Mac's English 328 Blog

2003-10-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Key Elements of Style

William Strunk and E.B. White’s handbook The Elements of Style , and Joseph Williams’s book Style Toward Clarity and Grace , are both full of good tips on how to improve writing style. The Elements of Style is filled with a lot of opinions, but it also has some good information on how to make writing more vigorous and forceful. Of the two, Williams book is better at describing how to actually form better sentences and paragraphs. Both books contain helpful guidelines for improving writing style.

Two lines that sum up what Strunk and White want to get across to their readers are, “Brevity is a by product of vigor (19),” and “omit needless words (23).” These authors are all about writing short and concise sentences. When this is done, they believe the product will be clear, forceful writing. They have some good tips on how to achieve this goal. The first is to omit the phrase “the fact that.” They feel it “is an especially debilitating expression. It should be revised out of every sentence in which it occurs (24).” They then proceed to demonstrate how “the fact that” can be revised into shorter, clearer phrases. Another good tip that is included in both books is to “put statements in positive form. Make definite assertions (19).” Said another way, write without using the word “not.” Again, the authors provide many good examples on how to look for, and achieve this goal. A few examples are; not honest equals dishonest, and did not remember equals forgot (20). The Elements of Style gives more guidelines on how to clean things up, but this is the basic gist of the book, keep it short and simple.

Style Toward Clarity and Grace is the better of the two books at actually explaining how to write effectively. It focuses more on how to arrange words and sentences so that the reader will have a clear understanding of what is being said. Williams begins by explaining how to put together good sentences. His two rules of a good sentence are, first “[p]ut at the beginning of a sentence those ideas that you have already mentioned . . . (48),” and second “[p]ut at the end of your sentence the newest, the most surprising, the most significant information . . . (48).” So Williams wants old information placed at the beginning of a sentence and new ideas, or ideas that should be stressed, placed at the end of a sentence. He offers similar advice on how to arrange paragraphs. Every paragraph should have an “issue” in the beginning that gives the reader an idea of what the paragraph will be about, and near the end of this “issue,” should be a “POINT,” that is the main focus or idea of the paragraph (82). The final element of Williams’s book that is helpful is his assertion that sometimes, it is okay to break the rules. “We must reject as folklore any rule that is regularly ignored by otherwise careful, educated, and intelligent writers of first-rate prose (179).” Rules from Strunk and White’s version of style like never begin a sentence with “and,” or “but,” are okay to do according to Williams (182). Style Toward Clarity and Grace is the better of the two handbooks at outlining how to create effective writing, and its relaxed attitude toward certain rules of grammar is refreshing.

Both The Elements of Style and Style Toward Clarity and Grace are good handbooks on how to improve writing style. Strunk and White are rigid in their approach, but the information they provide on how to write more concisely is helpful. Williams does an excellent job outlining how to arrange sentences and paragraphs for the most effective output. Both books have good tips on improving style and anyone who takes the time to read them both will walk away with a better understanding of how to make their writing more successful.

2003-10-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

Prompt Four

As I read through my classmates Blog’s, I found that many of them feel the same way I do about Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style, and Joseph Williams Style Toward Clarity and Grace. Amy Johnson wrote, “I found that although Strunk and White’s advice was helpful in reminding me of some of the simple rules, as I stated in my first prompt, it was not helpful in showing me how to make my writing more effective.” Patti Clark makes a similar statement, “While Strunk and White’s little book, Elements of Style is a good reference book for the mechanics of writing, Williams Style Toward Clarity and Grace could be seen as an elaboration on good writing." I agree with both of the above statements. Strunk and White seem to be writing their book for beginners, or first year college students. Williams book seems to be geared towards a more advanced writer, who already has a firm grasp on the concepts of grammar.

Strunk and White is a good reference book for any grammatical questions a writer might have, but their descriptions on how to write well leave a lot to be desired. “Avoid fancy words,” “Do not affect a breezy manner,” and “Do not explain too much,” are just a few of the rules Strunk and White offer for helping to improve writing. These are very vague and generalized rules. Williams offers much better advice on how to actually write well. His descriptions on moving previously discussed information to the beginning of sentences and moving new information (to be stressed) to the end sentences is good advice. Also he stresses we need to include a POINT in all of our paragraphs, and that point needs to be in one of two easily recognizable places. This will help the reader to feel comfortable with what we are discussing. I also found it refreshing that Williams allows us as writers to pick and choose which rules of grammar we want to obey. I’ve discussed this before, but it made a big impression on me and on some of my classmates too. Tara Anderson wrote “I know, it makes me more comfortable as a writer to know that some rules can be bent.” I feel the same way.

The final thing I want to comment on has nothing to do with Williams or Strunk and White. Patti Clark wrote in one of her blogs “My mind seems to work like a little residential street, with no yellow lines, but I know where I’m going.” As I recall, she was discussing her writing/revision process. I just thought this was a really nice quote and a good analogy. After reading Patti’s blogs, and how well she writes, I suspect her mind works more like a superhighway than she’s letting on.

2003-10-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Prompt Three: Williams v.s. Strunk and White.

Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, and Joseph Williams Style Toward Clarity and Grace, are both excellent handbooks for beginning writers. They cover a lot of the same ground, although Strunk and White seem more concerned with telling writers what not to do, while Williams focuses more on what to do. Strunk and White are very strict and about following the rules, Williams is more relaxed, letting each individual writer choose which rules they want to follow.
One area where all of the authors agree is in the use of the ear. Strunk and White say “The question of the ear is vital. Only the writer whose ear is reliable is in a position to use bad grammar deliberately (77).” They are very wary of beginning writers trying anything offbeat or unusual, “unless your ear is good (78).” Williams also mentions the importance of having a good ear in writing. After discussing when to edit out certain emphatics he writes “This is another case where a good ear will serve you better than a flat rule (127).” The difference between the two books is that The Elements of Style only urges writers with a good ear to be experimental(but it never mentions how one knows if they have a good ear), while Style Toward Clarity and Grace wants the reader to cultivate and trust in their ear, even more so than in the rules.
The approach that these authors take is very different. Williams has a very easy going style. You can almost picture him as the cool English teacher back in High School that wore jeans to work and encouraged his students to rebel against authority. He lets the reader pick and choose which rules they want to abide by. “We must reject as folklore any rule that is regularly ignored by otherwise careful, educated, and intelligent writers of first-rate prose (179).” He also says, “Wherever you take your stand, keep this in mind: A writer who observes every rule can still write wretched prose. And some of the most lucid, precise, and forceful prose is written by those for whom some of these rules have no standing whatsoever (197).” The relaxed attitude is nice, especially when encountering a rule that you disagree with, or happen to include in your writing frequently.
Strunk and White are the exact opposite of Williams when it comes to attitude. They offer no room for deviating from their rules, in fact, they have only ridicule for people that do disobey their rules. If Williams was the cool teacher at school, then Strunk and White are the old coots who made fun of their students and that no one wanted to take. They write, “. . . there is simply a better chance of doing well if the writer holds a steady course, enters the stream of English quietly, and does not thrash about (84).” This may be true, but what is upsetting about The Elements of Style is that Strunk and White make their rules seem like facts that must be followed, even though they are mostly just opinions. When discussing the word prestigious, they write, “Often an adjective of last resort. It’s in the dictionary, but that doesn’t mean you have to use it (57).” What’s so bad about the word prestigious? Even though they come off as a bit stuffy, it’s lines like that one that make The Elements of Style fun to read. It’d be embarrassing if they said it to you in a classroom full of people, but chastising you for it in a book is actually kind of amusing.

2003-10-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

Prompt 2

Here is an example of some unclear writing that I found on the EMU Undergraduate Catalog:

Cancellation of registration by a student who decides not to return to EMU after registering in advance for classes must be initiated by the student on a signed cancellation-of-registration form either in person or by letter to the Registration Office, 303 Pierce Hall. If students have applied for University housing, they also must cancel the contract in the Housing Office. This is necessary for cancellation of tuition and room and board assessments.

My revised paragraph looks like this:

Students who register in advance for classes, and decide not to return to EMU, must give notice of cancellation. These students need to sign a cancellation-of-registration form in person, or send one to the Registration Office at 303 Pierce Hall. Students must also contact the Housing Office if they want their housing contract cancelled. This is necessary for cancellation of tuition and room and board assessments.

What I did in the first sentence was break it into two separate sentences to try and make it a little less confusing. With the two sentences I then formed, I tried to follow William’s rule in chapter two about beginning a sentence with the subject and then following it with the verb. So I began the first sentence with “Students” and used the verb “register.” I did the same thing in the second sentence, again beginning with “These students” and using the verb “sign.” Same thing in the third sentence, bringing the subject to the beginning and using the verb “contact.” I thought the last sentence was okay, so I left it alone. I hope I did this correctly, at any rate; I do think I clean up the paragraph a little bit and made it easier to understand.

2003-10-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

Prompt 1, Strunk and White

William Strunk and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style contains many helpful bits of information. The manual is interesting to read. It is a handbook and the subject matter is rather dry, but the strong opinions of the authors (especially Strunk), can be easily seen in the text. Strunk vehemently reprimands students who use improper style, and his hatred of certain common writing mistakes is made very clear.
One of the tips given in The Elements of Style that I found most helpful was “omit needless words (23).” I also like the line make “every word tell.” Simple things that find their way into everyday writing such as, “he is a man who,” that can be replaced with just “he.” Now that I know to be on the look out for phrases like these, hopefully my writing will be more clear.
Another tip I found helpful was omitting the phrase “the fact that” from my writing. Strunk seems particularly bothered by this phrase. He calls it “an especially debilitating expression,” and he continues, “It should be revised out of every sentence in which it occurs (24).” He goes on to demonstrate how it truly is an unnecessary phrase and in example after example he edits it out of sentences and makes them shorter.
A case in point: “the fact that he had not succeeded,” can be changed to simply “his failure.” Much shorter, much more clear.
The Elements of Style does have a lot to offer writers, but it is an old book. It has been circulating in one form or another since 1919 (xiii). This causes it to have some advice that is a little out dated. White claims that most slang words are “more appropriate to conversation than to composition,” because before we know it, these “will be the words of yesteryear (81).” I do not see a problem with including modern, or slang words into writing. Most people writing today are not thinking about how readers 100 years from now are going to have trouble interpreting the word “dis.” They know the audience they are writing for will understand the connotation and that is all that matters. Why worry about how long a word will stay in the vernacular? It seems unimportant to me.
The final problem I had with The Elements of Style was with the tip “Avoid fancy words (76).” White says, “The line between the fancy and the plain, between the atrocious and the felicitous, is sometimes alarmingly fine (77).” The guy using the word felicitous is telling me not to use fancy words? I think White needs to take some of his own advice in this sentence. Using different words is part of an author’s style. This point is vague at best, and I did not find it very helpful. On the whole however, I enjoyed the book, and I think it will improve my writing.

2003-09-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, I guess I should get the name thing out of the way first. My first name is John, but I go by Mac. It is short for my middle name which is McAlvin. My parents called me Mac growing up, it is what I've always been known as. If you call me John I probably won't respond because I won't realize you're talking to me.
I'm from Ann Arbor, born and raised. I am twenty-four years old and I am currently a Junior at Eastern Michigan University. Yes, I'm a little old to be a Junior, so I'll explain. I started my college career at the University of Michigan's college of Engineering. It took me two years to figure out that engineering was not what I wanted to do with my life. I left the Engineering school and spent two years working. Last year I decided to give higher education another shot, so I enrolled in Eastern's college of Education. I'm trying to get a teaching degree in English and I think History. Unfortunately, very few of my engineering credits transfered, so I'm basically starting from scratch. I hope to graduate before I'm thirty.
I like to read, write, organize jello-wrestling parties and watch football. I'm a huge sports fan, a good euchre partner and I play a mean game of kickball. I just moved and I really miss my old room mate and his dog. We taught his dog how to fetch beer bottles out of a mini-fridge and then go close the door. You haven't lived until you've spent an entire Sunday on the couch, never having to get up for a beer. Monty, I miss you buddy, good dog. That's about all I can think of for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if you did, let me know what you think.