How to Write Clearly: Rules and Exercises on English Composition by Edwin Abbott Abbott, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . BREVITY. here BREVITY. *46. Metaphor is briefer than literal statement.* See (13). "The cares and responsibilities of a sovereign often disturb his sleep," is not so brief as "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," where the effect of care on the mind is assimilated to the effect of a heavy crown pressing on the head. *47. General terms are briefer, though less forcible, than particular terms.* Thus: "He devours , no matter of what kind," is shorter than, "Novels or sermons, poems or histories, no matter what, he devours them all." literature *47 a. A phrase may be expressed by a word.* "These impressions , i.e. are ." can never be forgotten indelible "The style of this book is , i.e. ." of such a nature that it cannot be understood unintelligible The words "of such a nature that" are often unnecessarily inserted. See the extract from Sir Archibald Alison. *48. Participles can often be used as brief (though sometimes ambiguous) equivalents of phrases containing Conjunctions and Verbs.* "Hearing (when he heard) this, he advanced." See (7) for more instances. So "phrases conjunctions" means "phrases conjunctions." " , (for, ) he retired." containing that contain This done when this was done Sometimes the participle "being" is omitted. "France at our doors, he sees no danger nigh," for "France being" or "though France is." *49. Participles and participial adjectives may be used like Adjectives, as equivalents for phrases containing the Relative.* "The never- wind," "the ocean," "the rain," are instances. The licence of inventing participial adjectives by adding to a noun, is almost restricted to poetry. You could not write "the wind" in prose. ceasing clamouring drenching -ing crannying *50. A statement may sometimes be briefly implied instead of being expressed at length.* Thus, instead of "The spirit of Christianity was humanizing, and therefore &c.," or "Christianity, since it was (or being) of a humanizing spirit, discouraged &c.," we can write more briefly and effectively, "Gladiatorial shows were first discouraged, and finally put down, by the ." So instead of "The nature of youth is thoughtless and sanguine, and therefore &c.," we can write, "The danger of the voyage was depreciated and the beauty of the island exaggerated by ." humanizing spirit of Christianity the thoughtless nature of youth Sometimes a mere name or epithet implies a statement. "It was in vain that he offered the Swiss terms: war was deliberately preferred by the ," "by the Swiss, ." "The deed was applauded by all honest men, but the Government affected to treat it as murder, and set a price upon the head of (him whom they called) the might be expected to hold different language from ," "Napoleon when elated by the victory of Austerlitz," and "Napoleon when depressed by his imprisonment at St. Helena." hardy mountaineers i.e. because they were mountaineers and hardy assassin." "The conqueror of Austerlitz the prisoner of St. Helena i.e. CAUTION.—Different names must not be used for the same person unless each of them derives an appropriateness from its context. Thus, if we are writing about Charles II., it would be in very bad taste to avoid repeating "he" by using such periphrases as the following: "The third of the Stewarts hated business," "the Merry Monarch died in the fifty-fourth year of his age," &c. *51. Conjunctions may be omitted.* The omission gives a certain forcible abruptness, "You say this: I (on the other hand) deny it." e.g. When sentences are short, as in Macaulay's writings, conjunctions may be advantageously omitted. Where a contrast is intended, the conjunction usually prepares the way for the second of the two contrasted terms: "He is good dull." Where is used instead of , the incongruity savours of epigram: "He always talks truthfully prosily." "He is always amusing false." but but and but and and *51 a. The Imperative Mood may be used for "if."* " (for, ) Virtue of the awful authority she derives from the general reverence of mankind, and you rob her of half her majesty." Strip if you strip *52. Apposition may be used so as to convert two sentences into one.* "We called at the house of a person to whom we had letters of introduction, , and, what is more, a to all young students of music." This is as clear as, and briefer than, "He was a musician, &c." a musician good friend *53. Condensation may be effected by not repeating (1) the common subject of several verbs, (2) the common object of several verbs or prepositions.* (1) "He resided here for many years, and, after he had won the esteem of all the citizens, ( ) died," &c. So, (2) "He came to, and was induced to reside in, this city," is shorter than "He came to this city, and was induced to reside in it." he Such condensation often causes obscurity, and, even where there is no obscurity, there is a certain harshness in pausing on light, unemphatic words, such as , , &c., as in the first example. to in *54. Tautology.*—The fault of repeating the same word several times unnecessarily is called , e.g.: tautology "This is a painful ; it is a that I much , and he also will much the ." But the fault is not to be avoided by using different words to mean the same thing, as, "This is a painful ; it is a that I , and he also will the ." The true remedy is to arrange the words in such a manner that there may be no unnecessary repetition, thus: "This is a painful circumstance, a circumstance that causes me, and will cause him, deep regret." circumstance circumstance regret regret circumstance event circumstance much regret greatly lament occurrence The repetition of the same meaning in slightly different words is a worse fault than the repetition of the same word. See, for examples, the extract from Sir Archibald Alison, at the end of the book. Thus " for conquests is a characteristic of this nation. It is an that &c." Other instances are—"The opinion of men;" "His judgment is so that it is ," &c. A burning thirst ardent passion universal all infallible never deceived *55. Parenthesis may be used with advantage to brevity.* "We are all (and who would not be?) offended at the treatment we have received," is shorter and more forcible than the sentence would have been if the parenthesis had been appended in a separate sentence: "Who, indeed, would not be offended?" Extreme care must, however, be taken that a parenthesis may not obscure the meaning of a long sentence. *56. Caution: let clearness be the first consideration.* It is best, at all events for beginners, not to aim so much at being brief, or forcible, as at being perfectly clear. Horace says, "While I take pains to be brief, I fall into obscurity," and it may easily be seen that several of the rules for brevity interfere with the rules for clearness. Forcible style springs from (1) vividness and (2) exactness of thought, and from a corresponding (1) vividness and (2) exactness in the use of words. (1) When you are describing anything, endeavour to it and describe it as you see it. If you are writing about a man who was killed, the man before you, and ask, was he , , , , , or ? If you are writing about the capture of a city, was the city , , , , or ? Was an army , , , , or ? see see executed cut down run through the body butchered shot hanged stormed surprised surrendered starved out demolished before surrender repelled defeated routed crushed annihilated (2) Exactness in the use of words requires an exact knowledge of their meanings and differences. This is a study by itself, and cannot be discussed here.[17] FOOTNOTES: [17] See , pp. 1-53. English Lessons for English People About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Edwin Abbott Abbott (2007). How to Write Clearly: Rules and Exercises on English Composition. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/22600/pg22600.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Metaphor is briefer than literal statement

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