Strunk and White’s book The Elements of Style is a small, or “little,” as Strunk liked to say, book that covers all of the biggest, most important rules within the English language. Strunk and White broke down the most common stylistic errors and explained clearly and concisely why those errors are wrong and how to fix them. This book, while incredibly short, contains an immeasurable amount of information, ranging from how to use hyphens to the correct ways to use the word nor. The Elements of Style is an incredible guide that can help students, or anyone, really, navigate the world of proper grammar and diction. Information that can completely change how you communicate with the world—change for the better, I mean—is exceedingly valuable information.
It’s easy to see why Strunk and White’s book was required for this class. History and historical sources depend on writing, good or bad, to give us information, and historians themselves need to know how to write properly so they can produce their own content and
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It was easy to read, well organized, and extremely informative. I had fun reading it, and I know I will go back and flip through this book throughout the semester. However, I also know that I will have to work to incorporate the rules I read in The Elements of Style. It’s easy to read a book, but it’s significantly harder to incorporate what you learned into your everyday life. I definitely know that my writing could be improved, but it’s going to be hard infusing what I read in The Elements of Style into my current writing style. Strunk and White’s book had so much information that I don’t know where to begin in terms of using it to become a better writer. I know I have to get over my stubbornness when it comes to my stupidly long sentences, and I also know I have to cut down my flowery language, but both of these things have become so ingrained into how I write that I’m not sure where to
However, their critical analysis of FYW and strong points for other teaching methods, one’s takeaway from the article is the question, “why even teach FYW”? It’s evident that content and context are the key points in academic writing, so why then do we even make the FYW a mandatory class? A student doesn’t need a semester to understand what content is, for some they already understand what it is, and for those who don’t they should still be able to learn it, in a week. The misconception of writing being universal is very true, but for a student to improve on one’s writing, the easiest solution is to have him or she participate in that discipline. In a realistic world, the more probable solution to most of the problems Down and Wardle bring up is eliminate the course and replace it with a class that allows a student to see and understand the writing in their field without the repercussion of grades. Thus students get more experience within their field and get to learn firsthand what academic writing in their discipline consist
Strunk and White had a lot of good advice about how to make writing clear and concise. One good point made in the book was about dialogue. When there is dialogue in writing, it is extremely annoying not to know who is speaking. "In long dialogue passages containing no attributes, the reader may become lost and be compelled to go back and reread in order to puzzle the thing out," (Strunk and White, 76). When a person is trying to read an extensive piece, it can become such a hassle to have to look back a lot to see which character is saying what. Not only does it deter the reader, but it greatly damages the credibility of the author and the work that he or she produces.
The focal point of Chapter 4 of Successful College Writing is on how to critically read and decipher text and visuals. It highlights the importance of not just looking at the surface of the words, but diving into their true meaning. Authors put every word and picture into their work for a reason, and it is your job to ensure that you do not fall victim to biases and false information. It is crucial to learn how to identify author's tones, opinions, and overall purpose in their writings. Learning how to analyze these patterns will better equip you in acquiring accurate information and also not adopting these deceptive techniques yourself.
These factors are similar to how writing styles affect your reader. No matter how great your grammar and punctuation are: poor diction, voice, and non-concise writing will ruin your credibility. Many students and writers throw these rough choices around like a jump shot in the d...
Williams claims that errors of grammar and usage are the most complex topics, which have been easily misunderstood by many people in our world today. Whether the grammar has to do specifically with literature or not, it has always obtained errors. William notably supports his claim by giving specific examples of professionals who have stated grammatical errors according to what they think is “right.” William also provided some personal experience and textual evidence to express credibility and accuracy of his argument. William’s argument is effective because the main points he focused on with evidence were powerful and stood out to the audience. The real life examples that William demonstrated to the audience gave a strong base to his argument because he showed how grammar errors actually exist in our society. He made it evident that the audience had their eyes opened to topic that had been ignored in the past. William achieved his argument by providing real life situations and by looking at various researches that analyzed the existence of errors in grammar. However, the ways that William could have made his argument more effective is by not having comments that seemed too self- indulgencing. Also he could have taken out evidence like the graphs that didn’t make
In his article, “Escaping the jaundiced eye: Foucauldian Panopticism”, John S. Bak begins his analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" by investigating the author's own life. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written as a critique of S. Weir Mitchell's "Rest Cure" which Gilman went through to be treated from "nervous prostration." The narrator's physiological and emotional health is harmed by her husband who follows Mitchell's treatment plan. Bak explores the imprisonment of the narrator, and ties it with an eighteenth century surveillance method called the Panopticon. The constant surveillance in the Panopticon bred paranoia; Gilman went insane by the "two bulbous eyes" that watch her from the wallpaper. Bak does not see Gilman's character as destroyed by her imprisonment.
Frahm holds a similar point of view encouraging clear, straightforward writing not one with a “Confusing introduction. Lack of content. Bad transitions. (and) Excessive grammatical errors.” (Frahm 271).
I had always been a strong writer in high school; I know how to form an argument and support it fully, but this did not prepare me for the writing at a college level. I expected to be reading long and boring books about topics that did not pertain to my life; as it turns out, this assumption was completely false. All of the three essays that we were required to read in class were fairly difficult to understand, but after a second reading, the essay's meaning became clearer. I also feel as though their messages and key ideas are captivating. I definitely thought they would be extremely dry and difficult to understand.
Neuleib, Janice, Kathleen Shine Cain, and Stephen Ruffus, eds. Mercury Reader for English 101. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013 Print.
This essay opens the minds of people to see that perfect writing is not always the perfect thing. Murray’s essay would interest almost every person who has been a student and taken an English class. Most
Every English 111 textbook should consist of three main things: the proper way to write an academic essay, review of proper grammar, mechanics word usage and a short transition chapter of the difference between writing in high school and college writing. Successful College Writing by Kathleen T. McWhorter has many of the essentials but noticed it lacked examples of a noble essay. All throughout class students critiqued essays but never actually saw an example of a good, noteworthy complete essay. Having examples of what a person shouldn’t do in an essay is always beneficial but should be followed by a precise academic essay. How are the student supposed to improve their academic writing skills if they have nothing to go by? Just because the book lacks a few of the basic essentials doesn’t mean the book itself will not be beneficial in any way. The book as a whole is pleasing but still has room for revisions.
As a strong math, science and engineering student, writing has not come easy to me and by taking this class, I was hoping to become a stronger writer. Throughout the semester, organizing ideas in logical ways has become straight forward thanks to the peer discussions and review I have had. Before this class, I struggled to transition between ideas and discuss each idea in a logical sequence and, unfortunately, my language arts and history grades suffered as a result. By exuding effort and receiving guidance, my hope was to improve my writing and prepare myself for the college writing which would be
Grammar and punctuation is another importance in academic writing. Having inappropriate punctuation, grammar and spelling will cause other staff nurses to have a difficult time to analyse your notes and documents. Proper punc...
One must remember that writing style is not something that just happens, but rather something that is developed. With the help of guides like Elements of Style, or books like Style Toward Clarity and Grace, one can begin to develop one.
Lerych, Lynne, and Allison DeBoer. The Little Black Book of College Writing. Boston, New York: