English 5000/6000: Style Guide Scavenger Hunt
Here are some questions to help you familiarize yourself with your Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (CM of S) and with university style guides. Bring your findings to class on the due date.
Check the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization of your answers; edit your answers for clarity and conciseness.
Indicate in your answer from where you obtained your information (for example, a response about infinitives might cite CMS 5.105)
You can get some answers to Part 1 in the online question-and-answer forum at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html.
PART I: Answer the following questions according to guidelines given by CM of S:
1. You’re editing the following sentence: “The meeting will be held on January 4.” Should the “4” in this sentence be spelled out, or presented as a number? If presented as a number, should “th” be added to it (i.e., “January 4th”)?
2. Here’s a question I didn’t have to worry about when I went to school in the ‘90s: what do you call the decade that we’re now in? And did I use preferred CM of S for “the ‘90s”? Should I have instead written “90’s” or “nineties”?
3. Suppose you are editing a story about a daycare center and it contains the following sentence: “A group of noisy four-year-olds ran around the room.” Should the hyphens stand, or be deleted? Why?
4. What’s the right punctuation to use between a range of pages (e.g., to state the page numbers covered by an article in a citation)?
5. Are most of the students in this class getting a “bachelor degree,” a “bachelor’s degree,” or a “bachelors degree”?
6. Should those annoying ads be called “popup ads,” “pop up ads,” or “pop-up ads”?
7. Where does CM of S come down on the question of “Website/website/Web site/web site”? How about “online” vs. “on-line”?
8. Would you refer to someone as having “an MBA” or “a MBA”? Why?
9. Is the capitol of the United States “Washington DC,” “Washington D.C.,” or “Washington, D.C.”? (By the way, should that be “capitol” or “capital”?)
10. Should items in a numbered vertical list begin with a capital letter? Should they end with a period?
PART II: University Style Guides
Answer the following questions based on the Auburn University Style Guide & Identifications Standards Manual. You’ll need to start by finding it (it’s online). Some of these answers ask you to compare the guide to the University of Tennessee style guide, which can be found at http://pr.tennessee.edu/identity/downloads/UTEditorialGuide.doc
Important: For each item, make a note of the entry in the style guide that you used to answer the question.
1. Should the phrase “African American” be hyphenated? If the answer is “it depends,” what does it depend on? Comment on any differences in the guides’ answers.
2. Will Auburn University grant you a masters degree, a master’s degree, an M.A. degree, or an MA degree?
3. Should you use the abbreviation RBD to refer to Draughon Library?
4. Is this sentence correct, according to the style guide: “President Gogue promises increased grant money for research, and the faculty appreciates the funding from the President.” Why or why not?
5. Is it all right to call Auburn University “AU”?
6. Should you write “Website,” “website,” “Web site,” or “web site”?
7. What areas does the University of Tennessee style guide cover that aren’t covered in the Auburn University style guide? How would you rationalize the decisions about coverage that were made in preparing each style guide?