Presentation on Lesson 2 in Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams and Joseph Bizup. For ENGL 396 Fall 2014 at Concordia University.

1. Presentation by Amanda Asimakopoulos
Correctness
Lesson 2 in “Part One: Style as Choice”
of Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace
by Joseph M. Williams & Joseph Bizup

2. TWEET TWEET
@amandaasi
#eatingcrows

3. What is Correctness?
• The rules in Standard English (spoken and written)
• The correct ways of speaking and writing
• Following basic grammatical and syntactical rules
• While there are many rules that can be disregarded or
have exceptions, there are some basic rules that we
cannot ignore
• The difference between a more formal view of
Correctness and a more “straightforward” (25) view is
the result of STYLE
• What’s Correctness for Williams & Bizup? “Clarity and
grace” (25) NOT perfect grammar

4. (1)
(2)

5. “No grammatical rules have sufficient authority to
control the firm and established usage of
language. Established custom, in speaking and
writing, is the standard to which we must at last
resort for determining every controverted point in
language and style.” – Hugh Blair (9)
What’s your opinion? Think about
words, such as selfie, sick, like
or even expressions we use,
for example, “Are you down…?”
(3)

6. “God does not much mind bad grammar, but He
does not take any particular pleasure in it.”
– Erasmus (9)
“English usage is sometimes more than mere
taste, judgment, and education—sometimes it’s
sheer luck, like getting across the street.”
- E.B. White (9)

7. How do we develop our
ideas of “Correctness”?
• From people with social, political and academic influence
• “When a language has different regional dialects, that of the
most powerful speakers usually becomes the most
prestigious and the basis for a nation’s ‘correct’ writing”
(10).
• Social convention – what we say and how we write in our
everyday lives that through habit and frequency become
standards
• From frequently used expressions
– I’m here, aren’t I? vs. I am here, am I not?
– Aren’t vs. amn’t (am I not)
– “The violation of a rule of Standard English reflects a logical
mind making English grammar more consistent” (11).

8. The Problem with the
Concept of Correctness
• Some rules that we teach or practice by are not even
real rules
• Some rules are less important than others and therefore
can be bent
• At times, people become too focused on correctness
when writing: “If you obsess over them all, you prevent
yourself from writing quickly and clearly” (10).
• The concept of correctness was used by some for
discriminating against others and identify “inferior”
people based on “grammatical errors” (12).

9. The Myth of Correctness
• There are rules by which we must always
follow
• “ ‘Correctness’ requires not sound judgment
but a good memory” (10).
• There are no choices in writing
- “obedience” (10) > choice

10. Examples of Mythical Rules
in Correctness
• Never begin a sentence with and or but
• Never use double negatives
• Never split infinitives (A verb that cannot be
made past or present, often preceded by the
word to)

11. Three Kinds of Rules
1. Real Rules
• “What makes English English”
• Anglophones don’t think about these rules
when they write
• These rules are broken only when the writer is
tired or distracted
• Ex: Articles must precede nouns
– The book NOT Book the

12. Three Kinds of Rules
2. Social Rules
• The distinction of Standard English
from nonstandard
• He doesn’t have any money vs. He
don’t have no money
• What’s acceptable to say but not
write…formally
• These rules, like Real Rules, are
observed naturally by Anglophones
• We only notice Social Rules when
others break them
• People who speak English as a second
language are more conscious of these
rules
(4)

13. Three Kinds of Rules
3. Invented Rules
• Invented by grammarians who think everyone should follow these
rules
• The grammar police love to enforce and obsess over these rules
• Some of the best writers ignore these rules and are still considered
great writers
• Does not effect Standard English  Don’t feel bad if you don’t
follow Invented Rules
• Examples:
– Don’t split infinitives
– Don’t end a sentence with a preposition (ex: at, with)
– Don’t use hopefully for I hope
– Don’t use which for that

14. How do I ignore Invented
Rules?
• Know the Real Rules and Invented Rules better
than the grammar police do to show that there are
numerous correct ways to write
• Be able to distinguish a Real Rule from an
Invented Rule

15. Two Kinds of Invented
Rules
1. Folklore
• Rules that most careful readers and writers ignore
• These rules don’t appear in handbooks but have gained popularity
• Ex: Do not begin sentences with a conjunction
- Leads to more stylistic errors rather than grammatical errors
- Probably became a rule as a way of avoiding fragments
• Ex: that before a restrictive clause, and which before a nonrestrictive
clause
– Invented because some writers found the variations between that and
which were messy
• Ex: Use fewer with nouns you count, less with nouns you cannot
– Writers often use less with countable plural nouns
• Ex: Use since and while to refer only to time, not to mean because or
although

16. 2. Elegant Options
• Readers will notice the formality of it
• Experienced writers ignore these rules most of the time
• These are stylistic choices rather than concrete rules
• Ex: Don’t split infinitives. However, split infinitives are
used more frequently than non-split infinitives
• Ex: Use whom as the object of a verb or preposition
– Grammarians would prefer you write, “For whom am I
writing?” rather than, “Who am I writing for?”
– Tips on how to use who/whom on pg. 18
• Ex: Don’t end a sentence with a preposition
– Ending a sentence with a prep. can sometimes make the
sentence weak, but it’s not entirely wrong.
 The man I met with was the man I had written to.
 The man with whom I met was the man to whom I had written.
• Ex: Use the singular with none and any
– Nowadays, the plural is used with none and any

17. Using Words Correctly
• Using words according to their actual definition help you be more precise
in your writing
• Example of some rules that you can’t just know, you need to learn and
study them!
• The following are words that are often misused
• Aggravate
– Definition: to make worse
– Used: to annoy
• Continuous
– Definition: without interruption
– Used: synonymous with continual
• Disinterested
– Definition: neutral
– Used: uninterested
Can you think of other words that are commonly misused that bother you?
Tweet them using #eatingcrows

18. Test Your Word-Knowledge!
Tweet your answers using #eatingcrows
What is correct definition of the following commonly misused words:
1. Comprise:
a. To include all parts in a single unit
b. A part of a whole (syn. Constitute)
2. Anxious:
a. Eager
b. Uneasy
3. Fortuitous:
a. Fortunate
b. By chance

19. True or False: Tweet Your
Answers!
1. Hopefully means to be full of hope, but is
used as “I hope”. According to Lesson 2, the
sentence, “Hopefully, it will not rain” is
correct.
1. According to Lesson 2, the rule to “never use
like for as or as if” should always be
followed.
#eatingcrows

20. The Moral of the Lesson
If esteemed writers are violating these “rules”
and readers never notice, then these “rules”
have no force.
According to the authors of this book, the
grammarians should change their Folklore
Rules and Invented Rules.

21. Correctness in Pronouns
• Basic rules:
- verbs must agree with subjects
- pronouns must agree with antecedents/their referents
• Problems?
- Do we use a singular or plural pronoun when referring to a
noun that is singular in grammar but plural in meaning? Ex:
a committee
- What pronouns do we use, it or they, to refer to someone,
everyone, no one and to singular common nouns with no
gender (teacher, student, etc)?
 Informally, we use they
 Formally, we use a singular pronoun like he.

22. The Issue with Rules About
Pronouns
• Lesson 2 is trying to show how sometimes it is
hard to follow a supposed agreed upon rule
• The correct way of writing is not black and white
• There are exceptions, and even situations that the
rules cannot be applied to (singular vs. plural)
• The book is also trying to show how some rules
need to adapt to our current society and its values
(i.e. biased language)

23. Gender and Biased Language
• The issue of not wanting to offend readers
• The war between he and they
– The use of he as a generic pronoun
– They as a solution to biased language (replace he with they in
generic situations)
• Other sloppy and lengthy solutions:
- He or she
- He/she
- S/he
- Alternating he and she throughout the text
- The royal “we”
• The problem with they as a generic replacement for he? Many
plural pronouns in a sentence can seem confusing, whereas
singular pronouns seem more precise

24. Q & TWEET #eatingcrows
Everyone realizes that she must answer
for her actions.
Does this sentence make use of singular generic
pronouns or plural generic pronouns? Does this
sentence contain biased language?
Tweet your answers…and your own opinions on
biased language, if you like! 

25. The Issue with Biased
Language
• Right now, there are no accepted solutions in the
war between plural and singular generic pronouns
• Some solutions can be considered “patronizing”
(24) to one of the sexes
• Can offend readers
• Some of the solutions can make the reading
“awkward” (24).
• The Moral of the Lesson: We must THINK about
our choice of words and sentence structure

26. “Some claim that such compromises lead to lazy
imprecision. Whatever the future, we have a
choice now, and that’s not a bad thing, because
our choices define who we are” (25).
- Williams and Bizup believe that even in
Correctness, we have choices in what is correct in
Standard English; we do not have to be obedient
to rules
- How we write, speak, and the terms we use (even
decisions in generic pronouns) reflects the current
society and their values

27. Photos
(1) http://izismile.com/2013/09/04/grammar_ge
eks_will_totally_get_these_jokes_14_pics_3_
gifs.html
(2) http://www.pinterest.com/kimdamon/gram
mar-jokes/
(3) http://arfeldcomm232.wordpress.com/
(4) http://english7withmrsthomas.wordpress.co
m/grammar-short-i/