Comparing Strunk & White with Williams

In reading both the Strunk & White and the Wiliams, I think there are positives and negatives to both texts. If I wanted a clear-cut, easy answer, I'd pick up the S&W. However, if I wanted an answer that was more thorough, provided examples and detailed information, I'd lean towards the Williams.

In reading the Strunk and White, it was an easy book to read, though as others have said, is more of a reference book than anything else. This book seems geared toward the everyday writer who may be concerned about usage or other simplistic elements of writing style. Even the titles of their sections, "Elementary Rules of Usage" and "Elementary Principles of Composition" suggest as much. While nothing in the book seemed completely wrong, it didn't always go into ample detail. This illustrates their focus on clarity, but I don't think I realized the extent of it until reading the Williams and observing the difference between the two books. Again, the Strunk and White makes it very easy for someone to find an aswer to their question, though it may not be the BEST answer available, just one that S&W believe is the most appropriate.

I feel the Williams text is much more in-depth and advanced than the Strunk and White. While I have previously said that S&W seems geared toward the everyday writer, that does not mean that the same everyday writer could not appreciate or learn from the Williams text. However, this text requires more thought, as it goes into great detail and uses many examples to support ideas presented in the text. This text goes beyond the Strunk and White, and while it is harder to read, still provides a lot of valuable information. There is a great difference in the two texts that can be observed when comparing their views on "usage", as several other classmates have stated. Ironically, Williams chose a quote from White to preface his chapter on the subject!

To illustrate another example of the difference between the two books, look at the Strunk and White, p. 17, rule #9.

"As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence, end it in conformity with the beginning."

The following paragraphs clearly outline why this is necessary, and explain what the outcome may be if the rule is not followed. Additionally, they state that the topic sentence should come at or near the beginning. Later, they support that the topic sentence should "simply indicate by its subject with what the paragraph is to be principally concerned."

The information provided above is clear, concise, and easy to follow. The Williams goes into much greater detail regarding the following topic, and says on p. 89:

"How we open a paragraph determines how our readers will read the rest of it, because in our opening we tell them how to frame the conceptual space that they are about to enter."

That sentence alone offers just as much information as the Strunk and White, and while the sentence may garner more than one reading to be understood, shares more to the reader as to why the opening of a paragraph is so important. While Williams, throughout the entirety of his chapter on Coherence and explanation of topic strings, voices similar guidelines like the S&W, he lengthens this point by breaking it down into several important factors. (Thematic strings, topic strings, etc.)


Through these two books, and the example I chose, I have found that both are important to have to reference in the future. (Being a future educator, I also see the significance of having both of these books available for my students.) The focus in each book is so different that selecting which book to use depends largely on what is trying to be accomplished by the writer.