writing: Quotations on Composing
Here, in excerpts from a number of interviews, Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison offers her thoughts on the practice and the process of writing.
advanced composition - (Caiaimage/Tom Merton/Getty Images)
What Is Advanced Composition?
Advanced composition is a university-level course in expository writing beyond the first-year level.
Mark Twain - (Library of Congress)
Mark Twain Explains How He Conquered Stage Fright
In this address, Twain recounts his first public appearance--"the first and last time" he experienced stage fright.
Louisa May Alcott - (Kean Collection/Getty Images)
Louisa May Alcott's Classic Essay on the Death of a Soldier
In this excerpt from 'Hospital Sketches,' Alcott records the final days of a young Virginia blacksmith named John.
syntactic hierarchy - (Howard George/Getty Images)
Definition and Examples of Syntactic Hierarchy in English
Syntactic hierarchy is any ordering of units or levels on a scale of size, abstraction, or subordination.
Cicero - (De Agostini/G. Dagli Orti/Getty Images)
What Is Public Speaking Anxiety and How Do You Overcome It?
Definition, discussions, and examples of public speaking anxiety (or stage fright), with strategies for managing anxiety and speaking effectively.
essay introductions - (Imagezoo/Getty Images)
13 Engaging Ways to Begin an Essay
A good introduction lets readers know what your essay is about and encourages them to keep reading. Here are 13 opening strategies accompanied by examples from a wide range of professional writers.
Prev
1
2
3
4