The Elements of Style: Difference between revisions

Maira Kalman, who provided the illustrations for ''The Elements of Style Illustrated'' (2005, see below), asked [[Nico Muhly]] to compose a [[cantata]] based on the book. It was performed at the [[New York Public Library]] in October 2005.<ref>{{cite news|author=Eicher, Jeremy |date=October 21, 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20051021friday.html |title='Style' Gets New Elements|publisher=LearningNetwork: Teachers|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Neary, Lynn |date=November 2, 2005|url= http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4985137|title= 'Elements of Style' Goes Beyond Words|work=NPR Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.laco.org/composer/359 |title=Nico Muhly |website=[[Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra]] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116124639/http://www.laco.org/composer/359 |archivedate=2014-01-16 |df= }}</ref>

In criticizing ''The Elements of Style'', [[Geoffrey Pullum]], professor of [[linguistics]] at [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh University]], and co-author of ''[[The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language]]'' (2002), said that: {{quote|The book's toxic mix of purism, atavism, and personal eccentricity is not underpinned by a proper grounding in English grammar. It is often so misguided that the authors appear not to notice their own egregious flouting of its own rules&nbsp;... It's sad. Several generations of college students learned their grammar from the uninformed bossiness of ''Strunk and White'', and the result is a nation of educated people who know they feel vaguely anxious and insecure whenever they write ''however'' or ''than me'' or ''was'' or ''which'', but can't tell you why.<ref name="pullum-50years">{{cite journal | last=Pullum | first=Geoffrey K. | authorlink=Geoffrey Pullum | date=April 17, 2009 | title=50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice | journal=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]] | volume=55 | issue=32 | pages=B15 | url=http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497 | archiveurl=httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20160413043333/https://www.chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497 | archivedate=2016-04-13 | accessdate=2017-11-27 | deadurl=yes | df= }}</ref>}}