Rethinking "The Elements of Style"

“No book is genuinely free from political bias,” George Orwell wrote, in his essay “Why I Write.” “The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude.” The opinion that the canon laws of usage, composition, and style—our unquestioned assumptions about what constitutes “good prose”—have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude. Obviously, it’s easier for you to make out my meaning if the pane you’re peering through isn’t some Baroque fantasy in stained glass. But the Anglo-American article of faith that clarity can only be achieved through words of one syllable and sentences fit for a telegram is pure dogma. The Elements of Style is as ideological, in its bow-tied, wire-rimmed way, as any manifesto.

Like any manifesto worthy of consideration, it also contains some truth--but being a person of freewill, you are expected to throw out anything you find objectionable.

Over the years I've found myself adhering to some of its advice, but who hasn't deemed it old-fashioned at times?  That noted, anything you write comes with risks and, sometimes, unintended consequences.


TS