william strunk jr and eb white the elements of style

Writing tutors need to know what’s in the book, or we will fail to understand much of what our tutees experience as student writers in the United States. Practically all American writers, even those who never read The Elements of Style, have felt the effects of the book’s popularity. Here are three principles that should govern the relationship between the writing center and The Elements of Style. As writing tutors, we have at least two good reasons to become familiar with the little book: so we can pass on its best advice to our tutees, and so we can mitigate its more pernicious effects on American writing culture. Like it or not (and frankly, I don’t), The Elements of Style is so ubiquitous in American schools that its influence is impossible to ignore.

The book has also been accused - and not without reason - of perpetuating sexist and elitist norms. White describes the book’s contents as “Sergeant Strunk snapping orders to his platoon” (Strunk xiv). Feminist critic Jodi Lundgren complains that The Elements of Style has a “punitive tone” and a “quasi-military obsession with surface neatness” (125). Read Strunk & White once, and you’ll never write “I thank you in advance” again.īad news: The Strunkian attitude is so smug that more than a few readers have found it offensive. Plus, it advocates a righteous no-tolerance policy toward nonsense in writing. Good news: The book contains some good advice to novice writers (“ Choose a suitable design and hold to it,” 15), and it’s a fine place to turn for explications of English grammar conventions ( “The number of the subject determines the number of the verb,” 9). White is probably the most influential grammar guide in the English-speaking world.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.

William strunk jr and eb white the elements of style