"Elements of Style" for Verbal/SC GMAT Practice?

Question

Has anyone used Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" as preparation for the verbal/sentence correction component of the GMAT?

If so, any comments on how effective it is as a study resource?

jchip · Answer

Hi Art,

I also used the Strunk and White's Elements of Style to review. It's not a bad idea. It will cover all the bases. Sections I to IV will be useful. However, I wished that there were more examples. 

I think using this small book is a good complement to OG 11.

ncp · Answer

S&W should be helpful for the AWA section and the app essays

ashaker · Answer

someone recommended this book to me as a general guide to improve my language skills ..highly recommend it

Aj85 · Answer

Hiii, I have gone through this book and I will recommend this classic to everyone. I believe this book has had a tremendous influence on American English in 20th century. And yes this book is very relevant for Gmat. (Both SC and AWA)

The book is available legally for free on Internet. Read the whole book here. There is nothing unnecessary in this book. Its very short & concise but mighty effective at the same time.
https://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.html

krishp84 · Answer

+1
Yes, the book serves the purpose. I have reached page 17, but completely spot on.
Explains to the point. A great concise book !!!
Wish I had read this earlier.

abhicoolmax · Answer

Wish I knew about this book earlier

But well... some people just like to hold their nose from behind the head! I will review this book for my personal interest after the GMAT. Also available in PDF version for free: https://www.cs.vu.nl/~jms/doc/elos.pdf

krishp84 · Answer

Read and tried to comprehend this book.
The best paper on English for GMAT - SC/RC and even for essays to schools.

Pros
- Concise and to the point with each topic covered in bullet points.
- No extra jargon or unnecessary words. On the contrary tells you when not to use !!!
- All the explanations are the same that OG says in the explanations. I guess this is the book read by test-makers and the one I should have read in school in an educated manner.

Cons
- From the GMAT angle, no need of going through - "IV. A Few Matters of Form"

- Some noticeable errors, but they are very less and purely because of the period when it was written.
for example, in topic "18. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end."
This steel is principally used for making razors, because of its hardness.
Because of its hardness, this steel is principally used in making razors.
The corrected version changes the meaning. It should be
Because of its hardness, this steel is principally used for making razors.

- Another example from the same topic that is too wordy. Since it was published in 1918, that can be the reason for the wordiness.
Four centuries ago, Christopher Columbus, one of the Italian mariners whom the decline of their own republics had put at the service of the world and of adventure, seeking for Spain a westward passage to the Indies as a set-off against the achievements of Portuguese discoverers, lighted on America.

This would be easy to understand as -
Four centuries ago, Christopher Columbus, one of the Italian mariners whom the decline of their own republics had put at the service of the world and of adventure, seeking for Spain a westward passage to the Indies to offset the achievement of Portuguese discoverers, lighted on America.

- "V. Words and Expressions Commonly Misused" can be used as a primer, but again the examples have an old style. The best version is at https://orwell.ru/library/others/style/english/estyle

For all the above examples, I referred https://orwell.ru/library/others/style/english/estyle in conjunction.

For any grammar fanatic, who wants to learn the mathematical relationship between words, sentences, paragraphs and composition, there is a paper on Technical writing published by NASA at https://www.sti.nasa.gov/publish/sp7084.pdf
I have not read this, but would love to read a detailed review from anyone. Advance kudos to anyone who posts a review or even PMs me on this.

krishp84 · Answer

The book from NASA that was mentioned in my earlier post is for Technical Writing.
You, however, can refer to https://www.stat.osu.edu/~hangang/writing.pdf for the Mathematical writing guide. This is the book on "Rules of Mathematical Writing" that takes excerpts from ‘Mathematical writing’ and ‘The Elements of Style’.

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

I highly recommend this book myself.

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