The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

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A short and entertaining book on the modern art of writing well by New York Times bestselling author Steven PinkerWhy is so much writing so bad, and how can we make it better Is the English language being corrupted by texting and social media Do the kids today even care about good writing Why should any of us care In The Sense of Style, the bestselling linguist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker answers these questions and Rethinking the usage guide for the twenty first century, Pinker doesn t carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rulebooks of a century ago Instead, he applies insights from the sciences of language and mind to the challenge of crafting clear, coherent, and stylish prose In this short, cheerful, and eminently practical book, Pinker shows how writing depends on imagination, empathy, coherence, grammatical knowhow, and an ability to savor and reverse engineer the good prose of others He replaces dogma about usage with reason and evidence, allowing writers and editors to apply the guidelines judiciously, rather than robotically, being mindful of what they are designed to accomplish Filled with examples of great and gruesome prose, Pinker shows us how the art of writing can be a form of pleasurable mastery and a fascinating intellectual topic in its own right. Read The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century – kino-fada.fr I have enjoyed every one of Steven Pinker s books, and this one is no exception Pinker writes engagingly, with humor, with intelligence, and with authority He is the chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, so he has useful insights into how the English language is being used in print As a linguist, he not only knows all the rules of writing, he understands the logic or illogic behind them Moreover, he understands which rules are real, and which ones were just I have enjoyed every one of Steven Pinker s books, and this one is no exception Pinker writes engagingly, with humor, with intelligence, and with authority He is the chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, so he has useful insights into how the Engli...I was thoroughly charmed by this well written guide on how to write better Maybe it s because real language changes Maybe it s because true clarity comes from the spaces between the words and not absolutely from the rules about the words.But that s not to say that this cogent discussion on grammar isn t rife with practical examples and great reflection, because it does It just happens to bring up the fact that one generation s Haberdash is another s charming fireside chat Moreover, it I was thoroughly charmed by this well written guide on how to write better Maybe it s because real language changes Maybe it s because true clarity comes from the spaces between the words and not absolutely from the rules about the words.But that s not to say that this cogent discussion on grammar isn t rife with practical examples and great reflection, because it does It just happens to bring up the fact that one generation s Haberdash is another s charming fireside chat Moreover, ...It started well Your brain will finish the rest of that sentence.Or so Steven Pinker explains The best way to describe this book is as a style guide that relies on neuroscience Instead of admonishments based on grammar, old rules, and urban myths, Pinker explains the best way to write based on how our brain understand words on a page Which makes this one of thereadable style guides out there in that it has a purpose instead of just being a list of literary taboos.But the list of taboos It started well Your brain will finish the rest of that sentence.Or so Steven Pinker explains The best way to describe this book is as a style guide that relies on neuroscience Instead of admonishments based on grammar, old rules, and urban myths, Pinker explains the best way to write based on how our brain understand words on a page Which makes this one of thereadable style guides out there in that it has a purpose instead of j...Steven Pinker has created a writer s guide that is interesting, useful, amusing, and also frustrating.I enjoyed the first part of this book, but the middle section got bogged down in parsing sentences and grammar exercises I put the book down and took a week long break from it, and debated whether to pick it up again I finally did finish, but it was a slog My big takeaways from this book were 1 language is constantly changing, and the English language is so inventive that when the grammar Steven Pinker has created a writer s guide that is interesting, useful, amusing, an...I ve long admired Pinker s poise with the pen Both The Blank Slate and The Language Instinct the two books of his I d before read are, in my opinion at least, conspicuously well written Popular science is, contrary to what one might expect, a difficult genre the writer must take complex ideas from esoteric subjects ideas usually mired in technical terminology and release them from their provincial prisons Added to this complicated task of exegesis, the writer of popular science must also I ve long admired Pinker s poise with the pen Both The Blank Slate and The Language Instinct the two books of his I d before read are, in my opinion at least, conspicuously well written Popular science is, contrary to what one might expect, a ...Chapter 1 summary 1 Insist on fresh wording and concrete imagery over familiar verbiage and abstract summary 2 Pay attention to the readers vantage point and the target of their gaze 3 Use the judicious placement of an uncommon word or idiom against a backdrop of simple nouns and verbs 4 Use parallel syntax 5 Have an occasional planned surprise 6 Present a telling detail that obviates an explicit pronouncement 7 Use meter and sound that resonates with the meaning and mood Chapter Chapter 1 summary 1 Insist on fresh wording and concrete imagery over familiar verbiage and abstract summary 2 Pay attention to the readers vantage point and the target of their gaze 3 Use the judicious placement of an uncommon word or idiom against a backdrop of simple nouns and verbs 4 Use parallel syntax 5 Have...Superb book on writing.Having just embarked on a fairly intensive writing course, I asked my mentor for some recommendations of books on the craft of writing This book, The Sense of Style was at the top of his list, and I can see why.The author, Steven Pinker, is a Psychology professor at Harvard, and has also done much research on ...Originally reviewed on the Night Owls Press blog here Heads up, editors In The Sense of Style, author Steven Pinker challenges every authoritarian grammarian and language purist who has held sway over the rules of the English language with their dogmatic style books A psycholinguist by profession, Pinker is a scholar of the science of language So it s no surprise that The Sense of Style feels like a modern alternative to the...A great book on the considerations for writing non fiction.This book was written with the amazing style of Pinker s usual writings and it was about that style and practical advice to improve one s writings I am implementing the lessons I ve learned from pinker in my writing process for my blog And it improved my effectiveness to a great degree It is worth knowing that most advice on the book contains pretty solid arguments for them So you can use the arguments to find ways to improve A great book on the considerations for writing non fiction.This book was written with the amazing style of Pinker s usual writings and it was about that style and p...

The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
  • English
  • 04 July 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 368 pages
  • 0670025852
  • Steven Pinker
  • The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century