Writing To Learn

Rating:
Summary: My Appreciation for Bill the Clarity Nut
Review: First of all, I was very surprised to see that another reviewer on amazon.com said sees Bill Zinsser's writing as arrogant. In fact, I'm writing this review to counter that accusation. After thinking through it, the only thing I can guess is that the person who said that somehow misunderstood Professor Zinsser's discussion of Richard Feynman's writing. In contradistinction from the other review, I say is that this book is hilarious. And not at anyone else's expense. The humor in the book serves to make the point that clear thinking produces clear writing. Personally I agree with Zinsser: much writing from academics is fuzzy and unclear. I believe it's appropriate, therefore, for Professor Zinsser to encourage both students and professors--and everyone else--to write across the disciplines as an exercise in clarifying our own thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: My Appreciation for Bill the Clarity Nut
Review: First of all, I was very surprised to see that anyone might accuse Bill Zinsser's writing as being arrogant. It's not.
I can only think the person who said that somehow misunderstood Professor Zinsser's discussion of Richard Feynman's writing. In fact, that's the main reason I'm writing this review. Not so much for the sake of reviewing the book, but rather for the sake of posting a contrary point of view. What I can say about this book is that it's hilarious. And not at anyone else's expense. The humor in the book serves to make the point that clear thinking produces clear writing. As a professor myself, I admit that much writing from academics is not clear. I believe it's appropriate, therefore, for Professor Zinsser to encourage people--both students and teachers alike--to write across the disciplines as an exercise in clarifying our own thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: An "Admirable Complement"
Review: For those who have read _On Writing Well_, the classic guide to writing better--meaning: clearer--prose, an excellent follow-up is this book, entitled _Writing to Learn: How to Write--and Think--Clearly About any Subject at All_. With such a title little needs to be said regarding the book's purpose and content. (It focuses on a variety of subjects, from philosophy all the way to chemistry, and shows how each can be written about in clear prose _for the benefit of the writer_.)

I got the book after listening to a course by Leonard Peikoff on the philosophy of education. In it, he states that writing should be an integral part of every subject, so much so that there should be one grade based on _what_ the student knows and another based on _how_ he expresses that knowledge in writing. When I bought it, I wanted to see how this would play out in real life, were it ever enacted. Also, to be honest, I was just a tad bit skeptical that it could be used effectively with such subjects as mathematics and chemistry.

What I learned from reading the book was that writing about a variety of subjects is not only possible but of inestimable help to the student--not to mention the teacher too, as it makes their job of evaluating the status of each child's education much easier. There were many insightful comments in the book and a few precious gems of wisdom. On the topic of obscurity, for instance, Zinsser writes:

"Obscurity being one of the deadly sins, anyone might suppose that serious people would labor mightily to avoid it in their writing. But to suppose this is to overlook another force of nature that almost equals entropy as a drag on life's momentum. That force is snobbery. Yes, gentle reader (as the Victorian novelists put it when they had to deal with the darker traits), it pains me to say that there are writers who actually want to be obscure. Their principle habitat is Academia, though they can be spotted without the aid of binoculars wherever intellectuals flock. Not for them the short words and active verbs and concrete details of ordinary speech; they believe that a simple style is the sign of a simple mind. Actually a simple style is the result of harder thinking and harder work than they are willing or able to do."

Unfortunately, such witty observations do not occupy every page of the book. There are times when teaching children long-division is looked down upon because we now have calculators, others where Zinnser argues that the "creative process" is some sort of mystical mystery. And yet, with all the good attributes of this book--including a host of smartly chosen essays--these faults that I so unmercifully find can be, if not overlooked, at least seen in their proper context.

That context is not unlike one where a few small dents appear after close inspection on a good-looking sportscar. The errors may detract a little from its over-all value, but not by much (they do not, for instance, change the fact that what you are getting is worth a lot). And thus my recommendation to you, with both, would be--and is--similar: do not let any minor faults distract you, but rather place them in an appropriate context so that you can unapologetically enjoy the value that they give. With this book especially I can assure you that your investment will be wisely made and handsomely rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Complement to On Writing Well
Review: I read this book for both its subject matter and the bibliography. Zinsser leads the reader to good writing in the literature of mathematics physics and chemistry and more from disciplines thought of as other than suitable for writerfs. Zinsser shows by example that writing is not the sole domain of the humanities but across the spectrum of disciplines. He builds the case for writing across the curriculum, providing good models from fields as diverse as chemistry to music. Here is an engaging way to learn for all of us. There is an exciting literature to be written of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biochemistry. In the words of William Zinsser, gIf writing is learned by imitation, I want every learner to imitate the best.h Writing to Learn names some of the giants from a variety of disciplines and shows the way by referencing their work.

As more than a million copies of this book have been sold and its being issued on its 25th anniversary, Washington would do well to mandate purchase of Writing to Learn by politicians, teachers and other agitators claiming more tax dollars for education, and send them away with the missive: READ AND APPLY NO FUNDING SUPPLIED. William Zinsser has given us a brilliant and practical; low-tech and real learning philosophy for the classroom and beyond.

Rating:
Summary: "How to Write and Think Clearly About Any Subject at All"
Review: I think we all have a "fear" of certain subjects. For me, that fear manifests itself in the field of math. I was terrified of it in school and even now would rather discuss almost any other subject. Zinsser helps us face our fear of subjects we think we don't understand by writing. How will that help? You probably know a lot about the work you do. You could probably also write very competently about your profession. In "Writing to Learn," Zinsser shows us that writing across the curriculum (which is very prominent in education right now) can help anyone learn how to organize and present their thoughts in a logical manner so that they can be understood by those who might otherwise be intimidated by them. Zinsser gives many examples from writers that support his statement that writing is helpful in all subjects in the curriculum: science, history, music, math...MATH??? How can you write about math? It's all in Zinsser's book, which is as entertaining as it is informative.

Rating:
Summary: Writing to Learn
Review: I think we all have a "fear" of certain subjects. For me, that fear manifests itself in the field of math. I was terrified of it in school and even now would rather discuss almost any other subject. Zinsser helps us face our fear of subjects we think we don't understand by writing. How will that help? You probably know a lot about the work you do. You could probably also write very competently about your profession. In "Writing to Learn," Zinsser shows us that writing across the curriculum (which is very prominent in education right now) can help anyone learn how to organize and present their thoughts in a logical manner so that they can be understood by those who might otherwise be intimidated by them. Zinsser gives many examples from writers that support his statement that writing is helpful in all subjects in the curriculum: science, history, music, math...MATH??? How can you write about math? It's all in Zinsser's book, which is as entertaining as it is informative.

Rating:
Summary: "How to Write and Think Clearly About Any Subject at All"
Review: I think we all have a "fear" of certain subjects. For me, that fear manifests itself in the field of math. I was terrified of it in school and even now would rather discuss almost any other subject. Zinsser helps us face our fear of subjects we think we don't understand by writing. How will that help? You probably know a lot about the work you do. You could probably also write very competently about your profession. In "Writing to Learn," Zinsser shows us that writing across the curriculum (which is very prominent in education right now) can help anyone learn how to organize and present their thoughts in a logical manner so that they can be understood by those who might otherwise be intimidated by them. Zinsser gives many examples from writers that support his statement that writing is helpful in all subjects in the curriculum: science, history, music, math...MATH??? How can you write about math? It's all in Zinsser's book, which is as entertaining as it is informative.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but ...
Review: The book starts by expressing how we can use writing to learn, but it seems to get more into stating over and over THAT we can use writing to learn, not HOW to learn through writing, or how to teach through the use of writing. But maybe it's just me.

Rating:
Summary: Arrogant Fella
Review: Though his book is extremely well written, Bill Z. (Billsy :-) tends to overvalue "standard" English. In fact, he's downright arrogant.

Here's an example of what Billsy writes in his book: "I can't handle an A-plus mind expressing itself in C-minus sentences." The mind and sentences being those of Richard Feynman.

Ultimately, Zinsser unwittingly makes the statement of how very-very far we must go before educated people in positions of de facto power who spout things such as "writing to learn"/ "learning to write" and people doing hard core intellectual work, yet maintain their humanity, understand each other.

In short, arrogant "Fellas" like Bill should simply have a have bongo-drums smashed on their heads...just kidding.

For less arrogance and better understanding read Rudolph Flesch's "How to Write, Speak and Think More Effectively."

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected...
Review: Too artsy fartsy. Not well organized. I couldn't tell the writing samples from the analysis. Chapter headings didn't help. Maybe different formatting would have helped. As is, difficult to plow through.