While there are people who love to read and write, there are others that do not. When a student is required to read a book for a class and that student does not enjoy reading, there are very few things they would rather do less. And when that book’s topic is about learning how to write that is the worst of it. When I was assigned to read Writing with Style by John R. Trimble, my immediate thought was that this book and assignment was going to be a struggle to get through. To my pleasant surprise, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Writing with Style provides the reader with a wide range of writing tips while being written in a fun, conversational style. This book provides easy to find writing tools that can be understood by people of varying …show more content…
Trimble included a chapter “Openers” which focused on creating interesting and elaborate openers for any type of writing. Creating openers with depth and complexity is a skill I have struggled mastering my entire writing career. I was always taught to start with my introductory paragraph and thesis. It was always difficult to start the essay and once the first paragraph was completed the rest was easier to write. My introductory paragraphs always lacked in complexity which was not a good thing. “…quality of an opener tends to forecast what follows” and in my case, the forecast was always cloudy and boring (Trimble 24). From reading this book I want to be able to amplify my openers by making a strong impact on the reader to attract their attention. To do this, I plan on implementing Trimble’s strategy of writing bold openers with concrete ideas in order to climax toward the thesis statement and the rest of the essay as a whole. I have always noticed that when I am not confident in what I am writing I tend to generalize my ideas and topics to the point where my thesis also begins to get muddled. Trimble focuses on the fact that a strong thesis is needed to create the foundations for a strong essay. He says “the simpler the better” when writing a thesis. What I took from this is that he doesn’t want the reader to create a simple thesis, no, he wants the reader the write a concise, well thought out thesis hits all the main points in the shorter amount of sentences. This allows the writer less space to generalize a bland thesis which in turn creates a more focused
Many times, my writing consists of a solid introduction with a good idea, but it wanes as it nears the ending and the conclusion is not effective so as to remain consistent with the proper sequence of the sentence (2-3-1). The reader of my work must distinguish the most important points of the work, understanding the general theme, while remaining captivated by a consistently interesting paper. If a primary point exists, it needs to be expanded, emphasized, or supported. The work needs to remain interesting and captivating throughout. For the reader to infer my opinion on the subject matter, I must show approval or disapproval of it in some way.
During the transition from a high school writer to a collegiate writer, my strength at understanding the basic principles of good writing has remained consistent. I grasp the ...
...s educational system on traditionalism that focuses on fluency, appreciation, and comprehension. King states, “no one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person” (138). As a whole we are “creatures of habit”, thus resisting changes in the traditional sphere of academics. King uses his spin on popular culture to engage future readers and inspire the next generation of writers. “Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.” (King 269-270). “On Writing” is a poignant, educated, and inspiring book, a book that is sure to help hundreds of struggling writers and will motivate others who may pick up the book not for inspiration, but mere curiosity.
“Style” strives to explain how writers can improve clarity, cohesion, usage, and elegance to become a more effective writer. This book is not meant to be read once, for the full potential can not be achieved unless it is absorbed several times. Packed from cover to cover with real life examples ranging from the worst imaginable to greatly improved, Williams provides a detailed explanation of how to transform any writers work. Charts, graphs, and diagrams may add some confusion but can be helpful for individuals who depend upon visual aids.
Every writer has a style of writing that is unique to them. This literary element, style is the author’s personal way of describing, events, object and ideas. An author’s style is also comprised of his or her word choice (diction), sentence structure (syntax), sentence arrangement (organization) and figurative language (imagery). All those thing come together to create mood, image and meaning throughout the text. Similarities and differences in style can be established in the writings of nineteenth century British writer, Charles Dickens, and his French comrade, Guy de Maupassant. Both author’s diction is unbelievably comparable, but their imagery is far from being related. One of the many things Dickens is famous for is his extensive and detailed imagery, which can be seen in his classic short story “A Christmas Carol”. Maupassant’s imagery is in fact very concise and nonspecific, which can be seen in his short story “The Necklace. Both stories “A Christmas Carol” and “The Necklace” show various similarities and differences. But in the aspect of style, diction, both authors use formal and sophisticated word choice.
The Blake and Mouton Leadership grid studies how leaders help an organization through concern for production and/or concern for people and is based on a nine point scale
There are various ways writers can evaluate their techniques applied in writing. The genre of writing about writing can be approached in various ways – from a process paper to sharing personal experience. The elements that go into this specific genre include answers to the five most important questions who, what, where, and why they write. Anne Lamott, Junot Diaz, Kent Haruf, and Susan Sontag discuss these ideas in their individual investigations. These authors create different experiences for the reader, but these same themes emerge: fears of failing, personal feelings toward writing, and most importantly personal insight on the importance of writing and what works and does not work in their writing procedures.
In “Writing to Learn: Writing across the Disciplines,” Anne J. Herrington finds different sources stating that writing is to be taken serious. Janet Emig says, "writing represents a unique mode of learning-not merely valuable, not merely special, but unique” (1) meaning that writing is far more essential than we ought to make it seem. Anne Herrington wants educators teaching in economics, history, chemistry or any other subject to guide their students into understanding why progressing their writing skills will be more helpful to them. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the educator; whether he/she wants their students to use writing as a way for students to adapt to different disciplines.
According to the Webster’s New World Dictionary, the definition of style is “a characteristic manner of expression”(612). Usually words such as personal, individual, and unique also come to mind when we think of writing style. I have always associated writing style with belonging uniquely to one individual, meaning that everyone had his or her own style. After reading, “Style Toward Clarity and Grace” by Joseph Williams and “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White, I realized that style is not as unique as I thought. In fact, as I stated in my blog space, “writing has certain rules and elements that must be incorporated in to our writing in order to make our points clear to those we want to read it. Since these elements and rules are common to all writing, then style and good writing bring forth new meanings.”
One must remember that writing style is not something that just happens, but rather something that is developed. With the help of guides like Elements of Style, or books like Style Toward Clarity and Grace, one can begin to develop one.
I have learned from you that as writers, we need to stop time to time to refresh our minds, and reflect on what we are writing. Then, when we go back to write with new energies that will help us to correct grammars, incomplete thoughts, add new ideas, and delete unnecessary information in our papers. My writing style has a little difference compare to you. I usually create mind map to brain storm my ideas on the topic, and my outline will base on the mind map. I don’t know why I rarely take small breaks while writing because I scare that I will lose my thoughts. Therefore, I usually spend many hours to write my paper without stopping. After reading your writing, I am changing my writing habits that I need to take small breaks because taking
The thesis essentially tells the reader whether the essay is important and worth reading. As a result, the thesis should be stated in the introduction paragraph such that readers can easily identify what the essay is about and they will know what to expect. Furthermore, if the thesis is not strong, then the overall essay will follow suit and will not be strong either. The common saying, “quality over quantity,” is applicable to the thesis; its strength comes from its conciseness, clarity, and detail, instead of its length. If the thesis does not express the essay’s purpose in a coherent and detailed fashion, the reader will not be interested and may not wish to continue reading.
In The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, and in Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Williams; several ideas are discussed as having impact on one’s writing style. Among these points of interest are clarity, concision, and consistency, which were aspects deemed important in both works. Essentially, the authors held different perspectives on what constitutes good style, but nonetheless, there are areas of common ground between them.
Taking a creative writing class was a good way for me to express my thoughts and feelings onto paper, as well as read my other classmates stories. Reading stories created by other people lead me into their mind brain to experience what type of writer they were, it was an overall exquisite class. I believe that every person has a way of expressing who they are through writing stories of their own, fiction is the best way to express your creative imagination. This class that I took for two years helped me become a better writer and helped me understand the types of writers we have.
Thomas Carlyle once said, “A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder. At the beginning of this class, I had only one question in mind. What makes a good writer great? What set of qualities do they have that makes them such remarkable writers? And I wanted to evaluate those qualities that makes them so unique. In order for me to accomplish that, I need to take a class where student read and write extensively. A class that makes a student think outside the box. Intro to creative writing was a perfect class for me. The class teaches things that makes people think differently, that makes you look at writing in a different perspective. My goal in this class is still wanting to be a great writer. A writer who thinks outside the box, a creative writer. One thing I think to myself is that when I look back, to the first day of this class, I didn’t really understand poetry much. Which made me kind of sad because poetry writing has a