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"One" Statement (Howard)
Style guides for writing clear and concise English appear to be very hit or miss amongst among maybe?-Liz Brose writing critics in today’s day and age. Of these guides that seemingly come and go, two specific texts have stood above the rest and caught the attention of critics alike. The Elements of Style, which was co-written by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, is a one-hundred and five page “how-to” guide detailing how one can positively affect their writing style. The shorthand method that Strunk and White utilize in The Elements of Style allows the reader to quickly and effectively locate these different writing technique “how-to’s”, or inside the quotes-LB so that they can execute these tips in their own texts or essays. The other text that has signaled much attention from critics is Joseph M. Williams guide, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Williams’s text differs from Strunk and White’s due to his efficient explanations of his different writing rules. William’s book also nearly doubles in size compared to Strunk and White,You may want to say Williams' book is nearly double the size of Strunk and White's version-Kate Wynalek and his text is printed in a much smaller font. Structural differences aside, these two guides both provide key and pertinent information that can help a learning (may want to change the word "learning" it makes the sentence sound a little choppy)-LBEnglish writer produce a clear and concise written text. However for an established writer; these rules can be interpreted as opinionated and have room for “personal” revision.
One such rule that fits the latter would be the introduction of “one”. Strunk and White briefly introduce “one” as a term that “[stands] in the sense of a person and not to be followed by ‘his’ or ‘her’” (54).May want to re-work this quote, could be a little confusing to someone not in this class-LB While this current version of the rule is suitable, I believe that there should be an addition to this stylistic rule. One common correction that I always found on my high school papers was the replacement of “you” or “your” with the term “one”. This is interesting because I have been told by my early high school English teachers that this correction is common during the acquisition of the writing process, Could use more explanation here-LB yet why do Strunk and White fail to include this tidbit in their justification of the term “one”? The absence of this aspect in Strunk and White’s guide has led me to restate this rule to include “one” as a justified replacer Replacement?-LB for the terms “you” or “your” in a written academic paper/essay. For example, if one was to edit this sentence: “To successfully gain admittance to Eastern, you must turn in a completed application alongside high school transcripts and ACT/SAT test scores”, one could simply replace “you” with “one”. I believe that this replacement is beneficial to the writer for many reasons.
For starters, I believe that “one” is a crucial tool for the communication between a writer’s work and the audience. While “you” or “your” are grammatically correct, “one” is diagnosed by many of my earlier educators as indicating professionalism. As a writer, one must reach to a broad audience with their works. The terms “you” and “your” tend to take away from this broad environment and turn the essay into a personal one-on-one thinking match. And while essays are meant to reach out to reader after reader, they aren’t meant for just one person. You broke my rule with thie sentence. Don't start a sentence with and or but :-)-LBEven Professor Krause mentions this in his introductory YouTube clip about the essay, “Assume an audience who are not familiar with the assigned books”, hence an audience (defined in my own words: “A selection of readers who have little or no background knowledge of the materials). (Do you need the quotes if it is your own words? Also consider rewording that sentence to make it less confusing).Therefore, “one” suits itself as a warranted replacement of “you” and “your”.
In regards to clarity and style, “one” can also stand as marker for Standard English. As mentioned earlier, Strunk and White briefly introduce “one” and its usage as a writing tool; however Williams ignores the term completely. One instance where Williams even hints at the issue of “you” and “your” in writing appears in chapter ten (Usage) (add comma here) where he discusses how the illustration of “‘you’ is essentially one of five different contexts where its use indicates that one shouldn’t utilize a present tense verb ending” (171). This “rule” that Williams incorporates into his guide is fascinating because although he doesn’t openly mention the term “one” in relation to this rule, if a writer was to replace “you” or “your” in this case, the writer can still follow this rule. In fact, whenever I see the word “one” used in my texts or other texts, it typically represents the future tense, as well as the present tense depending on the occasion. I find this relationship between “one” and the tense of a work useful for a writer because it adds specifically what Williams and Strunk and White are striving for: style and clarity in writing.
In conclusion, I would skip the "in conclusion" makes it sound like a 5 paragraph essay- LB I feel like my revision of Strunk and White’s rule regarding the “one” statement was essentially an addition. While I didn’t take away any structure of the original rule, I added what I felt was something that was etched into my writing process. This simple word, “one”, attacks the reader in a way that “you” or “your” cannot. “One” allows the reader to not only consider the writer to be speaking to them, but any other anonymous person who may come across any particular written text. The word “one” instantly changes the number of available readers from one to however many find interest in the text, which is quite remarkable. There is one exception to this revision however; that is, the only time "you" statements should be used in written text is if the writer is writing to a specific person or one group of people (i.e. an interview with a corporate boss or a political speech). As for any writing critics who may decide to evaluate my new rule, may I say bring it on. Because I myself am a descriptive follower of language, I do not take to or set precedence towards one language (or writing style for that matter). If there was one thing I will take from this unit, it would be that in order to be a successful educator in the field of English, one should review and question the prescriptive views of writing. For no rule regarding writing style is set in stone, but nearly written down on paper, awaiting its revision by a college student registered in Eng.328 at Eastern Michigan.
Interesting rule...I really liked your essay and you did a great job of explaining your rule.-KW
One such rule that fits the latter would be the introduction of “one”. Strunk and White briefly introduce “one” as a term that “[stands] in the sense of a person and not to be followed by ‘his’ or ‘her’” (54).May want to re-work this quote, could be a little confusing to someone not in this class-LB While this current version of the rule is suitable, I believe that there should be an addition to this stylistic rule. One common correction that I always found on my high school papers was the replacement of “you” or “your” with the term “one”. This is interesting because I have been told by my early high school English teachers that this correction is common during the acquisition of the writing process, Could use more explanation here-LB yet why do Strunk and White fail to include this tidbit in their justification of the term “one”? The absence of this aspect in Strunk and White’s guide has led me to restate this rule to include “one” as a justified replacer Replacement?-LB for the terms “you” or “your” in a written academic paper/essay. For example, if one was to edit this sentence: “To successfully gain admittance to Eastern, you must turn in a completed application alongside high school transcripts and ACT/SAT test scores”, one could simply replace “you” with “one”. I believe that this replacement is beneficial to the writer for many reasons.
For starters, I believe that “one” is a crucial tool for the communication between a writer’s work and the audience. While “you” or “your” are grammatically correct, “one” is diagnosed by many of my earlier educators as indicating professionalism. As a writer, one must reach to a broad audience with their works. The terms “you” and “your” tend to take away from this broad environment and turn the essay into a personal one-on-one thinking match. And while essays are meant to reach out to reader after reader, they aren’t meant for just one person. You broke my rule with thie sentence. Don't start a sentence with and or but :-)-LBEven Professor Krause mentions this in his introductory YouTube clip about the essay, “Assume an audience who are not familiar with the assigned books”, hence an audience (defined in my own words: “A selection of readers who have little or no background knowledge of the materials). (Do you need the quotes if it is your own words? Also consider rewording that sentence to make it less confusing).Therefore, “one” suits itself as a warranted replacement of “you” and “your”.
In regards to clarity and style, “one” can also stand as marker for Standard English. As mentioned earlier, Strunk and White briefly introduce “one” and its usage as a writing tool; however Williams ignores the term completely. One instance where Williams even hints at the issue of “you” and “your” in writing appears in chapter ten (Usage) (add comma here) where he discusses how the illustration of “‘you’ is essentially one of five different contexts where its use indicates that one shouldn’t utilize a present tense verb ending” (171). This “rule” that Williams incorporates into his guide is fascinating because although he doesn’t openly mention the term “one” in relation to this rule, if a writer was to replace “you” or “your” in this case, the writer can still follow this rule. In fact, whenever I see the word “one” used in my texts or other texts, it typically represents the future tense, as well as the present tense depending on the occasion. I find this relationship between “one” and the tense of a work useful for a writer because it adds specifically what Williams and Strunk and White are striving for: style and clarity in writing.
In conclusion, I would skip the "in conclusion" makes it sound like a 5 paragraph essay- LB I feel like my revision of Strunk and White’s rule regarding the “one” statement was essentially an addition. While I didn’t take away any structure of the original rule, I added what I felt was something that was etched into my writing process. This simple word, “one”, attacks the reader in a way that “you” or “your” cannot. “One” allows the reader to not only consider the writer to be speaking to them, but any other anonymous person who may come across any particular written text. The word “one” instantly changes the number of available readers from one to however many find interest in the text, which is quite remarkable. There is one exception to this revision however; that is, the only time "you" statements should be used in written text is if the writer is writing to a specific person or one group of people (i.e. an interview with a corporate boss or a political speech). As for any writing critics who may decide to evaluate my new rule, may I say bring it on. Because I myself am a descriptive follower of language, I do not take to or set precedence towards one language (or writing style for that matter). If there was one thing I will take from this unit, it would be that in order to be a successful educator in the field of English, one should review and question the prescriptive views of writing. For no rule regarding writing style is set in stone, but nearly written down on paper, awaiting its revision by a college student registered in Eng.328 at Eastern Michigan.
White, E.B. and William Strunk. The Elements of Style. New York: Longman, 2000.
Williams, Joseph. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995
Great paper. I like how you provided examples and how you thouroughly explained your rule.
Williams, Joseph. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995
Great paper. I like how you provided examples and how you thouroughly explained your rule.
Interesting rule...I really liked your essay and you did a great job of explaining your rule.-KW
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| jessicabrin | One | 0 | Feb 18 2009, 4:52 PM EST by jessicabrin | ||
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Thread started: Feb 18 2009, 4:52 PM EST
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This is a really strong piece. I would take out the part at the very end of your essay that seems to refer back to the assignment because that's been pretty strongly discouraged. (Side note: it was humorous...) Liz really hit the problem areas that I had also recognized. One suggestion I have is to connect the use of "one" with the issue of gender sensitive language. I've seen "one" effectively replace certain gender specific pronouns in certain cases, and I'm wondering if that could be incorporated into your essay somehow. I really liked how you explained when it was appropriate to use "you" and when it was more appropriate to use "one." Good job!
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| ebrose1182 | Nice work | 0 | Feb 18 2009, 4:24 PM EST by ebrose1182 | ||
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Thread started: Feb 18 2009, 4:24 PM EST
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Hi Adam-
I think that your paper is well strucutured and informative. I think that for the most part if a random person came across your paper while surfing the internet they would get your point. I made my comments in blue. One other thing that i noticed. Instead of using quotes when you refer to one, you, and your, you may want to consider using bold or italic font. That is what I did and it makes everything a little clearer. Just a thought. Good luck with the next draft. Liz |
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| ahowar15 | Umm | 0 | Feb 18 2009, 1:19 PM EST by ahowar15 | ||
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Thread started: Feb 18 2009, 1:19 PM EST
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I see no blue font, so I'm kinda having troubles seeing any revisions.
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