What do others think?

The first of my classmate’s blogs I reviewed was Ms. Tarah’s. She touched on something that I have been going back and forth about as well, the apostrophe “s”. Like Tarah, I agree that the book offers many helpful rules, but this rule in particular seemed to be a little shaky. I like that Tarah went around and asked people how they would write Chris’ pen. Tarah stated that, “If I go around writing Chris's pen instead of Chris' pen, people are going to think that it's wrong so how does that make me a better writer? Unless other people have read this, they will be under the same notion that Chris' pen is correct.” I agree with this statement. This is the opinion from one book, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s correct. In regards to Williams I also agree with Tarah, that the examples in the book do help you to better understand and become a better writer.

In a black and white comparison of Strunk and White and Williams, I was searching the various student blogs and found that Zach had an almost identical comparison of the two books. Zach stated that, “The main issue is that Strunk and White’s book is very accessible and easy to use; it could be considered a quick hit reference book. Williams’s book is much more in depth and more of a textbook. It offers examples and explanations that bring about a comprehensive use for the rules of style. So while Strunk and White give explanations for quick reference Williams offers an explanation for why the rules are used.” I also discussed in my blog that the two books are good under different circumstances, sure enough, Zach discussed this same issue. He wrote that, “If you wanted to learn about the importance of style and how to use style to be a better writer then you would want to use Williams. On the other hand, if you had a good grasp on style then Strunk and White would be a good help guide for when encountering a style issue when writing. The books are different resources for comprehending style.” These two passages are literally my exact thoughts and what I wrote in my blog. ;)

After looking through everyone’s blogs, I couldn’t find one that I really had a differing viewpoint with. So here is yet another comparison. Lameka’s blog in regards to Williams clearly stated why Williams is the better book to have in the scheme of things. I too wrote this in my blog. Like Lameka stated, “As for the long term memory and a deeper understanding, Williams Style Toward Grace and Clarity is worth trying to commit to memory.”

I enjoyed looking over the student blogs, it is good to know that other people feel the same way I do about these books.

Comparing Strunk and White and Williams


Strunk and White's Elements of Style is what I would refer to as a quick reference guide. In contrast to Williams, Style Toward Clarity and Grace gives us the more in depth explanation behind the change. Both of these books are helpful, it's just a matter of when each would be used. If I were to sit down a write a term paper, I would refer to White's book because of how the book is laid out. Common errors are referenced in this book, and the correction is easily spelled in a very short length. One can go straight to the contents and look up what they need, and figure out the change in an instant. On the other hand, if I were to sit down and revise or critique a fellow student's paper, or a document for work, I would need to be able to explain my reasoning for the change, and refer directly to the Style book.

In the previous blog assignment I was so tempted to just make the corrections that I thought were wrong, but wasn't that simple. After reading the book, I found that some of the things I read that were hurting my ears (in the paragraph I decided to change) actually had some reasoning behind it, go figure. It was definitely a moment of clarity. One example was the string that is tied through the paragraph being highlighted by word choice, and their patterns. In my particular paragraph the words for the most pat all flowed together, but there were a few that didn't fit with the paragraph. Chapters three and five went in depth on this topic, and helped me understand the why behind what was throwing the paragraph off.

The advice offered by Williams I feel is more useful in the long run. Let's take math for example. If I am able to use a calculator to solve a problem, then I'll be just fine, but when it comes time to take the test, I don't know the whole process of how I came up with the answer, and that's really the whole point. So in writing, it's fine to know how to make change, but it's crucial to know why the change has been made. Writing is used under many circumstances, so knowing the rules will help us to apply them to any situation, rather than being confined to one word and one correction. Anyone can make something sound better or make something look better, but the people that are the experts can accurately state the reason behind the change, and defend their work. The people who just make the change and have nothing to back it up are the frauds.

Revising with Williams

Original Text
At the end of every fall and winter semester, hundreds of students from English 121 classes display their written work at the semi-annual Celebration of Student Writing. For the celebration, sponsored by the Department of English Language and Literature and the Office of Undergraduate Studies, students create products representing the research they do in their 121 classes. Students who display their work are joined at the celebration by EMU faculty and administrators, students from other EMU courses and visitors ranging from prospective EMU students to students in writing courses from other colleges. Attendees wander the room and talk with student authors about their celebration projects and their research work for the semester.

Process of change
In chapter three Williams stated that "readers need familiar information at the beginnings of sentences. This led to my use of sequence beginning in the first sentence. In the second sentence, the sentence is structured in such a way that it obscures the student's role in the celebration. The purpose of the celebration isn't reached until the end of the sentence, and this had to be sorted out in my head. In the revision the students are the subject of the verb, and who the celebration is sponsored by is clearly stated in a separate sentence. Both sentences end up being arranged in chronological sequence. This ensures that the topic string is being woven through the paragraph properly. The word products should be projects to adhere with the context of the sentence. With this same sentence, the context calls not for the present tense of they do, but the past tense. The context has shown us that the event takes place at the end of the semester, therefore the research has already been done. This adheres to our sense of coherence. The secret to a readable sentence is in the first five or six words. In the sentence beginning with 'attendees wander the room', this word choice for doesn't create for the reader a consistent point of view. "Wander", figuratively and literally leads us astray. Williams states in chapter five the second the second kind of string, the thematic string. The set of conceptually related words in the revision are in bold.

Revision
At the semi-annual Celebration of Student Writing, hundreds of English 121 students display their written work the end of every fall and winter semester. The celebration is sponsored by the Department of English Language and Literature and the Office of Undergraduate studies. Students create projects representing the research they have done in their 121 classes. Students who display their work are joined at the celebration by EMU faculty and administrators, students from other EMU courses, and visitors ranging from prospective EMU students to students in writing courses at other colleges. Attendees talk with student authors about their celebration projects and research work for the semester.

Elements of Style

In comparison to the first assignment when we gave our first definition of style, this book really helped me to redefine what style is. There was one short paragraph that I think did an excellent job of showing an example of style. "If you doubt that style is something of a mystery, try rewriting a familiar sentence and see what happens. Any much-quoted sentence will do. Suppose we take 'these are the times that try men's souls.' Here we have eight short easy words words, forming a simple declarative sentence. The sentence contains no flashy ingredient such as 'Damn the torpedoes!' and the words you see are ordinary. Yet in that arrangement, they have shown great durability." (67) The variations of sentences that followed did indeed show different styles using the same words in the given sentence.

Another area which I thought was helpful was the misused words section. To have a relevant list of words that are so commonly misused was very helpful. Two words in paticular that I really have issues with are comprise and effect. I try to remember the United States analogy for it, but I always forget it. The example in the book was quite easy to remember. "A zoo comprises mammals,reptiles,and birds (because it 'embraces,' or 'includes,'them). But animals do not comprise ("embrace") a zoo-they constitute a zoo." (43) So I'll see how long this one sticks with me.

The few rules I did not consider helpful were some of the elementary rules of usage. Some were actually helpful in regards to the dashes and independent clauses, but some were very elementary as the book stated. For instance adding an 's' to make a word plural, or in a series of three place a comma after each term except the third. Everyone has their trouble spots when it comes to grammar, so the book does a good job of covering many areas.