Summary
PART I Principles - Ch.7 Usage
Why some words are cheap?
No answer, because usage has no fixed boundaries.
What are guardians of usage doing?
Keep the language from becoming sloppy;
Help the language grow by welcoming any immigrant that will bring strength or color.
What is good usage?
Separating usage from jargon;
Separating good English from technical English;
Using good words to express myself clearly and simply to someone else.
Part II Method - Ch.8 Unity
How to learn write?
Force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.
Would you write well after regular writing exercises?
Maybe not, but you would be exercising your powers of putting the English language on paper, gaining confidence and identifying the most common problems.
Unity
Pronoun: first person, participant, third person, observer, etc;
Tense: keep a principal tense;
Mood/tone: any tone is acceptable, but don't mix two or three.
How to decide what kind of article you want to write? (How to control your material?)
Thinking small;
Writing with zest;
Don’t become the prisoner of a preconceived plan.
Vocab
doggedly
What you think is definitive today will turn undefinitive by tonight, and writers who doggedly pursue every last fact will find themselves pursuing the rainbow and never settling down to write.
dogged 顽强的，坚持不懈的
zest; ebb
When your zest begins to ebb, the reader is the first person to know it.
zest 热情，狂热，兴致
e.g. He approached every task with a boundless zest. 他处理每项任务都满腔热情。
ebb 衰落，逐渐减少，也表示退潮
e.g. I was recently divorced and feeling at a low ebb.
