The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Lisa of Troy takes on two prestigious literary heavyweights in the classic, “The Elements of Style.”
Round One
Ding! Ding!
When I was in high school, my Spanish teacher frightened me to the point where I wouldn’t speak. It was one of those situations where you internally plead, “Please don’t call on me. Please don’t call on me.” Of course, disaster struck. During one class, I got something in my eye. Tears were streaming down my face. The other students noticed and essentially crowd-surfed me up to the front of the class, explaining the situation in rapid fire Spanish. After nearly 20 years, I still remember this experience so vividly.
This fear-based environment profoundly impacted my Spanish skills in a negative way.
Do you want to know when I learned the most Spanish?
When I was at university, I met two native Spanish speaking students – one from Mexico and one from Venezuela. We would learn from each other. We would talk in a mixture of Spanish and English, discussing things like to how order from Subway when you didn’t know the name of all of the toppings (ultimately, we settled on using words like “this”, “that”, and pointing). My learning extended beyond dated textbooks, and I learned slang, swear words, and listened to music in Spanish for fun. Soon I even started dreaming in Spanish. There wasn’t a person of authority, no “I’m-better-than-you.” We learned from each other, and we unlocked worlds by doing so.
This book transported me back into Spanish class.
If Charlotte’s Web is a hug, The Elements of Style is a punch in the face.
Although the authors have passion and enthusiasm, this book lacks kindness, basic respect, and empathy. The authors write in such a conceited tone as if they are talking to peasants.
Shall we look at some examples? Strunk/EB White in italics below.
Colloquialisms. If you use a colloquialism or slang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in quotation marks. To do so is to put on airs, as though you were inviting the reader to join you in a select society of those who know better.
Enthuse. An annoying verb growing out of the noun enthusiasm. Not recommended.
I am not enthused by the authors’ pompous demeanor.
Finalize. A pompous ambiguous verb.
Is this the author’s favorite word then?
Meaningful. A bankrupt adjective. Choose another, or rephrase.
Prestigious. Often an adjective of last resort. It’s in the dictionary, but that doesn’t mean you have to use it.
He says that you are illiterate if you don’t know that inflammable means combustible.
The truth is…The fact is…A bad beginning for a sentence. If you feel you are possessed of the truth, or of the fact, simply state it. Do not give it advance billing.
Extreme disagree! The truth is always perks up my ears. What is the truth? What is the point?
This shame-based education should be a thing of the past.
Do not affect a breezy manner.
Terrible advice. What I loved so much about Project Hail Mary is that I felt like one of my nerdy friends was having a conversation with me. Rick Riordan in the Percy Jackson series took some classic Greek mythology, modernized the language, and retold the myths in an unpretentious, interesting way, making them his own.
In ordinary composition, use orthodox spelling. Do not write nite for night, thru for through, pleez for please, unless you plan to introduce a complete system of simplified spelling and are prepared to take the consequences.
Stay in your lane, Strunk, telling me what I can and cannot write! This paper is my canvas. As the painter, there are no limits. My creativity isn’t bounded. If I want to say, “Good nite, my readers!” who cares? Maybe it will wake some people up. Why can’t I use magic in my writing? Why can’t I make up words or spelling, stretching myself, pushing readers to think outside the box?
Overly stuffy and formal writing and expecting strict compliance to a rigid set of rules is paralyzing.
The truth is that plot, character, and setting as well as using appropriate sentence and paragraph length are more important than using a few words correctly. In fact, I have already violated several of the rules of The Elements of Style in this review.
Avoid foreign language. It is a bad habit. Write in English.
What about carpe diem? Seize the day? Readers are smart. Treat them as such.
Avoid fancy words. Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready, and able.
Isn’t that one of the beauties of reading? Ordinarily, our vocabulary is limited to a certain set of words in our everyday usage; however, when you read you get to dust off those fancy words, words that you recognize but you don’t often use when you speak. When I encounter a fancy word, I feel like when I am walking along a beach and find an amazing seashell. The fancy words are beautiful treasures.
For example, take the first sentence from His Dark Materials by my favorite author, Philip Pullman:
Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening Hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.
Darkening is not a word that I normally say out loud, but I really enjoyed it in this sentence. Of course, fancy words should be balanced. If I attempted to use the thesaurus to change every single word into something more sophisticated, the sentence would sound ridiculous and take away from the storytelling.
Do not inject opinion.
Is this guy joking? This is classic, “Do as I say and not as I do.”
No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence, or whose attitude is patronizing.
Who proofread this? The entire book is distrustful of the reader and is patronizing. Also, you don’t need a comma between “intelligence” and “or.” What kind of grammar book is this?
Time for street justice. Who won: Lisa of Troy or Strunk/EB White? Put your “two cents” in the comments!