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Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing

Online ISBN:
9780190252861
Print ISBN:
9780199782505
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing

Peter Elbow
Peter Elbow

Professor of English Emeritus

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Professor of English Emeritus
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Published:
1 March 2012
Online ISBN:
9780190252861
Print ISBN:
9780199782505
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This book examines the role of the spoken word in writing. It begins by questioning the basic cultural assumption that speaking and writing are two very different, incompatible modes of expression, and that we should keep them separate. The book explores the many linguistic and rhetorical virtues of speech—spontaneity, naturalness of expression, fluidity of thought—to show that many of these virtues can usefully be brought to writing. The book suggests that we begin the writing process by “speaking” our words onto the page, letting the words and ideas flow without struggling to be “correct.” Speaking can help us at the later stages of writing, too, as we read drafts aloud and then revise until the language feels right in the mouth and sounds right in the ear. The result is stronger, clearer, more natural writing that avoids the stilted, worried-over quality that so often alienates (and bores) the reader. The book connects these practices to a larger theoretical discussion of literacy in our culture, arguing that our rules for correct writing make it harder than necessary to write well. In particular, our culture's conception of proper writing devalues the human voice, the body, and the linguistic power of people without privilege.

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