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Bezig met laden... Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (origineel 1981; editie 1996)door Joseph M. Williams
Informatie over het werkStyle: Lessons in Clarity and Grace door Joseph M. Williams (1981)
Writing (7) Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. A much more detailed and nuanced Elements of Style applicable to both nonfiction and fiction, although it's focus is on nonfiction. (I especially appreciated the punctuation refresher.) Although I didn't complete many of the exercises, I will at some point; and they have solutions, so the book is a workshop all on its own! ( ) Very specific and practical advice to use to self-edit. The only thing I disagreed with is at the very end when he said that a few "rules" are just up to the writer: if you want to use a comma, use one; but if you don't, don't. I agree there are a few places you don't need one, but I personally prefer commas to separate ideas when I'm reading. Other than that, great resource for every writer. This book did an excellent job providing examples of poor writing and providing exercises in how to fix those problems. The section on clarity was enlightening and well organized. It can be difficult to take on such a challenging topic as style because style has so many different components. Often, a student's writing contains multiple stylistic problems in a single paragraph. Given these problems, it's easy for a professor to throw up their hands and say, "Style is something you either have or don't. I can't teach it (and I like the students who naturally have style more than the others)." Given the difficulty of the topic, I applaud Joseph Williams for attempting to identify what is helpful and what is confusing when writing English prose. That said, I must warn readers that the book assumes that the reader knows the basics of English grammar. I already knew how to identify the subject and object of a sentence and whether a sentence was passive or active. Without this prior knowledge, I probably would have been completely lost when reading this book. William's book provides a good organizational structure and provides many useful examples to help students tackle this challenging aspect of writing. When Williams discusses clarity, he talks about action, characters, cohesion & coherence, and emphasis. This was a good ordering. While many professors tell students to use active verbs, Williams was the first to discuss the topic of nominalization of verbs and adjectives. Nominalization is when a verb or adjective is changed into a noun. For example, 'decide' becomes 'decision.' Persistent nominalization saps writing of its energy, but can be difficult for students to understand and diagnose on their own. Williams also discusses the importance of keeping characters consistent in a paragraph. This discussion helps students understand the link between writing and attention. It also helps students understand when the use of the passive voice is appropriate and when it is distracting. I admire Williams's focus on logic and problem solving when talking about writing. Writing, particularly at the level of a school essay, can be graded as rigorously and objectively as a mathematical problem set. Unfortunately, few teachers have the time or energy to articulate what skills they want students to demonstrate in their essays. I appreciate Williams's attempt to identify the skills and features that are often the hallmark of clear writing. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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Engaging and direct, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace is the guidebook for anyone who wants to write well.Engaging and direct, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace is the guidebook for anyone who wants to write well. Williams' own clear, accessible style models the kind of writing that audiences-both in college and after-will admire. The principles offered here help writers understand what readers expect and encourage writers to revise to meet those expectations more effectively. This book is all you need to understand the principles of effective writing. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresGeen genres Dewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)808.042Literature By Topic Rhetoric and anthologies Rhetoric and anthologies Handbooks for writers EnglishLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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