SUPERSTITIONS:
The Seven Nevers
(adapted from Trimble, Writing With Style)
(expanded by Robert Lynch)
Student writers often are confused and
struggle because they have internalized a set
of “rules” which are really more
superstition than rule. These superstitions
are often perpetuated by well meaning but
over zealous writing instructors.
1. NEVER BEGIN A
SENTENCE WITH AND OR
BUT
Rationale
“The many English teachers who still teach this superstition do
so, apparently, for one or more of the following reasons: (a) they were
taught it themselves at an impressionable age and have never since
thought to question its legitimacy; (b) they hope to discourage
anything smacking of informality in student writing, perhaps in part
because what informality they have seen in student prose has tended to
read like banal cafeteria chatter; (c) they can use this rule as an
expedient way of forcing students to move beyond simple sentences
("The government's new program is long overdue") to compound one
("The government's new program is long overdue, but implementing it
will be difficult").”
“The fact remains, though that and and but are perfectly valid
ways of beginning a sentence. You see it done all the time by
professional writers, and often to great effect."
Example:
"But this does not account wholly of the silence. Another event
intervened. In the face of mounting failure of policy abroad, support
for it collapsed at home. Not a total collapse; not for very long at least.
Rather, it was a most selective event, and it occurred where it was least
expected. The foreign policy elites, thinking, themselves perhaps a
shade more liberal, more advanced in their views than possibly they
were, were more than alert to the thunder on the right. At times they
seemed almost to long for it as if it would have confining effect on the
liberation of those being attacked. And in truth, something of this sort
occurred in the course of the Korean War. But not this time . . . . "
(Moynihan, Daniel P. "How Much Does Freedom Matter?" Atlantic,
July 1975, p. 23
Caveat:
“I should caution you though, to use the and
and but sentence with restraint. Just
because it's legitimate doesn't mean that it
can't grow tiresome” (Trimble).
2. NEVER USE
CONTRACTIONS
Rationale and Caveat
“Contractions are best used in moderation.
When your ear tells you that the rhythm of a
particular sentence seems to require a contraction,
go ahead and use it without apology. Its perfectly
acceptable in a "General English" style. (In fact,
it's hard to write in such a style without using
occasional contractions.) But where a contraction
is not required, its best not to use one, for to do so
is to risk overweighting your style on the side of
colloquialness” (Trimble).
Example:
"This world lives so much in us and
upon us, so greatly affects our thoughts and
our souls that I can't help thinking of it as
having a political character." (Bellow, Saul.
Critical Inquiry. Autumn, 1975, p.2).
Note:
Notice that this is done by a Nobel Prize
winning author in a rather sophisticated
journal intended for English faculty.
3. NEVER REFER TO THE
READER AS 'YOU'
Rationale
“The alternatives, of course, are never to refer
to him at all or else to refer to him as "the reader."
The first alternative is frequently difficult and
nearly always bad psychology, for it contributes to
what critic Wayne Booth has termed the "pedant's
stance." . . . The second alternative is equally bad
psychology because it is so utterly depersonalizing
and stuffy. What reader wants to be addressed as
‘the reader?’”(Trimble)
Example:
"It is as notable an example of
parliamentary fencing as you can find
anywhere." ("Book Reviews," The New
England Quarterly. December, 1970. 647.)
Caveat:
“I only want to add to his remark the
caution that while you is widely used, it can
be overused. If you don't need to say you,
don't. If you need to, say it without
embarrassment exactly as you would in
conversation” (Trimble).
4. NEVER USE THE FIRSTPERSON PRONOUN 'I‘
Rationale
“The alternatives recall those just described
under Rule #3 either you practice complete
self-effacement, in which case you
disappear altogether from your prose, or
else you attempt the closest thing to it, selftranscendence, in which case you elect to
become either an objectification of yourself
(the writer) or something more than yourself
(the royal we)” (Trimble).
Example:
"The world of lyric, I will suggest, is part
feeling and part form." (Duffey, Bernard I.
"The Experimental Lyric in Modern Poetry:
Eliot, Pound, Williams," Journal of Modern
Literature, 3.5, 1085)
Note and Caveat:
Again you might note that this is within a journal written
by and for English faculty.
The real danger with using this personal pronoun has to do
with its overuse. Immature writers tend to overuse it
contributing not only to monotomy but lack of sentence
variety.
This superstition is so widespread that you might want to
consider audience before using “I” in your other classes.
5. NEVER END A SENTENCE
WITH A PREPOSITION
Rationale:
Perhaps it was Winston Churchill who
delivered the coup de grace to this
superstition. When the old statesman had
his attention called to a final preposition
lurking in his prose, he exploded with:
"This is the type of arrant pedantry, up with
which I shall not put.“
6. NEVER SPLIT AN
INFINITIVE
Rationale:
“The principle here, rationally enough,
is that words that are logically related
should remain together forming a unit of
syntax. Since the infinitive form of a verb
requires the preposition to plus a verb, as in
‘to complain’ it seems logical that they
should remain together” (Trimble).
Example:
However, "Splitting an infinitive is often
not only natural but desirable," (Harcourt
College Handbook, 264. Examples:
For her to never complain seems unreal.
I wished to properly understand
programming.
7. NEVER WRITE A
PARAGRAPH
CONTAINING ONLY A
SINGLE SENTENCE
Rationale:
“Generally this rule is sound. What makes it
so offensive is the dogmatic ‘Never.” Basically
there are three situations in essay-writing that can
occasion a one-sentence paragraph: (a) when you
wish to emphasize a crucial point that might
otherwise be buried, (b) when you wish to
dramatize a transition from one stage in your
argument to the next; and (c) when instinct tells
you that your reader is tiring and would appreciate
a mental rest-station” (Trimble).
Examples
"It is proper to trace the continuity of moral
analysis from Jane Austen to George Eliot, but we
can do this intelligently only if we recognize what
else is happening in this literary development: a
recognition of other kinds of people, other kinds
of country, other kinds of action on which a moral
emphasis must be brought to bear" (Williams,
Raymond. "The Knowable Community in George
Eliot's Novels." Novel: A Forum on Fiction.
Spring, 1969, 256).
"Few programs in the history of
astronomy have attempted so much."
(Astronomy, March, 1986, 10).
"Part of G.I. Joe's success can be traced
to a national mood in which war toys are
beginning to look visible to an industry that
has for some years been wary of them"
(Harper's, April 1983).
Caveat:
“The one-sentence paragraph is a valuable
device. You can italicize with it, vary your pace
with it, lighten your prose texture with it, signpost
your argument with it. But it's also a potentially
dangerous device. Be sure you don't overdo your
dramatics. Also, be sure your sentence is strong
enough to stand up under the extra attention it is
bound to receive when set off by itself.
Houseplants wilt in direct sun; so, in a manner of
speaking, do many sentences” (Trimble).