Trial Program Guide

WRITING STYLE DEMONS
Skill levels 7 - 10

Trial version: Level 2 (Limited sample)

Complete program: 3 levels
Level 1: for the below-level to average student
Level 2: for the average to good student
Level 3: for the good to excellent student

Windows or MS-DOS (VGA display)

Designed for students in grades seven and up at different levels of 
writing proficiency, the program can be used as well by advanced ESL 
students.

Each level contains many Writing Style Demons, or topics. The program 
helps students recognize common problems in writing style. Sentences 
contain up to four highlighted choices, one of which may be identified as 
faulty sentence structure, unclear meaning, illogical thought, grammatical 
shift, or one of several other writing problems. The program provides 
explanations that teach the underlying grammatical concepts. Each lesson 
is self-directing.

NOTE: The program includes a game and an individual Demon drill. We 
recommend that students play the game first so that the teacher can 
identify those Demons that present problems to the student. The Record 
Management program will show the number of times the student has played 
each Demon. The drill may then be used for extra help for those students 
who need it. For the School version of the program there is a hide/show 
feature that permits teachers to activate or deactivate the Customized 
Drill. 

OVERVIEW

The Writing Style Demons program provides practice at different levels of 
difficulty. 

Level 1 has 12 Demons with two highlighted words or phrases per sentence. 
Level 2 has 12 Demons with two or three highlighted words or phrases per 
sentence. Level 3 has 12 Demons with three or four highlighted words or 
phrases per sentence. All texts also include a `No Error' option.

MOUSE OPTION

You may use the mouse, or the keyboard, as soon as the first exercise 
appears on the screen.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The student is asked to use the mouse or Tab key to select a highlighted, 
incorrect word or phrase in a sentence, or to choose the `No Error' option 
if the sentence is correct. After the student responds s/he is shown the 
correct sentence and is given the grammatical reason(s) for the correct 
answer. If the student answers correctly, s/he receives a congratulatory 
word or a graphic reward.

After logging in his/her name the student is offered two options: 
1. Play a round of Demons (game). 2. Work on a customized drill.

Demons Game: The Demons are presented to the student in the same order 
in which they are listed in the program guide. In each round, the student 
is given twelve sentences which cover the material for four Demons. There 
are three randomly selected sentences per Demon. To master a Demon, the 
student must choose the correct answer for all three sentences in the 
round. Until the student gets the three sentences correct, s/he will 
continue to receive sentences for that Demon in subsequent rounds.

For the final round, if fewer than four Demons remain unmastered in the 
game, the round will include only those Demons still unmastered.

PROGRAM HELP FEATURES

The program provides three help features. First, the sentence appears in 
its correct form, regardless of the student's answer. Second, the computer 
gives the grammatical reason(s) for the correct answer. The third feature,
the individual Demon drill, gives the student the opportunity to focus on 
specific troublesome Demons. From the drill menu, the student may choose 
up to four Demons to work on per round. There are three sentences for each 
Demon. A star next to a Demon on the menu indicates that the student has 
mastered that Demon. Starred Demons may be chosen for additional drill.

SCORING

Scores for mastered Demons in the game and drill are recorded. When a 
Demon is mastered in the game it is starred on the customized drill menu 
and will not reappear in the game. Starred Demons may be chosen for 
additional drill. However, if the student does not remaster the Demon the 
star is removed and the Demon reappears in the game.

Students may choose to exit the program at any time during a round. Even 
if the round is not completed, a Demon is scored as `mastered' if the 
student's answers are correct for that Demon's three sentences.

If a student masters all Demons and chooses to play again, the record 
manager will add `M' for `mastered' after the student's last name. The 
student's name will then appear again for subsequent rounds.

RECORD MANAGEMENT

To see student records, run RECORD from the directory, or press [CONTROL]T 
while at the title screen.

The default directory for the windows trial version is:
     c:\MAVDEMO\WSTY*-WTD\RECORD.EXE

This version saves records for only two students. A third name will 
automatically replace a previously entered name. (The single user School 
version saves records for as many students as disk space allows. The 
Network version saves records for 1,000 students.)

The records can go to the screen or the printer. You may see the records 
of the entire class, or choose an individual student's scores. If you 
choose to look at the scores of the entire class, you may have them 
displayed in alphabetical order or from highest to lowest.

Use the following keys to make your selections:

ALT: Allows you to choose items in the Top Menu: (1)Order (2)View 
(3)Select (4)Print (5)Delete (6)Exit. In each of the first three options, 
you will have the choice of selecting records from the Pull Down Menu by 
name, date, skills mastered, or class code.

TAB: Changes the category of information that is displayed in a fixed 
cycle, e.g., from students' names to last dates played, to highest 
mastered skill levels, to class codes, to a student's entire record and
then back again to the students' names.

ENTER:Selects or deselects any piece of information on which the cursor 
is placed. Selected items can be viewed, printed, or deleted as a group.
They appear on the screen highlighted in red.

Screen Layout:  Instructions are placed in color boxes at the bottom of 
the screen. The number appearing at the end of the last line of 
instructions on the screen indicates the position of the cursor in the 
total number of records. Just before this number is a description of what 
information is being displayed, e.g., name, date, etc.

Moving the Cursor: To move the cursor use the arrow keys. To see preceding 
screens, use the Page Up key. To go to following screens, use the Page 
Down key. To go to the beginning of a list, press the Home key. To get to 
the end of a list, press the End key.

To See Records: All information may be viewed on the screen or printed 
out. To clear previously selected records, choose Select from the Top Menu 
and Deselect from the Pull Down Menu. Note that your viewing selections 
are cleared each time the program is restarted or the computer is turned 
off. 

Examples

1. To print out the records of one class, follow these directions:

     Top Menu     Pull Down Menu    Other Keys     Remarks/Actions

ALT   Select          Class         Cursor keys    Find the beginning of 
                                                   the class
                                    
                                    ENTER          Mark the beginning of
                                                   the class

                                    Cursor keys    Find the end of the
                                                   class
                                    
                                    ENTER          Mark the end of the 
                                                   class

ALT   View            Selected                     Now only that class is 
                                                   displayed. (Repeating 
                                                   this step would restore 
                                                   screen as it was.)

ALT   Order           Name                         Class now alphabetized

ALT   Print           Selected                     Printing is optional. 
                                                   Information can be 
                                                   viewed on the screen. 

2. To print the highest (or lowest) skill level, follow the steps 
above, replacing Class, from the Pull Down Menu, with Mastered.

3. To see the records of all students in a range on the screen, choose 
View from the Top Menu and choose Entire from the Pull Down Menu.

4.  To see the records of an individual student on the screen, place 
the cursor on the name of the student whose records you want to view, 
and press TAB to change the information displayed.

ERROR FIX

If the program runs but does not keep student records properly, or if
some streaks appear in the Demons graphics, access the RECORD program
and delete all records.

WRITING STYLE DEMONS

LEVEL 1 

 1. Misplaced modifiers, I 
 2. Sentence fragments, I 
 3. Misuse of conjunctions, I 
 4. Shifts in tense 
 5. Illogical comparisons 
 6. Lack of agreement (pronoun/antecedent) 
 7. Mixed constructions 
 8. Lack of agreement (subject/verb), I 
 9. Comma fault 
10. Dangling modifiers, I 
11. Unclear pronoun reference 
12. Superfluous words 

LEVEL 2 

 1. Faulty parallelism, I 
 2. Misplaced modifiers, II 
 3. Lack of agreement (subject/verb), II 
 4. Sentence fragments, II 
 5. Shifts in person 
 6. Dangling modifiers, II 
 7. Misuse of conjunctions, II 
 8. Run-on sentences 
 9. Omitted prepositions 
10. Split constructions, I 
11. Squinting modifiers 
12. Weak pronoun reference 

LEVEL 3 

 1. Omitted verbs 
 2. Misplaced modifiers, III 
 3. Misuse of conjunctions, III 
 4. Split constructions, II 
 5. Sentence fragments, III 
 6. Shifts in voice 
 7. Incomplete comparisons 
 8. Faulty parallelism, II 
 9. Faulty tense 
10. Faulty coordination 
11. Misuse of conjunctions, IV 
12. Sentence fragments, IV 

Copyright 1994-1996 Merit Audio Visual
All rights reserved GTDR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We hope you enjoy previewing WRITING STYLE DEMONS. The School version 
of the program contains the following:

1. Three levels of exercises

2. Record management for as many students as disk space allows

3. A hide/show feature for the Customized Drill

4. A teacher's guide

Merit offers a full range of educational software for writing, reading, 
grammar, vocabulary, ESL, and math. Merit also offers networking for 
Novell and other LAN, and licensing. School or Institutional Purchase 
Orders accepted.

We will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

MERIT AUDIO VISUAL 

(800) 753-6488    (212) 675-8567    FAX: (212) 675-8607

Call us Monday through Friday between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time. 
Or write MERIT AUDIO VISUAL, 132 W. 21 Street, New York, NY 10011, for 
free software catalog.


This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware 
Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle
works for you.  If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem 
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