Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace

Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (also known as Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace and Style: Toward Clarity and Grace) is a book by Joseph M. Williams (1933–2008). Williams was a professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. The author says "it is good to write clearly, and anyone can".

About the book

The book, first published in 1981, is based on a course, "The Little Red Schoolhouse," that Williams taught for many years at the University of Chicago. The book has since gone through numerous editions and has become a popular text for writing classes. The thirteenth edition was published in 2021.

Content

Front Matter

• Preface
• In Memoriam
• Introduction

Part One: Style as Choice

• Lesson One: Correctness and Style

Part Two: Clarity

• Lesson Two: Actions
• Lesson Three: Characters
• Lesson Four: Cohesion and Coherence
• Lesson Five: Emphasis

Part Three: Clarity of Form

• Lesson Six: Framing Documents
• Lesson Seven: Framing Section

Part Four: Grace

• Lesson Eight: Concision
• Lesson Nine: Shape
• Lesson Ten: Elegance

Part Five: Ethics

• Lesson Eleven: The Ethics of Clarity
• Lesson Twelve: Beyond Clarity

Back Matter

• Appendix I: Punctuation
• Appendix II: Using Sources
• Glossary
• Suggested Answers
• Acknowledgments
• Index

Editions in print

• Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 9th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman (2007) ISBN 0-321-47935-1 ISBN 978-0321479358 (paper)
• Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. 2nd Edition (2006) ISBN 0-321-33085-4 ISBN 978-0321330857 (paper)
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (1995) ISBN 0-226-89915-2 ISBN 978-0226899152 (paper)

Earlier editions

• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman (1981, 1985, 1989), New York: HarperCollins (1989, 1994), New York: Longman (1997, 2000, 2003), Toronto: Longman (2005), New York: Pearson Longman (2005)
• Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. New York: Longman (2003)
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1990) with two chapters coauthored by Gregory G. Colomb

Translations

• Korean: 스타일 레슨: 명확하고 아름다운 영어 글쓰기: ISBN 979-1188392018 (2018)
• Chinese: 英文寫作的魅力: 十大經典準則: 人人都能寫出清晰又優雅的文章: ISBN 978-9866031564 (2014)

Online reviews

• Review of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (1990) by J. Bradford DeLong [1]
• Review of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (1990) by Susan Stepney [2]

External links

• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace at UoCP Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace, 1st. ed., at Amazon
• Four steps to better writing, a handout prepared by Paul Dudenhefer based on Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace