Haha its funny how no one answered his main question ! lol
Well I have a Grand Cheerokee SRT8 and it only comes in automatic.
Though I have driven alot of manual cars before.
The thing is when getting ready to moev in the first great you leave the clutch slowly so that it doesn't stall out! after that moving gears form 2-3-4 etc it doens't really matter
when you are racing or driving aggresively you wanna shift quick and to do that you have to leave your clutch very quickly so that minmum lag in gear changes!
When Crusing what I usally do is Press the clutch , change gear, leave the clutch and then apply gas! This way its pretty smooth no jerks or anything!
Just getting out of the first gear is usually hard for new learners since usally people stall.
I learned the stick a couple of year ago to get my license! But I drive both sticks and autos all the time !
