![Book Cover The Elements of Style By mysticbooks.org](/image/book/the-elements-of-style.webp)
The Elements of Style
'The Elements of Style' Summary
Strunk concentrated on the cultivation of good writing and composition; the original 1918 edition exhorted writers to "omit needless words", use the active voice, and employ parallelism appropriately.
The 1959 edition features White's expansions of preliminary sections, the "Introduction" essay (derived from his magazine feature story about Prof. Strunk), and the concluding chapter, "An Approach to Style", a broader, prescriptive guide to writing in English. He also produced the second (1972) and third (1979) editions of The Elements of Style, by which time the book's length had extended to 85 pages.
The third edition of The Elements of Style (1979) features 54 points: a list of common word-usage errors; 11 rules of punctuation and grammar; 11 principles of writing; 11 matters of form; and, in Chapter V, 21 reminders for better style. The final reminder, the 21st, "Prefer the standard to the offbeat", is thematically integral to the subject of The Elements of Style, yet does stand as a discrete essay about writing lucid prose. To write well, White advises writers to have the proper mind-set, that they write to please themselves, and that they aim for "one moment of felicity", a phrase by Robert Louis Stevenson. Thus Strunk's 1918 recommendation:
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he make every word tell.
— "Elementary Principles of Composition", The Elements of Style
Strunk Jr. no longer has a comma in his name in the 1979 and later editions, due to the modernized style recommendation about punctuating such names.
The fourth edition of The Elements of Style (2000), published 54 years after Strunk's death, omits his stylistic advice about masculine pronouns: "unless the antecedent is or must be feminine". In its place, the following sentence has been added: "many writers find the use of the generic he or his to rename indefinite antecedents limiting or offensive." Further, the re-titled entry "They. He or She", in Chapter IV: Misused Words and Expressions, advises the writer to avoid an "unintentional emphasis on the masculine".
Components new to the fourth edition include a foreword by Roger Angell, stepson of E. B. White, an afterword by the American cultural commentator Charles Osgood, a glossary, and an index. Five years later, the fourth edition text was re-published as The Elements of Style Illustrated (2005), with illustrations by the designer Maira Kalman. This edition excludes the afterword by Osgood and restores the first edition chapter on spelling.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1918Author
![William Strunk image](/thumbs/image/author/william-strunk.webp)
William Strunk
United States
William Strunk Jr. was an American professor of English at Cornell University and author of The Elements of Style (1918). After revision and enlargement by his former student E. B. White, it became a...
More on William StrunkDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
![How to Sing Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/how-to-sing.webp)
How to Sing by Lilli Lehmann
Lilli Lehmann, born Elisabeth Maria Lehmann, was a German operatic soprano of phenomenal versatility. She was also a voice teacher.
![Education Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/education.webp)
Education by Ellen White
Ellen White said that one of the most delicate tasks in life was working with youthful minds. Teaching should be varied which can make it possible for...
![Write it Right Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/write-it-right.webp)
Write it Right by Ambrose Bierce
A collection of tips and pitfalls compiled by the great American short-story writer and satirist, to help attain mastery of English.
![Essays and Literary Studies Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/essays-and-literary-studies.webp)
Essays and Literary Studies by Stephen Leacock
A collection of wry looks at literature, education, and other social phenomena by Canadian humourist and economics professor, Stephen Leacock.
![Philosophy and Fun of Algebra Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/philosophy-and-fun-of-algebra.webp)
Philosophy and Fun of Algebra by Mary Everest Boole
This short book, Philosophy and Fun of Algebra, is meant to be read by children and introduces algebra and logic. She uses the word “algebra” broadly,...
![French Self-Taught Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/french-self-taught.webp)
French Self-Taught by Franz J.L. Thimm
The book includes sections on vocabulary, nouns, adjectives, verbs and phrases, and will still prove useful. Some of the phrases are dated but hilario...
![Winnowed Wisdom Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/winnowed-wisdom.webp)
Winnowed Wisdom by Stephen Leacock
It is a delightful book that offers a collection of witty and insightful essays for young readers. This book provides a captivating blend of humor, wi...
![Wings and the Child Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/wings-and-the-child.webp)
Wings and the Child by Edith Nesbit
"When this book first came to my mind it came as a history and theory of the building of Magic Cities on tables, with bricks and toys and little thing...
![Home Education Series Vol. VI: Towards A Philosophy of Education Charlotte Mason Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/home-education-series-vol-vi-towards-a-philosophy-of-education.webp)
Home Education Series Vol. VI: Towards A Philosophy of Education Charlotte Mason by Charlotte Mason
Embark on a captivating intellectual journey with "Home Education Series Vol. VI: Towards A Philosophy of Education" by Charlotte Mason. In this illum...
Reviews for The Elements of Style
No reviews posted or approved, yet...