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 Contents

12i Sentence Pattern 5A: subject + verb + direct object +

objective complement (adjective) 64
12j Sentence Pattern 5B: subject + verb + direct object +
objective complement (noun) 64
12k Sentence Pattern 6 (expletive): there or it + linking verb
(+ complement) + subject 65
12-l Other Elements: Structure Words 65
12m Independent (Main) Clauses 66
12n Subordinate (Dependent) Clauses 67
12-o Functions of Subordinate Clauses 67
12p Phrases 68
12q Appositives 70
12r Absolute Phrases 71
12s Order of Elements in Declarative Sentences 73
12t Order of Elements in Interrogative Sentences 74
12u The Structure of Imperative Sentences 77
12v What Is a Sentence? 77
12w Minor Sentences 79
12x Fragments 80
12y Major Sentences 81
12z Kinds of Major Sentences 81

III | Parts of Speech 85

13 | Nouns 88
13a Inflection of Nouns 89
13b Grammatical Function of Nouns 90
14 | Pronouns 91
14a Personal Pronouns 92
14b Impersonal Pronouns 94
14c Interrogative Pronouns 95
14d Relative Pronouns 96
14e Case 98
14f Demonstrative Pronouns 102
14g Indefinite Pronouns 103
14h Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns 104
14i Reciprocal Pronouns 106
15 | Agreement of Pronouns with Their Antecedents 106
15a Antecedents Joined by and 107
15b Antecedents Joined by or or nor 107
15c Indefinite Pronoun as Antecedent 108
15d Pronouns and Inclusive Language: Avoiding Gender Bias 109

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 Contents

15e Collective Noun as Antecedent 111

15f Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives 112
16 | Reference of Pronouns 112
16a Remote Antecedent 113
16b Ambiguous Reference 113
16c Vague Reference 114
16d Missing Antecedent 115
16e Indefinite you, they, and it 116
17 | Verbs 117
17a Kinds of Verbs: Transitive, Intransitive, and Linking 118
17b Inflection of Verbs: Principal Parts 119
17c Irregular Verbs 121
17d Inflection for Person and Number 125
17e Auxiliary Verbs 125
17f Inflection of do, be, and have 128
17g Time and the Verb: Inflection for Tense 129
17h Sequence of Tenses 135
17i Verb Phrases in Compound Predicates 136
17j Tenses in Writing About Literature 137
17k Mood 137
17-l Voice: Active and Passive 139
18 | Agreement Between Subject and Verb 141
18a Words Intervening Between Subject and Verb 141
18b Compound Subject: Singular Nouns Joined by and 142
18c Compound Subject: Parts Joined by or or a Correlative 143
18d Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns 143
18e Subject Following Verb 144
18f Agreement with Collective Nouns 145
18g Nouns That Are Always Singular or Always Plural 146
18h Plurals: criteria, data, media, etc. 146
18i Agreement with Relative Pronouns 147
18j Titles of Works and Words Referred to as Words 148
19 | Adjectives 148
19a Kinds of Adjectives 148
19b Comparison of Descriptive Adjectives 150
19c Articles: a, an, and the 152
19d Placement of Adjectives 157
19e Order of Adjectives 159
19f Adjectives Functioning as Nouns 159
20 | Adverbs 160
20a Kinds and Functions of Adverbs 160

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 Contents

20b Forms of Adverbs 163

20c Comparison of Adverbs 166
20d Placement of Adverbs 167
21 | Verbals: Infinitives, Participles, and Gerunds 169
21a Infinitives 170
21b Tense and Voice of Infinitives 171
21c Split Infinitives 172
21d Participles 172
21e Tense and Voice of Participles 173
21f Gerunds 174
21g Tense and Voice of Gerunds 175
21h Possessives with Gerunds 175
21i Verbals in Absolute Phrases 177
22 | Prepositions 177
22a Functions of Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases 177
22b Placement of Prepositions 178
22c Common Prepositions 178
22d Two-part Verbs; Verb Idioms 179
23 | Conjunctions 181
23a Coordinating Conjunctions 181
23b Correlative Conjunctions 184
23c Subordinating Conjunctions 186
24 | Interjections 188

IV | Writing Effective Sentences 189

25 | Basic Sentence Elements: Subject, Verb, Object,
Complement 191
25a Subject 191
25b Finite Verb 192
25c Direct Object 192
25d Subjective Complement 193
26 | Modifiers 194
26a Adjectival Modifiers 194
26b Adverbial Modifiers 195
26c Overlapping Modifiers 196
26d Using Modifiers: A Sample Scenario 198

Length, Variety, and Emphasis 201

27 | Sentence Length 201
27a Short Sentences 201

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 Contents

27b Long Sentences 202

28 | Sentence Variety 202
28a Variety of Lengths 203
28b Variety of Kinds 203
28c Variety of Structures 203
29 | Emphasis in Sentences 204
29a Endings and Beginnings 204
29b Loose Sentences and Periodic Sentences 205
29c The Importance of the Final Position 206
29d Changing Word Order 207
29e Movable Modifiers 207
29f Using the Expletive and the Passive Voice for Emphasis 208
29g Emphasis by Repetition 208
29h Emphasis by Stylistic Contrast 209
29i Emphasis by Syntax 209
29j Emphasis by Punctuation 210
30 | Analyzing Sentences 211
30a The Chart Method 211
30b The Vertical Method 212

Common Sentence Problems 213

31 | Sentence Coherence 214
32 | Fragments 214
33 | Comma Splices 215
34 | Run-on (Fused) Sentences 215
35 | Misplaced Modifiers 216
35a Movability and Poor Placement 216
35b Only, almost, etc. 217
35c Squinting Modifiers 218
36 | Dangling Modifiers 218
36a Dangling Participial Phrases 219
36b Dangling Gerund Phrases 220
36c Dangling Infinitive Phrases 220
36d Dangling Elliptical Clauses 221
36e Dangling Prepositional Phrases and Appositives 221
37 | Mixed Constructions 222
38 | Faulty Alignment 223
39 | Shifts in Perspective: Inconsistent Point of View 225
39a Shifts in Tense 225

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 Contents

39b Shifts in Mood 225

39c Shifts in Voice 226
39d Shifts in Person of Pronoun 226
39e Shifts in Number of Pronoun 226
40 | Faulty Parallelism 227
40a With Coordinate Elements 227
40b With Correlative Conjunctions 228
40c In a Series 229
41 | Faulty Coordination: Logic, Emphasis, and Unity 230
42 | Faulty Logic 233

V | Punctuation 237
43 | Internal Punctuation: The Comma 239
43a The Comma with Independent Clauses Joined by a
Coordinating Conjunction 240
43b The Comma with Short Independent Clauses Not
Joined by a Coordinating Conjunction 242
43c The Comma Between Items in a Series 242
43d The Comma Between Parallel Adjectives 243
43e The Comma with Introductory or Concluding Words,
Phrases, and Clauses 244
43f The Comma with Nonrestrictive Elements 247
43g The Comma with Sentence Interrupters 251
44 | Internal Punctuation: The Semicolon 252
44a The Semicolon Between Independent Clauses 252
44b The Semicolon Between Items in a Series 254
45 | Internal Punctuation: The Colon 255
46 | Internal Punctuation: The Dash 256
47 | Parentheses 258
48 | Brackets 259
49 | End Punctuation: The Period 260
50 | End Punctuation: The Question Mark 262
51 | End Punctuation: The Exclamation Point 263
52 | Quotation Marks 264
52a Direct Speech 264
52b Direct Quotation from a Source 266
52c Quotation Within Quotation 267
52d Words Used in a Special Sense 267

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52e Other Marks with Quotation Marks 268

53 | Ellipses for Omissions 268
54 | Avoiding Common Errors in Punctuation 270
54a Run-on (Fused) Sentences 270
54b Comma Splice 271
54c Unwanted Comma Between Subject and Verb 271
54d Unwanted Comma Between Verb and Object or
Complement 272
54e Unwanted Comma After Last Adjective of a Series 273
54f Unwanted Comma Between Coordinated Words and
Phrases 273
54g Commas with Emphatic Repetition 274
54h Unwanted Comma with Short Introductory or
Parenthetical Element 274
54i Unwanted Comma with Restrictive Appositive 275
54j Unwanted Comma with Indirect Quotation 276
54k Unwanted Question Mark After Indirect Question 276
54-l Unwanted Semicolon with Subordinate Element 276
54m Unwanted Colon After Incomplete Construction 277
54n Unwanted Double Punctuation: Comma or Semicolon
with a Dash 277

VI | Mechanics and Spelling 279

55 | Formatting an Essay 281
56 | Abbreviations 284
56a Titles Before Proper Names 284
56b Titles and Degrees After Proper Names 285
56c Standard Words Used with Dates and Numerals 285
56d Agencies and Organizations Known by Their Initials 285
56e Scientific and Technical Terms Known by Their Initials 285
56f Latin Expressions Commonly Used in English 285
56g Terms in Official Titles 287
57 | Capitalization 287
57a Names and Nicknames 287
57b Professional and Honorific Titles 287
57c Words Designating Family Relationships 289
57d Place Names 289
57e Months, Days, Holidays 290
57f Religious Names 290
57g Names of Nationalities and Organizations 290

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 Contents

57h Names of Institutions, Sections of Government,

Historical Events, and Buildings 291
57i Academic Courses and Languages 291
57j Derivatives of Proper Nouns 291
57k Abbreviations of Proper Nouns 291
57-l I and 0 292
57m Titles of Written and Other Works 292
57n First Words 293
57-o With Personification and for Emphasis 294
58 | Titles 294
58a Italics for Whole or Major Works 294
58b Quotation Marks for Short Works and Parts of
Longer Works 295
58c Titles Within Titles 296
59 | Italics 297
59a Names of Ships, Trains, and Planes 297
59b Non-English Words and Phrases 297
59c Words Referred to as Words 298
59d For Emphasis 298
60 | Numerals 298
60a Time of Day 299
60b Dates 299
60c Addresses 300
60d Technical and Mathematical Numbers 300
60e Parts of a Written Work 300
60f Statistics and Numbers of More Than Two Words 300
60g Commas with Numerals 301
61 | Spelling Rules and Common Causes of Error 302
61a ie or ei 303
61b Prefixes 304
61c Suffixes 308
61d Final e Before a Suffix 311
61e Final y After a Consonant and Before a Suffix 313
61f Doubling of a Final Consonant Before a Suffix 313
61g Changes in Spelling of Roots 314
61h Confusion with Other Words 315
61i Homophones and Other Words That Are Similar 315
61j One Word or Two? 317
61k Hyphenation 318
61-l Plurals 321
61m Apostrophes to Indicate Omissions 326

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 Contents

61n Possessives 327

62 | Spelling List 330

VII | Diction 335

63 | About Dictionaries 337
63a Kinds of Dictionaries 337
63b Features of Dictionaries 339
63c Three Sample Dictionary Entries 342
64 | Level 344
64a Slang 344
64b Informal, Colloquial 345
64c “Fine Writing” 346
65 | Figurative Language 347
65a Inappropriate Metaphors 348
65b Overextended Metaphors 348
65c Dead Metaphors 349
65d Mixed Metaphors 349
66 | Concrete and Abstract Diction; Weak Generalizations 350
66a Concreteness and Specificity 350
66b Weak Generalizations 352
67 | Connotation and Denotation 354
68 | Euphemism 355
69 | Wrong Word 356
70 | Idiom 357
71 | Wordiness, Jargon, and Associated Problems 359
71a Wordiness 359
71b Repetition 361
71c Redundancy 361
71d Ready-made Phrases 362
71e Triteness, Clichés 363
71f Overuse of Nouns 365
71g Nouns Used as Adjectives 367
71h Jargon 367
72 | Usage: A Checklist of Troublesome Words and Phrases 370

VIII | Research, Writing, and

Documentation 395
73 | Finding Resources 397

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 Contents

73a Libraries 397

73b The Internet 399
74 | The Research Plan 400
74a Academic Proposals 401
74b A Preliminary Bibliography 401
74c A Working Bibliography 402
75 | Taking Notes 404
75a The Note Itself 405
75b The Source 407
75c The Slug 408
75d Recording Your Own Ideas 408
76 | Writing the Essay 409
76a Keeping Track of Notes in Your Drafts 409
77 | Acknowledging Sources 410
77a “Common Knowledge” 410
78 | Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary, and Plagiarism 411
78a Legitimate Paraphrase 413
78b Illegitimate Paraphrase 414
78c Paraphrase and Quotation Mixed 415
78d Summary 415
78e Maintaining Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism 416
78f Integrating and Contextualizing Quotations 417
79 | Documentation 419
79a The Name–Page Method (MLA Style) 420
79b The Name–Date Method (APA Style) 447
79c The Note Method (Chicago Style) 467
79d The Number Method 477

Appendix | Checklists for Use in

Revising, Editing, and Proofreading 483
Omnibus Checklist for Planning and Revising 485
Specialized Checklist for Writers with English as an
Additional Language 488

Index 493

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 Exercises in the Online
Student Workbook
Exercises are listed by the section of the textbook to which they correspond.

Part II | Understanding Sentences

12a Elemental two-word sentences (pattern 1)
12b Adding articles and modifiers
12c Sentence pattern 1, with more modifiers
12d Pattern 2A: with direct object
12e Pattern 2B: passive voice
12f Pattern 3: with indirect object
12g Pattern 4A: linking verb + predicate adjective
12h Pattern 4B: linking verb + predicate noun
12i Pattern 5A: with objective complement (adjective)
12j Pattern 5B: with objective complement (noun)
12k (1) Pattern 6: changing expletives
12k (2) Pattern 6: trying expletives
12c–k Identifying sentence elements and patterns
12m–p Recognizing phrases and clauses
12q (1) Writing appositives
12q (2) Using appositives
12r Writing absolute phrases
12s Using alternative word orders
12t Constructing interrogative sentences
12w–x Recognizing minor sentences and fragments
12z (1) Recognizing kinds of sentences
12z (2) Constructing different kinds of sentences

Part III | Parts of Speech

13b Recognizing nouns
14 Recognizing kinds of pronouns
14e (1) Using correct pronouns
14e (2) Problem pronouns
15 Correcting agreement errors
16 Correcting faulty pronoun reference
17a (1) Using transitive and intransitive verbs
17a (2) Recognizing subjective complements

xvi

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 Exercises in the Online Student Workbook

17a (3) Using subjective complements

17a (4) Using verbs
17h (1) Using verb tenses
17h (2) Using auxiliary verbs
17k Using subjunctives
17-l Revising passive voice
18 (1) Choosing correct verbs
18 (2) Correcting faulty subject–verb agreement
19b Comparing adjectives
19c Using articles
19–20 (1) Recognizing adjectives and adverbs
19–20 (2) Correcting misused adjectives and adverbs
19–20 (3) Using adjectival and adverbial modifiers
19–20 (4) Using adjectives and adverbs
21d–e Using participles
21 (1) Recognizing verbals
21 (2) Using verbals
21 (3) Reducing clauses to infinitive phrases
21 (4) Reducing clauses
21 (5) Using absolute phrases
22a–c (1) Recognizing prepositional phrases
22a–c (2) Using prepositional phrases
22d Using two-part verbs
23a Using coordinating conjunctions
23c (1) Recognizing subordinate clauses
23c (2) Writing subordinate clauses
Part III | Review: Recognizing and using parts of speech

Part IV | Writing Effective Sentences

26 Using modifiers
27–29 Sentence length, variety, and emphasis
30 Analyzing sentences
35 Correcting misplaced modifiers
36 Correcting dangling modifiers
37 Correcting mixed constructions
38 Improving alignment
40 Correcting faulty parallelism
41 (1) Using subordination
41 (2) Correcting faulty coordination
42 Improving logic
Parts II–IV | Review: Sentence errors and weaknesses

xvii

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 Exercises in the Online Student Workbook

Part V | Punctuation
43 Using commas
44–45 Using semicolons and colons
46–47 Using dashes and parentheses
49–51 Using periods, question marks, and exclamation points
52 Using quotation marks
Part V | Review: Using Punctuation

Part VI | Mechanics and Spelling

61k (1) Checking hyphenation
61k (2) Using hyphens
61-l Forming plurals
61m Using apostrophes
61n Using apostrophes to indicate possession

Part VII | Diction

64a Thinking about slang
64b Using formal diction
64c Thinking about “big” words
66 (1) Using specific diction
66 (2) Being concrete and specific
67 Recognizing connotation
68 Avoiding euphemisms
69 Avoiding wrong words
70 Correcting idioms
71c Cutting redundancy
71a–c (1) Removing wordiness
71a–c (2) Reducing wordiness by combining sentences
71g Evaluating nouns used as adjectives
Part VII | Review: Diction
Parts II–VII | Omnibus Review: Sentence errors and weaknesses

Part VIII | Research, Writing, and

Documentation
78 Paraphrasing and summarizing

xviii

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 Preface
The second concise edition of The Canadian Writer’s Handbook is
designed to help you in what we see as the ongoing (even lifelong)
project of improving written communication. We know that the
improvement of our own writing is a work in progress, and we believe
that the same may be true for our readers. Whether you are a longtime
writer of English seeking to refresh and refine your abilities or one
who is writing in English as an additional language, we hope that the
suggestions, examples, and guidelines in this new edition will provide
a trustworthy resource that will enable you to write with greater con-
fidence and skill.
This handbook has a three-part organization that opens and closes
with an emphasis on the larger units of writing.We begin with a section
on principles of composition, ranging from the design of paragraphs to
the design of the whole essay and the principles of effective planning
and argument; we close with a section on current practices in research-
based writing. In the middle parts of the book, we explore principles of
grammar, syntax, and usage at the word and sentence level. We devote
considerable space to examination of sentence patterns, parts of speech,
and sentence structure and variety; we also include parts devoted to
punctuation, mechanics and spelling, and diction. The appendix of this
book provides comprehensive checklists designed for use at the revis-
ing and editing stages of your writing projects.

Overview
This handbook is intended for you to use as a reference work, to con-
sult on particular issues arising from the everyday writing activities,
challenges, and questions you encounter. It may also be used as a class
text for discussion and study in writing courses, programs, and work-
shops. We suggest that you begin by considering the ways you will be
using this book. Then, start to familiarize yourself with it by seeing
what it has to offer you. Browse through the table of contents and the
index. Look up some sections that arouse your interest. Flip through
the pages, pausing now and then for a closer look. Note the num-
bered running heads at the tops of pages and the tabbed inserts at the
xix

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 Preface

beginning of each new part. These features, together with the guide at
the end of this preface, can help you find things in a hurry.

Organization
Notice how the material is arranged. Then, begin to think about how
you can best approach it. You may want to start at the beginning and
proceed carefully through the book; some points in later sections won’t
be clear to you unless you understand the material in the early sections.
But if you already understand basic grammar—the functions of the
parts of speech and the principles governing English sentences—you
may need only a quick review of parts II, III, and IV. Test yourself by
trying some of the exercises in the Online Student Workbook, available at
www.oupcanada.com/CCWH2e, and check your answers with your
instructor or on the online answer key.

For Readers and Writers of English as an

Additional Language
Our experience as university instructors has given us the opportunity
to work with a number of writers engaged in the challenging pro­
ject of reading and writing in English as an additional language (eal).
Because English is a third, fourth, or fifth language to many such
students, we have long felt that the term “esl” (English as a second
language), used to describe or even to label these writers, is something
of a misnomer. Still, at several points in this new textbook, we offer
information and direction of particular importance to those of you
who are approaching English as a relatively new language, and we have
designated those relevant sections with the symbol EAL .

Checking Your Work Before Submitting It

When you finish a piece of writing, go through the omnibus checklists
in the appendix. If you find you’re not sure about something, follow the
cross-references to the sections that will give you the help you need.

Correcting and Revising Returned Work

When you get a piece of writing back with marks and comments, first
look it over alongside the list of marking symbols and abbreviations on
xx

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 Preface

the book’s inside back cover. The information there may be enough
to help you make the appropriate changes. But if you need more than
a reminder about a specific issue or pattern—if you don’t understand
the fundamental principles—follow the cross-references and study the
sections that discuss and illustrate those principles in greater detail.You
should then be able to edit and revise your work with understanding
and confidence.
An important feature of this book is that it discusses and illustrates
various issues in several places: in the main discussions and in the exer-
cises on the website. If the information you find in one or another of
these places isn’t enough to clarify a point, remember that you may not
yet have exhausted the available resources: try the index to see if it will
lead you to still other relevant places.

Marking symbols

Marking Symbols and Abbreviations

Numbers refer to handbook sections.

abbr incorrect or inappropriate lev inappropriate level of diction #64

abbreviation #56 log illogical #10e–h, #38, #41, #42
ack acknowledgement of sources missing or mix mixed construction #37
40 Faulty Parallelism 40a
incorrect #77–79
mm misplaced modifier #35
ad misused adjective or adverb #19, #20
ms improper manuscript form #55
agr faulty agreement: pronoun–antecedent
nsw no such word
#15, subject–verb #18
num numeral needed or misused #60
al illogical or incongruous alignment #38

40 Faulty
org weak or faulty organization #4, #9e–j,
ambig ambiguous, clarity lacking #16b
#10d
(pronoun reference), #31–42, Pt. VII, EAL
Checklist p punctuation error Pt. V
apos missing or misused apostrophe #61m–n para, ¶ Parallelism
paragraph needed, or weak
paragraphing #1–7
art missing or misused article #19c
pas weak passive voice #17-l, #29f
awk awkward EAL Checklist
ca incorrect case of pronoun #14e
passim Parallelism,
an error occurs throughout the balanced and deliberate repetition of identical gram- fp,
pred matical structures
faulty predication (alignment) #38 (words, phrases, clauses) within a single sentence, can //
cap missing or faulty capitalization #57
pron error in pronoun use be
#14–16
a strong stylistic technique. Not only does it make for vigorous, bal-
cl clarity lacking #31–42, Pt. VII, EAL
Checklist pv inconsistent point of view #39
anced, and rhythmical sentences, but it can also help develop and tie
cliché cliché, trite #71e Q mishandled quotation or quotation
marks #52, #78 together paragraphs (see #5a). Like any other device, parallelism can be
coh coherence lacking #3–5, #8b, #31
colloq colloquial, too informal #64b
red redundant #71c overdone, but more commonly it is underused. Of course, if you’re writ-
ref weak or faulty pronouningreference
an especially
#15, serious piece, like a letter of condolence, you probably
comp faulty or incomplete comparison #42
#16
conc insufficient concreteness #66
rep
won’t want to use lively devices like parallelism and metaphor. But in
weak or awkward repetition #71b
coord coordination needed #23a, #41
run-on most#34,
run-on (fused) sentence writing,
#54a some parallel structure is appropriate. Build parallel ele-
cs comma splice #33, #54b ments
shift unwanted shift in point of viewinto
or your sentences, and now and then try making two or three
d weak or faulty diction Pt. VII perspective #39 successive sentences parallel with each other. Here is a sentence from a
dev development needed #1b, #4b, #7b, sp spelling error #61, #62 (and #63, on
#66 dictionaries)
paper on computer crime. Note how parallelism (along with allitera-
dm dangling modifier #36 split tion) #21c
unnecessary split infinitive strengthens the first part, thereby helping to set up the second part:
doc faulty documentation #78–79 squint squinting modifier #35c
emph weak or unclear emphasis #6, #8c, ss faulty sentence structure, Although one
or faulty sense can distinguish the malicious from the mischievous or the
#29, #41 #12, Pt. IV, EAL Checklist
euph weak euphemism #68
harmless hacker from the more dangerous computer criminal, security
stet let it stand as originally written
fc faulty coordination #41 officials take a dim view of anyone who romps through company files.
sub subordination needed #12n–o, #23c,
fig inappropriate or confusing figurative #29i, #41
language #65, #71e t Be careful
error in verb tense #17g–i as you experiment, for it is easy to set up a parallel structure
fp, // faulty parallelism #40 tr weak or missing transition #4, #5c–d,
and then lose track of it. Study the following examples of faulty par-
frag unacceptable fragment #12w–x, #32 #8b
fs fused (run-on) sentence #34, #54a trite trite, cliché #71e
allelism. (See also #23a–b.)
gen weak generalization #66b u weak unity #2, #8a, #41
id unidiomatic #70 uc
40a
uppercase letter needed #57
With Coordinate Elements
inc incomplete comparison #42 us incorrect usage #72
inf too informal, colloquial #64b var Coordinate
lack of variety #7c, #28 elements in a sentence should have the same grammatical
ital italics needed or incorrect #58, #59 vb incorrect verb form form.
#17 If they don’t, the sentence will lack parallelism and therefore be
jarg inappropriate or unnecessary jargon w wordiness #71 ineffective.
#71h wo awkward word order #12s–t, #19d–e,
lc no caps; lowercase letter needed #57 #20d, #22b, #35
leg illegible (handwritten work) ww wrong word #69, #72 fp: Reading should be engrossing, active, and a challenge.

The first two complements (engrossing, active) are predicate adjectives,

the third (a challenge) a predicate noun. Change a challenge to the adjec-
tive challenging so that it will be parallel.
Messenger_Cover_FNL.indd 3 31/01/13 11:09 AM
227

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 Preface

Numbering and Cross-Referencing

The Handbook is subdivided into sections and subsections that are num-
bered consecutively throughout, without regard to parts. Cross-references
are to section and subsections, or, occasionally, to parts. In the index, ref-
erences are to page numbers. Exercises in the Online Student Workbook are
numbered according to their corresponding sections.

Key Terms
The first one or two times an important term occurs, it is set in bold-
face. Pay attention to these terms, for they make up the basic vocabulary
necessary for the intelligent discussion of grammar, syntax, and style.

Key terms bolded

Section number and
on first use
subsection letter 25d PART IV Writing Effective Sentences

The linking verb be (and sometimes others) can also be followed by an

adverbial word or phrase (I am here; he is in his office).
Part number
and title These elements—subject, finite verb, and object or complement—
are the core elements of major sentences. They are closely linked in the
ways indicated above with the verb as the focal and uniting element.
(For a discussion of the order in which these elements occur, see #12s–u.)

Section number
26 Modifiers
Modifiers add to the core grammatical elements.They limit or describe
Online Student other elements so as to modify—that is, to change—a listener’s or
Workbook reader’s idea of them. The two principal kinds of modifiers are adjectives
(see #19) and adverbs (see #20). Also useful, but less frequent, are apposi-
exercise symbol tives (see #12q) and absolute phrases (see #12r and #21i). An adjectival
or adverbial modifier may even be part of the core of a sentence if it
completes the predicate after a linking verb (Recycling is vital; Ziad is
home). An adverb may also be essential if it modifies an intransitive verb
that would otherwise seem incomplete (Ziad lives in a condominium).
But generally modifiers do their work by adding to—enriching—a
central core of thought.
Subsection number
26a Adjectival Modifiers (see #19–19b and #19e–f)
Adjectival modifiers modify nouns, pronouns, and phrases or clauses
Cross-reference functioning as nouns. They commonly answer the questions which? what
kind of? how many? and how much? An adjectival modifier may be a single-
word adjective, a series of adjectives, a participle or participial phrase, an
infinitive or infinitive phrase, a prepositional phrase, or a relative clause:

Early settlers of western Canada encountered sudden floods,

prolonged droughts, and early frosts. (single words modifying nouns
immediately following)

194

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 Preface

Other Features

9 The Process of Planning, Writing, and Revising 9-l

Numerous boxes to
WRITING TIP
PROOFREADING TIP
P
highlight important
On Managing the Number of Subheadings information
in an Outline
As with the major sections of an essay, having more than six or seven
subheadings under any one heading risks being unwieldy.

9k Writing the First Draft

Once you have a good outline to follow, the work of drafting becomes
smoother and more purposeful. With the shape of the whole essay
laid out, you can concentrate on the main tasks of drafting: finding
the right words, generating effective sentences, and constructing good
transitions and strong paragraphs.

WRITING TIP
PROOFREADING TIP
P
Canadian advice for
On Going from an Outline to a Draft Canadian users
(1) Sometimes a main heading and its subheading from the outline
will become a single paragraph in the essay; sometimes each
subheading will become a paragraph; and so on. The nature and
density of your material will determine its treatment.
(2) It may be possible to transfer the thesis statement from your
outline to the essay unchanged, but more likely you will want to
change it (perhaps several times) to fit the actual essay. The the-
sis is the statement of your purpose or of the position you intend
to defend in the essay, so it should be as polished as possible.
The kind of basic or mechanical statement that is61c suitablePART
in an VI Mechanics and Spelling
outline may be inappropriate in the essay itself.

PROOFREADING TIP
9-l Notes on Beginnings PROOFREADING TIP
P
practice, practise; licence, license
1. Postponing the Beginning
Canadian writers tend to follow the British practice of using the -ce
Starting the actual writing can be a challenge: most writersforms
ha practice
have had and licence as nouns and the -se forms practise and
the experience of staring at a computer screen
een while trying license
to thinkasofverbs:

We will practise our fielding at today’s slo-pitch practice.

35
Are you licensed to drive?
Yes, I’ve had my driver’s licence since I was sixteen.

American writers tend to favour the -ce spelling of practice and the
-se spelling of license regardless of whether each is being used as a
noun or a verb.
Note also that Canadian as well as British writers generally prefer
the -ce spelling for offence and defence, while American writers tend
to use the -se spellings of these words

ative; itive

-ative -itive
affirmative informative additive positive
comparative negative competitive repetitive
imaginative restorative genitive sensitive

ly
When ly is added to an adjective already ending in a single l, that final
l is retained, resulting in an adverb ending in lly: accidentally, coolly,
incidentally, mentally, naturally, politically. (If you pronounce such words
carefully you will be less likely to misspell them.) If the root ends in a
double ll, one l is dropped: full + ly = fully, chill + ly = chilly, droll + ly
= drolly.

310

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 Preface

79 Documentation 79b

APA STYLE
Detailed, up-to-date
On Citing Electronic Sources
When you cite an electronic source in the APA system, include the
guidelines for
work’s digital object identifier (DOI) or, if there is no DOI assigned to
the work, the uniform resource locator (URL) of the site where you documenting in MLA,
found the work. For a journal article with no DOI, include the URL for
the journal’s homepage. If you need to break a DOI or URL across two APA, Chicago, and
or more lines, do so before a punctuation mark; do not add a hyphen.
Note that you do not need to include the date you accessed the site. CSE (number) styles

A Work with No Identified Author

If no person or group is identified as the author or editor, use the title
of the work in place of the author’s name:

How to end needless strikes? Start with good faith offers.

(2012, April 2). Maclean’s, 125(12), 4–5.

A Book in Translation Checklists for

Add the name of the translator and the abbreviation Trans. enclosed in
parentheses after the title: planning and
Benjamin, W. (2006). Berlin childhood around 1900 (H. Eiland, revising your work
Trans.). London, England: Belknap Press.

An Edition Other Than the First

For a second or subsequent edition, include the edition number after
the title:

Newman, J., & White, L. A. (2012). Women,

omen, politics, and public
policy: The political struggles of Canadian women (2nd ed.).
Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.

A Multivolume Work
For a work published in multiple volumes, include the number(s) of
the volume or volumes you have referenced:
Appendix
Dutch, S.I. (Ed.). (2010). Encyclopedia of global warming (V
Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Omnibus Checklist for
(Vols.
ols. 1–3).

453
Planning and Revising

As you begin to prepare a piece of your writing for final submission

to your reader(s), it is good strategy to ask yourself a series of ques-
tions designed to ensure that you have polished your work to the point
where you can consider it a finished and appealing discourse. What we
have listed here are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves in reading
and evaluating students’ writing. If you can ask and answer all of the
questions we have listed here in the affirmative, your essay should be
not just adequate, but very good.

1. During and after planning the essay, ask yourself these

questions:

 Have I chosen a subject that sustains my interest? (#9a)

 If I am doing research, have I formulated a researchable
Subject
question? (#74)
 Have I sufficiently limited my subject? (#9b)
 Have I thought about audience and purpose?
Audience
 Have I written down a statement of purpose and a profile of
and Purpose
my audience? (#9c)
 Have I collected or generated more than enough material/
Evidence
evidence to develop and support my topic well? (#9d)
 Does my thesis offer a focused, substantive, analytical claim
about the subject?
 Is my plan or outline for the essay logical in its content and
arrangement? (#9e–j)
 Considering my plan or outline, do I have the right number of
Organization
main ideas—neither too few nor too many—for the purpose
and Plan
of my essay?
 Are my main ideas reasonably parallel in content and
development?
 Have I chosen the best arrangement for the main parts? Does
it coincide with the arrangement of ideas in the thesis?

485

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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Fig. 7.—Harem court in the palace of Sargon at Khorsabad; compiled from
Thomas.
Observe that the courts of the harem give access to three main
groups of chambers, and that those groups have no direct
communication with each other. Each of the three has its own
separate entrance. Observe also that the three bed chambers we
have mentioned have no entrances but those from the inner court;
that they are all richly decorated, and that nothing in their shape or
arrangement admits of the idea that they were for the use of
attendants or others in an inferior station—-oriental custom having at
all times caused such persons to sleep on carpets, mats, or
mattresses, spread on the paved floors at night and put away in
cupboards during the day—and you will allow that the conclusion to
which those who have studied the plan of Sargon’s harem have
arrived, is, at least, a very probable one. Sargon had three queens,
who inhabited the three suites of apartments; each had assigned to
her use one of the state bedrooms we have described, but only
occupied it when called upon to receive her royal spouse.[26] On
other nights she slept in her own apartments among her eunuchs
and female domestics. These apartments comprised a kind of large
saloon open to the sky, but sheltered at one end by a semi-dome (T,
X, and especially Z, where the interior is in a better state of
preservation). Stretched upon the cushions with which the daïs at
this end of the room was strewn, the sultana, if we may use such a
term, like those of modern Turkey, could enjoy the performances of
musicians, singers, and dancers, she could receive visits and kill her
time in the dreamy fashion so dear to Orientals. We have already
given (Vol. I. Fig. 55,) a restoration in perspective of the semi-dome
which, according to Thomas, covered the further ends of these
reception halls.[27]
Suppose this part of the palace restored to its original condition; it
would be quite ready to receive the harem of any Persian or Turkish
prince. The same precautions against escape or intrusion, the same
careful isolation of rival claimants for the master’s favours, would still
be taken. With its indolent and passionate inmates a jealousy that
hesitates at no crime by which a rival can be removed, is common
enough, and among: the numerous slaves a willing instrument for
the execution of any vengeful project is easily found. The moral, like
the physical conditions, have changed but little, and the oriental
architect has still to adopt the precautions found necessary thirty
centuries ago.
We find another example of this pre-existence of modern
arrangements in the vast extent of the palace offices. These consist
of a series of chambers to the south-west of the court marked A, and
of a whole quarter, larger than the harem, which lies in the south-
eastern corner of the mound, and includes several wide quadrangles
(B, C´, C, D, D´, F, G, &c.).[28] We could not describe this part of the
plan in detail without giving it more space than we can spare. We
must be content with telling our readers that by careful study, of their
dispositions and of the objects found in them during the excavations,
M. Place has succeeded in determining, sometimes with absolute
certainty, sometimes with very great probability, the destination of
nearly every group of chambers in this part of the palace. The south-
west side of the great court was occupied by stores; the rooms were
filled with jars, with enamelled bricks, with things made of iron and
copper, with provisions and various utensils for the use of the palace,
and with the plunder taken from conquered countries; it was, in tact,
what would now be called the khazneh or treasury. The warehouses
did not communicate with each other; they had but one door, that
leading into the great court. But opening out of each there was a
small inner room, which served perhaps as the residence of a store-
keeper.
At the opposite side of the court lay what Place calls the active
section of the offices (la partie active des dépendances), the rooms
where all those domestic labours were carried on without which the
luxurious life of the royal dwelling would have come to a standstill.
Kitchens and bakehouses were easily recognized by the contents of
the clay vases found in them; bronze rings let into the wall betrayed
the stables—in the East of our own day, horses and camels are
picketed to similar rings. Close to the stables a long gallery, in which
a large number of chariots and sets of harness could be conveniently
arranged, has been recognized as a coach-house. There are but few
rooms in which some glimpse of their probable destination has not
been caught. In two small chambers between courts A and B, the
flooring stones are pierced with round holes leading to square
sewers, which, in their turn, join a large brick-vaulted drain. The use
of such a contrivance is obvious.[29]
We may fairly suppose that the rooms in which no special
indication of their purpose was found, were mostly servants’
lodgings. They are, as a rule, of very small size.
On the other hand, courts were ample and passages wide. Plenty
of space was required for the circulation of the domestics who
supplied the tables of the seraglio and harem, for exercising horses,
and for washing chariots. If, after the explorations of Place, any
doubts could remain as to the purpose of this quarter of the palace,
they would be removed by the Assyrian texts. Upon the terra-cotta
prism on which Sennacherib, after narrating his campaigns,
describes the restoration of his palace, he says, “the kings, my
predecessors, constructed the office court for baggage, for
exercising horses, for the storing of utensils.” Esarhaddon speaks, in
another inscription, of “the part built by the kings, his predecessors,
for holding baggage, for lodging horses, camels, dromedaries and
chariots.”[30]
We have now made the tour of the palace, and we find ourselves
again before the propylæum whence we set out. This propylæum
must have been one of the finest creations of Assyrian architecture.
It had no fewer than ten winged bulls of different sizes, some
parallel, others perpendicular, to the direction of the wall. There were
six in the central doorway, which was, in all probability, reserved for
the king and his suite. A pair of smaller colossi flanked each of the
two side doors, through which passed, no doubt between files of
guards, the ceaseless crowd of visitors, soldiers, and domestics. The
conception of this façade, with its high substructure, and the
ascending: lines of a double flight of steps connecting it with the
town below, is really grand, and the size of the court into which it led,
not much less than two acres and a half, was worthy of such an
approach.
The huge dimensions of this court are to be explained, not only
by the desire for imposing size, but also by the important part it
played in the economy of the palace. By its means the three main
divisions, the seraglio, the harem, and the khan, were put into
communication with each other. When there were no particular
reasons for making a détour, it was crossed by any one desiring to
go from one part to another. It was a kind of general rendezvous and
common passage, and its great size was no more than necessary for
the convenient circulation of servants with provisions for the royal
tables, of military detachments, of workmen going to their work, of
the harem ladies taking the air in palanquins escorted by eunuchs,
and of royal processions, in which the king himself took part.
As to whether or no any part of the platform was laid out in
gardens, or the courts planted with trees and flowers, we do not
know. Of course the excavations would tell us nothing on that point,
but evidence is not wanting that the masters for whom all this
architectural splendour was created were not without a love for
shady groves, and that they were fond of having trees in the
neighbourhood of their dwellings. The hanging gardens of Babylon
have been famous for more than twenty centuries. The bas-reliefs
tell us that the Assyrians had an inclination towards the same kind of
luxury. On a sculptured fragment from Kouyundjik we find a range of
trees crowning a terrace supported by a row of pointed arches (Vol.
I., Fig. 42); another slab, from the same palace of Sennacherib,
shows us trees upheld by a colonnade (Fig. 8). If Sargon established
in any part of his palace a garden like that hinted at in the sculptured
scene in which Assurbanipal is shown at table with his wife (Vol. I.,
Fig. 27), it must have been in the north-western angle of the
platform, near the temple and staged tower. In this corner of the
mound there is plenty of open space, and being farther from the
principal entrances of the palace, it is more quiet and retired than
any other part of the royal dwelling. Here then, if anywhere, we may
imagine terraces covered with vegetable earth, in which the vine, the
fig, the pomegranate and the tall pyramid of the cypress, could
flourish and cast their grateful shadows. The existence of such
gardens is, however, so uncertain, that we have given them no place
in our attempts at restoration.
 Fig. 8.—A hanging garden; from
Layard.
For the service of such a building a liberal supply of water was
necessary. Whence did it come? and how was it stored? I have been
amazed to find that most of those who have studied the Assyrian
palaces have never asked themselves these questions.[31] One
might have expected to find the building provided, as is usual in hot
countries, with spacious cisterns that could be easily filled during the
rainy season; but neither at Khorsabad, Kouyundjik, nor Nimroud,
have the slightest traces of any such tanks been found. With the
materials at their disposal it would, perhaps, have been too difficult
for the Assyrian builders to make them water-tight. Neither have any
wells been discovered. Their depth must have been too great for
common use. We must remember that the height of the mound has
to be added to the distance below the ordinary surface of the country
at which watery strata would be tapped. It is, on the whole, probable
that the supply for the palace inmates was carried up in earthenware
jars, and that the service occupied a string of women, horses, and
donkeys, passing and repassing between the river, or rather the
canal, that carried the waters of the Khausser to the very foot of the
mound, and the palace, from morning until night.[32]

We have now concluded our study of the arrangements of an

Assyrian palace, and we may safely affirm that those arrangements
were not invented, all standing, by the architect of Sargon. They
were suggested partly by the nature of the materials used, partly by
the necessities to be met. The plan of an Assyrian palace must have
grown in scale and consistence with the power of the Assyrian kings.
As their resources became greater, and their engineers more skilled,
increased convenience and a richer decoration was demanded from
their architects. We have dwelt at length upon Khorsabad, because it
affords the completest and best preserved example of a type often
repeated in the course of ten or twelve centuries. In some respects,
in its constructive processes and the taste of its decorations, for
instance, the Assyrian palace resembled the other buildings of the
country; its chief originality consisted in the number of its rooms and
the principles on which they were distributed.
The method followed in the combination of these countless
apartments is, as M. Place has said, “almost naïve in its
simplicity.”[33] The plan is divided into as many separate
parallelograms as there were departments to be accommodated;
these rectangles are so arranged that they touch each other either at
an angle or by the length of a side, but they never penetrate one into
the other, and they never command one another. They are
contiguous, or nearly so, but always independent. Thus the palace
contains three main divisions, the seraglio, the harem, and the khan.
Each of these is a rectangle, and each lies upon one side of the
great common square marked A on our plan. The same principle
holds good in the minor subdivisions. These consist of smaller
rectangles, also opening upon uncovered courts, and without any
lateral communication with each other. Examine the plan and you will
see the system carried out as rigidly in the seraglio as in the harem.
Thus the various sections of the palace are at once isolated and
close together, so that their occupants could live their lives and
perform their duties in the most perfect independence.
The methodical spirit by which these combinations were
governed was all the more necessary in a building where no
superposition of one story upon another was possible. The whole
palace was one vast ground floor. To arrange on one level more than
thirty courtyards and more than two hundred halls and chambers, to
provide convenient means of access from one to the other, to keep
accessory parts in due subordination, to give each room its most
fitting place in the whole—such was the problem put before the
Assyrian constructor. Profiting by a long experience he solved it with
the utmost judgment, and proved himself to be wanting neither in
forethought, skill, nor inventive power.

§ 3. Other Palaces of Mesopotamia.

The type of palace we have studied at Khorsabad, is, like the

staged towers, a development from Chaldæan structures whose
leading lines were established many centuries before the princes of
Calah and Nineveh began to raise their sumptuous houses. The
sites of the ancient cities of Lower Chaldæa inclose buildings that
seem to date from a very remote epoch, buildings in which we may
recognize the first sketch, as it were, for the magnificent dwellings of
Sargon and Sennacherib.
The most important of these buildings, and the most interesting,
is the ruin at Warka, which Loftus calls Wuswas (Fig. 172, Vol. I.,
letter B on the plan).[34] Unfortunately his explorations were very
partial and his description is very summary, while his plan of the ruin
only gives a small part of it (Fig. 9). There is, however, enough to
show the general character of the structure. The latter stood upon a
rectangular mound about 660 feet long and 500 wide. In spite of the
enormous accumulation of rubbish, Loftus succeeded in making out
an open door in the outer wall, and several chambers of different
sizes communicating with a large court. There was the same
thickness of wall and the same absence of symmetry as at
Khorsabad; the openings were not in the middle of the rooms. In the
long wall, decorated with panels and grooves, which still stands
among the ruins to a height of about twenty-four feet and a length of
about 172 feet, the posterior façade, through which there was no
means of ingress and egress, may be recognized. We have already
copied Loftus’s reproduction of this façade for the sake of its
decoration (Fig. 100, Vol. I.).

Fig. 9.—Plan of a palace at Warka;

from Loftus.
The building at Sirtella (Tello) in which M. de Sarzec discovered
such curious statues, was less extensive; it was only about 175 feet
long by 102 wide. The faces of the parallelogram were slightly
convex, giving to the building something of the general form of a
terra-cotta tub (Fig. 150, Vol I.). Here the excavations were pushed
far enough to give us a better idea of the general arrangement than
we can get at Warka. A great central court, about which numerous
square and oblong apartments are arranged, has been cleared;
there is a separate quarter, which may be the harem; at one angle of
the court the massive stages of a zigguratt may be recognized. The
walls are entirely of burnt brick. They are decorated only on the
principal façade, where the ornaments belong to the same class as
those of Wuswas—semi-columns mixed with grooves in which the
elevation of a stepped battlement is reproduced horizontally.
In none of the ruins of habitations found in this district by the
English explorers, were the chambers other than rectangular. Taylor
cleared a few halls in two buildings at Mugheir (Fig. 10) and Abou-
Sharein (Figs. 11 and 12) respectively. Both of these stood on
artificial mounds, and it is difficult to believe that they were private
dwellings. The walls of several rooms at Mugheir seemed to have
been decorated with glazed bricks; at Abou-Sharein there was
nothing but roughly painted stucco. In one chamber the figure of a
man with a bird on his fist might yet be distinguished.
Fig. 10.—Plan of chambers at Mugheir;
from Taylor.
Fig. 11.—Plan of chambers at Abou-Sharein; from Taylor.
 Fig. 12.—Plan of chambers at Abou-Sharein; from Taylor.
It is in Babylon that we ought to have found the masterpieces of
this architecture, in that capital of Nebuchadnezzar where the
Chaldæan genius, just before it finally lost its autonomy, made the
supreme effort that resulted in the buildings attributed by the
travelled Greeks to their famous Semiramis. We have no reason to
disbelieve Ctesias when he says that there were two palaces in
Babylon, one on the left and another on the right bank of the
Euphrates. “Semiramis,” says Diodorus, following his usual guide,
“built a double residence for herself, close to the river and on both
sides of the bridge, whence she might at one and the same time
enjoy the view over the whole city, and, so to speak, keep the keys
of the most important parts of the capital in her own power. As the
Euphrates runs southward through Babylon, one of these palaces
faced the rising, the other the setting, sun. Round the palace that
faced westwards, she built a wall sixty stades in circumference,
&c.”[35]
 The larger and more richly decorated of the two palaces was that
on the left bank.[36] Its opposite neighbour has vanished and left no
trace. The Euphrates has been gradually encroaching on its right
bank ever since the days of antiquity, and has long ago disunited
and carried away the last stones and bricks of the western palace.
The eastern palace is on the other hand still represented by one of
the great mounds that dominate the plain; this mound is called the
Kasr, or castle (Fig. 183, vol. i.). Its circumference is now not far
short of a mile.[37] Its form is that of an oblong parallelogram, with its
longest side next the river and parallel to it. The flanks of the mound
have, however, been so deeply seamed by searchers for treasure
and building materials that no vestige of its arrangements is now to
be traced. The bricks employed in the building all bore the name of
Nebuchadnezzar.
South of the Kasr there is another mound, rising about one
hundred feet above the plain and very irregular in shape. This is Tel-
Amran-ibn-Ali, or Tell-Amran, (Fig. 183, vol. i.). It is agreed that this
contains all that remains of the hanging gardens, a conjecture that is
confirmed by the numerous tombs dating from the Seleucid, the
Parthian, and the Sassanid periods, which have been found in its
flanks whenever any excavation has been attempted.[38] Tell-Amram
seems to have been a far more popular depository for corpses than
either Babil, the Kasr, or the Birs-Nimroud, a preference which is
easily explained. Whether we believe, with Diodorus, that the
gardens were supported by great stone architraves, or with Strabo,
that they stood upon several stories of vaults, we may understand
that in either case their substructure offered long galleries which,
when the gardens were no longer kept up and the whole building
was abandoned to itself, were readily turned into burial places.[39]
The palace and temple mounds did not offer the same facilities.
They were solid, and graves would have had to be cut in them
before a corpse could be buried in their substance. The Kasr was a
ready-made catacomb into which any number of coffins could be
thrust with the smallest expenditure of trouble.
 Excavations in the Kasr and at Tell-Amran might bring many
precious objects to light, but we can hardly think that any room or
other part of a building in such good preservation as many of those
in the Assyrian palaces would be recovered. To the latter, then, we
shall have again to turn to complete our study of the civil architecture
of Mesopotamia.
If we have placed the edifices from which the English explorers
have drawn so many precious monuments in the second line, it is
not only because their exploration is incomplete, but also because
they do not lend themselves to our purpose quite so readily as that
cleared by MM. Botta and Place. At Khorsabad there have never
been any buildings but those of Sargon; city and palace were built at
a single operation, and those who undertake their study do not run
any risk of confusion between the work of different generations. The
plan we have discussed so minutely is really that elaborated by the
Assyrian architect to whom Sargon committed the direction of the
work. We can hardly say the same of the ruins explored by Mr.
Layard and his successors. The mounds of Nimroud and Kouyundjik
saw one royal dwelling succeed another, and the architects who
were employed upon them hardly had their hands free. They had, to
a certain extent, to reckon with buildings already in existence. These
may sometimes have prevented them from extending their works as
far as they wished in one direction or another, or even compelled
them now and then to vary the levels of their floors; so that it is not
always easy for a modern explorer to know exactly how he stands
among the ruins of their creations, or to clearly distinguish the work
of one date from that of another.[40]
It was at Nimroud that this perplexity was chiefly felt, until the
decipherment of the inscriptions came to enable different periods
and princes to be easily distinguished. This name of Nimroud,
handed down by the ancient traditions collected in Genesis, has
been given to a mound which rises about six leagues to the south of
Mossoul, on the left bank of the Tigris, and both by its form and
elevation attracts the attention of every traveller that descends the
stream. The river is now at some distance from the ruins, but as our
map shows (Fig. 1), it is easy to trace its ancient bed, which was
close to the foot of the mound. The latter is an elongated
parallelogram, about 1,300 yards in one direction, and 750 in the
other (see Vol. I., Fig. 145). Above its weather-beaten sides, and the
flat expanse at their summit, stood, before the excavations began,
the apex of the conical mound in which Layard found the lower
stories of a staged tower (Fig. 13). Calah seems to have been the
first capital of the Assyrian Empire and even to have preserved some
considerable importance after the Sargonids had transported the
seat of government to Nineveh, and built their most sumptuous
buildings in the latter city. Nearly every king of any importance, down
to the very last years of the monarchy, left the mark of his hand upon
Nimroud.[41]
Of all the royal buildings at Calah that which has been most
methodically and thoroughly cleared is the oldest of all, the north-
western palace, or palace of Assurnazirpal (885–860). It has not
been entirely laid open, but the most richly decorated parts,
corresponding to the seraglio at Khorsabad, have been cleared. The
adjoining plan (Fig. 14) shows arrangements quite similar to those of
Sargon’s palace. A large court is surrounded on three sides by as
many rectangular groups of apartments, each group forming a
separate suite, with its own entrances to the court.
 Fig. 13.—General view of Nimroud; from Layard.
The chief entrance faces the north. Two great doorways flanked
by winged and human-headed lions, give access to a long gallery (4
on plan). At the western end of this gallery there is a small platform
or daïs raised several steps above the rest of the floor. Upon this, no
doubt, the king’s throne was placed on those reception days when
subjects and vassals crowded to his feet. Some idea of what such a
reception must have been may be gained from an Indian Durbar, or
from the Sultan of Turkey’s annual review of all his great
functionaries of state at the feast of Courban-Baïram. I witnessed the
latter ceremony in the Old Seraglio in 1857, and when those great
officers, like the mollahs and sheiks of the dervishes, who had
preserved the turban and floating robes of the East, bent to the feet
of Abd-al-Medjid, I was irresistibly reminded of the pompous
ceremonials sculptured on the walls of Nineveh and Persepolis.
 Fig. 14.—-Plan of the north-western palace at Nimroud;
from Layard.
The walls of this saloon were entirely lined in their lower parts
with reliefs representing the king surrounded by his chief officers,
offering prayers to the god of his people and doing homage for the
destruction of his enemies and for successful hunts (Fig. 15). The
figures in these reliefs are larger than life. A doorway flanked by two
bulls leads into another saloon (2 on plan) rather shorter and
narrower than the first. In this the ornamentation is less varied. The
limestone slabs are carved with eagle-headed genii in pairs,
separated by the sacred tree (Vol. I., Fig. 8). The inner wall of this
saloon is pierced with a fine doorway leading into the central court
(1), while in one corner there is a narrower opening into a third long
hall (6), which runs along the eastern side of the court. It was in this
latter room that the finest sculptures, those that may perhaps be
considered the masterpieces of the Assyrian artists, were found.
Behind this saloon there was another, rather longer, but not quite so
wide (7); then five chambers, completing the palace on this side. To
the south of the great court there were two large halls (3 and 5)
similar in arrangement to those already mentioned but less richly
decorated, and several smaller rooms opening some into the halls,
others into the passages on the west of the court. As to whether the
latter was inclosed or not on the west by buildings like those on the
other three sides we cannot now be certain, as on that side the
mound has been much broken away by the floods of the Tigris,
which once bathed its foot. There is nothing to forbid the hypothesis
of a grand staircase on this side leading up from the river bank.[42]
In the central and south-western palaces, built by Shalmaneser II.
and his grandson Vulnirari III. the excavations have not been carried
far enough to allow the plans to be restored. The explorers have
been content to carry off inscriptions and fragments of sculpture in
stone, ivory, and metal.[43]
The south-western palace, or palace of Esarhaddon, has been
the scene of explorations sufficiently prolonged to give us some idea
of its general arrangements (Fig. 16). A curious circumstance was
noticed by the English explorers. While the works of Assurbanipal
bore the strongest marks of care and skill, those of Esarhaddon
showed signs of having been carried out with a haste that amounted
to precipitation, and his palace was never finished. Nearly all the
alabaster slabs were taken from older buildings.[44] Most of these
were fixed with their original carved surfaces against the wall, but a
few were turned the proper way. Doubtless, had time served, these
would have been smoothed down and reworked. Nothing was
finished, however, but the bulls and sphinxes at the doors (Vol. I. Fig.
85) and a few reliefs in their immediate neighbourhood.[45]
Esarhaddon died, no doubt, before the completion of the work, which
was never continued.
Fig. 15.—Assurnazirpal offering a libation to the gods after his victory over a wild
bull. British Museum. Drawn by Saint-Elme Gautier.
And yet his architect was by no means lacking in ambition. Upon
the southern face of the building he intended to build the largest hall,
which, so far as we know, was ever attempted in an Assyrian palace.
This saloon would have been about 170 feet long by 63 feet wide. As
soon as the walls were raised he saw that he could not roof it in.
Neither barrel vault nor timber ceiling could have so great a span. He
determined to get over the difficulty by erecting a central wall down
the major axis of the room, upon which either timber beams or the
springers of a double vault could rest. This wall was pierced by
several openings, and was stopped some distance short of the two
end walls. It divided the saloon into four different rooms (marked 1,
2, 3, 4 on our plan) each of which was by no means small. Even with
this modification the magnificence of the original plan did not entirely
disappear. The two colossal lions opposite the door were very wide
apart, and all the openings between the various subdivisions were
large enough to allow the eye to range freely over the whole saloon,
and to grasp the first thought of the architect in its entirety.