The Elements of Style Illustrated

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was perusing my local bookseller today, when I came across this beauty:

The Elements of Style Illustrated

Surely, I thought, this is a joke.

Now my feelings aren’t strong enough for the Pit, but … this is just what I’ve always needed! What better to drive home the “affect-effect” difference than a drawing of some kind! No one will never forget “it’s” and “its” if a picture is associated with it! :stuck_out_tongue:

It’s actually getting pretty good reviews on amazon.com, and it’s a pretty little volume when you’ve got in your hand.

But, did the classic Elements of Style really need to be illustrated? Somehow I doubt it.

So what about it? Any Dopers got this baby on their Christmas List?

  • Peter Wiggen
2

Ooh. Me like-ee.

Now I have something to say when the missus asks, “What do you want for Christmas?”

3

Ha! I love it. I might have to get a couple of copies for my kids.

4

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the drawing of E.B. White demonstrating the difference between i.e. and e.g.! Hubba-hubba!

5

Be aware that they’ve also apparently rewritten portions.

6

I’m going to give this one a bump – you can now purchase it at Barnes and Nobel online for $4!
I was at one of their brick-and-mortar locations yesterday, and they wanted $20 for it. Guess it’s just a website thing …

7

Well, if “purty pitchurs” will get some people to write properly, I guess I’m for it. Grudgingly. Very grudgingly.

Yeesh!

8

Not only that: they made a musical of it.

Squee!

9

Also, it seems that the illustrations in question aren’t didactic (i.e. showing you how to apply the rules), but rather entertaining renditions of some of the more interesting example sentences in Strunk and White (e.g. “Polly loves cake more than she loves me,” “It was a unique eggbeater,” “None of us is perfect” and “Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in.”)

10

Perhaps to belabor an obvious point: Some people learn better visually than through simple reading. I’m gonna pick this up, methinks.