Vernacular Eloquence

What Speech Can Bring to Writing

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Public Speaking, Speech, Writing & Publishing, Composition & Creative Writing
Cover of the book Vernacular Eloquence by Peter Elbow, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Peter Elbow ISBN: 9780199912896
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: January 2, 2012
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Peter Elbow
ISBN: 9780199912896
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: January 2, 2012
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Since the publication of his groundbreaking books Writing Without Teachers and Writing with Power, Peter Elbow has revolutionized how people think about writing. Now, in Vernacular Eloquence, he makes a vital new contribution to both practice and theory. The core idea is simple: we can enlist virtues from the language activity most people find easiest-speaking-for the language activity most people find hardest-writing. Speech, with its spontaneity, naturalness of expression, and fluidity of thought, has many overlooked linguistic and rhetorical merits. Through several easy to employ techniques, writers can marshal this "wisdom of the tongue" to produce stronger, clearer, more natural writing. This simple idea, it turns out, has deep repercussions. Our culture of literacy, Elbow argues, functions as though it were a plot against the spoken voice, the human body, vernacular language, and those without privilege-making it harder than necessary to write with comfort or power. Giving speech a central role in writing overturns many empty preconceptions. It causes readers to think critically about the relationship between speech, writing, and our notion of literacy. Developing the political implications behind Elbow's previous books, Vernacular Eloquence makes a compelling case that strengthening writing and democratizing it go hand in hand.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since the publication of his groundbreaking books Writing Without Teachers and Writing with Power, Peter Elbow has revolutionized how people think about writing. Now, in Vernacular Eloquence, he makes a vital new contribution to both practice and theory. The core idea is simple: we can enlist virtues from the language activity most people find easiest-speaking-for the language activity most people find hardest-writing. Speech, with its spontaneity, naturalness of expression, and fluidity of thought, has many overlooked linguistic and rhetorical merits. Through several easy to employ techniques, writers can marshal this "wisdom of the tongue" to produce stronger, clearer, more natural writing. This simple idea, it turns out, has deep repercussions. Our culture of literacy, Elbow argues, functions as though it were a plot against the spoken voice, the human body, vernacular language, and those without privilege-making it harder than necessary to write with comfort or power. Giving speech a central role in writing overturns many empty preconceptions. It causes readers to think critically about the relationship between speech, writing, and our notion of literacy. Developing the political implications behind Elbow's previous books, Vernacular Eloquence makes a compelling case that strengthening writing and democratizing it go hand in hand.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book The Power of Godliness by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Technology and the Virtues by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Queer International Relations by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Music and Shape by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book The Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Infotopia : How Many Minds Produce Knowledge by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Playing with Something That Runs by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Gender and Private Security in Global Politics by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book On Desire by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Of Friends and Foes by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Corporate E-Learning by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Jim Crow North by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book Preaching Eugenics by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book The Divine Comedy by Peter Elbow
Cover of the book American Holocaust : The Conquest of the New World by Peter Elbow
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy