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Useless Modifiers and Qualifiers (R Sieg 27793)
Style Rule
Eliminate Unnecessary Modifiers and Qualifiers
There is a lot of information contained in William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style and Joseph M. Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. These texts focus on the idea of style, which can be a slippery notion to understand. From the two texts, I understand the idea of style as one that separates a good piece of writing from a bad one. It (I think the "It" here is ambiguous. I know you're refering to style, but I think it would be clearer just to use "Style cannot..." B.Keough) cannot be defined, but one knows when it’s lacking. Style is made up of a seemingly infinite number of ‘rules.’ One such rule that I strongly stand behind is the matter of unnecessary modifiers and qualifiers. A better way of putting it is: I hate it when people write they (the) way in which they speak.
Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace contains a small section about this problem in his chapter on concision called “Meaningless Modifiers.” He writes that, “Some modifiers are verbal tics that we use almost as unconsciously as we clear our throats” (Williams 118). I find unnecessary modifiers as annoying as many verbal tics, such as saying ‘like’ every other word, so that quote sums it up for me (I would leave out the end of this sentence here; "so that quote sums it up for me" it seems unnecessary. B.Keough). Williams goes on to say that, “When we prune both the empty nouns and meaningless modifiers, we have a clearer and sharper sentence” (Williams 118).
I take my reasoning one step further. I believe that when a text reads as if someone is speaking, it instantly reveals its author to be a novice. I will use a necessary modifier when I say: "obviously, this applies only to non-literary texts." (added quotations-I think thats what you meant here. B. Keough) In high school I would proofread my friends’ papers and cringe at their overuse of modifiers. I am not a great writer, but I understand the importance of professionalism in a school maybe replace "school" with "literary" or "formal" essay. When I read someone’s scholarly text and it’s full of meaningless modifiers, I immediately disregard what the paper is saying. The overuse of modifiers can instantly ruin a paper. As Strunk and White put it, the use of meaningless qualifiers, “are leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words” (Strunk and White 73).
I suppose that people would defend their use of modifiers and qualifiers by arguing that it is their writing ‘style.’
Eliminate Unnecessary Modifiers and Qualifiers
There is a lot of information contained in William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style and Joseph M. Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. These texts focus on the idea of style, which can be a slippery notion to understand. From the two texts, I understand the idea of style as one that separates a good piece of writing from a bad one. It (I think the "It" here is ambiguous. I know you're refering to style, but I think it would be clearer just to use "Style cannot..." B.Keough) cannot be defined, but one knows when it’s lacking. Style is made up of a seemingly infinite number of ‘rules.’ One such rule that I strongly stand behind is the matter of unnecessary modifiers and qualifiers. A better way of putting it is: I hate it when people write they (the) way in which they speak.
Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace contains a small section about this problem in his chapter on concision called “Meaningless Modifiers.” He writes that, “Some modifiers are verbal tics that we use almost as unconsciously as we clear our throats” (Williams 118). I find unnecessary modifiers as annoying as many verbal tics, such as saying ‘like’ every other word, so that quote sums it up for me (I would leave out the end of this sentence here; "so that quote sums it up for me" it seems unnecessary. B.Keough). Williams goes on to say that, “When we prune both the empty nouns and meaningless modifiers, we have a clearer and sharper sentence” (Williams 118).
I take my reasoning one step further. I believe that when a text reads as if someone is speaking, it instantly reveals its author to be a novice. I will use a necessary modifier when I say: "obviously, this applies only to non-literary texts." (added quotations-I think thats what you meant here. B. Keough) In high school I would proofread my friends’ papers and cringe at their overuse of modifiers. I am not a great writer, but I understand the importance of professionalism in a school maybe replace "school" with "literary" or "formal" essay. When I read someone’s scholarly text and it’s full of meaningless modifiers, I immediately disregard what the paper is saying. The overuse of modifiers can instantly ruin a paper. As Strunk and White put it, the use of meaningless qualifiers, “are leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words” (Strunk and White 73).
I suppose that people would defend their use of modifiers and qualifiers by arguing that it is their writing ‘style.’
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tbcollum |
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, Feb 20 2009, 4:43 PM EST
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| tbcollum | Peer Review | 0 | Feb 20 2009, 4:46 PM EST by tbcollum | ||
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Thread started: Feb 20 2009, 4:46 PM EST
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I really like your style rule and your essay because you seem to have picked something that really interests you. The only constructive criticism that I can really give is to make your essay longer. Maybe include more examples. I think that you already have enough quotes, but maybe you can sum up what the two books say in general about your style rule. Your off to a great start! (the only think that I could fix in your essay is in blue)
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| sarahmorris | I agree | 0 | Feb 18 2009, 5:47 PM EST by sarahmorris | ||
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Thread started: Feb 18 2009, 5:47 PM EST
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I like your style rule. I think it would help if you 1) define what a modifier is (i know what it is, but not everybody will), 2) give some examples of modifier words like very, really, like, etc. 3) give specific before and after examples like Williams does. One sentence full of modifiers and one sentence without unnecessary modifiers.
Great essay in general though. |
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| briankeough | Editing | 0 | Feb 17 2009, 11:23 AM EST by briankeough | ||
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Thread started: Feb 17 2009, 11:23 AM EST
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You are off to a good start here. Great use of quotations from the texts we read. You apply them well. I would work on the clarity of some of your sentences and just continue to expound upon your ideas. I left some markings on in red letters. Good job.
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