Trial Program Guide

WRITING STYLE DEMONS

Disk B

Complete Program includes 3 disks
Disk A: for the below level to average student
Disk B: for the average to good student
Disk C: for the good to excellent student

3.5 IBM compatible - 386 or later models 
(use VGA display; mouse optional)

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 disk 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

Each Writing Style Demons disk provides practice at a different level 
of difficulty. The program consists of three disks.

Disk A has 12 Demons with two highlighted words or phrases per sentence; 
Disk B has 12 Demons with two or three highlighted words or phrases 
per sentence; Disk C has 12 Demons with three or four highlighted words 
or phrases per sentence. All texts also include a "No Error" option.

MOUSE OPTION

At the prompt type HELLO to begin the program. You may use the mouse 
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.

Demon 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 sudent'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 of the disk.

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.

ERROR FIX

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

VIEWER (printer required)

To reach the Viewer, access GD-PRINT from the directory. This allows 
you to send to the printer all Demons and the explanations of why they 
are correct. Please note that a "Message Code" will appear on the print-out. 
It is used only for internal programming purposes and does not affect 
operation of the program.

WRITING STYLE DEMONS

Disk A 

 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 

Disk B 

 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 

Disk C 

 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 1992-1996 Merit Audio Visual
All rights reserved GTDR
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We hope you enjoy previewing WRITING STYLE DEMONS. The School version 
of the program contains the following:

1.  Three data disks

2.  A print option that allows you to see all Demons and the 
    explanations for why they are correct

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

4.  A hide/show feature for the Customized Drill

5.  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 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern 
Time. Or write MERIT AUDIO VISUAL, 132 W. 21 Street, New York, NY 10011 
for free software catalog.

