Joseph M. Williams

Joseph Williams (Aug. 18, 1933 - Feb. 22, 2008) was an American professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Chicago, and the author of several texts on language and style. Williams co-founded the University of Chigago's writing program, "The Little Red Schoolhouse," and was a member of the faculty from 1965 until his retirement in 1999. His awards throughout his career include the University of Chicago's Quantrell Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching, and the Golden Pen Award from the Institute of Legal Writing. [1]

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Style: Toward Clarity and Grace 3 Style: Toward Clarity and Grace Reviews and Summary 4 Quotes from Style 5 The Little Red Schoolhouse 6 The Phenomenology of Error 7 Publications 8 Sample posters

Early life and career

Williams was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He received both his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree from Miami University in Ohio, and in 1966, at the the age of 33, he completed his Ph.D. in English and Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [2]

Williams' main focus throughout his career was figuring out how to teach writing in a way that would cater to the reader's experience. He was highly interested in cognitive science, and the field influenced much of his work. Williams believed in ongoing education, and sought to help professionals and experts write in a way that their audience would easily understand. [3]Williams died at age 74. In praise of his late colleague, Lawrence McEnerney, current director of the University of Chicago's writing program says: "Williams' energy stemmed from his confidence that he had something valuable to offer: He wanted your attention because he knew he could help you." [4]

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace originated as a textbook in 1981, but many editions have been published since. In 1988 an inquiry by the University of Chicago Press prompted a revision of Style for use outside the classroom. They wanted to know whether people who read the book on their own and of their own accord learned anything valuable. When the Press received positive feedback, Style was revised for such an audience.

The Layout of the Text:

1.1 Causes

1.2 Clarity

1.3 Cohesion

1.4 Emphasis

1.5 Coherence I

1.6 Coherence II

1.7 Concision

1.8 Length

1.9 Elegance

1.10 Usage

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace Reviews and Summary

This book of reference and writing by Joseph M. Williams is cowritten with Gregory C. Colomb. Joseph M. Williams and Gregory C. Colomb are sought-after communications consultants. Williams is Professor Emeritus in the University of Chicago's Department of English Language and Literature and author of Origins of the English Language. Colomb is professor of English language and literature at the University of Virginia.

"Buy William's book. And dig out from storage your dog-eared old copy of The Elements of Style. Set them side by side on your reference self." -Barbara Walraff, Atlantic

"Let newcoming writers discover this, and let their teachers and readers rejoice. It is a practical, disciplined text that is also a pleasure to read." -Christian Century

"An excellent book...It provides a sensible, well-balanced approach, featuring prescriptions that work." -Donald Skarzenski, Journal of Business Communication

"Intensive fitness training for the expressive mind." -Booklist

This acclaimed book is a master teacher's tested program for turning clumsy prose into clear, powerful, effective writing. A logical, expert, easy-to-use plan for achieving excellence in expression. Style offers neither simplistic rules nor endless lists of dos and don'ts. Rather, Joseph Williams and Gregory Colomb explain how to be concise, how to be focused, how to be organized.

Filled with realistic examples of good, bad, and better writing, and step-by-step strategies for crafting a sentence or organizing a paragraph, Style does much more than teach mechanics: it helps anyone who must write clearly and persuasively transform even the roughest of drafts into a polished work of clarity, coherence, impact, and personality.

Quotes from Style

This is a list of quotes Joseph M. Williams included in his book, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. All of them illustrate or comment on a concept he discusses in the book.

• "Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style."
  • Matthew Arnold

• "In matter of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing."
  • Oscar Wilde

• "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action."
  • William Shakespeare

• "The last thing that one discovers in writing a book is what to put first."
  • Blaise Pascal

• "There is no artifice as good and desirable as simplicity."
  • St. Francis De Sales

• "Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it - wholeheartedly - and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings. "
  • Arthur Quiller-Couch

• "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
  • Albert Einstein

• "In literature the ambition of the novice is to acquire the literary language; the struggle of the adept is to get rid of it."
  • G.B. Shaw

• "English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education - sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street."
  • E.B. White

The Little Red Schoolhouse

"The Little Red Schoolhouse" is the name of the University of Chicago's writing program for students interested in academic and professional writing. Its main focus is clarity and reader response. The program is offered in three versions: Upper-level Undergraduate, Graduate, and Continuing Student & Working Professional. [5]

The program started as a lecture series in 1980 by Professors Joseph_M._Williams, Gregory Colomb, Frank Kinahan, and Peter Blaney. A year later they, along with a number of graduate students, began offering formal classes based on their lectures. The program grew to become a staple of the University's curriculum, numerous other schools throughout the country have adopted it. [6]

The Phenomenology of Error

In this essay, Williams explores the idea that the majority of people do not consider how they use words until they are asked about it specifically. Williams states that people are often critical of what others do, say, and write without at first examining their own habits. They fail to determine if they themselves commit the same errors they call “‘atrocious’” or if they are able to catch themselves in time to refrain from making those mistakes.

In using this technique, Williams uses his own piece of work to turn this standpoint around on his audience. At the end of the essay, the reader discovers that Williams has inserted nearly 100 errors, and is asked to respond with corrections to his secretary.

For more detail, see full article onThe Phenomenology of Error.

Publications

• The New English: Structure, Form, Style (1970)
• Origins of the English Language: A Social and Linguistic History (1975)
• Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (1981)
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (1990)
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (1994)
• The Craft of Research (1995) with Wayne Booth and Gregory Colomb
• The Craft of Argument (2000) with Gregory Colomb
• Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2002)
• A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (7th Ed.) (2007) with Kate Turabian, Wayne Booth, and Gregory Colomb

Sample posters