ÒBut since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtueÓ (Strunk and White 79). The Elements of Style introduces guidelines for writers to develop better prose. Such prose must communicate ideas in a clear, concise fashion. As children, we were taught to write introductory paragraphs to summarize the main theme of our work, body paragraphs to share relevant information and evidence, and finally a conclusion paragraph to summarize our work. Care must be taken to articulate the theme of oneÕs writing. Strunk and White developed the Elements of Style to create a universal style guide to improve writing. It became the standard style guide for many generations. Joseph M. Williams wrote a modern style guide referencing Strunk and White text called Style Toward Clarity and Grace. The text not only addresses the evolution of writing style, but also provides a commentary on the origins of rules as well as the need to adhere to them. Elegant writing, cohesion, clarity and emphasis are presented in the Williams book. Both works explain grammar rules and organization in relation to style. In the spirit of Strunk and White and Williams, I have created a style rule. Never introduce new information in a conclusion paragraph.
Summaries can be the reinforcement of a work. Readers will take away the main theme of a piece of writing, if it is clearly legible. Clarifying the message or theme of prose lends itself to the idea that we must restate the information in a summary. Obfuscating the message by adding information that is irrelevant defeats the point of a summary. Strunk and White emphasized clarity in rule 16, ÒClarity is not the prize in writing, nor is it always the principal mark of a good style. There are occasions when obscurity serves a literary yearning, if not a literary purpose, and there are writers whose mien is more overcast than clearÓ (79). Writing a clear message requires the statement of the point and the facts to support it. Obscurity in the intention of a work distracts the reader and leads to confusion. The summary clarifies the position of the writer, and cements the connection of the introduction with the key points presented throughout the work. Williams writes in Style Toward Clarity and Grace, ÒReaders need familiar information at the beginnings of sentencesÓ (Williams 82). In order to present the reader with familiar information, the topic sentence of a paragraph must transition from the main theme to the specific point of the paragraph. Similarly, a conclusion paragraph must present familiar information to the reader. The main theme will be easier to accept after careful reinforcement of new ideas. If the work is convincing, the use of well known ideas will spark familiarity and acceptance. With the introduction of new information, the reader must be prudent in their consumption of the information. New ideas must be scrutinized; when an individual is exposed to new information, it is the job of the reader to consider the information with their prior knowledge and make a judgment call if the facts support the hypothesis. ÒA reader will feel that a paragraph is cohesive if it has other strings of related words, strings that we will call thematic stringsÓ (Williams 83). To create the feel of cohesion in a paragraph, Williams suggests using strings of related words. Applying this principle to a whole document, the use of familiar strings should be found in the introduction and conclusion as well as any body paragraphs. The entire work should present thematic strings. The repetition allows a reader to feel comfortable with the main theme. The conclusion paragraph must reinforce the ideas of the writer to bring the main theme in focus for one last time.
Style and the Elements of Style use examples to demonstrate good writing from clumsy prose. Writing strong conclusion paragraphs can be best learned through example. I recently wrote a blog entry discussing the thoughts of other writers for an assignment. Typically, blog entries are thoughts without formal planning. They often lack form and style. Lack of planning can lead to poor writing style. I have included the last paragraph from the blog entry.
I focused on "good" English elements found in chapter ten of the Williams book. Michal refers to it as well. "He acknowledges that ÒgoodÓ English is often arbitrary and explains how it came to be that way. He does outline the grammar rules that must not be broken in writing, but writes about words only that can easily be misused, not about words that personally irritate him." This is the most useful portion of the Williams book. Analyzing the source of rules given to us through our academic career gives us a better perspective on our writing and what sources to trust.
The Blog entry focused on one studentÕs response to the Williams book. It was written like a body paragraph without a strong summary. It introduced new information with the quote from MichalÕs blog entry. The last two sentences summarize my thoughts on the chapter and bring closure to the paragraph, but not to the topic. The blog entry was titled ÒWhat do others think?Ó, and yet I state my own opinion. It does not clearly conclude the main theme. I recently wrote an essay on ÒThe Advancement of Writing Technology.Ó The essay described an experiment in which I created writing tools using raspberries to write words. The focus was to explain the connection between writing and technology using my experiment and examples from various authors. Compare this conclusion paragraph to the blog entry.
ÒWriting Is a Technology that Restructures ThoughtÓ (Ong 19) Style, portability, and permanence effect the interpretation and usefulness of writing. My writing project demonstrated moderate portability, low permanence and moderate creativity. A link between writing technology and the expressible ideas with that technology determine the message that can be presented to readers. Portability influences who can read works, how they are retrieved, and who can create them. The writing tool used in my project is very natural, but the writing surface was not. Certainly, writing is an evolving technology with strong ties to cultural growth and necessity of distribution.
Unlike the blog entry, the writing technology essay attempts to summarize the essay reinforcing key points. I reference the experiment described in the introduction and in body paragraphs. My final sentence directly references writing technology without introducing new information. The only questionable element to the conclusion is the quote. It offers a new idea, but it also alludes to a point made throughout the essay that writing is a technology. A better version of the conclusion might omit the quote to increase clarity and familiarity with the ideas presented in the essay. The second sentence, ÒStyle, portability, and permanence..,Ó directly relate to key ideas presented in the introductory paragraph. It is a strong sentence that reintroduces existing ideas. It could be used as the introductory sentence of the conclusion. The new version of the conclusion supports the points without causing the reader to question statements in the paragraph. The reader should have an understanding of all points presented before the conclusion paragraph. While the second example was improved through simplifying its content, the first example could not be fixed so easily. A summary of the main theme should be written and presented to the reader.
Certainly, including new information in conclusion paragraphs confuses the reader and places doubt in mind of the reader. Carefully constructed conclusion paragraphs reinforce the main theme presented in a work. The reader is free to accept the ideas or disregard them with clear understanding of the point of the prose. Never introduce new information in a conclusion paragraph.
Works Cited
Strunk, William Jr. and White, E.B. The Elements of Style. Pearson Education.
Needham Heights, MA. 2000
Williams, Joseph M. Style Toward Clarity and Grace. The University of Chicago
Press. Chicago. 1990.
ÒLucasÕs English 328 BlogÓ Web Page
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