http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/ A Writer's Reflections on Nature and Culture Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:37:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-179 irenet Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:57:12 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-179 i like that you have deliberately followed strunk and white's rules for writing and undermining them. the result is so clean and clinical, personality seems lost. i like that you have deliberately followed strunk and white’s rules for writing and undermining them. the result is so clean and clinical, personality seems lost.

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-175 claire Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:40:03 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-175 Love it! Good job I read your poem AFTER I'd written today though ~ it's so ruthless I fear it would have had some power over me... Love it! Good job I read your poem AFTER I’d written today though ~ it’s so ruthless I fear it would have had some power over me…

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-174 Tamra at Laughing Dove Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:04:52 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-174 What a funny and ironic poem! I love the way you crafted this out of good old S&W. What a funny and ironic poem! I love the way you crafted this out of good old S&W.

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-173 Jeeves Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:01:06 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-173 This is very interesting. I required this. Esp usage of fancy words, adverbs etc., This is very interesting. I required this. Esp usage of fancy words, adverbs etc.,

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-172 Liz Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:20:07 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-172 Thanks for the comments, Wayne. From what I can see, you express yourself very well. One of the things I never liked about using S&W to teach was that it did seem to block the learning of students who did not think of themselves as writers. They were often the first to see the contradictions in the rules and then became immobilized. I always tried to balance the learning of some rules (and I think other writers do a much better job of explaining the important ones than S&W) with encouragement to just write and find a voice. Perhaps not coincidentally, some of the students who struggled most with prose wrote beautiful poetry. Thanks for the comments, Wayne. From what I can see, you express yourself very well. One of the things I never liked about using S&W to teach was that it did seem to block the learning of students who did not think of themselves as writers. They were often the first to see the contradictions in the rules and then became immobilized. I always tried to balance the learning of some rules (and I think other writers do a much better job of explaining the important ones than S&W) with encouragement to just write and find a voice. Perhaps not coincidentally, some of the students who struggled most with prose wrote beautiful poetry.

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-171 wayne Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:54:59 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-171 i agree with erin..this is way above me...as a "jock" and a sociology major....english was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy down on my list...but I admire how people can write and express themselves in the proper way....whatever that means...anyways this old guy always likes to read and learn i agree with erin..this is way above me…as a “jock” and a sociology major….english was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy down on my list…but I admire how people can write and express themselves in the proper way….whatever that means…anyways this old guy always likes to read and learn

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-170 Liz Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:43:19 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-170 Ha! You are funny, Erin. Thanks. Ha! You are funny, Erin. Thanks.

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-169 Erin Davis Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:29:46 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-169 Great job breaking out the S&W and turning it into a poem. We could save students the cost of the book and just show them your poem! Great job breaking out the S&W and turning it into a poem. We could save students the cost of the book and just show them your poem!

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-168 Sweet Talking Guy.. Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:54:57 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-168 Enjoyed your dialogue, but education wise, this is a step too far, for me. Enjoyed your dialogue, but education wise, this is a step too far, for me.

]]> http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/2009/04/master-the-art-of-writers-block-with-strunk-and-white/comment-page-1/#comment-167 Liz Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:51:12 +0000 http://blog.elizabethenslin.com/?p=2373#comment-167 Carole, thanks for your comments. <em>The Elements of Style</em>, by Strunk and White has tyrannized generations of high school and college students in the US. I lived and wrote by it and used it when I taught high school English. I still adhere to much of it's advice (like concrete language), but I like how Pullum questions the modern relevance of some of the edicts, points out their inherent contradictions, and shows how even decades ago S&W didn't follow all the rules in their writing. It shed some light for me on why it was so difficult to use S&W to teach high school English in the last decade. Some of S&W made sense, but a lot of it didn't, and my students could sniff that out. Nowadays, I find other resources (e.g., Lynn Truss on punctuation) more helpful both in their exactness and how they make clear where there's flexibility. Carole, thanks for your comments. The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White has tyrannized generations of high school and college students in the US. I lived and wrote by it and used it when I taught high school English. I still adhere to much of it’s advice (like concrete language), but I like how Pullum questions the modern relevance of some of the edicts, points out their inherent contradictions, and shows how even decades ago S&W didn’t follow all the rules in their writing. It shed some light for me on why it was so difficult to use S&W to teach high school English in the last decade. Some of S&W made sense, but a lot of it didn’t, and my students could sniff that out. Nowadays, I find other resources (e.g., Lynn Truss on punctuation) more helpful both in their exactness and how they make clear where there’s flexibility.

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