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1、 Thomas S. Kane If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed“ to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payments for this “stripped book.“ Acknowledgments This book is bas
2、ed on The Oxford Guide to Writing: A Rhet- oric and Handbook for College Students, and thanks are due once more to those who contributed to that book: my friend and colleague Leonard J. Peters; Professors Miriam Baker of Dowling College, David Hamilton of the University of Iowa, Robert Lyons and San
3、dra Schor of Queens College of the City University of New York, and Joseph Trimmer of Ball State University, all of whom read the manuscript and con- tributed perceptive comments; Ms. Cheryl Kupper, who copyedited that text with great thoroughness and care; and John W. Wright, my editor at the Oxfor
4、d University Press. For the present edition I am again grateful to Professor Leonard J. Peters and to John W. Wright. In addition I wish to thank William P. Sisler and Joan Bossert, my editors at Oxford University Press, who encouraged, criticized, and im- proved, as good editors do. Kittery Point,
5、Maine T.S.K. December 1987 Contents Introduction 3 1. Subject, Reader, and Kinds of Writing 5 2. Strategy and Style 9 3. Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics13 PART 1 The Writing Process 4. Looking for Subjects 19 5. Exploring for Topics 23 6. Making a Plan 29 7. Drafts and Revisions 34 17 PART II. 8. 9. 1
6、0. 11. The Essay 43 Beginning 45 Closing 60 Organizing the Middle Point of View, Persona, 67 and Tone74 PART 3 The Expository Paragraph 87 12. Basic Structure 89 13. Paragraph Unity 95 14. Paragraph Development: (1) Illustration and Restatement 106 8CONTENTS 15. Paragraph Development: (2) Comparison
7、, Contrast, and Analogy 114 16. Paragraph Development: (3) Cause and Effect 125 17. Paragraph Development: (4) Definition, Analysis, and Qualification 132 PART 4. The Sentence 149 18. The Sentence: A Definition 151 19. Sentence Styles 161 20. The Well-Written Sentence: (1) Concision 191 21. The Well
8、-Written Sentence: (2) Emphasis 200 22. The Well-Written Sentence: (3) Rhythm 223 23. The Well-Written Sentence: (4) Variety 234 PART v. Diction 241 24. Meaning 243 25. Clarity and Simplicity 262 26. Concision 281 27. Figurative Language 295 28. Unusual Words and Collocations 325 29. Improving Your
9、Vocabulary: Dictionaries 336 PART vi. Description and Narration 349 30. Description 351 31. Narration 366 PART VII. Punctuation 377 Introduction 379 32. Stops 383 33. The Other Marks 417 Name Index 439 Subject Index 445 The New Oxford Guide to Writing Introduction Two broad assumptions underlie this
10、 book: (1) that writing is a rational activity, and (2) that it is a valuable activity. To say that writing is rational means nothing more than that it is an exercise of mind requiring the mastery of tech- niques anyone can learn. Obviously, there are limits: one can- not learn to write like Shakesp
11、eare or Charles Dickens. You cant become a genius by reading a book. But you dont have to be a genius to write clear, effective English. You just have to understand what writing involves and to know how to handle words and sentences and para- graphs. That you can learn. If you do, you can communicat
12、e what you want to communicate in words other people can understand. This book will help by showing you what good writers do. The second assumption is that writing is worth learning. It is of immediate practical benefit in almost any job or career. Certainly there are many jobs in which you can get
13、along without being able to write clearly. If you know how to write, however, you will get along faster and farther. There is another, more profound value to writing. We cre- ate ourselves by words. Before we are businesspeople or law- yers or engineers or teachers, we are human beings. Our INTRODUC
14、TION growth as human beings depends on our capacity to under- stand and to use language. Writing is a way of growing. No one would argue that being able to write will make you mor- ally better. But it will make you more complex and more interestingin a word, more human. CHAPTER 1 Subject, Reader, an
15、d Kinds of Writing Choosing a Subject Often, of course, you are not free to choose at all. You must compose a report for a business meeting or write on an as- signed topic for an English class. The problem then becomes not what to write about but how to attack it, a question well discuss in Chapters
16、 5 and 6. When you can select a subject for yourself, it ought to in- terest you, and interest others as well, at least potentially. It should be within the range of your experience and skill, though it is best if it stretches you. It ought to be neither so vast that no one person can encompass it n
17、or so narrow and trivial that no one cares. Dont be afraid to express your own opinions and feelings. You are a vital part of the subject. No matter what the topic, you are really writing about how you understand it, how you feel about it. Good writing has personality. Readers enjoy sensing a mind a
18、t work, hearing a clear voice, responding to an unusual sensibility. If you have chosen a topic that is of general concern, and if genuine feeling and intelligence come through, you will be interesting. Interest lies not so much in a topic as in what a writer has made of it. 6 INTRODUCTION About Rea
19、ders You dont want to repel readers. This doesnt mean you have to flatter them or avoid saying something they may disagree with. It does mean you must respect them. Dont take their interest for granted or suppose that it is the readers job to follow you. Its your job to guide them, to make their tas
20、k as easy as the subject allows. Ask yourself questions about your readers: What can I ex- pect them to know and not know? What do they believe and value? How do I want to affect them by what I say? What attitudes and claims will meet with their approval? What will offend them? What objections may t
21、hey have to my ideas, and how can I anticipate and counter those objections? Readers may be annoyed if you overestimate their knowl- edge. Tossing off unusual words may seem a put-down, a way of saying, “I know more than you.“ On the other hand, la- boring the obvious also implies a low opinion of r
22、eaders: dont tell them what a wheel is; they know. It isnt easy to gauge your readers level of knowledge or to sense their be- liefs and values. Sensitivity to readers comes only with ex- perience, and then imperfectly. Tact and respect, however, go a long way. Readers have egos too. Kinds of Writin
23、g The various effects a writer may wish to have on his or her readersto inform, to persuade, to entertainresult in dif- ferent kinds of prose. The most common is prose that in- forms, which, depending on what it is about, is called exposition, description, or narration. Exposition explains. How thin
24、gs workan internal com- bustion engine. Ideasa theory of economics. Facts of every- day lifehow many people get divorced. Historywhy Custer attacked at the Little Big Horn. Controversial issues laden with feelingsabortion, politics, religion. But whatever SUBJECT, READER, AND KINDS OF WRITING 7 its
25、subject, exposition reveals what a particular mind thinks or knows or believes. Exposition is constructed logically. It organizes around cause/effect, true/false, less/more, positive/ negative, general/particular, assertion/denial. Its movement is signaled by connectives like therefore, however, and
26、 so, be- sides, but, not only, more important, in fact, for example. Description deals with perceptionsmost commonly visual perceptions. Its central problem is to arrange what we see into a significant pattern. Unlike the logic of exposition, the pat- tern is spatial: above/below, before/behind, rig
27、ht/left, and so on. The subject of narration is a series of related eventsa story. Its problem is twofold: to arrange the events in a se- quence of time and to reveal their significance. Persuasion seeks to alter how readers think or believe. It is usually about controversial topics and often appeal
28、s to reason in the form of argument, offering evidence or logical proof. Another form of persuasion is satire, which ridicules folly or evil, sometimes subtly, sometimes crudely and coarsely. Fi- nally, persuasion may be in the form of eloquence, appealing to ideals and noble sentiments. Writing tha
29、t is primarily entertaining includes fiction, per- sonal essays, sketches. Such prose will receive less attention here. It is certainly important, but it is more remote from everyday needs than exposition or persuasion. For Practice List ten or twelve topics you might develop into a short essay. Thi
30、nk of topics that deal not so much with things, places, or how-to- do projects as with your opinions and beliefs. Pick subjects that interest you and are within your experience, yet challenging. Be specific: dont simply write “my job“ but something like “what I like most (or hate most) about my job.
31、“ Selecting one of the topics on your list, compose a paragraph about the readers for whom you might develop it. Consider how 8 INTRODUCTION you wish to affect those readers, what you want them to understand and feel. Think about their general knowledge, values, attitudes, biases; whether they are y
32、our age or older or younger, come from a similar or a different background; and how you would like them to regard you. CHAPTER 2 Strategy and Style Purpose, the end youre aiming at, determines strategy and style. Strategy involves choiceselecting particular aspects of a topic to develop, deciding ho
33、w to organize them, choosing this word rather than that, constructing various types of sen- tences, building paragraphs. Style is the result of strategy, the language that makes the strategy work. Think of purpose, strategy, and style in terms of increasing abstractness. Style is immediate and obvio
34、us. It exists in the writing itself; it is the sum of the actual words, sentences, paragraphs. Strategy is more abstract, felt beneath the words as the immediate ends they serve. Purpose is even deeper, supporting strategy and involving not only what you write about but how you affect readers. A bri
35、ef example will clarify these overlapping concepts. It was written by a college student in a fifteen-minute classroom exercise. The several topics from which the students could choose were stated broadly“marriage,“ “parents,“ “teach- ers,“ and so onso that each writer had to think about re- strictin
36、g and organizing his or her composition. This student chose “marriage“: Why get married? Or if you are modern, why live together? Answer: Insecurity. “Man needs woman; woman needs man.“ However, this IO INTRODUCTION cliche fails to explain need. How do you need someone of the opposite sex? Sexually
37、is an insufficient explanation. Other animals do not stay with a mate for more than one season; some not even that long. Companionship, although a better answer, is also an in- complete explanation. We all have several friends. Why make one friend so significant that he at least partially excludes t
38、he others? Because we want to “join our lives.“ But this desire for joining is far from “romantic“it is selfish. We want someone to share our lives in order that we do not have to endure hardships alone. The writers purpose is not so much to tell us of what she thinks about marriage as to convince u
39、s that what she thinks is true. Her purpose, then, is persuasive, and it leads to par- ticular strategies both of organization and of sentence style. Her organization is a refinement of a conventional question/ answer strategy: a basic question (“Why get married?“); an initial, inadequate answer (“I
40、nsecurity“); a more precise ques- tion (“How do we need someone?“); a partial answer (“sex“); then a second partial answer (“companionship“); a final, more precise question (“Why make one friend so significant?“); and a concluding answer (“so that we do not have to endure hardships alone“). The pers
41、uasive purpose is also reflected in the writers strat- egy of short emphatic sentences. They are convincing, and they establish an appropriate informal relationship with readers. Finally, the students purpose determines her strategy in approaching the subject and in presenting herself. About the top
42、ic, the writer is serious without becoming pompous. As for herself, she adopts an impersonal point of view, avoiding such expressions as “I think“ or “it seems to me.“ On another occasion they might suggest a pleasing modesty; here they would weaken the force of her argument. These strategies are ef
43、fectively realized in the style: in the clear rhetorical questions, each immediately followed by a straightforward answer; and in the short uncomplicated sen- tences, echoing speech. (There are even two sentences that are grammatically incomplete“Answer: Insecurity“ and “Be- STRATEGY AND STYLE 11 ca
44、use we want to join our lives. “) At the same time the sentences are sufficiently varied to achieve a strategy funda- mental to all good proseto get and hold the readers attention. Remember several things about strategy. First, it is many- sided. Any piece of prose displays not one but numerous stra
45、tegiesof organization, of sentence structure, of word choice, of point of view, of tone. In effective writing these reinforce one another. Second, no absolute one-to-one correspondence exists be- tween strategy and purpose. A specific strategy may be adapted to various purposes. The question/answer
46、mode of organizing, for example, is not confined to persuasion: it is often used in informative writing. Furthermore, a particular purpose may be served by different strategies. In our example the students organization was not the only one possible. An- other writer might have organized using a “lis
47、t“ strategy: People get married for a variety of reasons. First. . . Second . . . Third . . . Finally . . . Still another might have used a personal point of view, or taken a less serious approach, or assumed a more formal re- lationship with the reader. Style In its broadest sense “style“ is the to
48、tal of all the choices a writer makes concerning words and their arrangements. In this sense style may be good or badgood if the choices are appropriate to the writers purpose, bad if they are not. More narrowly, “style“ has a positive, approving sense, as when we say that someone has “style“ or pra
49、ise a writer for his or her “style.“ More narrowly yet, the word may also designate a particular way of writing, unique to a person or characteristic of a group or profession: “Hemingways style,“ “an academic style.“ 12 INTRODUCTION Here we use style to mean something between those ex- tremes. It will be a positive term, and while we speak of errors in style, we dont speak of “bad styles.“ On the other hand, we understand “style“ to include many ways of writing, each appropriate for some purposes, less so for others. There is no one style, some ideal