Approach To Style Precis

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Strunk, William Jr. The Elements of Style. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 2009. Chapter five, titled “An Approach to Style,” includes a list of reminders to improve your style of writing. It is stated that unlike the rest of the book in which they are concerned with the correct use of English, this chapter expands on a writer’s style. They demonstrate how a sentence can be written with many variations to fit the author’s style but still have the same overall meaning. Style is an expression of yourself and you approach this in your writing through the simplicity in which you convey your thoughts. To find your own style, the author gives 21 simple reminders to follow. Some of them seem very basic, such as “Revise and Rewrite” but many people do not take the time to follow them. After examining your work, it is likely that you will find either a flaw within the grammar or within the arrangement of material. Different methods of revising your work are included, such as using a word processor to move sections of writing to other areas or printing out your piece to better visualize what you are changing. Another example of a guideline given in the chapter is to “Avoid the use of qualifiers.” This section reminds the reader to avoid using words such as rather, very, little and pretty because they are weakening. This seems very simple to follow, but are often ignored. Other reminders, including “Do not explain too much,” “Be Clear” and “Avoid foreign languages” are self-explanatory but also tend to be forgotten. The final rule is “Prefer the standard to the offbeat.” This demonstrates how many young writers want to make their writing unconventional by including new vocabulary and rhythms that they hear. Although this may seem like the best way to attract an audience at the moment, these words are more appropriate for conversation because they may not be as popular by the

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