 | | | Subject: Elements of Style
Posted Jul 22, 2007 by CRich70
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 | | Actually, as I understand it, Mr. White first heard of the Elements of Style when he was still a student of Mr. Strunk's. Mr. Strunk had put it together as a guide for teaching his english classes. Mr. White was asked yrs later to update the original manuscript and make any necessary changes to keep the text current since there had been some small changes to the language. In the forward of the book he (Mr. White) talks of removing 'bewhiskered' text. So he wasn't strictly a co-author of the book. More an editor who updated it from the manuscript of his own boyhood.
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| | | Subject: Elements of Style
Posted Jul 23, 2007 by CRich70
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 | | Touche. I had forgotten about that chapter he added on. Yep, I read it when I was in college. I wasn't required for the course I was studying, but I found a copy in the school bookstore and bought it. Some say that the "elements of style" is outdated or some such nonsense, but I think it still has value today. Books (about writing) have come and gone since EofS but (I think) none have come close to the brief clarity of its message. Of course my first exposure to Mr.White's work wasn't his writing but the original animated movie of "Charlotte's Web." It was made in 1973. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070016/
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| | | Subject: Elements of Style
Posted Jul 23, 2007 by Leo
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My grandmother gave it to me as a gift. I remember wondering, "who is this EB White guy anyway - didn't he write Charlotte's Web? I never liked that book - why should I let him tell me how to write English?"  I've recently gotten over that reservation.
Some of it is rather old and stuffy - like the rule about never starting a sentence with "however". However, on the whole it is an excellent and succinct summary of English usage, and the chapter at the end reminds the reader what there is to strive for: that easy, elegant flow. <passionate sigh>
Have you read any of his essays? They're terrific (humble and radiant) social commentary, and much of what he says still stands today. People just don't change.
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