Feltre School

Separate But Connected

Here’s another chance to sharpen our grammatical tools. Is this sentence correct: he is one of those persons, who is always on time…...

Separate But Connected - Writing Smartly Here’s another chance to sharpen our grammatical tools. Is this sentence correct: he is one of those persons, who is always on time. We will need either two knives or one double-edged sword to examine this deceptively simple sentence, one blade for grammar and the other for punctuation. When we re...

Governing Whom

To keep our technical skills sharp, let’s look at a sentence which presents a second-order grammatical question. We know that every preposition has an object, and when that object is a pronoun, it often assumes a unique form, because some pronouns vary their spelling to indicate their grammatical function. This change in spelling (or position) is called inflection, and the conceptual scheme that organizes inflection with nouns and pronouns is called…...

Governing Whom - Writing Smartly To keep our technical skills sharp, let’s look at a sentence which presents a second-order grammatical question. We know that every preposition has an object, and when that object is a pronoun, it often assumes a unique form, because some pronouns vary their spelling to indicate their grammatical ...

The Precise Truth

If a dictionary defines words, what does a thesaurus do? The word means treasury in Latin, and the basic answer, of course, is that a thesaurus synonymizes, that is, it suggests words close in meaning to one another. Some thesauri merely list groups of related words, others discern the subtle shades of meaning between them. It’s the latter we want as writers....

The Precise Truth - Writing Smartly If a dictionary defines words, what does a thesaurus do? The word means treasury in Latin, and the basic answer, of course, is that a thesaurus synonymizes, that is, it suggests words close in meaning to one another. Some thesauri merely list groups of related words, others discern the subtle shades...

To Persuade Is Not Enough

In the study of language, a distinction is made between persuading and convincing. To persuade someone is to induce one to act, whether physically to do something or mentally to believe something. To convince, on the other hand, is to show the reasons something should or should not be acted upon. In the traditional scheme of the first three liberal arts, called the…...

To Persuade Is Not Enough - Writing Smartly In the study of language, a distinction is made between persuading and convincing. To persuade someone is to induce one to act, whether physically to do something or mentally to believe something. To convince, on the other hand, is to show the reasons something should or should not be acted upon. In...

Infinite Perception

If I happen to say that the planet Neptune has sixteen moons, I am making a specific, or finite, qualification to the noun moons. If I go on to say that I believe the universe is infinite, I mean to say that there is no specific measure which can be taken of its extent. The stem of both these adjectives, …...

Infinite Perception - Writing Smartly If I happen to say that the planet Neptune has sixteen moons, I am making a specific, or finite, qualification to the noun moons. If I go on to say that I believe the universe is infinite, I mean to say that there is no specific measure which can be taken of its extent. The … Continue reading "Inf...

Classically Romantic

In an earlier post (All That Is Implied), I had occasion to mention the British philosopher and historian R. G. Collingwood. Best known, perhaps, for his work in aesthetics, Collingwood made no bones in his essay “Form and Content in Art” about the difference between the romantic and the classical artist: Romantics are obviously warm-blooded and excitable people, and they often accuse classical art of being cold and passionless....

Classically Romantic - Writing Smartly In an earlier post (All That Is Implied), I had occasion to mention the British philosopher and historian R. G. Collingwood. Best known, perhaps, for his work in aesthetics, Collingwood made no bones in his essay “Form and Content in Art” about the difference between the romantic and the classic...

All That Is Implied

What does it mean to say that one thing implies another? The derivation of the verb is instructive: to fold in, or to enwrap, and the first consonants of its original Latin verb (plicare) can be seen also in our verbs implicate, explicate, and even in the noun diploma, a piece of paper apparently originally folded…...

All That Is Implied - Writing Smartly What does it mean to say that one thing implies another? The derivation of the verb is instructive: to fold in, or to enwrap, and the first consonants of its original Latin verb (plicare) can be seen also in our verbs implicate, explicate, and even in the noun diploma, a piece of paper apparently or...

More Human and Less Personal

That title phrase belongs to William Sloane, who in his work The Craft of Writing says that the real reader and real reading produce a delight which brings one “almost to the point of loss of personal identity.” We can see the phenomenon, he says, by watching a child read: Watch a child’s body when he is reading if you want to see the real reader....

More Human and Less Personal - Writing Smartly That title phrase belongs to William Sloane, who in his work The Craft of Writing says that the real reader and real reading produce a delight which brings one “almost to the point of loss of personal identity.” We can see the phenomenon, he says, by watching a child read: Watch a child’s body...

And, And, And

Which of these two versions of the same statement do you prefer: I like fresh vegetables and the risk of a frost had passed and I planted a garden, or I like fresh vegetables, so when the risk of a frost had passed, I planted a garden. The first sentence takes three thoughts and presents them as if they were three soldiers standing in a row, shoulder to shoulder, each with an individual duty to perform....

And, And, And - Writing Smartly Which of these two versions of the same statement do you prefer: I like fresh vegetables and the risk of a frost had passed and I planted a garden, or I like fresh vegetables, so when the risk of a frost had passed, I planted a garden. The first sentence takes three thoughts and presents … Continu...

Criticizing Creation

In a number of earlier posts (It’s Time to Start Writing; Another Short Revision; First This, Then That), we have looked at the essential difference between the frame of mind we assume in undertaking an initial draft and the very different mind we put on to revise that first attempt. The British novelist E. M. Forster, in a 1951 collection of essays entitled…...

Criticizing Creation - Writing Smartly In a number of earlier posts (It’s Time to Start Writing; Another Short Revision; First This, Then That), we have looked at the essential difference between the frame of mind we assume in undertaking an initial draft and the very different mind we put on to revise that first attempt. The British n...