Generative illustration for The Elements of Style (1918)
The Elements of Style (1918)
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The Elements of Style Front Matter
- Provides the title, author (William Strunk, Jr.), and publication year (1918) for The Elements of Style.
- Outlines the Table of Contents covering core chapters on usage rules, composition principles, matters of form, and commonly misused or misspelled words.
- Includes eight specific elementary rules of usage such as possessive singular forms and comma placement.
- Details ten elementary principles of composition including using the active voice and omitting needless words.
- Presents a preface describing the guide as a concise reference for students and writers focused on essential plain English style.
Essentials of English Style
- The book is designed for English courses combining composition practice with the study of literature.
- It focuses on the most commonly violated rules of usage and principles of composition to aid students and instructors.
- The author acknowledges help from colleagues and recommends several reference books for further study in style and printing.
- Master writers occasionally disregard rhetorical rules, but beginners are advised to follow them until they achieve plain competence.
- Specific elementary rules of usage are outlined, including the formation of the possessive singular with βs.
- Additional usage rules cover the serial comma in a series of three or more terms and the enclosure of parenthetic expressions.
It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric.
Rules of Comma Usage
- Parenthetic expressions and non-restrictive relative clauses must be enclosed by pairs of commas rather than isolated ones.
- Restrictive relative clauses, which narrow down the meaning of a specific word, are not set off by commas.
- Abbreviations like etc. and jr. require specific comma placement surrounding them.
- When a parenthetic expression follows a conjunction, the first comma belongs before the conjunction, not after it.
- Independent clauses connected by coordinating conjunctions such as and or but must be preceded by a comma.
- Sentences joined simply by and can often be improved by rewriting them to show a clearer cause and effect relationship.
Place a comma before and or but introducing an independent clause
Rules of English Punctuation
- Using occasional loose sentences prevents a writing style from becoming overly formal and monotonous.
- Two-part sentences connected by specific conjunctions require a comma before the conjunction.
- Independent clauses not joined by a conjunction must be separated by a semicolon rather than a comma.
- Writers must avoid using periods in place of commas to prevent breaking single sentences in two.
- A participial phrase placed at the beginning of a sentence must refer directly to the grammatical subject.
The situation is perilous, but if we are prepared to act promptly, there is still one chance of escape.
Rules of Usage and Composition
- Introductory modifying phrases must be placed correctly to avoid dangling modifiers and unintended logical absurdities.
- Words should be divided at line-ends according to their morphological formation and natural pronunciation.
- Syllable division principles include separating words by formation, dividing on vowels, and handling double letters properly.
- The paragraph serves as the fundamental unit of composition, designating one distinct topic per paragraph.
- Subdividing longer subjects into multiple paragraphs aids the reader by signaling new developmental steps in the text.
Sentences violating this rule are often ludicrous.
Structuring Paragraphs and Writing
- Literary reports, novels, and historical events have traditional structural outlines for analysis and composition.
- Single sentences generally should not form standalone paragraphs, with exceptions made for transitions and dialogue.
- Effective paragraphs typically begin with a clear topic sentence to aid the reader.
- The concluding sentence of a paragraph should emphasize the main thought or state a significant consequence rather than a minor detail.
- Transitional sentences connecting parts of a composition are often best set apart as separate paragraphs.
- Topic sentences can be developed through restatement, definition, illustration, proof, or exploring implications.
Ending with a digression, or with an unimportant detail, is particularly to be avoided.
The Art of Writing and Walking
- Walking tours require absolute independence of pace and freedom from conversational distraction.
- A walker should remain entirely open to external impressions and let thoughts absorb the surrounding environment.
- True motion in the open air induces a fine intoxication that eventually leads to deep peace.
- In the eighteenth century, the conception of history shifted from painting pictures to solving problems.
- Historians began focusing on the lives of peoples, the causes of national growth, and the physiology of nations rather than just kings.
And so long as a man is reasoning he cannot surrender himself to that ο¬ne intoxication that comes of much motion in the open air, that begins in a sort of dazzle and sluggishness of the brain, and ends in a peace that passes comprehension.
Active Voice and Positive Form
- The active voice makes writing more forcible, direct, and concise compared to the passive voice.
- Writers should strategically choose between active and passive voices depending on the intended subject of the paragraph.
- Substituting transitive active verbs for perfunctory expressions revitalizes tame descriptive or expository sentences.
- Writers should avoid stacking multiple passive constructions and nouns that express the entire action.
- Statements should be framed in the positive form to make definite assertions and avoid evasive language.
- Readers prefer being told what something is rather than what it is not.
Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is dissatisο¬ed with being told only what is not; he wishes to be told what is.
Principles of Concise Writing
- Vigorous and effective writing demands conciseness by eliminating all unnecessary words and parts.
- Common verbose expressions, such as 'the fact that' and wordy filler phrases, should be actively avoided.
- Superfluous relative pronouns like 'who is' and 'which was' add clutter and weaken sentence structure.
- Combining choppy, step-by-step sentences into a single cohesive statement dramatically reduces word count and improves flow.
- Writers must avoid a monotonous succession of loose, coordinate clauses connected by conjunctions.
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
Principles of Composition
- Writers should vary sentence structures to avoid monotony and better represent the true relations of thought.
- Parallel construction requires that expressions of similar content and function should be outwardly similar.
- Unskilled writers often mistakenly vary expression forms out of a desire for constant variety.
- Correlative expressions must always be followed by the same grammatical construction.
- Related words and groups of words should be kept close together in a sentence to clearly show their relationship.
The unskilful writer often violates this principle, from a mistaken belief that he should constantly vary the form of his expressions.
Principles of English Composition
- Interposed phrases and clauses should not needlessly interrupt the natural order of the main clause unless used for suspense or apposition.
- Relative pronouns should generally be placed immediately after their antecedents to prevent ambiguity.
- Modifiers must remain as close as possible to the words they modify to avoid suggesting unintended relationships.
- Periodic sentences may deliberately use interruptions to create suspense for the reader.
- When summarizing dramatic action, poetry, or stories, writers should maintain a consistent tense, preferably the present.
The objection is that the interposed phrase or clause needlessly interrupts the natural order of the main clause.
Principles of Composition
- Maintain consistent tenses throughout a summary to avoid the appearance of uncertainty.
- Avoid repetitive dialogue tags when presenting the thoughts or statements of another person.
- Literary criticism should strive for orderly discussion supported by evidence rather than mere summary.
- Place the most emphatic words or the logical predicate at the end of a sentence for maximum prominence.
- The beginning of a sentence also serves as a prominent position for emphasizing non-subject elements.
Humanity has hardly advanced in fortitude since that time, though it has advanced in many other ways.
Matters of Manuscript Form
- Manuscripts require specific spacing after titles and precise use of figures or Roman numerals for dates and serial numbers.
- Parenthetical expressions are punctuated independently of the sentences that contain them, preserving distinct rules for internal and external marks.
- Formal documentary quotations use colons and quotation marks, whereas appositional or direct object quotes are preceded by commas.
- Verse quotations and indirect discourse following the word 'that' have distinct formatting rules regarding line breaks and quotation marks.
- Scholarly references should avoid redundant labels like act or page when using concise parenthetical or footnote citations.
- Literary titles traditionally require italicization with capitalized initials, omitting initial articles when preceded by a possessive.
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, / But to be young was very heaven!
Commonly Misused Words Guide
- The text provides a glossary of frequently misused words and phrases, offering specific guidance on proper usage and style.
- Writers are advised to replace vague generalities and redundant terms like 'case' and 'character' with more definite, concise statements.
- Distinctions are made between similar terms, such as the precise differences in usage between 'compare to' and 'compare with'.
- Grammatical pitfalls are highlighted, including the correct placement of comparative expressions like 'as good or better than'.
- Words that are overused or improperly substituted, such as 'claim' and 'due to', are corrected to maintain clarity and precision.
Often simply redundant, used from a mere habit of wordiness.
Misused Words and Phrases
- Precise writers avoid vague terms like 'etc.' and ensure words like 'fact' are only used for verifiable matters rather than judgments.
- Overused and hackneyed words such as 'factor' and 'feature' should be replaced with more direct and idiomatic language.
- Colloquialisms like 'fix' for arrange or mend should be restricted to their proper literary senses.
- Redundant expressions such as 'he is a man who' add unnecessary length and should be simplified.
- Grammatical distinctions must be maintained, such as using 'fewer' for countable numbers and 'less' for quantities.
- Writers aiming for originality should discard tired phrases like 'along these lines' in favor of precise phrasing.
Less refers to quantity, fewer to number.
Commonly Misused Words and Expressions
- The word literally is frequently misused to exaggerate metaphors rather than denote actual facts.
- Redundant modifiers and archaic terms like oftentimes should be avoided in favor of concise alternatives.
- Distinctions are drawn between closely related terms, such as the political definition of people versus the public.
- Empty padding phrases like student body and system should be replaced with simpler nouns.
- Adverbial intensifiers like so weaken prose and should be eliminated from formal writing.
If of 'six people' ο¬ve went away, how many 'people' would be left?
Guide to Common Misusages
- Avoid closing letters with the passive and presumptuous phrase thanking you in advance.
- Use singular pronouns like he with distributive antecedents instead of incorrectly applying plural forms.
- Use the word very sparingly and rely on inherently strong words for emphasis.
- Restrict the use of while to its literal meaning of during the time that rather than substituting it for and, but, or although.
- Employ should instead of would for first-person conditional statements and indirect quotations.
Some bashful speakers even say, βA friend of mine told me that they, etc.β
Spelling List and Rules
- A final compilation of commonly misspelled words is provided.
- Words include terms such as sacrilegious, deceive, and tragedy.
- Specific hyphenation rules are given for time-related words like to-day and to-morrow.
- Pronoun and time phrases like every one and some time must be written as two words.
- This list serves as the conclusion of the guide.
Write to-day, to-night, to-morrow (but not together) with hyphen.
Active Voice and Positive Form
- Statements should be framed in the positive form to make definite assertions and avoid evasive language.
Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is dissatisο¬ed with being told only what is not; he wishes to be told what is.
Principles of Concise Writing
- Combining choppy, step-by-step sentences into a single cohesive statement dramatically reduces word count and improves flow.
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
Principles of Composition
- Unskilled writers often mistakenly vary expression forms out of a desire for constant variety.
The unskilful writer often violates this principle, from a mistaken belief that he should constantly vary the form of his expressions.
Principles of Composition
- Place the most emphatic words or the logical predicate at the end of a sentence for maximum prominence.
Humanity has hardly advanced in fortitude since that time, though it has advanced in many other ways.
Misused Words and Phrases
- Grammatical distinctions must be maintained, such as using fewer for countable numbers and less for quantities.
Less refers to quantity, fewer to number.
Guide to Common Misusages
- Use singular pronouns like he with distributive antecedents instead of incorrectly applying plural forms.
Some bashful speakers even say, βA friend of mine told me that they, etc.β
Spelling List and Rules
- Specific hyphenation rules are given for time-related words like to-day and to-morrow.
Write to-day, to-night, to-morrow (but not together) with hyphen.