What Are Others Saying?

I followed the blogs of two of my classmates. The first thing I noticed was that we all definitely have similiar perspectives on the Williams book. Overall, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, was not one of my favorite books. There are some principles that I will carry with me when I become a teacher, but most things from the Williams book will be forgotten.

The two blogs I followed had positive things to say about the Williams book. For instance, Lukas Tasker wrote that, "Williams is more effective because of the helpful, co-pilot approach..." David Slaga wrote that, "Williams goes into much more depth and uses many more examples whereas ‘Elements of Style’ is very cut and dry." I too, believe that Style has its moments. But, Tasker and Slaga do not continue with any praise of the book. Tasker writes that, "Some passages inspired confusion during my reading, forcing me to backtrack and reread the last passage once, if not twice more. Some of the explanations require background knowledge of the language. An example is the discourse on passive and active voice; if I'm really not sure what the difference is and how to replicate it in a sentence, the book leaves me wondering. The discussion on nominalization was also confusing..." I actually felt this way a lot when reading the Williams book.

I believe that The Elements of Style is a more practical choice. It is a slim little book that can be carried easily. The advice is straightforward and easy to understand. Slaga agrees when he writes, "Strunk and White is nice because of its quaintness and direct nature but doesn’t go into much detail as to why the rules are the way they are." Tasker finds that he likes, "...some of the straightforward simplicity in Strunk's handbook. The reference-quality passages were easy to digest. The cut and dried rules with no explanations put me off, but they get the job done and present a basic foundation for components of writing." On the other hand Tasker believes that, "For more comprehensive writing tips, Williams beats out Strunk hands down. Not only does Williams have the grace and clarity in his own writing to sympathize with a student, he shows how to translate that style to the student's writing."

In the end, the three of us disagree about the two books. Tasker and Slaga are able to find compromises with the two books. Slage concludes that, "I think the advice offered by Williams is much more useful but, at the same time, much more difficult to comprehend. Strunk and White is nice because of its quaintness and direct nature but doesn’t go into much detail as to why the rules are the way they are. Therefore, Strunk and White’s advice is useful but not as effective as Williams whose advice is both useful and effective in its application." Tasker ends with, "I still agree that a firm grasp of the basic rules are Strunk's territory and should be followed, and that once those are implanted the student can then use the strategies in Williams' book to modify Strunk's rules, put them back together, and end with an organized and stylistically superior piece of writing." I think its good that Tasker and Slaga were able to reach common ground, but I am still partial towards Strunk and White.