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.