Strunk and White: First Impressions

I must say this book was quite the read. I spent a few hours of my morning reading through this book and it delighted me when I was able to relate to many of Strunk and White's different "elements of style". However there were of course some style rules that I felt deserved a second glance and could go either way.

Of all the chapters in this book, I must say I loved chapter four. This chapter highlighted many of the commonly misused words and expressions. I especially took to the rule for "being". Here Strunk and White mention that the word "being is not appropriate after the phrase, "regard.....as". To showcase this error they introduce this sentence: "He is regarded as being the best dancer in the club." While this may sound correct to most readers, the word "being" actually interrupts this sentences flow. Strunk and White suggest removing "being", in which the sentence now reads: "He is regarded as the best dancer in the club." I for one notice a drastic change in the flow and clarity of this sentence after the removal of "being"; a correction that should be made more often. (41).

As for any rules that I may have felt were dated or misused, I felt comfortable knowing that many of these stylistic rules are still utilized by teachers to this day while editing papers. The only outstanding issue I had with any of Strunk and White's rules(which mind you is really only a small gripe) was there stance on exclamation usage. I believe that even the simplest phrases deserve an exclamation point as long as they are showing prominent excitement, whereas Strunk and White believed that exclamation punctuations should be used after true exclamations or commands (35). Here's a thought.....How do you define what is a "true" exclamation or command? What if someone just is full of emotion or says something which more urgency? Phrases like , "Well I forgot to do my homework", may seem very subtle to most speakers, but how do they know someone might be saying this in urgency, but yet not shouting? To me this rule is shady because you cannot define a "true" point of exclamation or command. I think that this rule, is long overdue for a make-over.

Peer Review Recap: Part 1

After finishing up the first peer reviews for the "Writing as a Technology" assignment, I have to say I am overall pleased with how the process went. While I received very excellent criticism from my peers, I feel like my advice was more helpful for some members. For instance, I have only gotten to review three of my group member's essays because I have yet to get linked up to the last one. And of those three essays, only two of them were complete first drafts, therefore I wasn't able to provide very much to the one draft that was missing portions. However I have to say that if there was anything I learned from this process, it was to make sure I stay on top of things and get my group members g-mail's quickly. This way I can edit their papers sooner and more efficiently.

My Writing Technologies

Sitting down and trying to think about what writing tools I utilize on a daily basis seemed like an easy task at first. I figured it would be a piece of cake after thinking for about ten minutes, then I was quick to realize that this might not be as easy as I had hoped. I felt the best way to discover this answer would be to go throughout my day as I normally would and then as I would record any notes, or data I could make a mental note of what "tool" I used. As time passed I used numerous pens and pencils to take notes in my classes, however I also found myself using sharpies and highlighters along with my keyboard as I typed away. While the sharpie and highlighter were for special occasions, I noticed that I always found myself using a pen or my computer to accomplish my daily writing tasks. And while my pen has always been my trusty companion since I was in middle school, I have spent more time typing up projects and papers on my computer than I have written notes for the past two years. Ever since I began college, my computer has been at my side almost always unless I was reading a textbook or writing down some class notes. And while I am open to trying out new ways of recording my daily tasks or notes, I must say that whenever I have been asked to color in images or write in color, I avoid this at all costs. For some odd reason I have a pet peeve about reading over words that aren't in a black or blue font....I must be crazy? Right...

What Is Style??

"Style" is a term that I believe allows for multiple interpretations and varying definitions. While Merriam Webster Online defines the term in regards to it's writing and speech relation as, "A distinctive manner of expression", I believe that the definition of "style" is in essence how one views it. To one person "style" may be just a manner of expression, while to another, "style" may be a mechanic or tool of writing/speech. While these two views of "style" may at first appear to be similar, I suggest the opposite. I feel that "style" as a manner of expression include the ways that one showcases their work (poems, journals, blogs, etc.), whereas "style" defined as tools or mechanics of a text include items writers utilize like literary devices (allusions, metaphors, etc.) or the way they structure their works (difference in meter in poems, the idea of iambic meter vs free verse, etc.).

While I mentioned before that "style" is something that varies from one person to another, there is one other thing I'd like to discuss. When I was chatting with my roommate the other day, he asked how my blog was going. I responded with the usual "Oh yea, its going good" answer, then he asked me what I was blogging about. As I explained that I was typing up my definition and view on "style" he simply looked at me and said, "Why don't you just look it up on-line and call it a day, I wouldn't put much effort into that." As he walked away it crossed my mind that my roommate's "style" may not help him get very far and from there I just smiled and kept typing...I found the irony in this situation humorous.

Sick already

Hello sinus infection! Not a fun start to the semester, ugh.

Off to the races.......

First entry for my class blog. So far this semester has been nothing but a whirlwind. Hopefully things slow down by Thursday maybe? Have to wait and see....