What is Style? Part 2

After a number of assignments in which we’ve observed the various styles in writing, language, technique, illustration, and other elements, I’ve decided that the simple word “style” envelopes a broad range of ideas. However, to be more specific, I would say that style is the way in which writers allow their personality to shine through their writing. We all have our own way of doing things, especially when it comes to writing, and this idea of style is what makes writing so interesting; various styles allow us to appreciate the diversity and differences in all writers. It’s also interesting that oftentimes our own individual style goes unnoticed until it is brought to our attention by others-essentially, style occurs naturally in many cases. Yet, as we’ve noticed in many assignments, like the visual rhetoric essay and readings, style can be very intentional and purposeful. In a word, style is individuality.

If I were asked what I learned from ENG 328, I would say that I learned to understand and appreciate new writing techniques and concepts that I had been unfamiliar with prior to taking the course. For example, I had never taken the time to think about writing as a technology, the enormous value of something so simple as a pencil, nor the complex thought and planning that goes into writing and illustrating a comic strip. I also learned that there is more to writing than putting words on a piece of paper in the form of 5 paragraphs. This was refreshing since so often in college, we students are often forced to produce endless amounts of seemingly meaningless jargon that will soon be forgotten after it is turned in for a grade. The course allowed me to take the time to think of writing in a new light, and as a future English teacher I value those experiences and hope that it will help me be a more innovative and creative teacher of writing.

The Most Important Web Guideline

I found Spiderpro to be the most beneficial in terms of this revision assignment, and I also found that the most important guideline to follow in web design is to keep it simple. Spiderpro’s section on Navigation seems to relate very well to this idea, and is an area that I wanted to focus on for my web page revision. Since I like to see things on the web that are simple and easy to follow, I wanted my website to have the same effect. Therefore, I looked to Spiderpro’s tips: “Do always apply textual links,” “Do supply a link home,” “Do use a table of contents,” “Do use short routes,” “Do keep menu items related,” etc. The ideas seemed somewhat obvious and like common sense; however, not having much of a background in web page design, it was helpful to be reminded of the “obvious” elements that go into the design process. After reading the Navigation section, I looked at my initial web page and knew I needed to format the homepage differently in order to include clear links to other pages and make sure that an audience outside of the class would be able to navigate and understand the site easily and thoroughly with little effort on their part. Collectively, Spiderpro’s tips embody the idea of the user-friendly web page, and are presented in a simple way, unlike Lynch and Horton in their Web Style Guide, which was much more dense and difficult to follow.

Paper Style vs. Web Style

After looking at SpiderPro 100 Dos and Don’ts of Web Design and Lynch and Horton’s Web Style Guide, I have found a number of similarities between paper style and web style. Out of the many, I think that the most important is that of good organization. Everyone can appreciate clear and structured writing much more than unorganized, disheveled pieces whether they’re online or on paper. In my personal experience with writing as a student, I know that I’m always concerned about my organization in essay assignments and other written work that I produce, and I’m always appreciative of clear writing during peer reviews/edits as well. Readers simply have better understanding of text when the information is given to them in a simple and structured format. The same goes for web users. One of the best stated quotes in Lynch and Horton’s Web Style Guide is: “The best information designs are never noticed.” I find this to be so true because if I am on the web and am able to navigate a site with ease, even if I’m accessing it for the first time, it’s obviously one that was designed carefully. However, when I come across a site that leaves me puzzled and scrambling around, clicking on several different links in order to find what I’m looking for, I’m much more aware of the inconvenience and poor design of the site. No matter how you look at it, if the paper/web is simple to follow and organized well, the reader/web user will gain more understanding and benefit more from the information provided.

On the other hand, there are several differences between paper style and web style as well. One interesting difference between the two is the amount of information that is in front of the reader at one time. When considering paper style, it’s most common for all of the writer’s information to be in one single page, book or file. On the other hand, with web style information is separated into different links and pages so that the user can easily jump from here to there without rummaging through information that he/she is not concerned with. Web style allows for users to look at the content in the order that they wish to view it and if the web design is effective and simple, the users can do this in a very easy fashion. I like this idea, because often when I’m reading or skimming a text, I would like to be able to pick out the information that is most vital immediately; however, this is difficult to do. Therefore, this is one difference between paper style and web style that definitely makes me appreciate the web a bit more than paper!

In addition, I think another difference between paper style and web style is the use of imagery. As far as paper style is concerned, unless the writing is in the form of a magazine or children’s book, most written documents aren’t going to have many graphics or use of colored text. Instead, paper style requires that the imagery take place within the text itself—descriptive words and colorful language. But for web style, imagery can be used very easily in that the use of colored text, backgrounds and graphics are common and actually encouraged. While both uses of imagery are effective, they are certainly very different.

Comics ala McCloud, Part II

I decided to comment on Elizabeth M.'s blog for the previous entry about McCloud's Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. You can view her blog at:

http://emcgraw328.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth chose to look at the comic entitled "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World," which is a short and simply stated comic strip about a young boy who wants his dog to play fetch, but refuses to move unless the boy says she is the most beautiful dog in the world first. It is a clever comic strip, and I found that Elizabeth and I had similar ideas about the comics we both read. She commented that she had never really noticed gutters in comics before, but understands and appreciates the freedom it gives the reader freedom to make choices about the comic himself/herself. I found that in the comic I read as well,"The Right Number," in that there were sometimes large gaps between the frames, but I was able to assume the actions of the characters and story easily using my own imagination. She also found that the simplicity of the drawings allowed more readers to be able to relate to the characters and story in general.

In addition to the elements that Elizabeth found, I also noticed some things in Chapter 5: Living in Line, that related to this particular comic. In this Chapter McCloud discusses the power of the line, in that if a line is drawn in a certain way it can give new meaning to an image: "Not really a picture anymore, these lines are more a visual metaphor--a symbol. And symbols are the basis of language" (128). I found that this relates quite well to "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World" in the way that McCloud draws three lines protruding from the boy's face to imply that he is shouting with rage at the dog. Also, the three wavy lines above the boy's head show that he is heated and exhausted from frustration over the dog. McCloud is very successful in using symbols to represent a complex idea with very little effort on the reader and writer's parts.

I also noticed that the comic connected to Chapter 6: Show and Tell, because there is a link between the use of pictures and words. As McCloud states: "The different ways in which words and pictures can combine in comics is virtually unlimited" (152). He goes on to show that there can be any number of words in one frame, and in the next, none. The comic writer has a great deal of freedom, which is shown in McCloud's comic that Elizabeth looked at. Out of the 21 frames, only 8 of them contain words, and I think that is because the reader can assume what is going on based on the images. His use of simple, yet obvious lines to evoke emotion and imply actions is enough for the reader to follow the comic very easily. I think this is a very interesting aspect of comics because language comes in so many different forms, and we're able to see that so well in the simplest of comics.

Reading and Writing about Comics, McCloud Part I

I chose to read the first comic that I came across on Scott McCloud's website, which is called "The Right Number," and I read both Part I and Part II. It is a story about a man who is looking for the right woman, and the right phone number to lead him to her. He meets a new woman when he incorrectly dials his girlfriend's phone number (he gets the last digit wrong) and ends up dumping the girlfriend for the new woman. But soon, he becomes bored of her as well and comes home early one day to find her cheating on him, so he decides that he needs to go on a hunt for a new number and new woman. HIs mathematical equations and theories about this mission are amusing and confusing, which make him a fun character to read. He also seems to go a bit crazy near the end, stalking and following the new women he comes across, and the comic has an open ending that I find intriguing. I definitely want to know what happens next!

Here is the link if you wish to read it: http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/trn/intro.html


It was interesting to see the comic on the computer screen because while it still had the comic feel to it, it also seemed like a movie. This was interesting because McCloud discusses the difference between the two so thoroughly in Chapter 1 of UNDERSTANDING COMICS: THE INVISIBILE ART: "Each successive frame of a movie is projected on exactly the same spaces--the screen--while each frame of comics must occupy a different space. Space does for comics what time does for film" (7). I enjoyed reading the comic on the computer because it flowed more like a movie even though "the gutter" (66) still existed between frames. I was very interested in this section of the text because it fascinating how the reader can make instantanious assumptions about what happens between frames, almost to the point where they don't notice the gutter even exists. That is something I hadn't really considered about comics before.

I also noticed in that in this particular comic, he has drawn the characters to look more realistic than he draws himself in his book, yet they are still not drawn in such detail that they look like a real person. I think this is a nice balance because since this is an adult comic, it's appropriate to give the characters a more realistic look. Yet, the images are simple enough that a large number of people could relate to the characters, as McCloud discusses in Chapter 2: "The cartoon is a vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled...an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel in another realm. We don't just observe the cartoon, we become it" (36). I also think this is a good technique because his language is more complex and mature in this comic, so the detailed, yet subtle illustration lighten the weight of the language to an extent.

I think Scott McCloud is an extremely intelligent, creative, and brave writer. His comic approach toward discussing adult and academic issues are quite fascinating and a nice change for readers.

What Do Others Think?

After looking at other classmates’ reactions to Style Toward Clarity and Grace and Elements of Style I found a pretty common theme in that mostly everyone found Williams’ take on style to be more helpful in the long run than that of Strunk and White’s. I enjoyed reading Elizabeth’s blog specifically because we had similar thoughts about the two texts. I am a bit of a grammar nerd, so I enjoyed the grammar tips and misused word section of Strunk and White’s text and was really glad to see that Elizabeth appreciated those areas of the book as well.

Yet, she mentioned a couple of things in her blog that I had thought about during the readings but failed to comment on in my own blog. She states: “in reading Elements of Style I felt like my own personal writing style was being attacked while “standard”, clear and concise writing was preferred. While I felt attacked and defensive, I didn’t understand why my writing style was considered so inferior. I think that individual writing style distinguishes one reader from the next and I didn’t like being told to follow the standard.” I think she makes a good point about feeling attacked by Strunk and White for having a writing style that strays from their rules and guidelines. As I’ve said in my blogs, I am a “wordy” and lengthy writer by nature, so I also felt as though Strunk and White were pointing a disciplinary finger at me as well, especially in the “Principles of Composition” chapter. But for some reason, maybe because I’m so used to being a student and being “taught,” I felt as though Strunk and White knew what they were talking about and that I should value their opinions on elements of style. But after reading Elizabeth’s blog, my initial defensive feelings came back to me and were validated in a way, so now I’m starting to wonder if I was a bit too easy on Strunk and White. After all, I think I’m a good writer and that being wordy isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as readers are not distracted or frustrated by it.

Overall, I think the strong point of Williams’ text is how thorough it is in describing all of the elements of style. Elizabeth points this out as well, discussing Chapters 6 and 7 specifically as I did in my blog. I think that I benefited from Chapter 6 the most because sometimes getting to the point quickly and clearly is a challenge for me. So, I appreciated the fact that Williams took the time to discuss making points in introductory paragraphs, main paragraphs and conclusions because he was very specific. Elizabeth seemed to have many similar ideas as I did in comparing Williams with Strunk and White, so it was enjoyable to read her blog. She pointed out some interesting things that I had thought about, but since she was the one who actually gave those thoughts a voice I especially appreciated her comments.

Comparing Strunk and White with Williams

As I reflected back on my reaction to Strunk and White I was reminded of some tips they gave about style that I felt I could benefit from. One in particular was rule #6 Do not overwrite, which relates directly to what Williams discusses in Chapter 6 and 7 when he emphasizes getting to the point right away in your writing and paying attention to the clarity of the writing as well. The authors are all saying the same thing that simplicity is key in guaranteeing that the audience understands your message. After reading Williams, I'm able to see that clarity in writing is so important because at times I thought Strunk and White were easier to read, at other times I felt as though I could follow Williams more easily. Nonetheless, clarity and simplicity are definitely two qualities in writing that both books stressed as being most important!

I think one of the main reasons I’m now siding a bit more with Williams is because I felt relaxed while reading his book and the number of examples he gives are helpful in that you can actually apply the knowledge he is giving you in these writing samples. While some of his ideas were on the complex side and required me to look over a second time, I felt as though I was learning more than I did with Strunk and White because so many of their ideas were ones that I was already familiar with. Also, and this is an obvious point, I think that Williams’ book is more modern and applicable to today’s writing styles whereas some of Strunk and White’s “rules” are obsolete today. I thought that Williams was more effective, too, in that he was more thorough about elements of style. Each of his chapters pertains to a specific and significant element of style, and he really takes the time to discuss them thoroughly. Strunk and White’s book is about half the size of Williams’ and obviously does not dig as deep into the various elements, which is a weakness of the text.

On the other hand, Strunk and White still make great comments about commonly misused words and grammar rules that I found helpful, especially for writers who struggle with grammatical aspects of writing. Basically, I found that Strunk and White offered a great deal of information about the basics of style, some of which is timeless and that writers will always be able to benefit from. In addition, the book was easy to read and took no time at all to go through, which is something that many readers will appreciate.

One criticism I have of Williams is his use of brackets in Chapter 9 about Elegance. He uses them so often and they are simply distracting. Perhaps to readers who are more visual learners than I am, this style could be helpful, but to me it was a bit irritating and unnecessary. I prefer Strunk and White’s columns that they use to compare correct and incorrect examples of usage because they are more clear to me.