THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT PROSE STYLE
Reading with an eye for prose style
One entertaining way to practice the elements of effective prose is to imitate them. Choose a writer you admire. Reread (or listen to) this writer’s work, getting a feel for the rhythms, the structures, the special effects. Make a list of the elements that contribute to the distinctive style. Then choose a well-known story, and retell it in that writer’s style. Following is the opening of “The Three Little Pigs” as one student imagined Edgar Allan Poe might have told it.
It began as a mere infatuation. I admired them from afar, with a longing that only a wolf may know. Soon, these feelings turned to torment. Were I even to set eyes upon their porcine forms, the bowels of my soul raged, as if goaded by some festering poison. As the chilling winds of November howled, my gullet yearned for them. I soon feasted only upon an earnest and consuming desire for the moment of their decease.
Question
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One entertaining way to practice the elements of effective prose is to imitate them. Choose a writer you admire. Reread (or listen to) this writer’s work, getting a feel for the rhythms, the structures, the special effects. Make a list of the elements that contribute to the distinctive style. Then choose a well-known story, and retell it in that writer’s style. Following is the opening of “The Three Little Pigs” as one student imagined Edgar Allan Poe might have told it. It began as a mere infatuation. I admired them from afar, with a longing that only a wolf may know. Soon, these feelings turned to torment. Were I even to set eyes upon their porcine forms, the bowels of my soul raged, as if goaded by some festering poison. As the chilling winds of November howled, my gullet yearned for them. I soon feasted only upon an earnest and consuming desire for the moment of their decease.
Thinking about your own prose style
Read over something you have written, looking for memorable sentences. If few sentences catch your eye, choose some that show promise—ones with strong verbs or a pleasing rhythm, perhaps. Using this chapter for guidance, try revising one or two sentences to make them more effective and memorable. Finally, note some ways in which your writing is effective and some strategies for making it more effective.
Question
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Read over something you have written, looking for memorable sentences. If few sentences catch your eye, choose some that show promise—ones with strong verbs or a pleasing rhythm, perhaps. Using this chapter for guidance, try revising one or two sentences to make them more effective and memorable. Finally, note some ways in which your writing is effective and some strategies for making it more effective.