Artful Sentences Syntax as Style by Virginia Tufte Short Sentences
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Here is the book review I wrote for ane of my classes:
"The streets were calm with Sunday."
With this quote from Aimee Bender, Virginia Tufte begins; she continues with o
As far equally fashion guides become, this is one of my favorites. I like how it stayed away from listing "rules" and instead talked about how different sentences create meaning differently. For about a month later on I read this book it was really hard to write, because I wanted every sentence to be as perfect as the examples in this book.Here is the volume review I wrote for one of my classes:
"The streets were calm with Lord's day."
With this quote from Aimee Bender, Virginia Tufte begins; she continues with over 700 additional examples of svelte, stylish sentences. Merely Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style is more than a catalogue of beautifully written writing samples. Information technology is a well-written grammer guide, a book on manner that embodies its discipline, and a clear, descriptive analysis of the English sentence and its myriad forms.
Articulating the complex and varied possibilities offered by the sentence is a difficult job. Traditional writing manuals and style guides (such as Strunk and White's The Elements of Style and Williams' Manner: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace) usually explain principles, lessons, or rules for students to follow, prescribing the way that good writing should be done. Tufte takes a different approach, one of description. She illustrates what sentences are made of, and how small changes in word lodge tin have a huge touch on non merely style, just meaning every bit well.
Tufte gives her purpose in the volume's closing passages when she states: "Aesthetic Sentences shows specific skills, widely applicable, that a writer can learn. It offers models that can be imitated, organizing them in a mode that makes them attainable and comprehensive" (272). What is unique about the models, or examples, it contains, is their diversity. They are taken from every written discipline. Poesy is paired with technical writing, and science fiction with art criticism. Readers observe themselves faced with Joan Baez, Virginia Woolf, Bill Clinton, Timothy Ferris, and many, many others.
Moreover, her range and diversity of contributors is a parallel to her range and diverseness of sentence types and constructions. Although she begins with the simple sentence, she moves through compound, complex, and compound circuitous sentences quickly, describing the sentence parts and how they tin exist used. Her descriptions are clear and well organized, her own sentences often competing with her examples in artfulness. And even as she uses advanced terms that may be unknown to the kickoff writing student, she explains and defines them. Terms such every bit parataxis, synecdoche, as well as the elusive wysiwyg clause (what you see is what y'all get), are divers for readers who may not yet be familiar with them. The vocabulary required to understand this book may seem daunting to a pupil, and may be also much for a beginning writer to take in. But Tufte makes information technology easier on them by defining many difficult terms, and an observant and patient reader can acquire much.
Vocabulary conquering is simply one of the benefits this volume offers students. Merely as she claims, Tufte as well gives the reader the valuable skills and models to follow. And also important, she offers the educatee a flexible and optimistic view of the possibilities sentences offer. Early on in the book she writes: "our linguistic communication is richly flexible, responsive to innovative molding past skilled easily" (109). Tufte expands on this thought in her closing lines: "Forms that seem limited, and even limiting, in fact offer a range of opportunities to a writer in command of them—and 1 who knows how to transgress against them—to achieve undreamed of effectiveness, grace, and versatility" (272). This optimistic view of the flexibility linguistic communication provides for united states is a liberating one. It gives the reader a sense of excitement and is a great antitoxin to the pessimistic, rule-jump, feeling that traditional grammar study tin can present. Tufte truly illustrates the space capacity to create sentences form finite ways. And in looking at hundreds (even approaching thousands) of types of sentences, she frees students from feeling jump to particular constructions, offer them freedom and autonomy.
This creation of autonomy through mastery of the judgement is like to the know-the-rules-earlier-yous-can-break-the-rules mental attitude of other manner guides. The deviation is her near complete absence of instruction, or "rules" that students should know before they pause them. She describes examples to follow, but only rarely does she give set rules.
Placing the focus on style and flexibility instead of rules provides tutors in the Writing Heart with an fantabulous model for non-directive tutoring. Often the rules of grammar and syntax seem very prescriptive and directive. But by treating each sentence every bit a flexible and open up piece of language that can be molded to suit the writer'due south needs, the tutor can both show a pupil their syntactic, and consequently semantic options, while still leaving the student in complete control.
An excellent example of this is given past Tufte on folio 172. She kickoff gives a model sentence from Ralph Ellison'due south Invisible Human, "Sensing a possible rival, I watched him warily, wondering who he was" (315). And later on providing the case, Tufte describes the syntactic options that could be considered in revision:
Sensing a possible rival, wondering who he was, I watched him warily,
I, sensing a possible rival, wondering who he was, watched him warily.
I watched him warily, sensing a possibly rival, wondering who he was.
These options are each unique in both syntax and semantics, and by describing their private attributes and effects, principles of style are hands learned and understood.
The method of offering students variations of their own sample sentences, both as examples and options for revision, is very non-directive. It assures that students keep their autonomy, while besides effectively communicating writing principles. By post-obit the strategies that Tufte uses in teaching effective styles, tutors can teach students to write sound prose, that not only follows the traditional grammatical conventions, just is stylistically constructive as well.
Another method that can be beneficial for tutors is that of vocalizing the students prose. Tufte places an emphasis on the flow of writing, continually using word such equally "rhythm" (108), and "free energy" (106). She warns her readers against writing that might "create awkward unintended rhythms" (120), and devotes an entire affiliate to "cohesion" between sentences, phrases and ideas. Vocalizing the written words is a common strategy adopted by tutors. Sometimes the tutor will read out loud to the pupil, sometimes the student to the tutor. If, while reading the slice, a tutor listens for rhythm, flow, cohesion and the general "sound", this strategy could be even more than effective.
In her last chapter, "Syntactic Symbolism," Tufte takes this strategy of vocalization to another level, citing examples of prose that itself embodies the ideas information technology describes. "Here syntax as mode has moved beyond the capricious, the sufficient," she says of her examples, "and is made so advisable to content that, sharing the very qualities of the content, it is carried to that point where information technology seems not only right, just inevitable." This concept, that of syntax symbolically representing the actions semantically described, is what Tufte sees as the crowning achievement of style. And she achieves it. Artful Sentences: Style as Syntax is what it sounds: artful.
...more But the joy in reading this book isn't just from her well-curated samples from literature; information technology is too from Tufte's writing itself, which frequently subtly uses the devices she's talking about. For example, consider the
This is my favorite book on writing. It'south not for beginners; Tufte won't waste your time explaining the parts of speech. There are a great many books out there that practice this already. Instead, Tufte is an expert on how careful usage of unlike parts of speech gives different effect.But the joy in reading this book isn't merely from her well-curated samples from literature; it is also from Tufte's writing itself, which often subtly uses the devices she's talking most. For instance, consider the introduction to The Substantive as Fragment:
A few years agone a staff member at a big university, cleaning out an one-time cabinet in the English section's offices, came beyond a peachy black box. Inside were long-unused rubber stamps, twenty or more, plain in the distant by employed to marker student papers. It is easy to visualize an overburdened writing teacher efficiently, firmly, peradventure fifty-fifty angrily, stamping with ruby-red ink the margins in stacks of pupil compositions: AWK. AGR. NOT CLR. CHOP. JARG. TRNS NDED. SPLT INF. COMM SPLS. RUN-ON. And what was probably regarded every bit the greatest of all sins, FRAG. I remember a teacher long ago who announced that whatsoever student newspaper containing a fragment automatically receiving an F, unless the student had labeled the fragment "intentional."
See what she did there? She introduced the concept of judgement fragments using a sentence fragment. This book is full of little clever moments like this for the astute reader, and though I read this book comprehend-to-cover, I'thousand sure I haven't caught them all. While the examples she uses are fun to read, I think the way Tufte uses the various parts of speech in her own writing is equally educational than the examples she gives.
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My married man, who is a total jewel, gave me this book for Christmas, because Lydia Davis told him to. Davis, Queen of My Heart, was a visiting scholar at the academy in our town, and gave a series of lectures, all of which I was unable to nourish, considering of work duties, and I was devastated. My husband went to all but one of them and took notes for me. When he gave me this volume, which I had not previously heard of, he said that in Davis's talk on writing, she referenced Artful Sentences as a favorite resource. She said she liked to turn to it for examples of the marvelous variety of sentences that could exist created and find inspiration therein.
And inspiration abounds! Virginia Tufte is like an industrious scientist of English language syntax. She shares more than 1,000 sentences as examples of all the types of skillful and beautiful sentences that i can create and divides the book logically by grammatical types. Information technology is a delight and a refreshing study of the gorgeous variety of English. In my intent to worship at THE CHURCH OF WRITING SENTENCES with Wei this year, this shall exist our principal sacred text. And I plan on returning to it again and again.
Thank you, love Guion, and cheers, dear Lydia Davis. You both shall ever remain treasured in my heart.
"Writing is hard. Whether a writer's sensitivities are informed past one or several languages, it is not like shooting fish in a barrel to capture a unique perception or thought in poetry or prose. Professional person writers, however, practice the best they can in whatsoever circumstances they observe themselves. That best is often eloquent and precise, aesthetic merely unpretentious enough to go a model for other writers."
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Virginia Tufte's long experience allows her to gracefully have variations in way and therefore avoid prescriptive dogmas. Elegant explanations of current thinking on matters of syntax, combined with numerous examples that demonstrate the differences between valid stylistic choices provide the reader, whether relatively new to grammatical thinking or confiden
This is a marvelous book. Not good for sitting down and merely reading through necessarily, but splendid as a reference and mode manual.Virginia Tufte's long experience allows her to gracefully accept variations in style and therefore avoid prescriptive dogmas. Elegant explanations of current thinking on matters of syntax, combined with numerous examples that demonstrate the differences betwixt valid stylistic choices provide the reader, whether relatively new to grammatical thinking or confidently knowledgeable, with a tool to assist empathize and critique the manner authors choose their words.
Lest yous think this book gives an author carte blanche to write in any way imaginable, she does as well include several examples of "what not to practise." Similar William Zinsser (run across my review on On Writing Well), she believes that clear, direct, concise writing is generally preferable to extra verbiage. And, like Zinsser, she also affirms that some authors do write beautifully with long, complicated sentences.
The form I am taking Winter and Leap at The Evergreen State College is going through this book one chapter a calendar week -- which is a good pace, considering its dense, thought-provoking materia.
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Surely none of the authors whose sentences are presented every bit examples ever thought in Tufte's terms while in the act of writing. And no reader needs to be enlightened of Tufte'south ter
I can't imagine who or what led me to take upwardly Virginia Tufte's Artful Sentences: Syntax equally Way. The title? A persuasive advertizing or commentary? I don't know. What I do know is that it'due south nigh every bit self-indulgent equally any volume is likely to be — published, in fact, under an banner owned past the author'south husband and since discontinued.Surely none of the authors whose sentences are presented as examples ever idea in Tufte's terms while in the act of writing. And no reader needs to be aware of Tufte's terms in social club to appreciate the sentences.
After a while, I skipped Tufte's text altogether and just skimmed through the sample sentences, some of which are memorable, others of which have all the oomph of the linguistic communication on a box of cereal.
Don't bother with this volume. If a instructor assigns it for a course, drop the course.
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A writer will learn by reading this book, whether she reads Virginia Tufte's parsing or not. Tufte breaks the sentences down quite well (I sneaked a peek, now and the
This is a book for writers, and those who have to read and grade papers. Myself, I'm not big on deconstruction as that path usually leads to meaninglessness and dissatisfaction. So, I galloped through the dissections, merely the book is bursting with culled sentences every bit examples of the different constructions. And, they are good 'uns.A author will acquire by reading this book, whether she reads Virginia Tufte'due south parsing or not. Tufte breaks the sentences downward quite well (I sneaked a peek, now and and then) although sometimes the explanations were a fleck dumbo in that bookish style that infuriates students under a deadline. Choosing to just sample her smorgasbord of sentences will fill up you lot upwardly, likewise.
I copied down various examples that Tufte uses to demonstrate a syntactic manner, but I've included two paragraphs--first and concluding--that she wrote to display her excellent writing skill.
"Anthony Burgess is right: it is the words that shine and sparkle and glitter, sometimes radiant with an author's inspired pick. But it is syntax that gives words the power to relate to each other in a sequence, to create rhythms and accent, to acquit meaning--of any kind--every bit well equally glow individually in just the right place."
"This is the nature, the great beauty of approaching the art of the judgement through syntactic categories forth with prolific displays of the fantabulous sentences good writers accomplish. Aesthetic Sentences shows specific skills, widely applicable, that a writer tin can larn. It offers models that tin be imitated, organizing them in a style that makes them accessible and comprehensive. Forms that seem limited, and even limiting, in fact offer a range of opportunities to a writer in command of them--and one who knows how to transgress against them--to achieve undreamed of effectiveness, grace, and versatility."
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I don't think I could even use it equally reference. I like the samples of u Yikkes! I bought this book from A seminar I attended with Edward Tufte. Shameless self promotion! It sounded good and I kept it by my side and needing some literary assistance pulled it off the " to- read" shelf. I believe information technology is a volume without beginning or end. I feel like I missed the first week of class and was thrown into a lecture that makes no sense. Introduction? Guidance? Nope?! Just throw us into your good minds thoughts?
I don't call up I could even use information technology as reference. I like the samples of use with excellent references in literature, merely as a read? Well I think I volition keep my Strunk and White close at hand.
And just as a side notation, does skimming in desperation count as "read"? ...more
Tufte's observations and analysis are excellent, only for someone like me, who hasn't diagrammed a judgement in decades, sometimes hard to fully grasp. For me it was a trivial similar reading something in French, I understood the words, merely the meaning was occasionally elusive and required me to go dorsum and look at what sh
I read this book a few pages at a time over a couple of months. Information technology is rich with examples – literally thousands of sentences from acclaimed and not so-acclaimed writers are examined.Tufte's observations and analysis are excellent, just for someone like me, who hasn't diagrammed a judgement in decades, sometimes hard to fully grasp. For me information technology was a little similar reading something in French, I understood the words, only the pregnant was occasionally elusive and required me to become dorsum and look at what she said afterward I studied the examples.
That's not a defect of the volume. This is a challenging book for someone who is not strong in grammer terms, but that shouldn't dissuade someone from reading it. For me it was the worth the challenge. And I'thou going to read information technology once more.
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To know the sentence is to love information technology and wish to perfect one'southward command of it.
Ane of my favorite get-to books most writing. The sentence is handled every bit deftly as the circuitous character that information technology is. Learn how to end and begin sentences for specific effects. It contains superlative examples of each part of speech from well known and obscure writers.To know the judgement is to love it and wish to perfect i'southward command of it.
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In 1946, a quarter meant popcorn, candy, a movie, a drawing, and a serial, plus a trip to the projection booth to visit Snooky, who read Mickey Spillane books. And after the movie, he could go next door to the Trolley Automobile Diner, where Jimmy, their boarder, would fry him a burger if he was non too busy. - Fannie Flagg
Later on some work it helped me write freely, I still look back at part of it. :-)
The hardest function of reading this volume was the first affiliate. I needed to learn the significant of several words. I'd never learned what an intransitive, transitive, syntactic punctuation, etc.Subsequently some piece of work it helped me write freely, I all the same look back at function of it. :-)
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I liked Grammer as Style amend for the precise reasons others establish the book less useful. She starts at the starting time and drives into style afterward. I recall people take what she says in these sections too much for granted. In this regard, if y'all are going to read that south
Between her two books, I liked her other on Grammar as Way slightly better. The two are quite a bit comparable, but this might appeal more to someone who needs the beginning chapter to be more specific in it'south basic examples.I liked Grammar as Fashion better for the precise reasons others constitute the volume less useful. She starts at the beginning and drives into mode afterward. I retrieve people take what she says in these sections also much for granted. In this regard, if yous are going to read that section in Grammar as Style and miss her point, and then yeah, this book will be better.
Here, she goes right into examples of the basic structure, the sentence outset. I like it not less or more, but unlike. For my purposes, it's dainty, simply I like better the why that comes along with knowing the parts of oral communication.
The latter parts of the two books have pregnant similarity, although I really liked her section on Appositives which is less accentuated in the other volume.
Whether you lot will like this book or non comes downwardly to the reason you lot are reading it. For me, i'chiliad thinking about grammar in the context of what makes comprehension hard, then this is a keen fit. If you're trying to figure out something else, like slightly more advanced grammar, possibly you don't like it equally much. Might be above yous, as it's clearly written by grammar lovers for grammer lovers. Since I'one thousand not a grammar lover, I tin empathize with those that are non as in love with the book. But I practice yet, give her full marks considering I truly appreciate how seriously she's taken the subject and how much inquiry and thoughtfulness went into a fairly rigorous handling.
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