Compare and contrast of Strunk and
White and Booher
When looking into the world of guides
for effective writing, it may be difficult to select which guide is the
best. There have been many guides
published over the years that are meant to teach the writer the correct and
proper way to write. Although the guides
have been written by different people with different backgrounds with different
ways of communicating their message; they all have the same idea in mind. These books are meant to teach and serve as a
resource for those who need the help.
Since there are so many guides available the question may be asked, what
guide is the most correct and which one will help my writing the most. There is probably no real answer because
every one has their own definition of what may be the best. However, there are two specific books that
could possibly be called the best in their perspective areas. The
Elements of Style written by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White along with E-Writing 21st-Century Tools for
Effective Communication written by Diana Booher are two such books. They were both written at different times
with different audiences in mind, but they both seem to get basically the same
point across. An example of a similar
point that both books have is the use of hyphenation and when it is necessary
or not in writing. Strunk and White
along with Booher also use a certain tone of language which can be looked at to
determine which book might keep a reader interested. An evaluation of the two books might help
answer the question about which might be the best and most helpful.
In order to begin evaluating The Elements of Style and E-Writing, it may be ideal to begin with
what is known about both books. The Elements of Style was originally written
in the early 1900’s, but was not published until 1935. William Strunk Jr. was a professor at Cornell
University teaching an English class and the textbook required at the time was
his book; The Elements of Style. To determine the audience that Strunk had in
mind at the time it is appropriate to look at the time period. It seems as if during the early 1900’s there
were not many, if any minorities at the university level. It could be said that the original
publication of the book was written for white, upper class, educated
males. In 1957, E.B. White was given the
responsibility to revise the earlier edition of the book written by
Strunk. He says, “Macmillan commissioned
me to revise it for the college market and the general trade” (Strunk and White,
xiii) His revision was probably done to include minorities such as women and
African Americans.
Before even looking at the background
and history of The Elements of Style,
a reader will notice the size and almost convenience
of the book. It is small enough to fit
in the back pocket of a pair of pants.
There are only 85 pages of rules, examples and ideas for writing and
only 95 pages total in the book; with the last ten being a glossary. Everything the authors felt was important
enough to include was broken up into give sections that are called “Elementary
Rules of Usage”, “Elementary Principles of Composition”, “A Few Matters of
Form”, “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused”, and “An Approach to Style”. These sections that amount to 85 pages of
helpful information combine to form the Elements of Style.
E-Writing 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication was written by Dianna Booher in
2001; almost a century later than original publication of The Elements of Style. Booher
is not a professor or even in an academic setting, but she is able to convey
the ideas that are commonly associated with the academic world and put those
ideas to use in a business environment.
In addition to being in a different world than Strunk and White, Booher
is a woman and the owner of her own consulting agency. With that in mind, Booher is able to cover
more than just rules for writing in her book.
As the title suggests, the book is focused on the use of the internet in
not only a personal world, but more importantly in the business world. With the use of the internet she gives tips
on how to write in the business world. In
her introduction she gives an example of all the ways writing occurs in the
business world, she says, “How do we write thee? Let us count the ways: e-mail, websites,
bulletin boards and chat rooms, online information centers for employees, form
letters to customers, boilerplate fill-in-the-blank proposals loaded on account
executives’ laptops, team reports edited simultaneously online, job postings on
the Internet that generate electronic resumes...” (Booher, 1)
The reason why all these different mediums were mentioned was to show
the importance of knowing how to write correctly in the business world.
Since her book covers a few more
ideas than the Strunk and White book, E-Writing
is a little lengthier; 358 pages to be exact. Booher’s book is also separated into five
sections titled “E-Mail Exchange”, “The E-Writing Culture”, “Writing on Paper
or Online”, “Edit for Content and Layout, Grammar, Clarity, Conciseness, and
Style”, and “Let’s get Technical”. Her
sections outline the idea of mixing business etiquette with academic
writing. The last three sections
especially can be used in business or academic settings. Booher even includes a proofreading symbol
chart in her book that is taught in English most classes’ normal
curriculum.
In order to critically evaluate the
similarities and differences between the two books one should compare the ideas
that the authors have about the subject of hyphenation. Both books discuss the topic of hyphenation;
however, they get their points across in very different formats. Strunk and White discuss hyphenation thoroughly,
but they are able to do so in about one page.
They begin with a simple rule, "when two or more words are combined
to form a compound adjective, a hyphen is usually required." (34) One of the examples used are the words “bed
chamber”. Time changed it to
“bed-chamber”, then to “bedchamber” (34)
Examples are given and they go into a bit more detail about the subject
to discuss the evolution of language and the way two separate words become one
word. On the subject they interject,
"common sense will aid you in the decision, but a dictionary is more
reliable." (35) Strunk and White's
discussion of the hyphen is easily understood and short. They give examples and an anecdote of an
instance where the use of a hyphen where it was not needed created confusion in
a newspaper. They said “two newspapers merged…someone introduced a hyphen into
the merger, and the paper became The Chattanooga New-Free Press, which sounds
as though the paper were news-free, or devoid of news.” (35)
On the other hand, Booher discusses
hyphens for three pages. The first page
consists of the issue of hyphens, the purpose for discussing them, and she
includes a couple of anecdotes where the use or deletion of a hyphen caused
confusion. One such example was when a
hyphen was not used in a report with the term “chilled water valves”. Booher states the confusion that occurs
because the reader does not know if the report is about “valves that have been
chilled by running cold water through them or chilled-water valves; a specific
type of valve”. (225) Booher also goes into detail about words and
"when they are used almost exclusively together, the hyphen is dropped and
they become one word". (225) This
section has many needless words, it could have clearly been shortened and the
idea would have still gotten across to her readers. She uses the words “note and book”, and its
transition to “notebook”. Instead of
stopping with these, Booher includes “pipeline, online, feedback, and
lifestyle”. (225) Booher gives six examples of words that did not use to be one
word; but two. Instead of listing these
words or only stating two or three, she writes a sentence to talk about each
word. Booher also has more rules about
the use of hyphens than Strunk and White.
Instead of their two rules to follow, Booher has ten rules which a
reader would probably find a little more helpful. With each rule; Booher has an example to
support it. One of her rules was to
“Hyphenate the prefixes ex-, quasi-,
self-, all-, half-, and the suffix
–elect.” (226) Another was “Hyphenate compound numbers from
twenty-one through ninety-nine.” (227) Both books discuss the use of hyphenation in
their different ways, but they are also able to get their points across clearly
and effectively. Hyphenation can be a
confusing subject, but Strunk and White, along with Booher help to get rid of
some of the puzzlement that it causes.
William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
along with Dianna Booher have added to the search for the best guide to
teaching correct writing and grammar.
Both The Elements of Style
and E-Writing
21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication are good books to
use as a reference tool when writing.
Although the Strunk and White book was intended for academic or
recreational writing, Booher's book can also be used for the same purpose. Booher says it herself "we have no
"Board of Official Grammar""(226), so both books could be
acclaimed to be the best. Regardless, both
books were written with a specific purpose and they seem to accomplish them
well.
Works Cited
Booher, Dianna. E-Writing
21st Century Tools for Effective Communication.
Strunk Jr., William,
White, E.B. The Elements of Style.
Marnitta Harris
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English
328,