What Do Others Think?

While reading through my classmates comments on William Struck and E.B. White's, The Elements of Style, I came to the conclusion that most of my classmates did not enjoy this text as much as Joseph William's, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. In fact, Michelle stated in her blog, "My first impressions of this book, was that I couldn't believe I paid money for it." I have to disagree with Michelle about this book. It think that everyone can use a bit of a refresher course every now and then. We all have moments we have to stop and think, "Should we put an apostrophe after the 't' in the possessive form of 'its'? or, should we use 'there' or 'their'?" While I agree that, as college juniors and seniors, good grammar should be second nature to us, I think it's helpful to have something that you can refer back to when you question yourself. Even the best writer makes grammatical errors from time to time. I found that Rebecca, in her blog, agreed with me that Strunk and White's book is at least somewhat helpful. She started out her blog entry by saying, "Oddly, Strunk and White's Elements of Style addressed one of my biggest pet peeves in the very first couple of pages. I absolutely hate when anyone writes the contraction "it's" when they really mean the possessive "its." People do this all time. Smart people do it. Educated people do it. I believe it would occasionally be a good idea to "review" grammar rules.

Comparing Strunk and White with Williams

In my previous blog entry discussing William Strunk and E.B. White’s book, The Elements of Style, I talked about how Strunk and White explain the hard-fast rules for the use of “who” vs. “whom.” They explain how the words are used reflective of what pronoun they are referencing. There is no talk of this being an option; it is simply what is the proper usage is for the words (Strunk 11).

In Joseph William’s book, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, he also talks about the rules for the use of “who” vs. “whom.” He gives the same rules Strunk and White, and he also gives examples of the correct usage. The difference between two books is that in William’s book, he prefaces the rules with the word “optional.” He gives examples of the misuse of the words by famous writers and acknowledges that the breaking of this rule is rarely noticed anymore (Williams 186). My favorite sentence that he writes with regard to this rule is, “Whom is a small but distinct flag of conscious correctness, especially with the whom is in fact wrong” (Williams 187). Many writers try to use the word “whom” to make something sound more formal, more grammatically correct. What usually happens is that they use it incorrectly.

Strunk & White discuss syllabication in their book (Strunk 38). I did not find any reference to this type of technical style rule in William’s book. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace does not have the detailed, hard-fast, rules that The Elements of Style has.

Strunk and White wrote a whole section of their book on “Misused Words and Expressions (Strunk 39-65). Williams does not talk much about the misuse of words. He gives a list of what he calls, “real rules” (Williams 180). However, he also writes this wonderful paragraph that sums up for me how he really feels about writing rules in general:

The facts of the matter are these: a few especially fastidious
writers and editors try to honor and enforce every rule of usage;
most careful writers observe fewer; and there are a few writers
and editors who know all the rules, but who also know that not
all of them are worth observing and enforcing, and that they should
observe other rules only on certain occasions. (Williams 178)

I found the Strunk and White book to be a better “tool” to use when you are unclear about the hard-fast rules of writing. I think that William’s book is much more realistic in letting you know how to apply the hard-fast rules to today’s writing.

Revising With Williams

Eastern Michigan University is open to students who have the potential to succeed academically as determined by a review of official high school records and/or college records. Admission to the University is based on a combination of factors including, but not limited to, the review of high school or college grade point average, high school or college curriculum and scores on standardized tests.

Students having the proven academic potential to succeed are welcome to attend Eastern Michigan University. This potential is determined by a review of official high school and/or college records. This review determines admission based on, but not limited to, the following factors: high school or college grade point average, high school or college curriculum, and scores on standardized tests.

The first paragraph is from the EMU catalog page, The Undergraduate Experience-Admissions. The second paragraph is my revision of the original. The first problem I addressed in the EMU paragraph was with clarity. In the first sentence, it took me a couple of reads to figure out that the students were the subjects of the sentence. By moving them to the front of the sentence and making the subjects of the verb “attend” involved in the action, the purpose of the sentence is immediately clearer. Joseph Williams suggests this in his book, Style (Williams 43).

The next problem I addressed was the cohesion between sentences. The EMU paragraph was made up of two very long sentences that did not flow together well. I broke up the sentences to make shorter, clearer sentences that flowed from one to the other using words from the previous sentence.

Strunk & White, Part 1

In William Strunk and E.B. White’s, The Elements of Style, I found many answers to rules that I question each and every time I write a paper. This book should be given to every high school student as a graduation present. In fact, my oldest daughter is graduating in two weeks. She might be horrified to find a copy of this book wrapped up as a gift, but I think she would be happy when she wrote her first paper in September.

There are a lot of grammar and style rules that you learn at a young age that aren’t used often and don’t, consequently, stick with you. I honestly don’t remember ever learning the proper rule for “who” and “whom.” If I did, it was back in junior high—back when they called middle school junior high. All in all, the first chapter of the book is a nice refresher course in grammar and is a good idea to read at least once a semester. Sometimes you know the rules, but they evade you when you are in the heart of a writing project. I found that the first three chapters of Shrunk and White were the most helpful and up-to-date.

Strunk and White discusses syllabication as a writing rule—the rule of when to divide a word at the end of a line (Strunk 38). Most writing is now done in some sort of word-processing format, and the program that you use generally will divide the words for you. Rarely would there ever be a need to use this rule. I also was intrigued by the following found under “Misused Words and Expressions:”
Care less. The dismissive “I couldn’t care less” is often
used with the shortened “not” mistakenly (and mysteriously)
omitted: “I could care less.” The error destroys the meaning of
the sentence and is careless indeed. (Strunk 42)

I have always used “I could care less.” I believe that, through time, this phrase has come to mean exactly what “I couldn’t care less” meant originally.

One other “misused” word, which I found the author’s perspective quite awkward on, was the one for the word “data.” The book suggests that instead of saying, “the data is,” you should say, “these data are” (Strunk 44). If I was talking about a collection of data, I would treat the word as if it was a singular item, even if it was comprised of many things.

It is my opinion that there are a lot of instances in this book where these “rules” about word usage are up for individual interpretation and where they are just the author’s preference. Language evolves with cultural changes. Some grammar that was not “proper” twenty-five years ago is now acceptable. Grammar rules change. I know that, in my lifetime, I have seen the comma come and go at least three times, before and, in a series of three or more terms.

My Writing Technology Project

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, first line.

I spent hours today trying to figure out a writing technology I could "invent" without using anything that was store-bought or man-made. I tried to crush dandelions into a paste to write with; I thought about writing on my 18-year old's back. It was literally giving me a headache. Finally, I decided that I would go all "cave man." I found a stick in the back of my yard and I used a store-bought lighter (there was no time to rub two sticks together) to light the tip. I found two pieces of wood in my garage and I painstakingly alternated between lighting the tip of the stick on fire and forming the letters on the pieces of wood. (I'm actually not sure if cave men ever even wrote anything).

When I was considering the portability of my writing project, I thought about Manguel's essay and the evolution of the book. Barron's essay made me think of how grateful I am for the technology of today's writing utensil's that I can go to my local Walgreen's and buy. I do not think I would have enjoyed living in the time of the inkwell.

Manguel and Barron

Barron's essay talks about the evolution of writing utensils, from the pencil to the computer. Manguel's essay talks about the evolution of the recipient of the writing utensil, the book. They both discuss how technology has evolved to make our lives easier. While making our lives easier, this new technology has also done exactly what Plato said that it would, it has made us lazier and more forgetful. Barron talks about how the calculator and the word processor have done just this. Students no longer need to memorize their multiplication tables; they are able to bring a calculator into class. There is no longer a need to agonize over the spelling of words; the spell check function on our word processors won't allow us to turn in papers with spelling and grammar errors (unless we are lazy enough to ignore the spell check warnings). There is no longer even a chance that we will turn in a paper with a fragmented sentence. From personal experience, I have found that when I am asked to write an in-class essay question, my writing skills are not as good as they were when I was in high school. I have digressed. I did not grow up with calculators; I did not grow up with computers. All of my papers in high school, and most in college, were written on lined paper. I was considered a good student with good writing skills. Without the aid of the the crutch I now use, my computer, I'm not sure my high school teachers would think as highly of my writing skills.

What is Style?

Style is the way you express yourself. When referring to "writing" style, everyone's is fairly unique. However, when you are writing a paper for a class, there is an "acceptable" writing style that is expected to achieve a good grade. Most papers that are written for an English course, and most other college courses, need to be written in a formal style that is 100% grammatically correct. This is also true for reports that are written for your job.
A casual writing style is usually acceptable for in-class writing assignments. Personal emails and blog postings are often written in a style that is not always grammatically correct but is acceptable because of the format it is in. A professional email is usually casual in style but should always contain proper grammar. Writing style is a reflection of a writer's personality, work ethic, and many times, level of education.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! My name is Julie Berger and I am a senior majoring in Language, Literature and Writing. I am a mother of three beautiful children, Lauren (18), Robert (14) and Lucy (7). I have returned to EMU and work after taking a long hiatus to raise my children. I love to read (this is what lead me to my major decision) and to garden. I've recently discovered that I am highly amused by silly comedy (i.e. "Superbad"). I love going out to eat and just being with my children and my friends. My life isn't very exciting, but it works for me.