![]() ![]() The book has also been accused - and not without reason - of perpetuating sexist and elitist norms. ![]() ![]() White describes the book’s contents as “Sergeant Strunk snapping orders to his platoon” (Strunk xiv). Feminist critic Jodi Lundgren complains that The Elements of Style has a “punitive tone” and a “quasi-military obsession with surface neatness” (125). Read Strunk & White once, and you’ll never write “I thank you in advance” again.īad news: The Strunkian attitude is so smug that more than a few readers have found it offensive. Plus, it advocates a righteous no-tolerance policy toward nonsense in writing. Good news: The book contains some good advice to novice writers (“ Choose a suitable design and hold to it,” 15), and it’s a fine place to turn for explications of English grammar conventions ( “The number of the subject determines the number of the verb,” 9). White is probably the most influential grammar guide in the English-speaking world. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. ![]()
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