From the 1920s through 1962 the late Miss Georgia Moore taught literature and English grammar at Shelbyville High School, Shelbyville, Indiana.
"Who did you get for English?" was a popular question when class schedules were passed out at the beginning of each semester. If the response was "Miss Moore," the halls often echoed with groans.
In truth Miss Moore's students respected this venerable task master. Many grew to love her. Valedictorians, honors candidates, C pupils, and even problem students could count on three things from this educator's class.
I was Miss Moore's student near the end of her teaching career. In the late 1920s she taught my mother. When my son was having trouble with high school English during the 1970s, I loaned him my faded, pencil-written copy of my notes from her class - the basic information that Miss Moore dictated and my classmates and I memorized.
Mother became a librarian. My son chose technical writing as his college minor. I write mystery/suspense novels.
My manuscripts are often described as "professional." They usually require minimal grammar corrections. I have no doubt that this is because of the excellent grounding I received in Miss Moore's classes.
In creating this booklet I began with the original material, most of which is common to all English texts. My aim was to address the basic rules and provide clearly written examples that would allow readers to quickly check questions about their own writing.
Today educators, parents, and even students decry the lack of emphasis placed on the fundamentals needed to survive in the fast-paced world of communication. For this reason, I believe Miss Moore's guidelines are more valid than ever. I hope you agree.
AS SUCH, IT IS NOT MEANT TO REPLACE THE MANY COMPREHENSIVE TEXTS THAT CONTAIN IN-DEPTH DISCUSSIONS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
RULES | DESCRIPTION | PAGES |
---|---|---|
1-2 | THE PARTS OF SPEECH | 1-2 |
3-26 | SENTENCE STRUCTURE | 3-6 |
27 | PUNCTUATION OF COMPOUND SENTENCES | 7 |
28 | THE OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF THE VERB | 8-10 |
29 | RULES FOR THE VERBS SIT & SET | 11 |
30-31 | RULES FOR THE VERBS LIE & LAY and RISE & RAISE | 12 |
32-44 | RELATIONSHIPS OF SINGULAR & PLURAL NOUNS and VERBS | 13-14 |
45 | THE OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF THE NOUN | 15-18 |
46-47 | ANTECEDENTS OF PRONOUNS | 19 |
48 | THE OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF THE PRONOUN | 19-21 |
49 | USE OF ITALICS AND QUOTATION MARKS | 22 |
50 | THE OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF THE ADJECTIVE | 23 |
51 | RULES FOR THE USE OF THE COMMA | 24 |
52 | RULES FOR CAPITALIZATION | 25-26 |
53 | FACTS TO REMEMBER IN DIAGRAMING SENTENCES | 27 |
How to obtain this publication
You may order copie(s) of Quick Reference Rules for English Grammar, edited by T M Skillman, directly from the author.