Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

STYLE
Would any writer describe a person as being "slender and active,
but intelligent and witty"?
BEITER: Ms. Edwards, a very large woman who moves around with
difficulty, sparkles with intelligence and wit.
Her study looks at some of the special challenges faced by deaf people
who are married to normal partners.
Using the word normal as the simple opposite of disabled carries
an implication that people with disabilities are abnormal in ways
beyond their specific afflictions or conditions; also, that anyone not
so afflicted meets some ideal. It is reasonable to speak of normal or
abnormal hearing, vision, body movement, etc., but these words
should not be applied to describe the overall person.
BEITER: Her study looks at some of the special challenges faced by deaf
people who are married to hearing partners.
The islanders are a friendly and cheerful people, with a natural gift for
music and dance that their Western visitors may well envy.
Racism does not always entail demonizing "the other": Condescension
can be just as insidious. While it is true that just about every
nation and culture tends to stereotype everyone else (parsimonious
Dutch, hotblooded Italians, dour Swiss, conservative Canadians,
etc.), and even though there unquestionably are traits that are
more predominant in some cultures than in others, making sweeping
generalizations about a group indicates a failure to recognize its
members as individuals. Praise for "natural" gifts also carries a patronizing
implication that a skill does not really deserve credit; that
is, it is not seen as an outcome of personal application.
BEITER: Visitors to the island are made to feel welcome, and are urged
to take in some of the many music and dance performances that are a
strong part of the local culture.
The rowdiest of the patrons were hauled off in the paddy wagon, and
the rest soon dispersed.
People who would never dream of saying that's awfully white
of you or don't try to jew me down may in complete innocence
use words whose derivations come from put-downs of other cultures:
in this case, the Irish. Other such words include gyp (to swindle or
cheat, from gypsy), Indian giver (to give only to take back) and
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