In this executive summary, I will examine Chapter 3: Clarity from Style: Toward Clarity and Grace written by Joseph Williams. In Chapter 3, Joseph mainly discusses the importance of writing ‘clear’ sentences. Moreover, he introduces several sub-topics to support his main claim. These sub-topics include: First, the rule for writing clear sentences. Secondly, sentence structure and sentence clarity. Thirdly, the use of nominalization. Fourthly, the use of passive voice. Lastly, the rule of using meta-discourse. As Joseph introduces, an unclear sentence, or say as an complex sentence, is not because of the words in the sentence make it hard to interpret, it is because how we use the words in the sentence makes the logic of the sentence seems awkward. The goal for writing a clear sentence is to make the information flow quick and understandable for the readers. The two most important and basic principles for a clear wiring are: “(1) the subjects of the sentences name the cast of character, (2) the verbs that go with those subjects name the crucial actions those characters are part of” (21). A clearer sentence structure comes from when the character is in the role of the subject, and the action is in place of the …show more content…
Further, a more simplified version can be described as: Characters+Actions (27). By following the this simple structure, it helps to write a clear, simple, and direct sentence. Hence, the delivery of the information will be more persuasive. Characters in place of subjects are not the only form, there are three main types: Agents, Instruments, and an exception as the characters in adjectives. Agents are characters who produce the action directly. The instrument is used in the subject to make unstated agents to perform the action. Characters are not always in the place of subjects, it can be in place of adjectives as long as it follows the logic of the
Writing is hardly ever done with just one sentence. It is a combination of sentences that all have to coincide with one another to reach a goal of clarity. "A series of clear sentences can still be confusing if we fail to design them to fit their context, to reflect a constant point of view, to emphasize our most important ideas. These sentences could all refer to the same set of conditions, but each leads us to understand the conditions from a different point of view," (Williams, 45). It is always a good idea to start out small; take a sentence and make is clear. This then needs to be applied to groups of sentences together to make the whole sample of writing clear.
film music. On the one side there are the purists, who cry foul at the piecing together of
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
Williams claims that errors of grammar and usage are the most complex topics, which have been easily misunderstood by many people in our world today. Whether the grammar has to do specifically with literature or not, it has always obtained errors. William notably supports his claim by giving specific examples of professionals who have stated grammatical errors according to what they think is “right.” William also provided some personal experience and textual evidence to express credibility and accuracy of his argument. William’s argument is effective because the main points he focused on with evidence were powerful and stood out to the audience. The real life examples that William demonstrated to the audience gave a strong base to his argument because he showed how grammar errors actually exist in our society. He made it evident that the audience had their eyes opened to topic that had been ignored in the past. William achieved his argument by providing real life situations and by looking at various researches that analyzed the existence of errors in grammar. However, the ways that William could have made his argument more effective is by not having comments that seemed too self- indulgencing. Also he could have taken out evidence like the graphs that didn’t make
If you have seen any well-known movies, chances are, you have heard many of John Williams’ songs. John Williams is a currently famous music composer, who has been composing for a large span of time. John Williams composed many original music scores for one of a kind, well-known films, set a high standard for up and coming musical composers, and created a new kind of music that people will respect for generations.
While preparing for one of his college lectures, Dennis Baron, a professor and linguistics at the University of Illinois, began playing with the idea of how writing has changed the world we lived in and materials and tools we use in everyday life. This lecture slowly transitioned into “Should Everybody Write?” An article that has made many wonder if technology has made writing too easy for anyone to use or strengthens a writer's ability to learn and communicate their ideas. Baron uses rhetorical strategies in his article to portray to his audience his positive tone, the contrast and comparison of context and his logical purpose.
This essay opens the minds of people to see that perfect writing is not always the perfect thing. Murray’s essay would interest almost every person who has been a student and taken an English class. Most
Often in their writing, writers make assumptions and they are careless. They assume that whatever they write will be understood by others. Sometimes, however, what they write may be totally different from what they actually mean to say. If one can not think clearly, how could they possibly write in a clear, concise way? If you do not write something clearly, chances are your reader will not understand it either. Zinnser is right when he makes his statement about clear thinking making clear writing. It is true that one can not exist without the other.
Cerjak ,The English Journal, Vol. 76, No. 5 (Sep., 1987), pp. 55-57 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Any craftsman knows that you need the right tools to complete a project successfully. Similarly, people need the right language and usage to communicate in a positive way. How people write is often a problem because they don’t have the right tools, but a bigger problem occurs when a writer “is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything at all” (592). If a writer carries this mentality, why try to communicate in the first place? People need...
For a writer to better understand style, multitudes of books and helpful guides have been published. Many are written as lists of rules about word choice, constructions to avoid, common stylistic traps, and other such things. One of these is The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. Another type are the books that go into more detail that further explain why some things work in writing and some things don’t. Style Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams would fall into this category. Although written in a different manner they share the same goal; to present some of the most important rules in writing and style.
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a touching play about the lost dreams of a southern family and their struggle to escape reality. The play is a memory play and therefore very poetic in mood, setting, and dialogue. Tom Wingfield serves as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Tom lives with his Southern belle mother, Amanda, and his painfully shy sister, Laura. The action of the play revolves around Amanda's search to find Laura a "gentleman caller. The Glass Menagerie's plot closely mirrors actual events in the author's life. Because Williams related so well to the characters and situations, he was able to beautifully portray the play's theme through his creative use of symbolism.
When writing professionally, authors must demonstrate their ability to synchronize sentences together in a way the reader can comprehend. Therefore, sentences must connect to one another, and at the same rate flow smoothly, yet avoiding “fake coherence” (p.77). Attempting to solidify sentences with common knowledge conjunctions (i.e. thus, therefore, however, hence, etc.) does not show the writer’s ability to link topic ideas together smoothly. According to Williams, using “fake connections” to convey information amplifies the writer inability to explain their ideas gracefully. Writers can avoid incoherence in their writing by remaining focus, identify ideas immediately, and avoid mean less connecting word. According to Williams, writers should
The sentence structure and diction used in the author’s work provides the reader with the overall sense of an
Syntax is the study of how words are combined to create phrases and causes in the sentences of a specific language (Freeman and Freeman, 2014). Syntax helps us to make clear sentences that “sound right,” where words, phrases, and clauses each serve their function and are correctly ordered to form and communicate a complete sentence with meaning. The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences. Not only does it focus on the correct word order for a language, but it also helps show the relationship between the meaning of a group of words. Without proper syntax, a sentence can be meaningless. It is key to understand that while every language does have certain syntax, the syntax does vary from language to language. It