Comments on: On Graceful Writing

By: Madison

Madison — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:47:18 +0000

Reminds me of Robert Jenson’s recent criticism of a fellow theologian: “If there is a way to lay out a sentence so as to hide its import, he often finds it.”

By: Nightmares, mostly academic | Zoopraxiscope

Nightmares, mostly academic | Zoopraxiscope — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:05:36 +0000

[...] I ain’t no damn academic and never will be, thank God. “Gene, your writing style is very clear and concise. Very muscular. But it is not academic writing. It is popular writing. If you persist in writing clear prose, you will never get far in academic writing. Academic writing must be turgid and convoluted. You must force your reader to read your sentences four and five times before she can understand what you are trying to say. You must obscure the concepts that just anyone can understand. You must, as literally as possible, grab your reader by the throat and pull her face into the text, holding her captive until she can escape by understanding the essay in full after struggling and wrestling with your words.” [...]

By: F.R. Duplantier

F.R. Duplantier — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:27:11 +0000

Caveat lector! http://politickles.com/blog/?p=4450

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:09:36 +0000

I write proposals and grant requests for a University, and I can make effective arguments though I am not always eloquent in my choice of words. And I always have at least one person proof and edit my work. I am a believer in having the person who will give me the most feedback critique my work. The end of your post brings greater purpose to what I do. I sincerely believe that I am using my gifts to raise money for a worthy cause (education), but I appreciate how you say that “clear writing is a foretaste of grace.” I never thought of that before, and that idea resonates with me–and makes me want to be a better writer!

By: Truth Unites... and Divides

Truth Unites... and Divides — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:29:30 +0000

“Gene, your writing style is very clear and concise. Very muscular. But it is not academic writing. It is popular writing. If you persist in writing clear prose, you will never get far in academic writing. Academic writing must be turgid and convoluted. You must force your reader to read your sentences four and five times before she can understand what you are trying to say. You must obscure the concepts that just anyone can understand. You must, as literally as possible, grab your reader by the throat and pull her face into the text, holding her captive until she can escape by understanding the essay in full after struggling and wrestling with your words.”

When I was in academia I received the same scolding.

I left academia.

By: Kamilla

Kamilla — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:25:40 +0000

“You must force your reader to read your sentences four and five times before she can understand what you are trying to say.”

I had to snortle at the pc assumption that an academic reader would be a woman.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:55:25 +0000

It’s so quaint to read of people who have the experience of actually being taught grammar. Double irony points!

For the contrary folks who can’t be bothered to adjust their reason and their well-honed writing skills, let me recommend the Postmodernism Generator, here: http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/ as a means to impress your academic friends.

By: First Links – 09.15.11 » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog

First Links – 09.15.11 » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:01:23 +0000

[...] On Graceful Writing Evangel, Gene Fant [...]

By: pauld

pauld — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:07:24 +0000

Richard Feynman, the great physicist, tells the story of serving on an education committee and reading one of the staff reports. After reading and re-reading the first lengthy paragraph of the report, he found that it said, “People talk”.

By: On Graceful Writing « seek the city

On Graceful Writing « seek the city — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:44:11 +0000

[...] On Graceful Writing » Evangel | A First Things Blog. Advertisement LD_AddCustomAttr("AdOpt", "0"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Origin", "other"); [...]

By: Gene Fant

Gene Fant — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:45:36 +0000

Stephen: I meant to make it clear that the Toor essay moved, as you said, to “clear writing” being a euphemism for “simplistic” or even “poorly researched.” Sorry for that fallen bit of miscommunication. What’s even more ironic about that, though, is that academic writing seems to elevate obfuscation to amend for the same weaknesses in methodology and execution. Alas, the brokenness of language creates challenges for all of us.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:07:46 +0000

I’ve never heard that this phenomenon was specifically Marxist. At any rate, it made for a lot of agonizing hours in college trying to read unnecessarily convoluted essays. I remember once being told by a professor that my sentences used too many active verbs, and that I needed to be more passive to qualify as an academic writer. The funny thing is, that’s the exact opposite of “good writing” as taught in any English, grammar, or writing class.

By: Forlorn Hope

Forlorn Hope — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 21:37:37 +0000

I’m not an academic, just the spouse of a recently retired PhD. I am a veteran of business, however, and have noticed over the past forty years or so a marked deterioration of writing ability. Almost always this symptom accompanied an inability to think and reason well. This costs.

Methinks Western higher education has started on an inexorable downward path in which the value of excellence is being forgotten and knowledge lost.

By: Constantine

Constantine — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:49:03 +0000

Alas, I must commiserate with S Smith. Having finished my undergrad in Philosophy and then having entered grad school in IT, I too, found my nicely written and properly organized papers being graded as average. Realizing my mistake (as S Smith had his) I endeavored to rely on buzz words and run-on sentences. Sadly, my grade also improved.

Who knew Marxists could teach IT as well?

Thank you, Dr. Fant, for your very interesting post.

By: s smith

s smith — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:20:28 +0000

This has been going on for some time. My first year in graduate school, in the late 70s, I was just out of the Army. Wrote papers that were short, concise, and in English. My professor gave me Cs in the class. I went to an English professor who told me that my papers were fine grammatically. At the end of the semester, knowing I would flunk the course because graduate students did not get Cs, I wrote my final paper sacastically, and generally incoherent. I even read parts to my fellow grad students, who laughed along with me. I turned it in and got an A on the paper. From that point on, my graduate career was secure.