Strunk and White: First Impressions

Elements of Style is an excellent handbook if you're looking for technical information on the proper grammar of commas, semicolons, and other prescriptive rules on English writing style. This book is not a good reference to descriptive grammar and the constant evolution of language through writing.

The book presents itself very precisely and has many suggestions for rephrasing common mistakes and misuses of idioms. It takes a discriminatory opinion on certain changes to the grammar such as "flammable" and "inflammable". The authors write "Unless you are operating such a a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable." Some of the more common practices in writing are condemned by the authors.

At the same time the handbook uses some of the new styles as examples in what not to do and in the explanation after. He has a very comical style when he addresses the grammar in this way and I think it's an effective way to demonstrate a possible use of an irregular style.

The last few paragraphs offer important insight to the purpose of writing. "Your whole duty as a writer is to please and satisfy yourself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one." I believe in this completely with few exceptions. I don't agree with the hard rules Strunk puts forward, but I can respect that he sees some elements necessary for variety and why the hard rules should form the foundation of the grammar.

Peer Review Recap Part 1

Generally, I had good things to say about the reviews on my essay. Using Google Docs to edit and share the paper is a really excellent idea. I actually used the application to write another paper online and then print it later from the library for another class.

The paper itself was fairly easy to write. I liked the flexibility of the Works Cited requirements. Most teachers are extremely anal about how you use cite references. Personally, I only feel it necessary to give as much information as you need to find the article, the bare minimum to pin down the original work. Usually this is what citing does anyway, but the whole organized system for doing so is frequently counterintuitive.

Some things on my wish list were more specific comments on the structure of my paper. I only had one comment that said my essay flowed well, but I have my doubts. I also got a lot of 'I wouldn't change a thing' and 'You've probably already got a good final draft here.' I don't blame my peer reviewers for these comments by any stretch, but sometimes I wish I had more to do than rephrase some of my statements. I don't want to be complacent with my work; I feel disbelief in thinking that there's nothing significant to change about my essay.

On the other side, I think I gave some good advice. Sometimes it's hard to read what someone was trying to say and then tell them what they need to hear to make it better, but I believe I came across with some useful tips. As far as flow and restructuring of essays, I'm not sure I gave enough of that advice myself. It really is hard. So I can see where getting that kind of advice back is difficult.

My Writing Technologies

My invented writing technology.

When I was younger my choices of writing technologies was very simple. The teachers usually insisted on pencils because they were easy to erase the frequent mistakes in almost all subjects, notably math and English. Around the time of middle school or junior high my taste switched over to pens for the greater readability and better feel in the grip and texture. Control of the tip was a big issue in those days because they had dramatic effects on my handwriting legibility. The pencil wasn't completely abandoned, but I usually preferred mechanical pencils. They were more consistent on paper and didn't require getting up every 5 minutes to sharpen.

Computers were a growing force even before those grade school days. I was lucky enough to have an older computer in the early '90s that allowed me to practice typing and becoming proficient in developing operating systems. Word processing hadn't quite caught on yet and the experiences I had with printing on that early machine were terrifying to say the least. Nothing came out like it appeared on the screen and the printer itself was loud and unreliable. Technology moved fast after that, and by the mid '90s I could use my PC to print any number of documents using the Microsoft Office tools. Teachers around that time began to recognize the importance of having students use a computer to type reports and essays, or allowing them access to the school computer lab if they didn't have access at home.

Nowadays, I use the computer for almost everything I do in prose. Notes in class or short messages are done with a pen and I take officious tests in No. 2 pencil. Commonly I write on lined paper for my notes or just any scrap of material that can hold text for short messages at work or something I need to remember without holding it in mind. Lined paper really is best for organization and legibility. The only writing technologies that I really shun are certain kinds of pens which leave thick trails of ink, or that don't flow well onto the paper.

What is Style?

Style is an amorphous, changing element of life that manifests itself in the way we see and experience things. I say changing because what is stylish one day may not be so stylish the next. What may seem impressive and stylish could be bland and tasteless all at once.

Style is the visual and emotional appeal of a work in any medium. Not to be confused with attractiveness, artistic merit or grammaticality, style is more subjective to the interpretations of the viewer, listener, or reader. Therefore, impressions of style can vary widely between individuals. In this way, style is hard to predict, though going along with popular trends can assure a certain amount of style points. At the cost of potentially huge risk an artist could create a new trend and magically generate new style. A new style in this manifestation has a much greater impact when it is widely accepted by the mainstream audience.

Frequently, the context of the work in question has as much to do with the style as the work itself. For example, a hood ornament from an early model car has tremendous style value (in this writer's opinion), however, the vehicle on which the ornament rides on can greatly influence how stylish it really is. Indeed, the ornament may be more valuable if taken away from the car and placed on it's own stand or pedestal and displayed as an icon of style from a long-ago era.

In recent history a resurgence of these "kitsch" items and works have become new symbols for style. Old television shows are looked back upon wistfully by people who grew up with them and wish that shows today were made with the same degree of interpreted styles. Retro fashions like bell-bottoms and flared pant legs were the norm a few years ago. Circling around to the automotive angle once more, some notable car designs are borrowing on previous generations' style with new-retro appearances. The most recent generation of Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro, to name a few, are cashing in on this kitsch-style value.

Style is any form that is looking for acceptance from any particular group. It doesn't have to be new or old, radical or conservative. All it needs is an interest group that can nurture and appreciate the work and the contexts it appears in.

Hello world!

First post. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.