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adjective versus proper noun
A question for the writer of the Jan. 23 Metro headline “Episcopalian bishop has a history with Trump”: Would you top a story with “Californian governor meets with first responders”? Or “Virginian senator celebrates reelection”? Like “Californian” and “Virginian,” “Episcopalian” is almost always a noun denoting a person — in this case, a member of the Episcopal Church.
To The Post’s credit, the [words in the title of the] article was correct: “the Episcopal bishop of Washington.”
— Maurice Fliess, letter to editor, The Washington Post, January 31 2025
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A distinction worth noting. And why do Republicans always refer to the DEMOCRAT party? They do it with a malign intent. To lessen (so they believe) by nomenclature the party’s stature.
— posted by Roger W. Smith
January 31, 2025
How To Write a Eulogy
A eulogy is not a Britannica entry, biographical sketch, or “performance review.”
Avoid negatives, but don’t make things up.
Talk from the vantage point of your personal experience with the subject.
Bring it to life with anecdotes. A eulogy is not a summary. The anecdotal material can be “episodic” and does need to be chronological.
— posted by Roger W. Smith
November 2024
showing a sharp contrast between verbose intellectualizing and direct expression
a splendid sentence
“Schwartz’s poems, especially the later ones, are dated. They groan under a freight of leaden rhymes and — Schwartz had a capacious mind — showy philosophical and literary references, spillover from the overstocked pantry that was his mind.”
— Dwight Garner, “Delmore Schwartz’s Poems Are Like Salt Flicked on the World,” The New York Times, April 8, 2024
review of The Collected Poems of Delmore Schwartz, edited by Ben Mazer
— posted by Roger W. Smith
April 11, 2024
the dangling modifier
A native of Langford, Ireland, McNally’s murder has left communities on both sides of the Atlantic “in a state of shock” since the Friday attack.
— “Boyfriend charged in death of ‘sweet, innocent’ Irish beauty stabbed inside NYC pub: ‘We are heart broken’ ,” By Amanda Woods and Alex Oliveira, New York Post, April 2 2024
Is this taught in high school English classes anymore?
— posted by Roger W. Smith
April 2, 2024
new vocabulary
how to write; Exhibit C
Ben and Jerry’s – WSJ 3-19-2024
Posted here:
Ben & Jerry’s Owner Loses Its Taste for Ice Cream
Unilever plans to spin off its ice-cream business, which includes Magnum and Popsicle, and could consider a sale
By Saabira Chaudhuri
The Wall Street Journal
March 19, 2024
My business journalism instructor, Gilbert T. Sewall, was correct when he observed that the Wall Street Journal is notable for the excellence of its writing per se.
The best term I can come up with to describe this piece is limpid.
Everything is covered, succinctly. The facts have all been reported, are all there.
The business issues are made clear.
A layman (i.e., someone not in the business world) can enjoy this piece. Pithy phrases achieve this result:
Ben & Jerry’s owner Unilever has lost its taste for the business.
Ben & Jerry’s, once regarded by analysts as a jewel in Unilever’s crown, has turned into something of a thorn in its side.
Ben & Jerry’s hasn’t shied away from taking a stand on social causes.
Ice cream has been a tough business for … consumer-goods companies. …
Our high school English teacher taught us about topic sentences. Here we see embedded “topic sentences” that ensure that the reader does not get lost and gets the import of the piece.
— posted by Roger W. Smith
March 2024
how to write a book review
Exemplified by … MYSELF.
What I would say (advise) is: cover the content of the book, what it’s about, what should be noted.
And: give your reviewer’s opinion of the book and whether it (implicitly) is worth reading.
Roger W. Smith review of Arthur Henry bio – Dreiser Studies, winter 2005
— posted by Roger W. Smith
March 2024
solecisms (in the media) … copy editing (the lack thereof)
This post is comprised of a Word document attached here (above).
— Roger W. Smith
February 2024
Roger's rhetoric 