Text Box: STYLISTIC ERRORS
   

 

 

 

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  • Errors in Style:

    • "style" refers to the way ideas are presented in writing -

      • the "how" -- more so than the "what"

    • "style" in fashion concerns presentation through clothing

      • or think of musical genres, presenting through sound

      • so we're concerned with presentation through writing

    • *FORMAL ACADEMIC WRITING*

      •  the precepts of Formal Academic Writing will guide your college essays

      • which means your "written presentations" must adhere to THE RULES

        • the rules of grammar, punctuation, mechanics

        • the sense of good taste, refinement, decorum, etiquette

      • don't write as you talk or text

      • proofread

      • revise

        • you don't wear jeans & sneakers to a job interview

    • ESSENTIALLY:

      • at its heart, "style" relates to Effective Written Communication

        • clearly, successfully, & efficiently communicating ideas in writing

    • UNDER THE ROOF:

      • what's covered under "style" includes:

        • (+) clarity, conciseness, tone, word choice/diction, verb voice

        • (-)  wordiness, pretentiousness/ostentation, awkwardness of phrase, ....

    • CONFUSION:

      • what's confusing for writers (and teachers of writing!) is the subjectivity or arbitrariness of "style"

        • each curriculum or field seems to have its own style

        • each teacher seems to emphasize certain ways, while de-emphasizing others

        • what is "in style" seems to change through the years

      • what's also confusing is what we see in writing outside of school

        • newspapers, magazines, novels

        • they don't seem to be playing by the same rules -- and they're not!

        • journalism has its own separate set of rules

          • related to its visual-based medium

            • appeals more to eyes than minds

          • their rules aren't better or worse -- merely different

STYLE ADVICE:

(not Rules of Thumb)

  • (1) watch your tone

  • (2) say what you mean

  • (3) don't try to sound smart

  • (4) don't write like you talk (or text!)

  • (5) remember, we 're dealing with Formal Academic Writing

 

  • The source for most style etiquette is Strunk and White's The Elements of Style

  • Style Analogies

  • SUFFIXES, WORDINESS, PRETENTIOUSNESS:

SUFFIXES WORDINESS PRETENTIOUSNESS
  • pseudosuffixes
  • pretentious, ambiguous
  • –ize
    • finalize
    • not all are bad –
      • summarize plagiarize
    • best to use existing words than to create with this suffix
  • –oriented or -related
    • misused to indicate direction, orientation, alignment
  • –wize
    • means “in the manner of”
    • some are appropriate (clockwise)
    • if it doesn’t exist yet, don’t create it
  • –like
    • use more appropriate, exact adjectives
    • vulpine, porcine, bovine
  • these hackneyed expressions are padding to be avoided
  • each & every
  • as being
  • as yet
  • and yet
  • as to whether
  • due to the fact that
  • s/he is a person who (s/he is + adjective)
  • one of the most…
  • in the final analysis
  • in terms of
  • along these/those lines
  • overused to the point of meaninglessness
    • nice; a lot
    • very, really, totally, pretty (pretty much)
  • respective, respectively
  • thank you in advance
  • foreseeable future (how far?)
  • the truth/fact is
  • due to the fact of/that
    • the fact that
    • on account of
  • reason why
  • many a (man, day)
  • trying to sound impressive
  • “groping toward imagined eloquence”
    • pretentiousness
    • pomposity
    • clumsy, ambiguous, confusing
    • the “attention-getting” language of advertising
    • the exaggerated vocabulary of business
    • the “'inflated'” & “'detached'” words of the government, law
  • "have" + verb:
    • abuse or misuse the Perfect Tenses
    • because they sound smarter
    • often causes inconsistent verb tenses
  • prettify words or phrases
    • (adding –ly to second)
  • use “possess”
    • when “has” or “owns” is just as good
  • “thesaurus-itis”
    • using bigger words
    • for the sake of using bigger words
    • often the wrong word
  • use Latin
    • (or other foreign words)
    • in lieu of Anglo-Saxon
  • get medieval:
    • use amongst when “among” will suffice
    • thereof, thereon, thereby