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title: The Elements of Style_01
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title: The Elements of Style_01
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## 結構的基本原則 Elementary Principles of Composition
### **一個段落搭配一個議題(topic)，將段落視為結構的基本單位** </br>Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph to each topic.

如果你正在書寫的主題(subject)是屬於比較淺層的，或者只是嘗試要書寫摘要，可能就不需要再將主題(subject)往下細分議題(topic)，例如一個簡要的描述、一個簡要的文學作品總結、一個簡要的事故說明、一個行動的大綱、闡述一個單一想法，以上這些最好都寫成一個段落就好，當段落完成之後，檢驗將段落細分(subdivide)是否真的不會更好。

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一般來說，主題需要細分成很多議題，每個議題都應該成為那個段落的主題，處理每個段落的目的是幫助讀者。在每一個段落的開頭都傳達一個訊號給讀者，我們在這個主題又走向新的一步。

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細分的程度會隨著結構的長度變化，舉例來說，書籍或詩集的短摘可能是單一一個段落，長一點的可能就包含兩段：
   1. Account of the work.
   2. Critical discussion.

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在文學課程中詩的賞析報告，可能就包含七段：
   1. Facts of composition and publication.
   2. Kind of poem; metrical form.
   3. Subject.
   4. Treatment of subject.
   5. For what chiefly remarkable.
   6. Wherein charateristic of the writer.
   7. Relationship to other works.

其中第3段 (Subject) 和第4段 (Treatment of subject) 會隨著詩而變化，如果要解釋的話，第3段會表明詩的實際或想像的情況，並說明主題及概述發展；如果整個詩都是用第三人稱敘述，那會需要對於行為做一個簡潔的結論。第4段會關於詩的想法，如何凸顯想要表達的重點，或是指出在敘事中特別想要強調的地方，這段會比較相似於對於主題的引導。

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一本小說可能會用以下分類來討論：
   1. Setting.
   2. Plot.
   3. Characters.
   4. Purpose.

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一個歷史事件可能會用以下分類來討論：
   1. What led up to the event.
   2. Account of the event.
   3. What the event led up to.

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在上述的兩個主題，筆者可能會發現還需要細分一或更多個議題。

有一個原則是不會將單獨一個句子當成一個段落，但是過渡句可以例外，過渡句的功能在於表明各個議題間的關係，這種用法在演講或書籍中都很常見。

### **段落的開頭是議題句，結尾要與開頭保持一致性** As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence, end it in conformity with the beginning.
再次說明，段落的目的是為了要幫助讀者。目的是讓讀者在一開始閱讀時就發現目的，將這個目的保留在心裡直到閱讀完整個段落。基於這個理由，在論述中最好用的分段方法如下：
   1. the topic sentence comes at or near the beginning;
   2. the succeeding sentences explain or establish or develope the statement made in the topic sentence; and
   3. the final sentence either emphasizes the thought of the topic sentence or states some important consequence.

要特別避免在一個不重要的細節收尾。

如果段落處在一個比較大的結構中，那可能會需要將段落與前文的關係或是段落對於整體的功能表達出來。有時候會在議題句中使用 "again; therefore; for the same reason" 等等字眼，但這算是權宜之計，如果超過一句的話建議當成過渡句形成一個段落來使用。

按照筆者的目的，他可能會採用各種不同的方式將議題句與段落內容做連接。包括**以另一種形式重新表明議題句、定義用語、否定相對事物、提供實際案例來讓議題句的意義更清晰；他也可能會藉由論證的方式；或者揭示弦外之音或後果**。在一個長段落中，他會多次使用這些方法。

[**Topic Sentence.**]Now, to be properly enjoyed, a walking tour should be gone upon alone. [**The meaning made clearer by denial of the contrary.**] If you go in a company, or even in pairs, it is no longer a walking tour in anything but name; it is something else and more in the nature of a picnic. [**The topic sentence repeated, in abridged form, and supported by three reasons; the meaning of the third (“you must have your own pace”) made clearer by denying the contrary.**] A walking tour should be gone upon alone, because freedom is of the essence; because you should be able to stop and go on, and follow this way or that, as the freak takes you; and because you must have your own pace, and neither trot alongside a champion walker, nor mince in time with a girl. [**A fourth reason, stated in two forms.**] And you must be open to all impressions and let your thoughts take colour from what you see. [**The same reason, stated in still another form.**] You should be as a pipe for any wind to play upon. [6] “I cannot see the wit,” says Hazlitt, “of walking and talking at the same time. [**The same reason as stated by Hazlitt.**] When I am in the country, I wish to vegetate like the country,” which is the gist of all that can be said upon the matter. [**Repetition, in paraphrase, of the quotation from Hazlitt.**] There should be no cackle of voices at your elbow, to jar on the meditative silence of the morning. [**Final statement of the fourth reason, in language amplified and heightened to form a strong conclusion.**] And so long as a man is reasoning he cannot surrender himself to that fine intoxication that comes of much motion in the open air, that begins in a sort of dazzle and sluggishness of the brain, and ends in a peace that passes comprehension.—Stevenson, Walking Tours.

[**Topic sentence.**] It was chiefly in the eighteenth century that a very different conception of history grew up. [**The meaning of the topic sentence made clearer; the new conception of history defined.**] Historians then came to believe that their task was not so much to paint a picture as to solve a problem; to explain or illustrate the successive phases of national growth, prosperity, and adversity. [**The definition expanded.**] The history of morals, of industry, of intellect, and of art; the changes that take place in manners or beliefs; the dominant ideas that prevailed in successive periods; the rise, fall, and modification of political constitutions; in a word, all the conditions of national well-being became the subject of their works. [**The definition explained by contrast.**] They sought rather to write a history of peoples than a history of kings. [**The definition supplemented: another element in the new conception of history.**] They looked especially in history for the chain of causes and effects. [**Conclusion: an important consequence of the new conception of history.**] They undertook to study in the past the physiology of nations, and hoped by applying the experimental method on a large scale to deduce some lessons of real value about the conditions on which the welfare of society mainly depend.—Lecky, The Political Value of History.

在敘事中，段落有時以簡潔和全面的陳述開頭，來結合接下來的細節，但如果每段都使用的話讀起來也會有一點壓迫。所以以下方法也很常見，開頭句子僅僅表明主題所涉及的內容。
>> The breeze served us admirably.
>> The campaign opened with a series of reverses.
>> The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious set of entries.

以下這種動畫敘事的段落開頭不像我們說的議題句，修辭暫停的目的是為了凸顯動作的細節。
>> At length I thought I might return towards the stockade.
>> He picked up the heavy lamp from the table and began to explore.
>> Another flight of steps, and they emerged on the roof.

### **使用主動語態** Use the active voice.
主動語態比被動語態顯得更直接和積極，

> I shell always remember my first visit to Boston.

> My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me.
> 既不直接也不扼要

> My first visit to Boston will always be remembered.
> 若嘗試著簡化，省略"by me"，還會變成無法預測是被誰記得？
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這個原則當然也不是要筆者完全捨棄掉被動語態，有時被動語態會被需要或表達起來更簡單。

> The dramatists of the Restoration are little esteemed to-day.
> Modern readers have little esteem for the dramatists of the Restoration.

第一句是比較好的格式，第二句反而變成是在呈現現代讀者的愛好。句子的主詞常常會決定應該使用何種語態。

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👇有一個原則，必須避免一個被動語態直接依賴另一個被動語態，但在下面的例子，第一被動的主詞也同時成為第二被動的關聯字。


| Gold was not allowed to be exported. | It was forbidden to export gold (The export of gold was prohibited.) |
| -------- | -------- | 
| He has been proved to have been seen entering the building. | It was been proved that he was seen to enter the building. |

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👇 一個常見的錯誤是將可以表達整個動作的動詞在被動語態中當名詞用，剩下的動詞就只是完成句子的功能。


| The survey of this region was made in 1900. | This region was surveyed in 1900. | 
| -------- | -------- | 
| Mobilization of the army was rapidly effected. | The army was rapidly mobilization. |
| Confirmation of these reports cannot be obtained. | These reports cannot be comfirmed. |

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👇 培養主動語態的寫法可以讓行動被聚焦，在任何形式的寫作裡，話語力量會比較集中。適當替換動詞還可以替代掉相較比較敷衍、不確定的 `there is` 和 `could be heard` 等用法


| There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground | Dead leaves coverd the ground. | 
| -------- | -------- | 
| The sound of a guiter somewhere in the house could be heard. | Somewhere in the house a guiter hummed sleepily. |
| The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired. | Failing health compelled him to leave college.|
| It was not so long before he was very sorry that he had said what he had. | He soon repented his words. |

### **以正面形式說明** Put statements in positive form.
做明確的論斷，避免表面、猶豫不決的言語。 "not" 的功用是做為拒絕或對立的詞，而非用來逃避的字。

| He was not very often on time. | He usually came late. |
| -------- | -------- |
| He did not think that studying Latin was much use. | He thought the study of Latin useless. |
| *The Taming of the Shrew* is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare's works. | The woman in *The Taming of the Shrew* are unattractive. Katharine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant. |
最後一個例子在修正之前一直不斷地否定，修正後就很容易明瞭筆者的想法。

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以上例子都顯示 "not" 舊有的缺點，不管有意或無意，讀者不會滿足你說 "not" ，他更希望你直接說明。所以將正面型式表達負面意思作為一個原則：

| not honest | dishonest |
| -------- | -------- | -------- |
| not important | trifling |
| did not remember | forgot |
| did not pay any attention to | ignored |
| did not have much confidence in | distrusted |

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