Writing and Tech 328

2004-03-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

Prompt 5

There are many things I have taken away from our writing style readings. These are very helpful handbooks on how to become a better writer- Williams with his in-depth analysis and Strunk & White with their rules and guidelines. Mainly I have taken away clarity, cohesion, and comprehension- all vital elements for a well-written paper.

When a writer is putting something into writing it is key that they keep their audience in mind. It is something that I forget at times. The whole point of writing something is for the person who reads it. Williams gives many helpful tips on how to make sure the audience is kept on task, and comprehends the text. He says not to use jargon, as they might not be knowledgeable on a particular subject. He also includes that to be as clear as possible the writer must, “locate their points where their readers most expect them,” (101). This is something I do now in my writing- think of the reader.

Another key element is to be clear. Sometimes when we write we want to sound “smarter”- for instance to impress our teachers. Usually when I am typing papers I use the thesaurus option frequently. But most often the word we wanted to use in the first place is the best choice for the message we want to convey. And by trying to “sound smarter” we maybe lose our audience. It is much better to state things simply.

Cohesion is also important. One of the rules is to “keep topic visible.” One can achieve this by repeating key words over in a paragraph. I always thought it was best to change words to their synonyms instead of repeating the same word. But I can see how this technique would be effective. It keeps your reader focused on what points you want to get across. It keeps them on task and involved. Another thing to think about while writing is to eliminate redundant words or phrases. Such as “inner thoughts” or “conclusive results.” It is easy to fall into this trap, because many clichés use redundant phrasing. But it is something that I already attend to when writing. I have begun to eliminate needless words that may be filler in a paper. All of these issues center around the reader, and conveying your intended message to that reader.

2004-02-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

PROMPT 4

There were quite a few blogs that brought up interesting ideas. I think that Ashley makes some excellent points in hers. She sums things up quite nicely with her statement, "Strunk and White merely state the rules of writing, while Williams explains how to follow these rules how to be an effective writer so that you can inderstand the concepts discussed by Strunk and White." This is how I feel as well. Williams takes further and explains what Strunk & White lay out. I believe Williams was trying to perfect their small handbook into a detailed writing analysis. As Ashley said, Williams explains the concepts that Strunk & White provide.

I also agree with Ashley in the fact that the section on plural s in The Elements of Style was confusing. The rule was that after the final consonant when forming a plural you should always add an 's, even if the preceding letter is s. Ashley states, “I always thought that if any word ended in s that you would use the form s', such as in James'. I also do not understand why conscience' is not conscience's.” I too was confused by the examples, like conscience. That doesn’t follow how I was taught to handle (‘s). In my last prompt I was unsure of how to write “Williams’ book.” The Elements of Style seems to say that should be “Williams’s.” But I have never learned it that way, nor do I see it written often, if at all.

Also, to reciprocate Ken's discussion, Williams makes it easier to apply the rules. He gives an example, and an explanation, which makes the rules easier to implement. Williams descriptions are also helpful for simple comprehension. As Ken says, “When I was finished reading a rule and the many examples given, I understood why we should use the rules.” This is extremely important, for as Ken and I both said, giving us rules to follow and then not explaining why to use them really doesn’t help. The format should be more descriptive than simply “do this.” Williams elaborations greatly assist in utilizing the rules.

Lastly, Will brings up another good attribute about William’s book. Will says, “Williams also refers back to sections of the book of topics that have already passed, and explains them again.” I too found this extremely helpful, especially if I didn’t quite grasp the concept the first time. Williams makes sure to go back over what he has already discussed, which is good because in his own book he says to do this. Style is very in-depth, and Williams does a great job of being as explanatory as possible.

2004-02-18T06:21:00.000-08:00

PROMPT 3

Strunk & White’s Elements of Style and Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace are two texts that are quite comparable. Both teach the guidelines behind writing, and exemplify what makes good writing. They are similar in that regard, but their approaches to teaching “good writing” are very different from one another.

Strunk & White use a very rule-based, “the facts speak for themselves” type of format. It gives no explanation as to why to use these specific writing rules, but only that they must be employed. For example on page 41 it simply states, “As to whether. Whether is sufficient.” The reader does not know why “whether is sufficient”, only that one must follow this rule. The Elements of Style is numerical, simplistic, and straight-forward.

Williams’ Style gives more explanation for why its rules may be implemented. And it also provides the information in a suggestive manner, as opposed to a rigid one. Williams provides many examples that are easy to follow, and provides adequate reasoning. For example, in The Elements of Style it states to “Be clear” (79). Williams goes into great depth to explain what “be clear” means instead of to simply state it. He suggests to “keep topics visible” and to “avoid nominalizations.” He then goes on to give example of nominalizations, and shows how one can keep topics visible in their writing.

There are pros and cons for each approach. Williams is a great way to teach writing, and show how to become a better writer. Anyone in the writing profession, or one who will be teaching writing to students, should read his book. It is good for researching good writing. Strunk & White is a good text for quick reference. For example, when one is working on a paper and they need a short statement about how to revise a paragraph. Or what expression they should not use when writing (the section on misused words and expressions). Williams’s text should be used as a book to assist in good writing in the broadest sense, and Shrunk & White a quick reference handbook for immediate good writing.

2004-02-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

Prompt 2
Writing example from the website:
EASTERN Michigan University is open to students who have the potential to succeed academically as determined by a review of official high school records and/or college records. Admission to the University is based on a combination of factors including but not limited to the review of high school or college grade point average, high school or college curriculum and scores on standardized tests.

My revision:
Eastern Michigan University is open to hardworking and prestigious students as determined by a review of official high school records and/or college records. Admission to the University is based on factors such as the review of high school or college grade point average, high school or college curriculum, and scores on standardized tests.

I really didn’t have a great deal to revise with this selection. But some things stuck out to me as something Williams would have a problem with. Such as “the potential to succeed academically.” I am not sure that my revision was perfect, but I know there is a simpler way to state this. I believe Williams would classify this as a “passive” sentence. He states on pg. 36, “We can usually make our style more vigorous and direct if we avoid both nominalizations and unnecessary passive verbs.” The sentence was very non-committable. The specified sentence was also put in an abstract way, which is not recommended by Williams. Instead of abstract he advises sentences to be concrete in form.

Another change I made was to trim down the last sentence. Williams states that sometimes to make writing more reader-friendly it is best to “shorten sentences, use simple words, and put agents into subjects…” (58). This sentence seemed to be packed with words that didn’t need to be included- they weren’t necessary for the meaning of the statement. A sentence will become more clear and concise if unnecessary words are left out.

2004-02-11T05:27:00.000-08:00

Style, by Joseph Williams, is a useful writing text. As opposed to Strunk and White, which simply tells you what to do/not do when writing by giving grammer rules, Williams tells you how to write better. He uses many examples, and goes very indepth with his descriptions. Williams uses the metaphor of baseball to explain his technique for the book: "Telling me to "Be clear" is like telling me to "Hit the ball squarely." (pg 1) By this, he means it is one thing to tell a person to write more clearly, but it is quite another to show them how to accomplish this. Williams prides himself on doing this. With any particular writing task, he gives step by step instructions. As we see on pg. 94: "1. At the end of the issue, you introduce a concept that readers take to begin a theme..." He even numbers the steps to be carried out. He is extremely systematic, and very clear. The writer is left with no doubt as to how they can improve their writing.

2004-02-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

Prompt 1
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White has many helpful rules for writers. I have picked out one rule that I found useful, and then a rule that I didn’t particularly agree with.

One rule that stuck out to me was on page 10: “Use a singular verb form after each, either, everyone, everybody, neither, nobody, someone.” I often run into this kind of problem when I am writing- I am not sure what verb tense to use for certain words. For example, the phrase “neither keeps.” I would have written “neither keep.” This rule may seem insignificant, but it can change a sentence. And it is something I have never quite been sure of, until now.

A rule that I didn’t particularly agree with was located on page 19. It stated to “Make definite assertions.” The rule sounds good in theory. But then the examples given made me think otherwise. This was considered bad: “The Taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare’s works.” This was good: “The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive. Katherine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant.” Granted, the second example gets straight to the point, and is less vague/general than the first example. But I feel the second example takes away so much from what the writer has stated in the first example. There seems to be almost more validation for the opinion in the first example. There is more elaboration. At times, it is wise to be blunt and straightforward, I just don’t believe this is the case all of the time. For instance, you may want to use this technique in a news report, but a romance novel will require more elaboration.

The Elements of Style is an extremely helpful tool for any writer. Although I don’t completely agree with every rule, most are practically common sense. I look forward to its assistance in my future writing ventures.

2004-01-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

IN CLASS:
I did my in-class assignment more like a stream-of-conscious style.

Phaedus-
How can we trust a written source when it isn't from the source's mouth itself? Memories are more accurate when they are spoken/from your mind, as opposed to written down. We forget the memory as soon as it is written down. Not teaching the truth adequately to others? (Writing in water.)

Ong-
Thinking a word in our minds to write it down. Writing as an intrusion? Similar ideas to Plato- writing detroys memory, writing can be untrue and it won't be justified (cannot challenge the written word as easily as the spoken). Words are dead? (Writing takes away sound.)

REACTION:
A lot of people's ideas were ones I had not observed in the reading, nor thought about. What was most interesting to me today, was when I was talking to the Professor after class. His whole idea about writing simply being true or "correct" because everyone has agreed upon it was interesting. Even as I type this, I wonder why this blog has to sound so formal; why we change our style of writing for certain situations. But back to the readings, I think it will be very helpful to write out lists of the main problem or assertion in each reading to assist in developing a paper.

2004-01-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

IN CLASS:

I think there obviously needs to be a standard. If we don’t have a standard, we don’t have any way to judge one thing against another. There would be no idea of good or bad. I think you need to have guidelines, but it is okay to be unique within those guidelines. It almost seems like more talent and greater originality when a person can be unique and creative within the specified format that everyone else has. That seems to take much more skill, and almost more equality.

Besides this, I don’t really prefer when people try to completely go against the grain with writing. For example, Gertrude Stein with her writing, “Rose is a rose is a rose,” and other avant-garde writing. To me, none of her stuff really makes sense, and that’s why her “message” really didn’t come across to me. I wasn’t like, “Wow, she’s original,” I was like, “Wow, this is weird.”

It’s like you almost need a standard to be able to reach other people. Otherwise, your audience won’t understand; it will be foreign to them. It won’t have the same effect. You have to be unique within the guidelines of everyone else.

REACTION:

Well, when we talked in class there wasn’t as much focus on writing like I wrote about. We discussed more at length technology. And I agreed with a lot of it. It is definitely important to know computer programs. I find myself at work now feeling lost when I am given certain assignments on the computer. Like Microsoft XL and spreadsheets. I will need to learn Power Point for when I am a teacher. It is important to be technological savvy to do business well, and get ahead in the workplace. Even to get accepted to that workplace.

2004-01-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

IN CLASS:
It could be argued that computers are even more constricting and overwhelming than hand-written technology. With a computer one must keep the words in a structured format. The margins must be acknowledged, as well as font-size, style, etc. A hand-written passage would be much more creative. Also, a hand-written note is much more personal than any typed letter.

With certain writing programs, the computer will give the option of synonyms. This is good if one cannot think of a specific word. But in a way, this opens up too many options. It may be difficult to reach a decision. And generally, the word the person thought of in the first place is probably this one that best conveys their message. A person’s meaning may change with the switched word.

Many word programs simply have too much “stuff.” It seems like it would take a long time just to figure out what all the applications are, and what they do. One has to take a computer class simply to type a paper. Most computer programs are meant to simplify the writing process, but I believe it has become more complicated. And it is also more technical where it used to be creative and free. Perhaps sometimes we shouldn’t have to write in a given, specified format.

REFLECTION:
Not being able to cross out or fix things was very frustrating. In class, we discussed our own writing styles. Well, my writing style is very much centered around revision. I check my work over and over, because I pride myself on my writing, and I want it to be my best effort. Therefore, seeing my mistakes and having to leave them in was disturbing. This assignment was good in the way that it showed me just how neurotic I am with writing.

It also helped me realize how much I really do rely on the computer to fix my writing mistakes. For example, I love cut and paste. In the exercise I found myself thinking I would have liked to cut one of my sentences, and paste it in a different spot. The computer makes revision too easy. I would also consider our assignment beneficial because it lets you actually see your writing mistakes, and see where you need to improve, any patterns, etc. With the backspace you cannot do this.

2004-01-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is hard to know what style of writing to use at certain times. Usually, this is very apparent, and easy to figure out. For instance, you don’t write the same way you would write a friend that you would write a resume. But at times, for instance when writing a professor an e-mail, it is not so clear how the e-mail should be stylized. Formal? Informal?

Because, generally in class, you joke around with the professor, and talk to them as your equal. They are your teacher, but they can talk to you just like anyone else. Yet in an e-mail, it feels almost as if you are writing a paper to them; like you will get graded on the e-mail. Which is silly, but when it’s your teacher you tend to feel that way out of habit.

But when it is looked at basically, there are certain things you should not do when writing a professor. Let’s look at two of my real-life examples of e-mails.

An e-mail to a Professor:
"Hello Professor!
I have just posted my first comment on the Web Caucus for Fete 201 Sec. 15. After posting, I realized that my nickname (the name I go by) Kacey showed up for my comment, but I am legally registered for the class under my real name Katharyn. I was just double-checking that I will still receive credit, etc. for posting comments and assignments if my name is labeled Kacey instead of Katharyn. I don't want there to be any confusion, or thinking I am two people. Thanks for your time!
~Kacey King"

An e-mail to a friend:
"LOL! Oh my god. Ok, so I was on TheSpark and I posted a response to someone's question about Portrait of An Artist on a message board. And then I realized I am posted as FreddoFred. And then I realized if you click on my name, FreddoFred, that my interests and stuff will show up, like a little profile. It said some crazy things!!! People will think I'm insane! It said: Favorite Book-Bob's Surprise, Favorite Band- Freddo Meets the Schmoo, Favorite Band- Legolas Loves Kacey... My interests were- Piercing/tattoos, Love, God, Money, Hiking. AHHHH! I am the crazy person on TheSpark! :-D"

As you can see, there are differences in the two styles of e-mail. The professor’s e-mail addresses them at the beginning. The friend’s e-mail says internet slang like “LOL.” I would never say LOL to a Professor. And also, friend’s e-mail usually has some sort of smiley face. A professor would think that is a little too informal. We can see by looking at these two separate e-mails just how different the style for different situations can be.