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.