Comparing The Elements of Style and Grace and Style Toward Clarity and Grace
Webster’s dictionary defines style as a particular or distinctive fashion, form or manner. This leaves much unsaid in context to the world of writing. Everyone looks at style differently because everyone has their own interpretation of what it is. The Elements of Style and Grace and Style Toward Clarity and Grace are two different books. Though these books have many differences, a lot of the ideas are the same; they are just written in different styles. I do not believe either one to be overly better than the other. They were both written at different times with different objectives in mind, and you have to take that for what it is worth.
Writing is hardly ever done with just one sentence. It is a combination of sentences that all have to coincide with one another to reach a goal of clarity. "A series of clear sentences can still be confusing if we fail to design them to fit their context, to reflect a constant point of view, to emphasize our most important ideas. These sentences could all refer to the same set of conditions, but each leads us to understand the conditions from a different point of view," (Williams, 45). It is always a good idea to start out small; take a sentence and make is clear. This then needs to be applied to groups of sentences together to make the whole sample of writing clear.
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.
In my writing experience I have had sentences criticized on the basis of length. Teachers always told me that they were too long.
Another key point, is to break the writing into sections, so it is easier to understand and grasp what the author is arguing about. It is for you to describe the text and be able to put it in your own words or summarize
Gene Smiley, "Great Depression." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. 12 May 2014. .
4. Also be careful of run-on sentences. Let your sentences contain only one or two ideas, not three or four. Do not over-use semicolons or colons, use a period instead.
"The Great Depression." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: Government and Politics. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Student Resources in Context. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
The fundamental weakness and contradictions of the world economy was the actual cause of the Great Depression. The international economy was in shambles because of the cost of war and the American economy was indirectly damaged by this; however, October 29, 1929 is the official beginning of the Great Depression because of the stock market crash of 1929. Paper fortunes had vanished but money was the foundation of American life. People usually took loans from banks so they could start businesses but because of the Depression, they took out loans so they would have e...
In chapter fourteen, William Zinsser stated, “Surprisingly often a difficult problem in a sentence can be solved by simply getting rid of it”. The significance of this quotation is its sound advice. Instead of trying to work with a sentence that doesn’t flow, remove it. Move on and create another sentence that will make your writing match and clear. Once you are finished with your writing you will be able to go back and revise your writing, and by that time you may have that perfect sentence you were looking for.
“The buying frenzy continued through mid-1929 in stocks and trusts, with most investors becoming drunk on profits and oblivious to the instability of the market” (George 29). President Coolidge’s presidency was coming to an end and “President Coolidge neither knew nor cared what was going on…he had comforted himself with the thought that this was the primary responsibility of the Federal Reserve Board” (George 26). On October 29, 1929 the stock market crashes sending the United States into an economic depression. The definition of “The Great Depression – this period of high unemployment, poverty, broken families, low profits, and few opportunities for growth and personal advancement – lasted from mid-1929 to late 1941, and its effects struck not only the United States but the entire world” (George 8). The American people were in shock and their lives were all of a sudden turned upside down with lots of uncertainty in their
The causes and far-reaching effects of The Great Depression are examined. Discussion includes its impact on both American cultures and nations around the world. The role of World War II and the New Deal in overcoming the Depression are explored.
Cameron, Alister. The Identity of Oedipus the King: Five Essays on the Oedipus Tyrranus. New York: New York University Press, 1968.
The stock market crashed in October of 1929. Also known as ‘Black Tuesday’ this crashed deleted the value of all paper stocks. A lot of people lost their life savings and unemployment rose to a rate of 25%. Although The Depression happened here in the United States, many counties world-wide were affected as they relied heavenly on companies that exported their goods from America.
4. Samuelson, Robert. "The Great Depression" (2002) The Concise Encyclopedia Of Economics. 30 July 2005
Bullying has both short term and long effects on the victim. A victim of someone who has been bullied for so long can lead to them bullying other individuals, making this a never-ending cycle. "Bu...
Within a story that is mostly dialogue, it would be logical to understand which characters are speaking so the reader can understand the interactions of the characters. There are no names given to the two waiters in the café, and there is very little reference to which one is speaking. This makes the reader infer which character knows what key information is being presented. One of the first critics to start the dialogue debate in 1959 is Dr. William E. Colburn who authored Confusion in ‘A Clean, Well-Lighted Place’. Colburn declared, “The dialogue does not fit a logical pattern; there definitely is an inconsistency in the story” (241). At the same time in 1959, a college teacher named F. P. Kroeger wrote, “There has been what appears to be an insoluble problem in the dialogue” (240). These two initial statements have resulted in years of contention and controversy by many other critics.
For a writer to better understand style, multitudes of books and helpful guides have been published. Many are written as lists of rules about word choice, constructions to avoid, common stylistic traps, and other such things. One of these is The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. Another type are the books that go into more detail that further explain why some things work in writing and some things don’t. Style Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams would fall into this category. Although written in a different manner they share the same goal; to present some of the most important rules in writing and style.
Dr. Shook’s critiques directed me to revise for the lack of transitional phrases between main ideas within my essay, as well as my tendency to compose run-on sentences. Accordingly, I inserted transitions that connected the major points that my essay touched upon. In order to do so, I used phrases such as “furthermore” in order to create a better flow without compromising the important ideas that were essential in regards to properly communicating the context to my audience. By commencing the process of revising my first essay, I developed the understanding that one of my shortcomings as a writer at the beginning of the semester included compiling numerous ideas into one sentence, consequently making it too “heavy.” By taking corrective action, I separated sentences that surpassed three lines into two entities. I found that Informal Assignment 10: Writing with Clear Style, assisted in improving my understanding of how my style of writing assists in communicating to my audience. Initially, I failed to realize that clear communication is of the utmost importance in regards to becoming an astute college writer. I entered English 101 focusing on incorporating words with over three syllables to intelligently convey my argument instead of focusing on how clearly my argument will be received by my