The Elements of Style

Making “every word tell” is what The Elements of Style is all about. This famous manual, now in a third edition, has conveyed the principles of plain English style to millions of readers. It is probably the only style manual ever to appear on the best seller lists.

Whether you write letters, term papers, or novels, the “little” book, as it has come to be called, can help you communicate more effectively. It will show you how to cut deadwood out Of your sentences: enliven your prose with the active voice; put statements in a positive form; approach style by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.

The original “little” book was written by William Strunk, Jr., late professor of English at Cornell, for use by his students. Years later, one of the most illustrious of those students, E. B. White, prepared an edition of the book for the general public, revising the original and con- tributing a final chapter of his own that sought to lead the reader beyond mere correctness toward distinction in English style.

In the Third Edition E. B. White has added four new rules :
for use of the colon
for use of the dash
for agreement of subjects and verbs
for correct pronoun case.

Under “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused,” the book now includes alternate/ alternative, being, currently, facility, in terms of, insightful, -ize, memento, nauseous/ nauseated, offputting, ongoing, prestigious, secondly, and this.