Post 5: Strunk and White

Honestly, reading Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style equated to a few pretty dull hours of my Tuesday. I do think that the book is a valuable tool for writers. Any question that a writer could have about style is answered in this short little work. There were two particular elements that I found to be really helpful. In Chapter 1, the Elementary Rules of Usage, point number 8, use a dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption and to announce a long appositive or summary, was informative for me. I like to use dashes but I have always wondered if I was doing it right. The book made me happy to see that I was doing it right most of the time. The example “his first thought on getting out of bed –if he had any thought at all-was to get back in again” (9), seemed like a way that I would use the dash. The second example was a way that I would have been too scared to use the dash: “the rear axle began to make a noise-grinding, chattering, teeth-gritting rasp” (9). It totally makes sense, but I wouldn’t have though to use a dash in that sentence. Now I know that a dash is basically the same thing as a comma, but with more staying power.
I found the whole chapter on misused words and expressions to be helpful as well. I knew how to use a lot of the words that were mentioned properly, but not all of them. A phrase that I am pretty much ashamed to admit that I tend to use a lot of is “one of the most” (55). I guess Strunk and White consider it to be “feeble,” but sometimes it just comes out of my fingertips as I type a paper; I can’t help it! I tend to mix up the words nauseous and nauseated as well. Hopefully I will never do that again! Strunk and White give a clear distinction between the two. I never knew that the former meant “sickening to contemplate” (53).
There were a few things that were dated in this manual, though. Point one in the first chapter is so not necessary! Who doesn’t know to “form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ‘s?” (1) I think they teach us that one in about first grade. That definitely wasn’t the best way to start off the book. Many people may look at that and think that the whole book would be as useless as that bit of information. The second element listed, in a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last, was not very helpful either (2). Once again, this is a rule that I have been taught since I started writing. If I don’t have it down by now, chances are I will never get it right! This book may not have been the most exciting read ever, but, even though not everything was helpful, I’m glad that I know it exists. I will probably use it as a reference in the future.