Do you remember learning basic pronouns with the verb 'to be' in grade school? First, the class would recite each pronoun after the teacher: I, you (singular), he, she (first person), we, you (plural), they. Then, the teacher would guide the students through a reprise with conjugations of the verb 'to be': I am, you are, he/she is, we are, you are, they are. A few years later, students would find themselves doing the same exercises during a mandated year of French, German or Spanish..
By the third year of high school, long homework assignments became longer and required papers of 3-5 pages turned into 8-12 page endurance tests. Many simply rephrased the opening paragraphs over and over to meet the minimum page requirement. Others, using a bit more creativity, resorted to pointless digressions to complete the task, and a precious few actually undertook the assignment with verve and planned to explore a topic of genuine interest for intellectual fulfillment. Imagine!
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These more serious-minded and mature students were likely to have opened a classic guide to good writing to achieve clarity and forestall grammatical errors, and the name of that little book was often The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. Although it is now in its fiftieth year of publication, the book, often dubbed 'Strunk and White', has a profound history.
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Decades prior to its first publication with E.B. White at the end of the Eisenhower presidency, William Strunk Jr., a professor at Cornell University, wrote the original manuscript alone for publication in 1918. In 1935, a revised second edition appeared with the help of a colleague. By the time E.B White entered the picture in 1959, The Elements of Style had been circulating in numerous classrooms for more than forty years. As its author died in 1946, the little writing guide seemed destined for 'the ashbin of history'. Indeed, the young, up-and-coming World War II generation, only a year away from electing John F. Kennedy to the presidency, had its own ideas of 'good' writing. E.B. White, a former student of Strunk's at Cornell and journalist for The New Yorker, had another idea. As a presumably devoted apostle of his mentor's maxims on writing, White decided to revise and expand the classic guide for a new edition in 1959. From that point forward, The Elements of Style became a staple for secondary schools and institutions of higher learning alike.
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While assigned as a required text by departments over a broad range of classes, the book was often used selectively or simply ignored entirely. Strunk and White won plaudits for issuing strict punctuation rules and received criticism for narrowing 'good' writing down to using a limited number of acceptable grammatical constructions.
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In its 50th year of publication, Strunk and White continue to polarize the pedagogical world. Patricia O'Connor, a grammarian and author of Woe Is I, believes the opening chapter on 'good' writing to still be relevant and summarizes the wisdom of the first fourteen pages into four points: 'Omit needless words', 'Use concrete language', Be clear', 'Revise and rewrite'. Unquestionably, few would disagree with those timeless truths on writing. Other areas, however, have become quite contentious.
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Geoffrey Pullum, a linguistics professor at the University of Edinburgh, accuses Strunk and White of sheer hypocrisy in pointing out, 'The section warning against the passive, for example, is replete with passives.' What is Pullum talking about?
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In most conversation and writing, the subject appears before the verb and direct object to convey an action or description. This is known as 'active voice'. Here are some examples in different tenses:
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1) Did you check the stove? (past tense)
2) Have you checked the stove? (past perfect tense)
3) Are you checking the stove? (present progressive tense)
4) Will you check the stove? (future tense)
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In contrast, passive voice omits the subject entirely, inverts the direct object and the verb and only implies the person involved in the action. Can you successfully convert the four interrogative (question) statements into passive voice? Here are the same questions in the passive form:
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1) Was the stove checked?
2) Has the stove been checked?
3) Is the stove being checked?
4) Will the stove be checked?
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Stunk and White inveigh against passive voice. In their view, it should rarely be used at all. However, critics of Strunk and White argue that passive voice plays a unique and significant role in language. An owner of a company would not likely ask his manager 'Have you washed the fleet of cars?'. Why? Managers usually do not wash cars. They tell employees to wash them. Thus, a manager would more likely inquire 'Has the fleet of cars been washed?' (implying 'by the staff').
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Consider the following active voice and passive voice statements:
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1) Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. (active voice)
2) Poland was invaded by Hitler in 1939. (passive voice)
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Strunk and White believe the clearest expression to be 'Hitler invaded Poland in 1939', but how is 'Poland was invaded by Hitler in 1939' any different in meaning or clarity?
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Although not deserving of sacrosanct status, Strunk and White's The Elements of Style has proved invaluable to the evolution and progress of the English language. As a base of reference, linguists have debated countless language-style issues including:
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1) Should a comma be included after 'green' in a phrase such as 'orange, green, and blue' or does the presence of 'and' omit the need for the comma after 'green'?
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2) Can a complex sentence begin with the word 'Because': i.e. 'Because he couldn't find his glasses, he was unable to see the show.'
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3) Can a sentence or a question end with a phrasal verb (a two or more word verb). Some examples: a) What are you looking at?, b) I don't know what she is putting up
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Despite scholarly disagreements over their maxims for good writing, Strunk and White deserve to be remembered as pioneers of English-language standardization.
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A robust debate on effective language exchange should be welcomed by all educators. When it comes to conveying meaning well, however, sometimes breaking the rules is wholly justified.
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And that is the truth of the matter.
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J Roquen