好文章,坏文章(Good Writing, Bad Writing)

详细内容

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despitethemoderndesiretobeeasyandcasual,americansfromtimetotimegivethoughttothelanguagetheyuse,togrammar,vocabulary,andofficiallanguages.and,asonotherissues,theydivideintotwoparties.

thelarger,whichincludeseverybodyfromtheplainpeopletotheprofessionalwriter,takesfrantedthatthereisarightwaytousewordsandconstructsentencesandmanywrongways.therightwayisbelievedtobeclearer,simpler,morelogical,andhencemorelikelytopreventerrorandconfusion.goodwritingiseasiertoread;itoffersapleasantbinationofsoundandsense.

againstthismajorityviewisthedoctrineofanopposingminority,whomakeupfortheirsmallnumberbytheirgreatlearningandtheirplaceofauthorityintheschoolsystemandtheworldofscholarship.theyaretheprofessionallinguists,whodenythatthereissuchathingascorrectness.

thelanguage,theysay,iswhatanybodyandeverybodyspeaks.hencetheremustbenointerferencewithwhattheyregardasaproductofnature.theydenounceallattemptsatguidingchoice.

withintheprofessionoflinguiststhereare,ofcourse,fightingfactions,but,onthisconceptionoflanguageasanaturalgrowthwithwhichitiscriminaltointerfere,theyareatone.intheirargumentsonefindsappealstofeelingsofsocialequality(allwordsandformsareequallygood)andindividual

freedom.thesebeliefsfurthersuggestthatthedesireforcorrectness,theveryideaofbetterorworseinspeech,iswhatisleftoverfromnobleandtimes.tothelinguists,changeistheonlyruletobeobeyed.theyconsiderittobeequalwithlifeandausetheircriticsofbeingclock-reverses,enemiesoffreedom,menacesto"life".