Writing Style
What is writing style? I started out thinking that writing style is a personal thing and that all writers have their own style. But, this way of thinking is really just a simple way to answer the question. After more careful thought, I realized that style is actually quite the opposite of personal and original. Style is a form of standardization. As writers, we all follow certain rules and guidelines to make our point. Style is these rules and guidelines.
For a writer to better understand style, multitudes of books and helpful guides have been published. Many are written as lists of rules about word choice, constructions to avoid, common stylistic traps, and other such things. One of these is The Elements of Style by
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I believe this to be a common mistake. Strunk and White refer to this usage as the “serial” comma. The only time they believe it is acceptable to not follow this rule is in the case of a business or a firm containing three or more names. Often the second comma will be omitted.
Another very important rule dealing with commas is rule number 4, “place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause” (Strunk and White, 5). This rule not only points out the proper place to put a comma, but also the fact that there are two part sentences. Some writers tend to put a period where a comma should be placed, maybe because they are uncomfortable with where to put the comma. An example of proper comma usage in this case would be
“The early records of the city have disappeared, and the story of its first years can no longer be reconstructed” (Strunk and White, 5).
Relatinging back to breaking a two-part sentence into two sentences is rule number six. One should be careful to not place a period where a comma should be.
“I met them on a Cunard Liner many years ago. Coming home from Liverpool to New York” (Strunk and White, 7).
In this example, the first period should really be a comma.
An additional and significant rule to writing is the usage of the “he/she” pronoun. This is mentioned in both books, yet the proper usages described differ from one another. In the original copy by Strunk he feels that “he” is the only correct pronoun.
Like transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly, my writing style transformed from something mediocre to something quite exceptional. In high school, even when I took advanced placement English and Literature courses, I was never good at writing. My writing would lack structure, reasoning, syntax, and a well-defined thesis statement. My inadequate grades on writing assignments lowered my self-esteem, so I assumed I would never enjoy writing papers because I believed I could never improve. However, since attending a university my writing style has improved far beyond my expectation. My EN 101 course enhanced my understanding of the different ways I could approach my writing. Also, it enhanced my comprehension of outlines to complete assignments. Investing quality time into my writing made a substantial difference because I became a stronger writer. Through the late nights, constant revisions, and agonizing head traumas, I learned that my writing is truly spectacular whenever I incorporate well-defined thesis statements, provide sufficient supporting evidence, and maintain a clear focus in my assignments.
It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.
The essay I was assigned is “How To Write With Style” by Kurt Vonnegut. After reading the essay, I found that a theme that would best summarize it is “effective communication. Kurt Vonnegut writes in his essay about how one should write in order to attract the reader and effectively communicate your thoughts. His advice to writing as he calls it “How To Write With Style” provides an insight to some elements that allows the writer to effectively communicate his thoughts and be true to him or herself. Keeping it simple, Have the guts to cut, Sound like yourself, Say what you mean to say, Pity the readers are his advice to writers to become effective writers. After reading the essay, I looked at several stories and poems that shared a similar
An example of good writing is on page 21, “Dr. William C. Minor, surgeon-captain, U.S. Army, a forlornly proud figure from one of the oldest and best-regarded families of New England, was henceforward to be formally designated in Britain by Broadmoor File Number 742, and to be held in permanent custody as a 'certified criminal lunatic.’” After Dr. William C. Minor, the author put a comma and after England the author put another comma. When using commas in english, you either have two commas or now. The only exception is if it is at the end of a sentence or if it is after a subordinate clause. Another exception for commas is when you are joining two sentences together. Before and, the author uses a comma. In order to join two sentences together, you must have a comma before the word you are using, in this instance and.
In the book A Writers Reference, authors Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers, experts in English
C) Place a period outside a closing parenthesis if the material inside is not a sentence (such as this fragment).
Mrs. Rodriguez, I do understand that you expect me to follow your instructions and I will put it in practice what you have instructed me to. I will only add a semicolon when combining two sentences or when listing things in succession. Thank you for correcting me when I added the word “ appear” when it was not needed. Also I appreciate the correction “ into” when I had incorrectly written “in.”
Writing a paper on the writing process is pretty hard. The writing process is different from one person to another. You come across questions like, 'What exactly is the writing process?'; and 'Must you follow one persons writing process if yours is different?'; This is where I came across the answer to my questions, write however you wish to write. If one person likes free write first and another person likes to write a draft first, let them do how they please.
1. Alfie Kohn Questions the necessity of grades in the public school system but many teachers and administrators are apprehensive about changing the system.
Train your eye to notice where periods, commas, and semicolons are used in citations. For example, do not use semicolons between parallel citations (B18.1.2).
Style – in writing, style can best be defined as the way an author makes use of his or her words in regards to language. The word choices in which the author uses throughout the story can help establish the uniqueness of his or her use of speech through the story’s title, structure, punctuation, setting and the communication between characters.
A vicious cycle happens such as doctors prescribing more medication, as treatment continues its calming effects diminish, requiring more medication. [another comma splice] The drug rebound is easily confused with the child's ADHD, causing the Doctor to increase the medication. Between 1990 and 2000 186 children died from taking the drug Ritalin, and research is also being done to see if Ritalin causes brain damage. [You need a comma after the dates.]
Semicolons. Your semicolon use in this case was acceptable. First check is to make sure that the first and second part could be stand alone sentences. Everyone knows not to start a sentence with 'and' or 'but'. This is where the semicolon really shines. If you want to add a supporting
My classmate, Thomas Crane, seems find punctuation rules difficult to understand, and as a result has difficulty to apply them. Some rules, of course, are more challenging than others, more difficult to understand, and harder to recognize. I told Thomas, my friend and classmate, if you sincerely want to learn the rules you can. After you have studied the comma rules, you should start thinking in terms of those rules every time you write. When you prepare letters, memos, reports, etc. keep the rules in mind and apply them. If you are unsure of yourself look at the rules again. Study the examples of clauses, and review your class notes. Eventually, all punctuation rules will become more familiar to you, and writing will be less challenging. You
There are many different forms and styles used in writing. Writing is a form of communication that is used to document and express ideas people have. Through the years as people grow and learn knew ways of writing, writing awareness of a person will evolve into a much higher level of thinking. From the first term paper a person writes in high school to the papers they hand in at the college level, the writing will have matured over the years. The authors of writing develop new and more sophisticated ways in expressing themselves through the words they use in writing. Throughout history writers have found ways in which they can achieve the goals of gaining the readers attention and keep them interested. A good form of