The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition Book

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Book By: William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, Roger Angell

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Sales Rank: 104; Release Date: 15 January, 2000; Media: Paperback

Customer Book Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - If you can get past the attitude, there's a lot to learn In 1919 when William Strunk Jr. was an English professor at Cornell, he self-published this small volume and used it as a required textbook. One of his students was E.B. White who later wrote the children's classic, "Charlotte's Web" and was also a columnist for the New Yorker. In 1957, Mr. White made some slight revisions and had "The Elements of Style" republished. The result, as they say, is history. Now in its fourth edition, this small book has become a classic. I know I must have learned my grammar in elementary school, but I have no recollection of actual lessons. I don't think I ever did learn terms such as adjectival modifier, adverbial phrase, split infinitive, intransitive verb or participial phrase. My teachers must have done a good job though, because grammar has never been a problem for me. Only 85 pages long, this book was a good refresher course for me. It emphasizes clarity and conciseness and certainly is a good example of this concept itself. Of course it's not easy subway reading; grammar rules do tend to be rather boring. I can't help but picture a rather stuffy old man with a condescending attitude standing at a lectern and giving his own rule for the use of the word "prestigious" which he considers an adjective of last resort. "It's in the dictionary," he says, "but that doesn't mean you have to use it". I'm not a big fan of this kind of wit, although it does make the lessons he teaches more palatable. He's a product of another era, when students held their professors in reverence. It was the style then to talk down to students and I don't like being talked down to, even in a little book and by a man who's been dead since 1946. But it's not about the messenger; it's about the message. And Professor Strunk had something to important to say. He made a good case for clarity. I applaud that. Much of what I already believe was reinforced. In spite of myself, I did learn a lot. And getting the essence of English grammar and style into so few pages is a feat of genius. I highly recommend this book. If you can get past the attitude you will find it can even apply to e-mail correspondence. Take advantage of the learning experience. You won't be sorry. Rating: - Deservedly a classic The fact is, the vast majority of so-called book doctors are garbage. An exception would be Strunk and White's classic Elements of Style. It was originally written during WWI by William Strunk who was then a professor at Cornell, and it has since been updated by E.B.White, one of his former pupils. Strunk's strategy was to edit down the complexities of English grammar into those few basic elements which would help people to improve their writing skills. His central rule is simple: "Omit needless words". Indeed......Unfortunatley, the book sometimes seems a little old-fashioned when it includes grammatical terms such as "nonrestrictive clauses" which one doesn't need to know. Also, the book assumes you have a decent working knowledge of basic grammer. It gives advice on word choice, appropriate use of different syntactical constructions and similar topics. The final chapter added by E.B.White is a list of twenty-one guidelines for clear and good writing which are very helpful. The suggestions range from keeping the audience in mind to hints on the choice of effective vocabulary. Rating: - Useful book for writers and editors For writers and those who work in publishing this little book contains a lot of matters worthy of consideration. It's not the most useful book I have on the subject (that honour goes to "Style Book" by Derek Wallace and Janet Hughes published in 1995) and I don't agree with everything the authors have to say, but it does contain a lot of useful tips, pointers and ways of polishing your text. You can't go wrong by giving it a careful read.

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