Clear and Simple As the Truth (ebook)

Argumento de Clear and Simple As the Truth (ebook)

Praise for the first edition: "Whether they can spark a revival in classic writing is uncertain, but Thomas and Turner serve their topic well. A good choice for the serious stylist and those learning the craft."--Library Journal

Praise for the first edition: "Thomas and Turner engagingly delineate the attributes of a classic style of writing. . . . In the second half, Thomas and Turner cite examples of classic style in excerpts from the writing of well-known literary figures."--Booklist

"[T]his book has value for the technical communicator who has an interest in style, and teachers who teach style in their classes. Thomas and Turner are right about the current crop of books that essentially ignore this way of writing, and their discussion of styles can be valuable to a fuller understanding of the relationship between thought and dress."--Tom Warren, Technical Communication

"[I]n the hands of a good instructor and students who have a solid foundation in writing, the book could be quite empowering."--Choice

Praise for the first edition: "[Clear and Simple as the Truth] has changed the way that I write and think about writing."--Paul Bloom, Yale University

Praise for the first edition: "Far and away the best how-to-write book I've ever read. It puts Strunk and White and everyone else in the shade."--John E. Talbott, University of California, Santa Barbara

Praise for the first edition: "Thanks to Thomas and Turner, the cognitive revolution has finally caught up with the analysis of style--brilliantly, learnedly, and, above all, readably."--David Lee Rubin, University of Virginia

Praise for the first edition: "Clear and Simple as the Truth holds the promise of raising the level of the nation's prose.... The book is full of cogency and insight."--Frederick Crews

Praise for the first edition: "A work of great intellectual elegance and power. I have read it with a lot of pleasure, admiring the wisdom and economy of its reflections and the extraordinary range of its citations."--Claude Rawson, Yale University

Praise for the first edition: "A treatment of the classic style that manifests the virtues of the writing it propounds, expounds, and exemplifies in a wealth of fascinating passages, brilliantly analyzed."--M. H. Abrams, Cornell University

Praise for the first edition: "Could well be the most important discussion of style since the great classical rhetoricians."--Wayne C. Booth, University of Chicago

Praise for the first edition: "One of the best discussions of style that I have recently read."--Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone

Praise for the first edition: "The authors give one of the best discussions of style that I have ever read. Thomas and Turner juxtapose conventionally thought of as disparate, and thereby suggest possible new avenues of interpretation for critics of individual authors. Clear and Simple as the Truth occupies a niche of its own, as a kind of hybrid between books on writing such as The Elements of Style and The Reader over Your Shoulder, and more theoretical studies of representation, such as Mimesis."--Richard Preston, author of American Steel

Praise for the first edition: "[For] the mature student, this is indeed a classic. For the connoisseur, it is indispensable."--Thomas D'Evelyn, Boston Book Review

Winner of the 1996 Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises, Académie française

"Their model of 'classic prose' . . . elegantly captures the differences between vigorous and turgid writing."--Steven Pinker, New York Times Book Review

Praise for the first edition: "An acclaimed new reference manual."--The Chicago Sun Times

Praise for the first edition: "Every once in a while a book comes along with the power to alter permanently the view of a subject you thought you knew well. For me this year, that book is Clear and Simple as the Truth."--Denis Dutton, Philosophy and Literature0Acknowledgments vii
Clear and Simple as the Truth 1
Chapter One: Principles of Classic Style 5
The Concept of Style 7
Recognizing Classic Style 12
The Elements of Style 17
The Classic Stand on the Elements of Style 24
Truth 24
Presentation 32
Scene 37
Cast 45
Thought and Language 57
Other Stands, Other Styles 66
Trade Secrets 97
Envoi: Style Is Not Etiquette 10
Chapter Two: The Museum 107
Chapter Three: The Studio 187
Introduction 189
Fundamentals: Talk First 189
Fundamentals: Write Second 212
Advanced Writing 215
Conclusion 227
Chapter Four: Further Readings in Classic Prose 229
Notes 239
Index 253