PCjs Machines
Home of the original IBM PC emulator for browsers.
PC-SIG Diskette Library (Disk #1181)
[PCjs Machine "ibm5170"]
Loading /machines/pcx86/ibm/5170/cga/1024kb/rev3/machine.xml...
Information about “FOUR PROGRAMS FOR WRITERS”
BASIC ENGLISH can tell you how many words in your poem or prose are on
the magic list of 850 words scholars agree are simple and most
understandable to the average reader. The program can flag words
excluded from the magic list and is valuable for technical writers.
File Descriptions:
-------- --- BASIC ENGLISH.
BE EXE The main program for BASIC ENGLISH.
BE DF The main data file.
BE DOC Documentation for BASIC ENGLISH.
BASMAN BAT Batch file to copy documentation to your printer.
Roses are red, violets are blue, POETEASE will rhyme most anything for
you!
POETEASE generates rhyming, consonant or assonant endings for poetry.
One drawback: the program matches spelling only. Hence, POETEASE will
not list `liar' as a rhyme word for `buyer.'
File Descriptions:
-------- --- POETEASE.
POETDOC BAT Batch file to copy documentation to your printer.
PZ EXE The main program for POETEASE.
INITS Data file.
ENDS Data file.
VOWELS Data file.
POETEASE DOC Text documentation for POETEASE.
Writers -- Analyze your writing style. Step back and take a cool look
at how you do it.
STYLED and STYLIST chart word and letter patterns in ASCII text files to
help you revise, analyze and compare your writing style. The programs
only work with ASCII text files, but included on this disk is a utility
program that converts any non-ASCII text file into ASCII format (this
includes documents).
These two programs can save you time in your revisions and help improve
your writing style. STYLED analyzes each text for word length,
punctuation, syntax or nominalization. You can view a text file without
leaving the program, and you can shell to DOS. STYLLIST does the same
thing as STYLED, except that it records your long words, forms of ``to
be,'' and potential nominalizations in a disk file.
File Descriptions:
AUTOEXEC BAT Start-up batch file.
STUDNESE TXT Sample text file.
STPAUL TXT Sample text file.
REVTEACH TXT Sample text file.
REVSTUD TXT Sample text file.
UNWS EXE ASCII utility.
UNWS DOC Documentation for UNWS.EXE.
TEACHESE TXT Sample text file.
INVENT helps you create beautiful metaphors from words that you supply
to the program. You enter up to 40 words into each of the these
categories, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs and then let the
program do the work.
The program then generates sentences, which you may use in your
wrighting endeavors, quickly one screen full at a time. You can request
as many re-scramblings of the same data as you like.
FILE DESCRIPTIONS
INVENT EXE Main program.
INVENT DOC Program documentation.
ADMINESE.TXT
Implicit in what has been suggested above is the fact that the
Department needs significantly to increase its expectations and its
requirements. Both sections of the Graduate Division now have completed the
pioneering phase of their programs. The programs are well established. A
satisfactory international recognition for the programs has been achieved.
The time now has come to build upon the initial successes of the
Department's postgraduate program. During the forthcoming triennium,
postgraduate coursework within the Department must be made more complex.
Students must be required to operate at more sophisticated--at genuinely
international--levels of commitment and skill.
BE.DOC
BASIC ENGLISH
(BE.EXE)
Version 1.0
(c) 1988 By Louie Crew
BASIC ENGLISH analyzes your text and reports how many words are in BASIC
English. Optionally, it creates a new copy of your text, flagging the
words not BASIC.
Syntax
At the MS-DOS command line, enter:
BE <filename>[*]
For <filename> substitute the name of the file which you wish to analyze.
Add the asterisk if you desire the flagged copy of your file. Without the
*, the program will merely report statistics.
Note: If you choose the flagged report, it automatically appears as a new
file called R.BE. Save that file under another name to avoid having
BE.EXE overwrite it the next time that you use the program.
BASIC according to whom?
Early in the Twentieth Century many scholars around the world rallied to
support BASIC ENGLISH as a convenient vehicle for international
communication. BASIC ENGLISH was comprised of a list of 850 words which,
they argued, allow anyone to say almost anything. (See C. K. Ogden, The
System of Basic English. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1934.)
Although few foreigners learn the minimal 850, the list still provides a
good guide for simplicity and accessibility for those who write for
readers who use English as a second language, as well as for younger native
speakers. Technical writers, for example, might want to restrict the
stock of additional words to those which are specific to the technology,
and they might try to describe the new words in terms from the 850.
Requirements
BASIC ENGLISH should work with MS-DOS 2.0+, but I have tested it only on
MS-DOS 3.3.
BASIC ENGLISH requires ASCII text. If you use WordStar or any other word-
processor which adds high-bit characters to your text, you will have to
strip those high-bits, as with UNWS.EXE, CLEAN.COM and various other
programs in the public domain. WordStar versions 4.0+ allow you to strip
any text file if you select ASCII as the printer when you print it. It
prints a new version of your text to a disk file called ASCII.WS. See your
manual.
BASIC ENGLISH requires the following files:
BE.EXE The main program
BE.DF The main data file
BE.DF must be on the logged subdirectory. BE.EXE may be anywhere in the
path. Do not ever alter the format of BE.DF It contains all of 850 words
of BASIC English formatted as BE.EXE requires. If you wish to see them in
a more conventional format, you may TYPE them at the MS-DOS command, of
copy the file into a file with another name, to edit.
Limitations
Those who promote BASIC English never intend to restrict users to the one
inflection in the list of 850. Given the irregularities of English
spelling, with about 97 percent accuracy, BE.EXE accommodates the most
common suffixes: ing, ings, ied, ed, er, ers, ies, es, s. Hence, BE.EXE
will treat "comes" as BASIC, although only "come" appears in the list.
Shareware
BASIC ENGLISH is copyrighted shareware. You may give it away, but you may
not sell it. If you use it after examining it, you are expected to
contribute $5 to
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
Other MS-DOS(2.1+) Shareware Available from Louie Crew
All programs come with manuals on the disks.
ADDRESS A program to manage addresses. It processes people by up
to ten categories, which the user specifies. It also sorts by
zip codes and by birthdays. It prints lists and envelopes,
the latter with or without your return address.
It includes RAMADD.EXE, a program in RAM which reports any
address you need while doing other tasks. (Contribute $5)
APPLY A program which monitors applications (for jobs, grants,
contests....), for the applicant. It stores the relevant
data and merges it with text files which you create. It allows you
to edit your text for fine changes. It orders dossiers and prints
your letters, resumes, and envelopes. APPLY reviews any past
experience you may have had with the person/institution before
you try again. (Contribute $10)
CANTONES A program to help you learn to speak Cantonese.
An earlier version, "MailMerge Cantonese," won
best-article-of-1985 by the Hong Kong Computer Society,
reprinted in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers'
Association, May 1986. (Contribute $10)
HIRE A program which monitors applications (for jobs,
grants, contests....), for the employer or granting
institution. It stores the relevant data and merges it
with text files which you create. It allows you to edit
your text for fine changes. It writes acknowledgments, alerts
when support documents have not arrived, and writes rejections.
It lets you code the applicants and clone special lists, for
printouts to your committee or for private reference.
It prints your letters and envelopes. HIRE does the busy work.
It lets you respond professionally to everyone and frees time for
you to identify the best applicants. (Contribute $10)
MUSES A program which codes publishers; prints and circulates
manuscripts; queries; catalogs publications; prepares
bibliographies; tallies..... (2 disks) (Contribute $20)
MYLOG Documents how you use your computer. MYLOG works best as a
command within batch files. It adds logs to a file call LOGGED
on your root directory. It lists the log either to screen
or to a disk file, and may list the logs for any one project,
or for all projects in the log. MYLOG computes the time you spent
on each log-in and for all log-ins reported. (Contribute $5)
POETEASE A program which asks you to specify phonetic spelling and then
quickly generates lists which match according to:
1=Assonance
2=Consonance
3=Rhyme
POETEASE requires only 34k. It is easy to SHELL to it from most
word-processors, choose the rhyming word or assonant word...that
you want, and return immediately to your composition.
Pronounce it `poet ease,' `poet tease,' or `poetese': your
skill determines the quality of its service. (Contribute $5)
PRINTASC A program which installs two printers and accesses their special
codes (such as proportional spacing); prints envelopes using the
address typed only once, in the letters themselves; lets you
specify headers, footers, etc. at print time, recognizes several
WordStar dot commands; keeps up with two of your names, two of
your addresses; facilitates indexing... Requires ASCII text, but
shares another public-domain program to let you convert
speedily. (Contribute $5)
STYLED Two programs which monitor prose and measure several
dimensions of style. One graphs and lists to the
screen; another reports to disk files which you can use when
you edit. STYLED monitors sentence length, word length,
punctuation, syntax, weak verbs, and nominalization. (Contribute
$10)
Copy freely. Do not sell. If you use, contribute.
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
BE.DOC
BASIC ENGLISH
(BE.EXE)
Version 1.0
(c) 1988 By Louie Crew
BASIC ENGLISH analyzes your text and reports how many words are in BASIC
English. Optionally, it creates a new copy of your text, flagging the
words not BASIC.
Syntax
At the MS-DOS command line, enter:
BE <filename>[*]
For <filename> substitute the name of the file which you wish to analyze.
Add the asterisk if you desire the flagged copy of your file. Without the
*, the program will merely report statistics.
Note: If you choose the flagged report, it automatically appears as a new
file called R.BE. Save that file under another name to avoid having
BE.EXE overwrite it the next time that you use the program.
BASIC according to whom?
Early in the Twentieth Century many scholars around the world rallied to
support BASIC ENGLISH as a convenient vehicle for international
communication. BASIC ENGLISH was comprised of a list of 850 words which,
they argued, allow anyone to say almost anything. (See C. K. Ogden, The
System of Basic English. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1934.)
Although few foreigners learn the minimal 850, the list still provides a
good guide for simplicity and accessibility for those who write for
readers who use English as a second language, as well as for younger native
speakers. Technical writers, for example, might want to restrict the
stock of additional words to those which are specific to the technology,
and they might try to describe the new words in terms from the 850.
Requirements
BASIC ENGLISH should work with MS-DOS 2.0+, but I have tested it only on
MS-DOS 3.3.
BASIC ENGLISH requires ASCII text. If you use WordStar or any other word-
processor which adds high-bit characters to your text, you will have to
strip those high-bits, as with UNWS.EXE, CLEAN.COM and various other
programs in the public domain. WordStar versions 4.0+ allow you to strip
any text file if you select ASCII as the printer when you print it. It
prints a new version of your text to a disk file called ASCII.WS. See your
manual.
BASIC ENGLISH requires the following files:
BE.EXE The main program
BE.DF The main data file
BE.DF must be on the logged subdirectory. BE.EXE may be anywhere in the
path. Do not ever alter the format of BE.DF It contains all of 850 words
of BASIC English formatted as BE.EXE requires. If you wish to see them in
a more conventional format, you may TYPE them at the MS-DOS command, of
copy the file into a file with another name, to edit.
Limitations
Those who promote BASIC English never intend to restrict users to the one
inflection in the list of 850. Given the irregularities of English
spelling, with about 97 percent accuracy, BE.EXE accommodates the most
common suffixes: ing, ings, ied, ed, er, ers, ies, es, s. Hence, BE.EXE
will treat "comes" as BASIC, although only "come" appears in the list.
Shareware
BASIC ENGLISH is copyrighted shareware. You may give it away, but you may
not sell it. If you use it after examining it, you are expected to
contribute $5 to
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
Other MS-DOS(2.1+) Shareware Available from Louie Crew
All programs come with manuals on the disks.
ADDRESS A program to manage addresses. It processes people by up
to ten categories, which the user specifies. It also sorts by
zip codes and by birthdays. It prints lists and envelopes,
the latter with or without your return address.
It includes RAMADD.EXE, a program in RAM which reports any
address you need while doing other tasks. (Contribute $5)
APPLY A program which monitors applications (for jobs, grants,
contests....), for the applicant. It stores the relevant
data and merges it with text files which you create. It allows you
to edit your text for fine changes. It orders dossiers and prints
your letters, resumes, and envelopes. APPLY reviews any past
experience you may have had with the person/institution before
you try again. (Contribute $10)
CANTONES A program to help you learn to speak Cantonese.
An earlier version, "MailMerge Cantonese," won
best-article-of-1985 by the Hong Kong Computer Society,
reprinted in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers'
Association, May 1986. (Contribute $10)
HIRE A program which monitors applications (for jobs,
grants, contests....), for the employer or granting
institution. It stores the relevant data and merges it
with text files which you create. It allows you to edit
your text for fine changes. It writes acknowledgments, alerts
when support documents have not arrived, and writes rejections.
It lets you code the applicants and clone special lists, for
printouts to your committee or for private reference.
It prints your letters and envelopes. HIRE does the busy work.
It lets you respond professionally to everyone and frees time for
you to identify the best applicants. (Contribute $10)
MUSES A program which codes publishers; prints and circulates
manuscripts; queries; catalogs publications; prepares
bibliographies; tallies..... (2 disks) (Contribute $20)
MYLOG Documents how you use your computer. MYLOG works best as a
command within batch files. It adds logs to a file call LOGGED
on your root directory. It lists the log either to screen
or to a disk file, and may list the logs for any one project,
or for all projects in the log. MYLOG computes the time you spent
on each log-in and for all log-ins reported. (Contribute $5)
POETEASE A program which asks you to specify phonetic spelling and then
quickly generates lists which match according to:
1=Assonance
2=Consonance
3=Rhyme
POETEASE requires only 34k. It is easy to SHELL to it from most
word-processors, choose the rhyming word or assonant word...that
you want, and return immediately to your composition.
Pronounce it `poet ease,' `poet tease,' or `poetese': your
skill determines the quality of its service. (Contribute $5)
PRINTASC A program which installs two printers and accesses their special
codes (such as proportional spacing); prints envelopes using the
address typed only once, in the letters themselves; lets you
specify headers, footers, etc. at print time, recognizes several
WordStar dot commands; keeps up with two of your names, two of
your addresses; facilitates indexing... Requires ASCII text, but
shares another public-domain program to let you convert
speedily. (Contribute $5)
STYLED Two programs which monitor prose and measure several
dimensions of style. One graphs and lists to the
screen; another reports to disk files which you can use when
you edit. STYLED monitors sentence length, word length,
punctuation, syntax, weak verbs, and nominalization. (Contribute
$10)
Copy freely. Do not sell. If you use, contribute.
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
FILE1181.TXT
Disk No: 1181
Program Titles: POETEASE version 1.1
PC-SIG versions: 2
Roses are red, violets are blue, POETEASE will rhyme most anything for
you. POETEASE generates rhyming, consonant or assonant endings for
poetry. One drawback: the program matches spelling only. Hence,
POETEASE will not list `liar' as a rhyme word for `buyer.'
Usage: Poetry Writing Assistance.
Special Requirements: None.
How to Start: Type GO (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $5.00
File Descriptions:
POETDOC BAT Batch file to copy documentation to your printer.
PZ EXE The main program for POETEASE.
INITS Data file.
ENDS Data file.
VOWELS Data file.
POETEASE DOC Text documentation for POETEASE.
===========================================================================
Program Title: STYLED version 3.00 AND STYLLIST
STYLED charts patterns in ASCII text files to help revise, analyze, or
compare one's writing style. The programs only work with an ASCII text,
but on this program there is a utility that converts any non-ASCII text
file into ASCII format (this includes WordStar documents). These two
programs can save you time in your revisions, and help improve your
writing style. STYLED analyzes each text for word length, punctuation,
syntax, or nominalization. You can view a text file without leaving the
program STYLED, and you can shell to DOS.
STYLLIST does about the same thing as STYLED, except that it records
your long words, forms of "to be," and potential nominalizations in a
disk file.
Usage: Writer's Tool.
Special Requirements: Printer (optional).
How to Start: Type GO (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $7.00
File Descriptions:
ADMINESE TXT Sample text file.
AUTOEXEC BAT Batch file to start program.
MANUAL BAT Batch file to print documentation.
REVADMIN TXT Sample text file.
REVSTUD TXT Sample text file.
REVTEACH TXT Sample text file.
STPAUL TXT Sample text file.
STUDNESE TXT Sample text file.
STYLED DOC STYLED documentation.
STYLED EXE STYLED main program.
STYLLIST EXE STYLLIST main program.
TEACHESE TXT Sample text file.
UNWS DOC Unwordstar documentation.
UNWS EXE Unwordstar program.
===========================================================================
Program Title: BASIC ENGLISH version 1.0
BASIC ENGLISH tells you how many words in your poem or
prose are on the magic list of 850 words scholars agree are simple and
most understandable by most people. BASIC ENGLISH can flag words
excluded from the magic list and is valuable for technical writers.
Usage: Prose Analysis
Special Requirements: Printer (optional).
How to Start: Type GO (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $5.00
File Descriptions:
BE EXE The main program for BASIC ENGLISH.
BE DF The main data file.
BE DOC Documentation for BASIC ENGLISH.
BASMAN BAT Batch file to copy documentation to your printer.
===========================================================================
Program Title: INVENT version 2.1
INVENT helps you create beautiful metaphors from words that you supply
to the program. You enter up to 40 words into each of the these
categories, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs and then let the
program do the work.
The program then generates sentences, which you may use in your
wrighting endeavors, quickly one screen full at a time. You can request
as many re-scramblings of the same data as you like.
Usage: Writers tool.
Special Requirements: None.
How to Start: Type GO (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $7.00
File Descriptions:
INVENT EXE Main program.
INVENT DOC Program documentation.
INVENT.DOC
INVENT
(c) 1988 by Louie Crew
Invent prompts you to enter words and then scrambles them.
To run, at the MS-DOS prompt enter just
INVENT
Then hit the <ENTER> key and follow directions on the screen.
You may enter up to 40 each: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
The screen reminds you that you may stop the entry of any category as soon
as you like, by hitting the <ENTER> key without entering a new word.
The program generates new sentences quickly, one screen full at a time.
You may request as many re-scramblings of the same data as you like.
In a file called INVENTED.DAT, the program preserves all the data it
generates. If INVENTED.DAT already exists, the program appends new
material to it. From time to time you should rename or erase INVENTED.DAT
so that it will not become too bulky.
Tips
1. INVENT works best if you enter words that matter to you
2. The more words you enter, the richer the variety of the combinations which
the program will generate. Also, the wider your range of words, the
richer the associations which INVENT will suggest.
3. INVENT works best if you resist entering strings of synonyms. Also
resist entries which are all abstract, or all concrete. Otherwise,
enter words quickly: don't try to anticipate the scramble. Edit after
you see INVENT's suggestions, not before. Let INVENT disinhibit you,
not box you in.
4. You may enter phrases or clauses when the program prompts for words,
especially when it prompts for ADVERBS. If you enter clauses for
ADJECTIVES they will sometimes appear in ungrammatical order.
5. As a "noun," you can enter the noun plus and adjective phrase or clause
(e.g., "man who ate my dog"), but the full phrase or clause will appear
each time the program randomly chooses this "noun."
6. If you enter all verbs in the past tense, INVENT will make fewer verb
errors.
.cp 7
Caveats
The program will generate some novel collocations, gems which you may
polish to set in an appropriate jewelry. Sort these from the silly and
sometimes ungrammatical ones.
INVENT does NOT think for you; it rearranges some of your own thoughts and
may provoke you to think new thoughts. It works best as an heuristic.
INVENT is shareware. Copy freely, but don't dare sell. If you use,
contribute $7 to:
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 1545
Orangeburg, SC 29116-1545.
Send an SSAE to learn about other programs Louie Crew has written for writers.
INVENT.DOC
INVENT
(c) 1988 by Louie Crew
Invent prompts you to enter words and then scrambles them.
To run, at the MS-DOS prompt enter just
INVENT
Then hit the <ENTER> key and follow directions on the screen.
You may enter up to 40 each: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
The screen reminds you that you may stop the entry of any category as soon
as you like, by hitting the <ENTER> key without entering a new word.
The program generates new sentences quickly, one screen full at a time.
You may request as many re-scramblings of the same data as you like.
In a file called INVENTED.DAT, the program preserves all the data it
generates. If INVENTED.DAT already exists, the program appends new
material to it. From time to time you should rename or erase INVENTED.DAT
so that it will not become too bulky.
Tips
1. INVENT works best if you enter words that matter to you
2. The more words you enter, the richer the variety of the combinations which
the program will generate. Also, the wider your range of words, the
richer the associations which INVENT will suggest.
3. INVENT works best if you resist entering strings of synonyms. Also
resist entries which are all abstract, or all concrete. Otherwise,
enter words quickly: don't try to anticipate the scramble. Edit after
you see INVENT's suggestions, not before. Let INVENT disinhibit you,
not box you in.
4. You may enter phrases or clauses when the program prompts for words,
especially when it prompts for ADVERBS. If you enter clauses for
ADJECTIVES they will sometimes appear in ungrammatical order.
5. As a "noun," you can enter the noun plus and adjective phrase or clause
(e.g., "man who ate my dog"), but the full phrase or clause will appear
each time the program randomly chooses this "noun."
6. If you enter all verbs in the past tense, INVENT will make fewer verb
errors.
.cp 7
Caveats
The program will generate some novel collocations, gems which you may
polish to set in an appropriate jewelry. Sort these from the silly and
sometimes ungrammatical ones.
INVENT does NOT think for you; it rearranges some of your own thoughts and
may provoke you to think new thoughts. It works best as an heuristic.
INVENT is shareware. Copy freely, but don't dare sell. If you use,
contribute $7 to:
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 1545
Orangeburg, SC 29116-1545.
Send an SSAE to learn about other programs Louie Crew has written for writers.
POETEASE.DOC
POETEASE, Version 1.1
(c) 1988 by Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
I. What It Is
Pronounce it `poet ease,' `poet tease,' or `poetese': your skill determines
the quality of its service to you.
As the menu notes, POETEASE helps you discover
1=Assonance
2=Consonance
3=Rhyme
The program very quickly generates lists to match with the phonetics which
you specify.
.cp 5
II. How to Use
You may initiate the program at the command level, if you enter at the MS-DOS
prompt:
PZ<ENTER>
<ENTER> means the <ENTER> key.
That will take you to the menu above.
You may bypass the menu and choose the help you want when you first summon
the program. At the MS-DOS prompt, enter:
PZ<ENTER> x
(for `x' substitute `a' for help with assonance, `c' for help with
consonance, or `r' for help with rhyme.)
.cp 4
Reports to Screen: Reports to Disk
The program automatically reports to the screen. You may make it report to
disk instead if you you add an asterisk to command at the MS-DOS prompt:
PZ<ENTER> x*
(As before, for `x' substitute `a' for help with assonance, `c' for help
with consonance, or `r' for help with rhyme.)
.cp 6
III. How to Interpret
POETEASE does not think. It generates real words and phony words. You
should have no trouble sorting out the legitimate words from the non-words in
its lists. You may have more trouble choosing the best words.
POETEASE matches spelling only. English spelling often mismatches with
sound. Hence, POETEASE will not list `liar' as a rhyme word for `buyer.'
When you enter `uyer' to request help, POETEASE lists only:
.cp 6
buyer luyer stuyer
bluyer muyer styuyer
bruyer nuyer swuyer
byuyer puyer tuyer
cuyer phuyer thuyer
chuyer pluyer thruyer
cluyer pruyer truyer
cruyer quyer tyuyer
duyer ruyer vuyer
druyer rhuyer wuyer
fuyer suyer whuyer
fluyer scuyer wruyer
fruyer shuyer xuyer
guyer shluyer yuyer
gluyer shmuyer zuyer
gnuyer shruyer
gruyer skuyer
gyuyer sluyer
huyer smuyer
juyer snuyer
kuyer spuyer
kluyer squyer
kruyer sruyer
When you eliminate the non-words from this list, look closely: it also
suggests `flyer,' `shyer' and others. If you enter `yer,'`iar,' and `ire'
you will generate other lists for the same rhyme.
.cp 5
IV. Efficient Use
Most good word-processors let you SHELL to the command level and return
without having to re-load your word-processor or your current file.
For example, while writing a poem in WordStar version 4.0, hit Ctrl-K-F. Run
POETEASE as described above. When you finish, you will return automatically
to your poem, with any words that you have discovered. If you have asked
PZ to save them in a disk file, you can read that file (TEM.PZ) into your
document (WordStar's ^KR function: see the manual for your word-processor).
If you want to run several lists while outside WordStar 4.0, specify COMMAND
as the first command, before you summon POETEASE. You will have to specify
EXIT when you have finished and want to return to WordStar. See the
WordStar manual for more advice about SHELLing.
.cp 6
V. Files Required
POETEASE comes with the program file:
PZ.EXE
with three data files:
.cp 3
INITS
ENDS
VOWELS
.cp 3
and with this explanation:
POETEASE.DOC
You never have to read or look at the data files, and you should never alter
them or erase them. The data files must be on the current subdirectory for
the program to work properly. POETEASE may reside in any subdirectory, so
long as you have that subdirectory in your PATH (see the MS-DOS manual).
.cp 5
VI. Share-Ware
POETEASE is shareware. If you use it, send $5 to the programmer: otherwise
you will write doggerel and have nightmares.
.cp 3
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
If you order your first copy from Crew, send an extra $5 to cover his copying
and mailing costs (i.e., $10 total).
When you pay to use a version you already have, specify that version and the
date of the file. Crew will describe the next substantial update for you and
let you order it merely for the additional $5 it costs him to copy and send
it.
.cp 8
VII. Other MS-DOS(2.1+) Shareware Available from Louie Crew
All programs come with manuals on the disks.
ADDRESS A program to manage addresses. It processes people by up
to ten categories, which the user specifies. It also sorts by
zip codes and by birthdays. It prints lists and envelopes,
the latter with or without your return address.
It includes RAMADD.EXE, a program in RAM which reports any
address you need while doing other tasks. (Contribute $5)
APPLY A program which monitors applications (for jobs, grants,
contests....), for the applicant. It stores the relevant
data and merges it with text files which you create. It allows you
to edit your text for fine changes. It orders dossiers and prints
your letters, resumes, and envelopes. APPLY reviews any past
experience you may have had with the person/institution before
you try again. (Contribute $10)
BASICENG A program to analyze your text and report how many words are in
BASIC English. Optionally, it creates a new copy of your text,
flagging the words not in the BASIC list of 850 words. Extremely
useful for those who write for readers that use English as a
second language. (Contribute $5)
CANTONES A program to help you learn to speak Cantonese.
An earlier version, "MailMerge Cantonese," won
best-article-of-1985 by the Hong Kong Computer Society,
reprinted in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers'
Association, May 1986. (Contribute $10)
HIRE A program which monitors applications (for jobs,
grants, contests....), for the employer or granting
institution. It stores the relevant data and merges it
with text files which you create. It allows you to edit
your text for fine changes. It writes acknowledgments, alerts
when support documents have not arrived, and writes rejections.
It lets you code the applicants and clone special lists, for
printouts to your committee or for private reference.
It prints your letters and envelopes. HIRE does the busy work.
It lets you respond professionally to everyone and frees time for
you to identify the best applicants. (Contribute $10)
MUSES A program which codes publishers; prints and circulates
manuscripts; queries; catalogs publications; prepares
bibliographies; tallies..... (2 disks) (Contribute $20)
MYLOG Documents how you use your computer. MYLOG works best as a
command within batch files. It adds logs to a file call LOGGED
on your root directory. It lists the log either to screen
or to a disk file, and may list the logs for any one project,
or for all projects in the log. MYLOG computes the time you spent
on each log-in and for all log-ins reported. (Contribute $5)
PRINTASC A program which installs two printers and accesses their special
codes (such as proportional spacing); prints envelopes using the
address typed only once, in the letters themselves; lets you
specify headers, footers, etc. at print time, recognizes several
WordStar dot commands; keeps up with two of your names, two of
your addresses; facilitates indexing... Requires ASCII text, but
shares another public-domain program to let you convert
speedily. (Contribute $5)
STYLED Two programs which monitor prose and measure several
dimensions of style. One graphs and lists to the
screen; another reports to disk files which you can use when
you edit. STYLED monitors sentence length, word length,
punctuation, syntax, weak verbs, and nominalization. (Contribute
$10)
Copy freely. Do not sell. If you use, contribute.
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
POETEASE.DOC
POETEASE, Version 1.1
(c) 1988 by Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
I. What It Is
Pronounce it `poet ease,' `poet tease,' or `poetese': your skill determines
the quality of its service to you.
As the menu notes, POETEASE helps you discover
1=Assonance
2=Consonance
3=Rhyme
The program very quickly generates lists to match with the phonetics which
you specify.
.cp 5
II. How to Use
You may initiate the program at the command level, if you enter at the MS-DOS
prompt:
PZ<ENTER>
<ENTER> means the <ENTER> key.
That will take you to the menu above.
You may bypass the menu and choose the help you want when you first summon
the program. At the MS-DOS prompt, enter:
PZ<ENTER> x
(for `x' substitute `a' for help with assonance, `c' for help with
consonance, or `r' for help with rhyme.)
.cp 4
Reports to Screen: Reports to Disk
The program automatically reports to the screen. You may make it report to
disk instead if you you add an asterisk to command at the MS-DOS prompt:
PZ<ENTER> x*
(As before, for `x' substitute `a' for help with assonance, `c' for help
with consonance, or `r' for help with rhyme.)
.cp 6
III. How to Interpret
POETEASE does not think. It generates real words and phony words. You
should have no trouble sorting out the legitimate words from the non-words in
its lists. You may have more trouble choosing the best words.
POETEASE matches spelling only. English spelling often mismatches with
sound. Hence, POETEASE will not list `liar' as a rhyme word for `buyer.'
When you enter `uyer' to request help, POETEASE lists only:
.cp 6
buyer luyer stuyer
bluyer muyer styuyer
bruyer nuyer swuyer
byuyer puyer tuyer
cuyer phuyer thuyer
chuyer pluyer thruyer
cluyer pruyer truyer
cruyer quyer tyuyer
duyer ruyer vuyer
druyer rhuyer wuyer
fuyer suyer whuyer
fluyer scuyer wruyer
fruyer shuyer xuyer
guyer shluyer yuyer
gluyer shmuyer zuyer
gnuyer shruyer
gruyer skuyer
gyuyer sluyer
huyer smuyer
juyer snuyer
kuyer spuyer
kluyer squyer
kruyer sruyer
When you eliminate the non-words from this list, look closely: it also
suggests `flyer,' `shyer' and others. If you enter `yer,'`iar,' and `ire'
you will generate other lists for the same rhyme.
.cp 5
IV. Efficient Use
Most good word-processors let you SHELL to the command level and return
without having to re-load your word-processor or your current file.
For example, while writing a poem in WordStar version 4.0, hit Ctrl-K-F. Run
POETEASE as described above. When you finish, you will return automatically
to your poem, with any words that you have discovered. If you have asked
PZ to save them in a disk file, you can read that file (TEM.PZ) into your
document (WordStar's ^KR function: see the manual for your word-processor).
If you want to run several lists while outside WordStar 4.0, specify COMMAND
as the first command, before you summon POETEASE. You will have to specify
EXIT when you have finished and want to return to WordStar. See the
WordStar manual for more advice about SHELLing.
.cp 6
V. Files Required
POETEASE comes with the program file:
PZ.EXE
with three data files:
.cp 3
INITS
ENDS
VOWELS
.cp 3
and with this explanation:
POETEASE.DOC
You never have to read or look at the data files, and you should never alter
them or erase them. The data files must be on the current subdirectory for
the program to work properly. POETEASE may reside in any subdirectory, so
long as you have that subdirectory in your PATH (see the MS-DOS manual).
.cp 5
VI. Share-Ware
POETEASE is shareware. If you use it, send $5 to the programmer: otherwise
you will write doggerel and have nightmares.
.cp 3
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
If you order your first copy from Crew, send an extra $5 to cover his copying
and mailing costs (i.e., $10 total).
When you pay to use a version you already have, specify that version and the
date of the file. Crew will describe the next substantial update for you and
let you order it merely for the additional $5 it costs him to copy and send
it.
.cp 8
VII. Other MS-DOS(2.1+) Shareware Available from Louie Crew
All programs come with manuals on the disks.
ADDRESS A program to manage addresses. It processes people by up
to ten categories, which the user specifies. It also sorts by
zip codes and by birthdays. It prints lists and envelopes,
the latter with or without your return address.
It includes RAMADD.EXE, a program in RAM which reports any
address you need while doing other tasks. (Contribute $5)
APPLY A program which monitors applications (for jobs, grants,
contests....), for the applicant. It stores the relevant
data and merges it with text files which you create. It allows you
to edit your text for fine changes. It orders dossiers and prints
your letters, resumes, and envelopes. APPLY reviews any past
experience you may have had with the person/institution before
you try again. (Contribute $10)
BASICENG A program to analyze your text and report how many words are in
BASIC English. Optionally, it creates a new copy of your text,
flagging the words not in the BASIC list of 850 words. Extremely
useful for those who write for readers that use English as a
second language. (Contribute $5)
CANTONES A program to help you learn to speak Cantonese.
An earlier version, "MailMerge Cantonese," won
best-article-of-1985 by the Hong Kong Computer Society,
reprinted in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers'
Association, May 1986. (Contribute $10)
HIRE A program which monitors applications (for jobs,
grants, contests....), for the employer or granting
institution. It stores the relevant data and merges it
with text files which you create. It allows you to edit
your text for fine changes. It writes acknowledgments, alerts
when support documents have not arrived, and writes rejections.
It lets you code the applicants and clone special lists, for
printouts to your committee or for private reference.
It prints your letters and envelopes. HIRE does the busy work.
It lets you respond professionally to everyone and frees time for
you to identify the best applicants. (Contribute $10)
MUSES A program which codes publishers; prints and circulates
manuscripts; queries; catalogs publications; prepares
bibliographies; tallies..... (2 disks) (Contribute $20)
MYLOG Documents how you use your computer. MYLOG works best as a
command within batch files. It adds logs to a file call LOGGED
on your root directory. It lists the log either to screen
or to a disk file, and may list the logs for any one project,
or for all projects in the log. MYLOG computes the time you spent
on each log-in and for all log-ins reported. (Contribute $5)
PRINTASC A program which installs two printers and accesses their special
codes (such as proportional spacing); prints envelopes using the
address typed only once, in the letters themselves; lets you
specify headers, footers, etc. at print time, recognizes several
WordStar dot commands; keeps up with two of your names, two of
your addresses; facilitates indexing... Requires ASCII text, but
shares another public-domain program to let you convert
speedily. (Contribute $5)
STYLED Two programs which monitor prose and measure several
dimensions of style. One graphs and lists to the
screen; another reports to disk files which you can use when
you edit. STYLED monitors sentence length, word length,
punctuation, syntax, weak verbs, and nominalization. (Contribute
$10)
Copy freely. Do not sell. If you use, contribute.
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 64839
Chicago, IL 60664-0839
REVADMIN.TXT
I have implied that the Department needs to expect more, to
require more. We have pioneered long enough. Now we must sophisticate
our graduate students. During the new triennium, our students must
demonstrate more skill. They must commit themselves to the more
complex materials. The faculty must serve international, not parochial
standards.
REVSTUD.TXT
The science fiction here does not engage. No fancy detail, no mystery,
no wonder: no rumor haunts planets; the bronze statue neither puzzles nor
amuses. The author only plots. The book bores me.
REVTEACH.TXT
A student who expects to improve prose must apply our analysis
cautiously. Even when our counts correlate with good grades, further
research needs to define precisely how the correlation occurs. For example,
we found that grades go up when students spell correctly and use few
abstract words; but one cannot exchange a word for another as mechanically
as one can alter spelling. Perhaps students should read more if they expect
to use words effectively. Then possibly they can meaningfully raise average
word length from the low mean (4.3) to the high limit of 5.0. Sentence
length, word length, and readability measure scribal fluency. Classes need
to improve these rather than practice with those discrete grammatical and
stylistic elements which do not correlate significantly with grades.
STPAUL.TXT
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without
love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift
of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing
everything, and if I have faith in all its fulness, to move mountains, but
without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess,
piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am
without love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never
boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take
offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's
sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to
hope, and to endure whatever comes.
STUDNESE.TXT
As far as science fiction is concerned, the story is not the least
interesting. I can hardly read anything really interesting and mysterious:
no fancy about the wonderful world on planets, no extremely mysterious,
haunted rumors about the bronze statue, no need to puzzele, no way of
amusement. Since the author only reports the plot, the story is quite
boring. And I was dissatisfied after reading it.
STYLED.DOC
.XE 1B 0E
STYLED.DOC
The Manual for
STYLED
Version 3.0
(c) 1988 by Louie Crew
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 1545
Orangeburg, SC 29116-1545
Tele: 803-533-0017
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy freely. Pass it on. Do NOT sell.
If you use, contribute $7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
.he Manual for Louie Crew's STYLED, Version 3.0, page #
To use:
STYLED requires MS-DOS, version 2.1 or higher.
1) Put STYLED on a disk with at least one text file.
2) Type STYLED plus a carriage return.
3) Follow the menus.
4) STYLED automatically creates files to store 4 word lists.
They could require as much space as your original text,
but rarely do. Save plenty of space.
or, for a report to disk only
1) Put STYLLIST on a disk with at least one text file.
2) Type
STYLLIST plus a carriage return.
or
STYLLIST plus the name of a file to analyze
The second choice automates everything and returns to MS-DOS
after it has created REPORT. The first choice (slower)
allows you to enter the filename from a prompt within the
program.
REPORT lists your long words, your forms of "to be,"
and your potential nominalizations, without some of the overkill
in STYLED. It lacks the punctuation report and other screen
graphs in STYLED.
Why?
STYLED and STYLLIST chart patterns in texts. I created them to help me
revise. I now also use them to analyze what others write. They help me as I
compare professionals with amateurs.
Each program serves as a heuristic. It only describes: it cannot
prescribe or remedy. It can help a clever person to identify and arrange
insight. A dullard a dullard will remain.
Each program abstracts several forms from texts. Writers must
integrate form and content. Form alone lacks efficacy. Witness thousands
of bad poems in good iambic meter, hundreds of bad symphonies in perfect 3/4
time, millions of discarded images painted with the finest of oils.
Monsieur Jourdain, beware!
Each program detects patterns. Clever writers will preserve some,
expunge others.
Each program can freshen the air for those who know little to do with a
text except to check for "mistakes."
At the least, each program orders dickering. Occasionally they prompt a
reVision, a new way to see. Epiphanies come rarely, however. Only muses
can program those.
The programs offer no help with pre-writing and early drafts. They
attend to matters that most writers notice only minimally in early on.
The programs serve those who think they have said something worth the
time to polish.
Revision can gobble huge amounts of time. Many people revise for hours
without improving. Many lack strategy. These programs can help, modestly.
I sometimes spend an entire day revising one page. When I can't, I
wish I could. I wish more of the writers I read, would.
Warning:
Do not let this program waste your time. I have appended samples of my
own sessions with the program. You should find many other uses.
I cringe when I imagine mindless ways to use the program. For example,
the program quantifies transitionals. Transitionals often evidence
cohesion, but only if the writers have used them accurately. For some
writers, THUS=ALSO, MOREOVER=NEVERTHELESS, etc. This program will not
detect their confusion. No program protects us from sophomores. Thank the
goddess, most grow up.
I smile when I imagine those who think these matters completely
unimportant. At Breadloaf, Robert Frost used to talk for hours about a
minute effect of meter. "But surely you don't think about such things when
you write!" allegedly a poetaster exclaimed. Frost teased, "About little
else."
Too many people think that mystery abides only in abstracted ideas,
that the package counts for little. Like choristers who sing in showers
only, these compose not, and woo an audience of only one.
Interpret, but distrust your interpretations. Features most important
often occur but once.
Each program identifies slots. You must imagine wise ways to fill
them.
====
What?
First you tell STYLED the name of the text you want to analyze. You can name
the file from the command line in one of two ways:
STYLED file.txt
or
STYLED #*.txt
The second way loads STYLED and start with a list of *.TXT files for you
to choose from.
You can also simply load
STYLED
The program will then prompt you:
Answer # (plus wild cards) if you you wish to see the directory.
Hit just <ENTER> if you you wish to end.
Which TEXT file would you like to analyze?
Note that STYLED allows you to use MS-DOS wild cards (? or *) after the symbol
`#' if you want to view a directory. You may ask to see a list of the files
on a different drive or subdirectory as well, as when you are logged on A:
and enter for the FILENAME
#B:\mysubdirectory\*.DOC
You will then see all the files with the extension .DOC on \mysubdirectory on
the B: drive.
The Main Menu
Once you have told STYLED what text you want to analyze, the main menu
gives you
STYLED's menu initially gives eight choices:
Regarding \l\problem.txt
Analyze
1 = Word length
2 = Punctuation
3 = Syntax
4 = Nominalization
----------------------
(V)iew the file
(N)ame another file
(S)hell to MS-DOS
(E)nd a session
Choice:
Any of the first seven will return to the menu. Use the E
key to exit to the MS-DOS prompt in an orderly way.
The V choice lets you view the text. You do not have to leave the
program to return to your word-processor. The program shows the text to you
one screen at a time. Hit ESC to exit, any other key to continue whenever
the program pauses. The program numbers each screen when you view the text.
The S choice lets you leave STYLED temporarily. While you work
at the MS-DOS level, STYLED remains in memory. To return, type EXIT at
the MS-DOS prompt. You may even run some other programs while you have
Shelled, if your computer has enough memory.
========================================================================
Note: if you run STYLLIST, that program bypasses these the choices
and directly prepares one file which reports the long words, the forms of
TO BE, and the potential nominalizations.
========================================================================
At this point, I recommend that you stop. If you have not done so,
run STYLED and STYLLIST. Investigate one of the samples or test a text file
of your own. Return to this document only to reflect about how to interpret
the data.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Reports
1. Word Length.
This report replaces each word with a bar the length of the word,
and it preserves the terminal punctuation. It prints in dark-on-light only
words with 10 or more characters. It adds a sentence number, totals the
words in each sentence, and calculates:
Total word count:
Words 10+ chars.: ( %)
Aver. wds/per/sent:
Then it lists all the long words with a sentence number.
2. Punctuation.
(STYLLIST does not include this report.)
All punctuation blinks. One diamond character represents each word.
Afterwards, the program tallies the punctuation and computes the average
interval.
3. Syntax.
(STYLLIST does not include this report.)
Structure words ( possible coordinators, subordinators, and
transitionals) appear in high intensity.
First and last words of sentences, as well as words before and after
internal punctuation, appear in low intensity, unless reported as structure
words.
A dull bar replaces each other word.
The program tallies the structure words and it lists them, each with
its sentence number.
4. Nominalization.
Forms of the verb TO BE appear in dark-on-light letters. Many words
that may hide action appear in high intensity. All other words appear in
low intensity. After the program tallies forms of TO BE and the words
that may hide action, it lists them on screen with sentence number.
How to Use These Data
Your own goals should dictate how you use any statistics. Pattern
to integrate content. What should you emphasize? What should you intensify.
What junctures should you stress as such?.... What does your audience
expect? How can you use their expectations to engage them on your terms?
Or on theirs?
If STYLED's graphs correspond in no way to what you intend, put a new
Duracel in your inner ear and reprocess the words.
If all sentences look alike, rearrange them to serve a purpose,
possibly one you had not seen? If you detect monotony, make it serve you
or delete it.
A writer who strives primarily for style seems a bit like someone
who arranges books by color. A writer with style, resembles someone who
arranges some books by size.
Thurber's editor warned him not to use the colon. Thurber persisted.
One day the editor came to Thurber's desk, touched the colon, and ripped
the key from Thurber's word-processor.
Scholars have written about "Tennyson's scissors."
Some verbal fetishes enrich; others impoverish. STYLED can help you
only to spot them, not to evaluate them. The program will not zap any
combinations on your keyboard or printer, but you should.
Use the program to sample published texts which share your goals and
your audience. Interpret carefully. Generalize reluctantly. Reverse
a common practice if to reverse improves your manuscript. Norms should not
imprison, but should liberate. Attend them consciously, cautiously.
Visit the sculptor's private studio, not the gallery. Suspend
reverence. Let the moment demystify. Ask how you might sculpt better.
Models which deserve your praise will survive.
In time you will discover your own norms. AUTHOR derived from AUCTOR,
L., `originator,' which in turn derived from AUGERE, `to increase,' `to
produce.' Those faithful to this etymology do not merely copy, but originate
and augment.
Word Length
Readers understand and remember shorter sentences better than longer
ones. Longer sentences suggest complexity. Shorter sentences suggest
simplicity. Clever writers and readers master both. Some pack complexity
into few words. Others uninterrupt simplicity beautiful for many lines.
Many writers use short sentences to clarify the steps of a process.
Some writers subordinate profusely to illustrate delicate logical
relationships between abstract ideas. How does what you want to say
constrain how you might say it?
I like to require my "long words" to serve major rather than minor
plans. When I see my long words lifted alone from the text in LONGWORD.REP,
I do not welcome those for which I had no special purpose. A company will
soon fail if its managers do not contribute to the company's net worth,
especially if they ride in limousines. Shakespeare reserved limousines like
INCARNADINE for matters hunky-dory.
I try to identify clusters of long or short bars. If many short words
cluster, do I dictate? Do I sound childish? If many long words cluster, do
they cloud? What verbs can I use to unpack action? What clearer words can
I use?
How long is long? Each must decide. Another style-checker, Grammatik,
(now released as Grammatik II, Reference Software, 330 Townsend, Suite 232,
San Francisco, CA 94107) calls sentences under 14 words "short," sentences
over 30 words "long." Just as arbitrarily, STYLED calls "long" all words
with 10 or more characters. You decide.
Some sociologists call all adults from 21-35 "young", from 36-50
"middle-aged", and from 50-65 "old". Since they give me only 7 more months of
middle age, I dislike their arbitrary trifurcation of the work years, but I
know what they analyze. Distrust categories; but respect them.
Punctuation
Punctuation often reveals whether I have stressed as I planned.
For example,
Sometimes I begin moderately and intensify later.
At other times I begin dramatically (as with a short sentence, a
long one, or a highly modified one) and then moderate, as with a
stretch of sentences less varied.
Sometimes I risk monotony and then surprise.
Contexts influence the effects of patterns in prose just as much as in
music. A series of short sentences from Hemingway will not likely
function the way the short sentences function in a pamphlet to accompany
aspirin.
STYLED can help me spot places where I have deafened.
Use the program to report how the translators punctuated STPAUL.TXT.
Many consider this passage one of the most beautiful in English literature:
perhaps only the style compels them? The substance cynically indicts
everyone, especially in the Greek.
Use STYLED as a stethoscope to monitor the pulse of any "set piece"--by
Adrienne Rich, Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Jefferson, Chinua Achebe, Maxine
Hong Kingston.....
Syntax
Some words, like bones, structure the skeleton of a text. STYLED
monitors three types of "structure words": coordinators, subordinators, and
transitionals.
When sentence after sentence appears with only the first and last words,
the rest in bars, either the text does not cohere well or the writer has
fleshed with other words to hide the bones. When the program shows structure
words at frequent intervals, either the skeleton protrudes or supports a
complex body of text. Compare the cohesion of the sample STPAUL.TXT.
If I never subordinate by pattern, I might try to do so at the part of
the paper that I think most important.
Beware: the computer does not know what constitutes a subordinator, a
transitional, or a coordinator. The word THAT, for example, can function
in a variety of these ways, or just as a demonstrative pronoun. The
favorite of grammar tests--
That that that that that boy used is wrong is obvious.
won't confound this program. [We need no program to call this sentence
terrible!] STYLED reports the 5 THATs as potential structure words, and
reports the 2 forms of TO BE.
Specifically the program reproduces any word which matches one of these
56:
ACCORDINGLY, AFTER, ALSO, ALTHOUGH, AND, AS, BECAUSE, BEFORE,
BESIDES, BOTH, BUT, CONSEQUENTLY, EITHER, ETC., FIFTH, FIRST,
FOURTH, FURTHERMORE, HENCE, HOW, HOWEVER, IF, INDEED, INSTEAD,
MEANWHILE, MOREOVER, NEITHER, NEVERTHELESS, NOR, OR, OTHERWISE,
PROVIDED, SECOND, SIMILARLY, SINCE, SO, STILL, THAT, THEN,
THEREFORE, THIRD, THIS, THOUGH, THUS, UNLESS, UNTIL, WHAT, WHEN,
WHENEVER, WHERE, WHEREAS, WHETHER, WHICH, WHILE, WHO, WHOM
The Cholesterol Report
Forms of TO BE
The program finds AM, ARE, AREN'T, BE, BEEN, BEING, IS, ISN'T, WAS,
WASN'T, WERE, WEREN'T, I'M, YOU'RE, HE'S, SHE'S, IT'S, THERE'RE, THERE'S,
WE'RE, THEY'RE, WHO'S, WHICH'S, THAT'S, and WHAT's--regardless of case.
These forms almost always force a writer to bury action in less
forceful words, usually in nouns. These forms locate all passives (except
the lone past participle) and all expletives.
What's at stake: When you fetch your transcripts, only the novice
tells you: "I have lost your records." The experienced tells you, "Your
records have been lost." (Passive: agent dropped.) Those ready for
Washington say, "There has been a loss of your records"--with no hint of an
agent who responds.
In documents which I edit most thoroughly, I try to restrict TO BE to
situations in which I name or identify--or to those sentences where all
other alternatives sound silly.
Nominalization
Buried action can clog a text, like verbal cholesterol.
When a noun contains an action, we call it a nominalization.
NOMINALIZATION illustrates what it names: "-ize" buries the action "to
make." Nominalizations make nouns out of other words. Often they take a
part of a word, usually a verb, and remake it into a noun.
Even when we can reverse the process and restore the action to a verb,
should we? When? How often?
Everyone uses nominalizations. I welcome them when:
1) They re-name old information
Kwong acted well in the play.... Other ACTors in Hong Kong
respect his talent, though he does not aspire to RESPECTability.
2) Alternatives strain, obscure, or seem silly and tedious.
"The administration....." instead of "Those who administer"
"Writer" instead of "One who writes"
Nevertheless, I test as many nominalizations as time allows. They
can violate the integrity of what anyone wants to say. If you need
evidence, review the work of the Committee on Doublespeak at the National
Council of Teachers of English.
Bureaucrats and others who write for captive audiences like to mask
most action. Review ADMINESE.TXT. The writer administers a department.
He knew that his captives would read him closely. Presumably he wanted to
impress them. He does not impress me. Read my version in REVADMIN.TXT.
Which do you prefer?
The program does not identify nominalization, but identifies words that
MAY evidence it. Several English morphemes often turn verbs into nouns.
For example, the morpheme MENT makes nouns out of hundreds of verbs, such as
investment [invest+], endorsement [endorse+].... But MENT does not always
make a noun. Witness DEPARTMENT, which buries no action, yet the program
highlights it. The program is stupid: you should not be. Stay awake.
Don't expect the program to find all buried action, or always to highlight
words that hide it.
Even after the program catches buried action, the user must choose
whether to keep it.
Version 1.5+ of the program highlights any word which contains
one of the following strings: ING, MENT, ION, ANCE, ENCE, NCIES, but excludes
DURING and any word that contains the string HING (e.g., sometHING).
An earlier version highlighted words that contain ER, OR, at the end,
to locate words like actOR, inventER, but sent more false alarms than
true ones. If you find some of these matches annoy you more than others, or
if you discover strings not included here which would help you edit more
effectively, write me. If I incorporate those changes in later versions, I
will acknowledge you and send you a free copy.
Please share any other reactions. I don't mind the odd mismatch.
STYLED saves me an enormous amount of time because it finds most of the
cholesterol which previously I used WordStar to seek and replace.
The more a writer names agents as subjects and puts action into
verbs, the more the program will seem inaccurate. Fewer and fewer of its
matches will hide action. That principle affects many computer checks. The
better I spell, the more a good spelling program matches with words which I
have not misspelled.
Text Formats
The program assumes text in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange).
If you (V)iew your file first and it appears as you expected to, then
you have a text in ASCII and can go on to my next paragraph. If, however,
your text adds strange graphics, then your text does not conform to ASCII.
Various programs to strip these characters exist. I like to use Gene Plantz'
UNWS.EXE, copyrighted in the public domain. I share copies with the copies
of STYLED I send out. UNWS means un-WordStar. WordStar uses the non-ASCII
characters for its (D) option, the "document" mode from the main menu. You
can create ASCII texts in WordStar if you use the "N" (Non-Document) option
from the WordStar main menu. I prefer to use the D mode first, to have full
editing power, then to strip with UNWS.
STYLED reports sentences by number, consecutively, from the beginning
to the end of the document. It ignores any line that begins with a period,
since many programs format REMARKS thus. It recognizes all initials, plus
a few abbreviations--Ms., Mrs., Dr., Prof., Mr.--as long as the period follows
with no space between.
The program will count the quotation marks (either " or `) at the left
of words to compute the number of your quotes, the <,(, or [ to determine
the number of parenthetical remarks. It does not detect whether you close
these or whether you use them for any other purposes (such as for mathematics).
The program will treat as an ellipsis any string of uninterrupted periods. If
you put spaces between them, you will distort the punctuation report.
The program recognizes spaces as the boundaries of words and tests
the left of each word for no more than one punctuation mark, the right of each
for no more than 2 punctuation marks. The program will treat any additional
punctuation as part of the word: if it ever treats a quotation mark as
part of the word, the program will abort. Although the extra quotation mark
distorts the format of the report files, you can still view all the data if
you type the name of the .REP file from the MS-DOS prompt.
The program recognizes -- as a dash, - as a hyphen. It treats words on
either side of the dash as separate, on either side of a hyphen as one.
The program cannot determine whether a sentence continues after a
quotation that includes terminals. It will treat as two sentences an
item such as:
"John, did you leave?" Mary asked.
or
When I asked "Could you come?" I was not sure you understood.
Reports as Disk Files
STYLLIST saves three lists:
Long words
Forms of `to be'
Potential nominalizations
(It does not save the punctuation report or the report of transitionals
and conjunctions. I describe below a method by which to save even
those.)
STYLLIST stores these three lists into a file called REPORT.
You may rename REPORT at the MS-DOS prompt with the syntax:
REN oldfile newfile.
You must reserve space for these files with any new analysis. They
vary, and all together could require as much space as the original text. Log
onto a disk with plenty of space.
A Tip about the Directory Option
When the program prompts you for the file to view or analyze, it allows
you to see request the directory first. If you enter just the pound sign plus
a carriage return, you will see the full current directory of the logged drive.
You may specify another drive. You may also specify the MS-DOS "wild cards"
--asterisks and question question marks--to limit the clutter. For example:
If you respond:
#B:\ws\*.TXT
the program will show you all files with the extension .TXT on subdirectory
called \ws on Drive B:.
How to Preserve the Reports
STYLLIST preserves for you the three most reports most useful when you
edit. See REPORT, above.
Alternatively, you may save the session with STYLED as a file, from
the MS-DOS prompt type:
STYLED >filetosave
Replace "filetosave" with the name of the file in which to reserve the
session. (Upper/lower case does not matter, but you must use the blank
space and the greater-than sign exactly as shown.) If you trap the session
in this way, you will slow the program slightly, and you must have enough
disk space for the large new file. Some word-processors allow you to
see the graphics in the new file; others, such as WordStar, do not. You
can view the reports if at the MS-DOS prompt you enter
TYPE sessionsaved
If you hit Ctrl-P before you enter this command, you will print the entire
session.
The versions saved in this way will NOT distinguish between high and low
intensity.
Smaller Portions of a Session:
Those who have a dot matrix printer that supports MS-DOS graphics, can
use PrtSc to print any screen. This method saves too much data for most
purposes, however.
Use PrtSc to print the word lists. Refer to those lists as you return
to edit your text with your word-processor.
Or you may print any of the four report files described above. You
may edit them and print them from your word-processor or just TYPE them from
the MS-DOS menu.
Soft Copy
I have explained earlier that the STYLLIST stores three lists as a disk
file named REPORT. When I edit, I use Sidekick to window REPORT.
======
A Note on the versions of STYLED (and STYLLIST):
Version 1.0 (May 1986)
No STYLLIST.
Version 1.1 (June 1986)
Simplified the displays, to view more text with each screen.
Added more forms of TO BE to check, specifically more contractions.
Debugged for codes by word-processors that store ASCII text in lines
(records) the full 255-character length.
Added STYLLIST.EXE, the version that reports only to the disk file the
REPORT of longwords, forms of to be, and a reduced version of
nominalizations in which I eliminate most of the overkill.
Version 1.11 (June 1986)
Further reduced the overkill. Added more examples.
.cp 5
Version 1.5 (September 1986)
Reduced the size of both STYLED.EXE and STYLLIST.EXE by 18%.
In STYLLIST, allowed you to bypass the menu: now you may name the file to
analyze when you invoke the program at the MS-DOS prompt:
styllist filename
Version 1.6 (March 1987)
Simplified the menus. Added a shell feature for STYLED.
Version 1.7 (April 1987)
Added the ability to specify a text to analyze when you evoke STYLED
from the command line.
Added prompts to help you when you enter an incorrect file name.
Version 2.0 (June 1987)
Reduced by 20% the time STYLED takes. Added more counters for STYLLIST.
Version 3.0 (March 1988)
Compiled with a much faster compiler. Provided in a self-extracting archive.
======
Other MS-DOS(2.1+) Shareware Available from Louie Crew
All programs come with manuals on the disks.
ADDRESS A program to manage addresses. It processes people by up
to ten categories, which the user specifies. It also sorts by
zip codes and by birthdays. It prints lists and envelopes,
the latter with or without your return address.
It includes RAMADD.EXE, a program in RAM which reports any
address you need while doing other tasks. (Contribute $5)
APPLY A program which monitors applications (for jobs, grants,
contests....), for the applicant. It stores the relevant
data and merges it with text files which you create. It allows you
to edit your text for fine changes. It orders dossiers and prints
your letters, resumes, and envelopes. APPLY reviews any past
experience you may have had with the person/institution before
you try again. (Contribute $10)
BASICENG A program to analyze your text and report how many words are in
BASIC English. Optionally, it creates a new copy of your text,
flagging the words not in the BASIC list of 850 words. Extremely
useful for those who write for readers that use English as a
second language. (Contribute $5)
CANTONES A program to help you learn to speak Cantonese.
An earlier version, "MailMerge Cantonese," won
best-article-of-1985 by the Hong Kong Computer Society,
reprinted in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers'
Association, May 1986. (Contribute $10)
HIRE A program which monitors applications (for jobs,
grants, contests....), for the employer or granting
institution. It stores the relevant data and merges it
with text files which you create. It allows you to edit
your text for fine changes. It writes acknowledgments, alerts
when support documents have not arrived, and writes rejections.
It lets you code the applicants and clone special lists, for
printouts to your committee or for private reference.
It prints your letters and envelopes. HIRE does the busy work.
It lets you respond professionally to everyone and frees time for
you to identify the best applicants. (Contribute $10)
INVENT A program which helps writers invent fresh metaphors. It prompts
users to supply nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It
randomly scrambles the entries to provide novel arrangements.
(Contribute $7)
MUSES A program which circulates manuscripts, catalogs publishers,
monitors queries, writes letters, prints manuscripts, summarizes
data, tallies circulation, specializes bibliographies, and more.
(2 disks) (Contribute $15)
MYLOG Documents how you use your computer. MYLOG works best as a
command within batch files. It adds logs to a file call LOGGED
on your root directory. It lists the log either to screen
or to a disk file, and may list the logs for any one project,
or for all projects in the log. MYLOG computes the time you spent
on each log-in and for all log-ins reported. (Contribute $7)
POETEASE A program which asks you to specify phonetic spelling and then
quickly generates lists which match according to:
1=Assonance
2=Consonance
3=Rhyme
POETEASE requires only 34k. It is easy to SHELL to it from most
word-processors, choose the rhyming word or assonant word...that
you want, and return immediately to your composition.
Pronounce it `poet ease,' `poet tease,' or `poetese': your
skill determines the quality of its service. (Contribute $5)
PRINTASC A program which installs two printers and accesses their special
codes (such as proportional spacing); prints envelopes using the
address typed only once, in the letters themselves; lets you
specify headers, footers, etc. at print time, recognizes several
WordStar dot commands; keeps up with two of your names, two of
your addresses; facilitates indexing... Requires ASCII text, but
shares another public-domain program to let you convert
speedily. (Contribute $5)
Copy freely. Do not sell. If you use, contribute.
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 1545
Orangeburg, SC 29116-1545
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Appendix: STYLED Practice
The program tests what we intuit about texts. For example, the program
can chart a writer's "leanness" or "periodicity" with specific, visible
evidence.
The program helps writers test drafts. If we want a lean style, or a
periodic one, the program charts how each new draft nears our goal.
The program cannot provide a style; but it can measure several
dimensions of style. We must know our own goals before we can use the
program effectively.
I value force and directness. I like to unpack nouns, to restore
action to verbs. I eschew passives and most other forms of TO BE....
Joseph Williams' STYLE (Scott, Foresman, and Company) and Richard Lanham's
REVISING PROSE (Scribner's) both preach the style I aspire to practice. I
recommend them highly. Both help me winnow.
A Sample Session with a Student's Paper
I asked my second-year students to write about a book which they had
hated. One student concluded:
As far as science fiction is concerned, the story is not the least
interesting. I can hardly read anything really interesting and
mysterious: no fancy about the wonderful world on planets, no extremely
mysterious, haunted rumors about the bronze statue, no need to puzzele,
no way of amusement. Since the author only reports the plot, the
story is quite boring. And I was dissatisfied after reading it.
[This paragraph appears as STUDNESE.TXT on the disk.]
Notice how she gropes. INTERESTING appears twice, as does MYSTERIOUS. But
her text builds. Use STYLED to look at the punctuation, especially in
sentence number 2, where she repeats more meaningfully. The final two
sentences jab. STYLED charts the pulse.
I argue that the student can make a strong paragraph here but needs
skill to determine what to keep, what to excise. If she merely cuts the
repetition, she could turn turn her pulsating indictment into a cadaver.
With the "cholesterol" report, I found 4 forms I wanted to cleanse.
Instead of the two forms of TO BE, compare
The science fiction here does not engage.
I tried to preserve the pulse of the second sentence, as a weighty
indictment, but to repeat less, and to put the more vivid action into
verbs:
No fancy detail, no mystery, no wonder: no rumor haunts planets;
the bronze statue neither puzzles nor amuses.
In my version, verbs reinforce the jabs at the end.
The author only plots. The book bores me.
(The punctuation report of her text shows the jabs, but the report of her
word-length marks them less clearly than does the report of my word length.)
Some readers may prefer the less forceful original. Perhaps I have
even changed her meaning, especially with "author only plots." I argue that
I have discovered more meaning than she had yet freighted, as I often do
when I revise my own texts.
These exercises cannot prove one's taste better than another's. Some
may prefer to write like the student here, or like the teachers and the
administrator below. Which versions would you prefer to read? Which will
you more likely remember?
A Sample Session with Teachers' Prose
In a 1986 issue of Computers and Composition, two teachers reported:
In order to meet the second condition, that the analysis should
lead to direct improvements in a revision, even the measurements which
do correlate with essay quality need to be used with some caution.
Research which studies the relationship of revised essays to holistic
scores should provide more accurate guidance in this area, but our
initial findings suggest some starting points. Reducing the percentage
of abstract words and spelling errors can be accomplisehd directly and
with measureable effect on essay quality; however, students should not
expect that direct changes in word length, sentence length, or
readability will improve an essay. The correlation of average word
length to quality, for instance, cannot be directly addressed in
revision. Substitution of lexical units for the mere sake of length
would change the data but not, necessarily, the quality of the revised
draft. Perhaps indirectly, through active experience of reading and
practice in writing which increase active vocabulary, a student could
meaningfully raise his or her average word length from the low mean
(4.3) to the high limit of 5.0. The fact that these measurements can
be improved only indirectly, suggests the overall importance of scribal
fluency. Since sentence length, word length, and readability are all
measurements of scribal fluency, the results of this study seem to
suggest that more classroom time should be spent on improving scribal
behavior than on practicing those discrete grammatical and stylistic
elements which do not correlate significantly with essay quality.
Whew!
STYLLIST cites the following long words in this paragraph:
1 > improvements
1 > measurements
2 > relationship
3 > percentage
3 > accomplisehd
3 > measureable
3 > readability
4 > correlation
5 > Substitution
5 > necessarily
6 > indirectly
6 > experience
6 > vocabulary
6 > meaningfully
7 > measurements
7 > indirectly
7 > importance
8 > readability
8 > measurements
8 > practicing
8 > grammatical
8 > significantly
Total word count: 242
Words 10+ chars.: 22 ( 9 %)
They also practice what they preach. They value long words and want
students to value them. In their last sentence they claim that writers
waste time to remove those forms for which holistic graders do not lower
the score. Elsewhere they specify nominalizations and forms of TO BE as
examples. Again they follow their own advice: STYLLIST cites 6 forms of TO
BE in their paragraph:
1 > be
3 > be
4 > be
7 > be
8 > are
8 > be
Forms of TO BE: 2 %
and the following words as possible nominalizations:
1 > condition
1 > improvements
1 > revision
1 > measurements
1 > caution
2 > relationship
2 > guidance
2 > findings
2 > starting
3 > Reducing
3 > spelling
3 > sentence
4 > correlation
4 > instance
4 > revision
5 > Substitution
6 > experience
6 > reading
6 > writing
6 > meaningfully
7 > measurements
7 > importance
8 > sentence
8 > measurements
8 > improving
8 > practicing
8 > elements
Possible buried action: 27 ( 11 %)
Total word count: 242
I used these lists when I revised, to express their ideas in my style:
A student who expects to improve prose must apply our analysis
cautiously. Even when our counts correlate with good grades, further
research needs to define precisely how the correlation occurs. For
example, we found that grades go up when students spell correctly and
use few abstract words; but one should not exchange a word for another
as mechanically as one alters spelling. Perhaps students should read
more. Then they may meaningfully raise average word length from the
low mean (4.3) to the high limit of 5.0. Sentence length, word length,
and readability measure scribal fluency. Classes need to improve
these rather than practice with those discrete grammatical and
stylistic elements which do not correlate significantly with grades.
Crusted with nominals, their prose sounds intelligent. But when I
unclog its arteries, the teachers do not impress me. They discovered too
little:
Spelling helps grades.
&
"Perhaps" [their word!] students should read more.
and claim too much:
Why waste time with features graders do not notice?
Holistically I too give a lower grade to the clearer version, because of its
poverty, not because of its clarity.
I agree that we need to search the data again to determine how quality
correlates with style.
I never finish a text, but halt. STYLLIST cites these long words in my
version:
1 > cautiously
2 > correlation
3 > mechanically
4 > effectively
5 > meaningfully
6 > readability
7 > grammatical
7 > significantly
Total word count: 125
Words 10+ chars.: 8 ( 6 %)
I used no forms of the verb TO BE, but STYLLIST reports five words as
possible nominalizatons:
2 > correlation
3 > spelling
5 > meaningfully
6 > Sentence
7 > elements
Possible buried action: 5 ( 4 %)
Total word count: 125
Since I reduced the total word length by almost half, I decided to live with
the long words listed. I used no form of TO BE, but did use three
nominalizations: CORRELATION and SPELLING name old information, introduced
with the verbs CORRELATE and SPELL. I kept the ambiguous word MEANINGFULLY
because I did not know what the writers MEAN. (SENTENCE and ELEMENTS hide no
action; with them the program misfired.)
Explore your own logic. I share mine to fortify you; examine me for
weakness.
A Sample Session With an Adminstrator's Report
Option 4 of the program reveals many places an administrator buried
action in nouns or used forms of TO BE:
Implicit in what has been suggested above is the fact that the
Department needs significantly to increase its expectations and its
requirements. Both sections of the Graduate Division now have
completed the pioneering phase of their programs. The programs are
well established. A satisfactory international recognition for the
programs has been achieved. The time now has come to build upon the
initial successes of the Department's postgraduate program. During
the forthcoming triennium, postgraduate coursework within the
Department must be made more complex. Students must be required to
operate at more sophisticated--at genuinely international--levels of
commitment and skill.
Compare:
I have implied that the Department needs to expect more, to
require more. We have pioneered long enough. Now we must sophisticate
our graduate students. During the new triennium, our students must
show more skill. They must commit themselves to more complex
materials. The faculty must serve international, not parochial
standards.
When I showed the two versions to a graduate student, he exclaimed, "So much
clearer! The second doesn't sound like a report."
It does not have to. It IS [sic] one.
Yes, I revolt. If you have read this far, maybe you will join me.
Just how many more hours will unclear prose abuse?
Re-Visers unite.
==============
ADMINESE.TXT
Implicit in what has been suggested above is the fact that the
Department needs significantly to increase its expectations and its
requirements. Both sections of the Graduate Division now have completed the
pioneering phase of their programs. The programs are well established. A
satisfactory international recognition for the programs has been achieved.
The time now has come to build upon the initial successes of the
Department's postgraduate program. During the forthcoming triennium,
postgraduate coursework within the Department must be made more complex.
Students must be required to operate at more sophisticated--at genuinely
international--levels of commitment and skill.
REVADMIN.TXT
I have implied that the Department needs to expect more, to
require more. We have pioneered long enough. Now we must sophisticate
our graduate students. During the new triennium, our students must
demonstrate more skill. They must commit themselves to the more
complex materials. The faculty must serve international, not parochial
standards.
REVSTUD.TXT
The science fiction here does not engage. No fancy detail, no mystery,
no wonder: no rumor haunts planets; the bronze statue neither puzzles nor
amuses. The author only plots. The book bores me.
REVTEACH.TXT
A student who expects to improve prose must apply our analysis
cautiously. Even when our counts correlate with good grades, further
research needs to define precisely how the correlation occurs. For example,
we found that grades go up when students spell correctly and use few
abstract words; but one cannot exchange a word for another as mechanically
as one can alter spelling. Perhaps students should read more if they expect
to use words effectively. Then possibly they can meaningfully raise average
word length from the low mean (4.3) to the high limit of 5.0. Sentence
length, word length, and readability measure scribal fluency. Classes need
to improve these rather than practice with those discrete grammatical and
stylistic elements which do not correlate significantly with grades.
STPAUL.TXT
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without
love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift
of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing
everything, and if I have faith in all its fulness, to move mountains, but
without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess,
piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am
without love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never
boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take
offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's
sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to
hope, and to endure whatever comes.
STUDNESE.TXT
As far as science fiction is concerned, the story is not the least
interesting. I can hardly read anything really interesting and mysterious:
no fancy about the wonderful world on planets, no extremely mysterious,
haunted rumors about the bronze statue, no need to puzzele, no way of
amusement. Since the author only reports the plot, the story is quite
boring. And I was dissatisfied after reading it.
STYLED.DOC
.XE 1B 0E
STYLED.DOC
The Manual for
STYLED
Version 3.0
(c) 1988 by Louie Crew
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 1545
Orangeburg, SC 29116-1545
Tele: 803-533-0017
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy freely. Pass it on. Do NOT sell.
If you use, contribute $7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
.he Manual for Louie Crew's STYLED, Version 3.0, page #
To use:
STYLED requires MS-DOS, version 2.1 or higher.
1) Put STYLED on a disk with at least one text file.
2) Type STYLED plus a carriage return.
3) Follow the menus.
4) STYLED automatically creates files to store 4 word lists.
They could require as much space as your original text,
but rarely do. Save plenty of space.
or, for a report to disk only
1) Put STYLLIST on a disk with at least one text file.
2) Type
STYLLIST plus a carriage return.
or
STYLLIST plus the name of a file to analyze
The second choice automates everything and returns to MS-DOS
after it has created REPORT. The first choice (slower)
allows you to enter the filename from a prompt within the
program.
REPORT lists your long words, your forms of "to be,"
and your potential nominalizations, without some of the overkill
in STYLED. It lacks the punctuation report and other screen
graphs in STYLED.
Why?
STYLED and STYLLIST chart patterns in texts. I created them to help me
revise. I now also use them to analyze what others write. They help me as I
compare professionals with amateurs.
Each program serves as a heuristic. It only describes: it cannot
prescribe or remedy. It can help a clever person to identify and arrange
insight. A dullard a dullard will remain.
Each program abstracts several forms from texts. Writers must
integrate form and content. Form alone lacks efficacy. Witness thousands
of bad poems in good iambic meter, hundreds of bad symphonies in perfect 3/4
time, millions of discarded images painted with the finest of oils.
Monsieur Jourdain, beware!
Each program detects patterns. Clever writers will preserve some,
expunge others.
Each program can freshen the air for those who know little to do with a
text except to check for "mistakes."
At the least, each program orders dickering. Occasionally they prompt a
reVision, a new way to see. Epiphanies come rarely, however. Only muses
can program those.
The programs offer no help with pre-writing and early drafts. They
attend to matters that most writers notice only minimally in early on.
The programs serve those who think they have said something worth the
time to polish.
Revision can gobble huge amounts of time. Many people revise for hours
without improving. Many lack strategy. These programs can help, modestly.
I sometimes spend an entire day revising one page. When I can't, I
wish I could. I wish more of the writers I read, would.
Warning:
Do not let this program waste your time. I have appended samples of my
own sessions with the program. You should find many other uses.
I cringe when I imagine mindless ways to use the program. For example,
the program quantifies transitionals. Transitionals often evidence
cohesion, but only if the writers have used them accurately. For some
writers, THUS=ALSO, MOREOVER=NEVERTHELESS, etc. This program will not
detect their confusion. No program protects us from sophomores. Thank the
goddess, most grow up.
I smile when I imagine those who think these matters completely
unimportant. At Breadloaf, Robert Frost used to talk for hours about a
minute effect of meter. "But surely you don't think about such things when
you write!" allegedly a poetaster exclaimed. Frost teased, "About little
else."
Too many people think that mystery abides only in abstracted ideas,
that the package counts for little. Like choristers who sing in showers
only, these compose not, and woo an audience of only one.
Interpret, but distrust your interpretations. Features most important
often occur but once.
Each program identifies slots. You must imagine wise ways to fill
them.
====
What?
First you tell STYLED the name of the text you want to analyze. You can name
the file from the command line in one of two ways:
STYLED file.txt
or
STYLED #*.txt
The second way loads STYLED and start with a list of *.TXT files for you
to choose from.
You can also simply load
STYLED
The program will then prompt you:
Answer # (plus wild cards) if you you wish to see the directory.
Hit just <ENTER> if you you wish to end.
Which TEXT file would you like to analyze?
Note that STYLED allows you to use MS-DOS wild cards (? or *) after the symbol
`#' if you want to view a directory. You may ask to see a list of the files
on a different drive or subdirectory as well, as when you are logged on A:
and enter for the FILENAME
#B:\mysubdirectory\*.DOC
You will then see all the files with the extension .DOC on \mysubdirectory on
the B: drive.
The Main Menu
Once you have told STYLED what text you want to analyze, the main menu
gives you
STYLED's menu initially gives eight choices:
Regarding \l\problem.txt
Analyze
1 = Word length
2 = Punctuation
3 = Syntax
4 = Nominalization
----------------------
(V)iew the file
(N)ame another file
(S)hell to MS-DOS
(E)nd a session
Choice:
Any of the first seven will return to the menu. Use the E
key to exit to the MS-DOS prompt in an orderly way.
The V choice lets you view the text. You do not have to leave the
program to return to your word-processor. The program shows the text to you
one screen at a time. Hit ESC to exit, any other key to continue whenever
the program pauses. The program numbers each screen when you view the text.
The S choice lets you leave STYLED temporarily. While you work
at the MS-DOS level, STYLED remains in memory. To return, type EXIT at
the MS-DOS prompt. You may even run some other programs while you have
Shelled, if your computer has enough memory.
========================================================================
Note: if you run STYLLIST, that program bypasses these the choices
and directly prepares one file which reports the long words, the forms of
TO BE, and the potential nominalizations.
========================================================================
At this point, I recommend that you stop. If you have not done so,
run STYLED and STYLLIST. Investigate one of the samples or test a text file
of your own. Return to this document only to reflect about how to interpret
the data.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Reports
1. Word Length.
This report replaces each word with a bar the length of the word,
and it preserves the terminal punctuation. It prints in dark-on-light only
words with 10 or more characters. It adds a sentence number, totals the
words in each sentence, and calculates:
Total word count:
Words 10+ chars.: ( %)
Aver. wds/per/sent:
Then it lists all the long words with a sentence number.
2. Punctuation.
(STYLLIST does not include this report.)
All punctuation blinks. One diamond character represents each word.
Afterwards, the program tallies the punctuation and computes the average
interval.
3. Syntax.
(STYLLIST does not include this report.)
Structure words ( possible coordinators, subordinators, and
transitionals) appear in high intensity.
First and last words of sentences, as well as words before and after
internal punctuation, appear in low intensity, unless reported as structure
words.
A dull bar replaces each other word.
The program tallies the structure words and it lists them, each with
its sentence number.
4. Nominalization.
Forms of the verb TO BE appear in dark-on-light letters. Many words
that may hide action appear in high intensity. All other words appear in
low intensity. After the program tallies forms of TO BE and the words
that may hide action, it lists them on screen with sentence number.
How to Use These Data
Your own goals should dictate how you use any statistics. Pattern
to integrate content. What should you emphasize? What should you intensify.
What junctures should you stress as such?.... What does your audience
expect? How can you use their expectations to engage them on your terms?
Or on theirs?
If STYLED's graphs correspond in no way to what you intend, put a new
Duracel in your inner ear and reprocess the words.
If all sentences look alike, rearrange them to serve a purpose,
possibly one you had not seen? If you detect monotony, make it serve you
or delete it.
A writer who strives primarily for style seems a bit like someone
who arranges books by color. A writer with style, resembles someone who
arranges some books by size.
Thurber's editor warned him not to use the colon. Thurber persisted.
One day the editor came to Thurber's desk, touched the colon, and ripped
the key from Thurber's word-processor.
Scholars have written about "Tennyson's scissors."
Some verbal fetishes enrich; others impoverish. STYLED can help you
only to spot them, not to evaluate them. The program will not zap any
combinations on your keyboard or printer, but you should.
Use the program to sample published texts which share your goals and
your audience. Interpret carefully. Generalize reluctantly. Reverse
a common practice if to reverse improves your manuscript. Norms should not
imprison, but should liberate. Attend them consciously, cautiously.
Visit the sculptor's private studio, not the gallery. Suspend
reverence. Let the moment demystify. Ask how you might sculpt better.
Models which deserve your praise will survive.
In time you will discover your own norms. AUTHOR derived from AUCTOR,
L., `originator,' which in turn derived from AUGERE, `to increase,' `to
produce.' Those faithful to this etymology do not merely copy, but originate
and augment.
Word Length
Readers understand and remember shorter sentences better than longer
ones. Longer sentences suggest complexity. Shorter sentences suggest
simplicity. Clever writers and readers master both. Some pack complexity
into few words. Others uninterrupt simplicity beautiful for many lines.
Many writers use short sentences to clarify the steps of a process.
Some writers subordinate profusely to illustrate delicate logical
relationships between abstract ideas. How does what you want to say
constrain how you might say it?
I like to require my "long words" to serve major rather than minor
plans. When I see my long words lifted alone from the text in LONGWORD.REP,
I do not welcome those for which I had no special purpose. A company will
soon fail if its managers do not contribute to the company's net worth,
especially if they ride in limousines. Shakespeare reserved limousines like
INCARNADINE for matters hunky-dory.
I try to identify clusters of long or short bars. If many short words
cluster, do I dictate? Do I sound childish? If many long words cluster, do
they cloud? What verbs can I use to unpack action? What clearer words can
I use?
How long is long? Each must decide. Another style-checker, Grammatik,
(now released as Grammatik II, Reference Software, 330 Townsend, Suite 232,
San Francisco, CA 94107) calls sentences under 14 words "short," sentences
over 30 words "long." Just as arbitrarily, STYLED calls "long" all words
with 10 or more characters. You decide.
Some sociologists call all adults from 21-35 "young", from 36-50
"middle-aged", and from 50-65 "old". Since they give me only 7 more months of
middle age, I dislike their arbitrary trifurcation of the work years, but I
know what they analyze. Distrust categories; but respect them.
Punctuation
Punctuation often reveals whether I have stressed as I planned.
For example,
Sometimes I begin moderately and intensify later.
At other times I begin dramatically (as with a short sentence, a
long one, or a highly modified one) and then moderate, as with a
stretch of sentences less varied.
Sometimes I risk monotony and then surprise.
Contexts influence the effects of patterns in prose just as much as in
music. A series of short sentences from Hemingway will not likely
function the way the short sentences function in a pamphlet to accompany
aspirin.
STYLED can help me spot places where I have deafened.
Use the program to report how the translators punctuated STPAUL.TXT.
Many consider this passage one of the most beautiful in English literature:
perhaps only the style compels them? The substance cynically indicts
everyone, especially in the Greek.
Use STYLED as a stethoscope to monitor the pulse of any "set piece"--by
Adrienne Rich, Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Jefferson, Chinua Achebe, Maxine
Hong Kingston.....
Syntax
Some words, like bones, structure the skeleton of a text. STYLED
monitors three types of "structure words": coordinators, subordinators, and
transitionals.
When sentence after sentence appears with only the first and last words,
the rest in bars, either the text does not cohere well or the writer has
fleshed with other words to hide the bones. When the program shows structure
words at frequent intervals, either the skeleton protrudes or supports a
complex body of text. Compare the cohesion of the sample STPAUL.TXT.
If I never subordinate by pattern, I might try to do so at the part of
the paper that I think most important.
Beware: the computer does not know what constitutes a subordinator, a
transitional, or a coordinator. The word THAT, for example, can function
in a variety of these ways, or just as a demonstrative pronoun. The
favorite of grammar tests--
That that that that that boy used is wrong is obvious.
won't confound this program. [We need no program to call this sentence
terrible!] STYLED reports the 5 THATs as potential structure words, and
reports the 2 forms of TO BE.
Specifically the program reproduces any word which matches one of these
56:
ACCORDINGLY, AFTER, ALSO, ALTHOUGH, AND, AS, BECAUSE, BEFORE,
BESIDES, BOTH, BUT, CONSEQUENTLY, EITHER, ETC., FIFTH, FIRST,
FOURTH, FURTHERMORE, HENCE, HOW, HOWEVER, IF, INDEED, INSTEAD,
MEANWHILE, MOREOVER, NEITHER, NEVERTHELESS, NOR, OR, OTHERWISE,
PROVIDED, SECOND, SIMILARLY, SINCE, SO, STILL, THAT, THEN,
THEREFORE, THIRD, THIS, THOUGH, THUS, UNLESS, UNTIL, WHAT, WHEN,
WHENEVER, WHERE, WHEREAS, WHETHER, WHICH, WHILE, WHO, WHOM
The Cholesterol Report
Forms of TO BE
The program finds AM, ARE, AREN'T, BE, BEEN, BEING, IS, ISN'T, WAS,
WASN'T, WERE, WEREN'T, I'M, YOU'RE, HE'S, SHE'S, IT'S, THERE'RE, THERE'S,
WE'RE, THEY'RE, WHO'S, WHICH'S, THAT'S, and WHAT's--regardless of case.
These forms almost always force a writer to bury action in less
forceful words, usually in nouns. These forms locate all passives (except
the lone past participle) and all expletives.
What's at stake: When you fetch your transcripts, only the novice
tells you: "I have lost your records." The experienced tells you, "Your
records have been lost." (Passive: agent dropped.) Those ready for
Washington say, "There has been a loss of your records"--with no hint of an
agent who responds.
In documents which I edit most thoroughly, I try to restrict TO BE to
situations in which I name or identify--or to those sentences where all
other alternatives sound silly.
Nominalization
Buried action can clog a text, like verbal cholesterol.
When a noun contains an action, we call it a nominalization.
NOMINALIZATION illustrates what it names: "-ize" buries the action "to
make." Nominalizations make nouns out of other words. Often they take a
part of a word, usually a verb, and remake it into a noun.
Even when we can reverse the process and restore the action to a verb,
should we? When? How often?
Everyone uses nominalizations. I welcome them when:
1) They re-name old information
Kwong acted well in the play.... Other ACTors in Hong Kong
respect his talent, though he does not aspire to RESPECTability.
2) Alternatives strain, obscure, or seem silly and tedious.
"The administration....." instead of "Those who administer"
"Writer" instead of "One who writes"
Nevertheless, I test as many nominalizations as time allows. They
can violate the integrity of what anyone wants to say. If you need
evidence, review the work of the Committee on Doublespeak at the National
Council of Teachers of English.
Bureaucrats and others who write for captive audiences like to mask
most action. Review ADMINESE.TXT. The writer administers a department.
He knew that his captives would read him closely. Presumably he wanted to
impress them. He does not impress me. Read my version in REVADMIN.TXT.
Which do you prefer?
The program does not identify nominalization, but identifies words that
MAY evidence it. Several English morphemes often turn verbs into nouns.
For example, the morpheme MENT makes nouns out of hundreds of verbs, such as
investment [invest+], endorsement [endorse+].... But MENT does not always
make a noun. Witness DEPARTMENT, which buries no action, yet the program
highlights it. The program is stupid: you should not be. Stay awake.
Don't expect the program to find all buried action, or always to highlight
words that hide it.
Even after the program catches buried action, the user must choose
whether to keep it.
Version 1.5+ of the program highlights any word which contains
one of the following strings: ING, MENT, ION, ANCE, ENCE, NCIES, but excludes
DURING and any word that contains the string HING (e.g., sometHING).
An earlier version highlighted words that contain ER, OR, at the end,
to locate words like actOR, inventER, but sent more false alarms than
true ones. If you find some of these matches annoy you more than others, or
if you discover strings not included here which would help you edit more
effectively, write me. If I incorporate those changes in later versions, I
will acknowledge you and send you a free copy.
Please share any other reactions. I don't mind the odd mismatch.
STYLED saves me an enormous amount of time because it finds most of the
cholesterol which previously I used WordStar to seek and replace.
The more a writer names agents as subjects and puts action into
verbs, the more the program will seem inaccurate. Fewer and fewer of its
matches will hide action. That principle affects many computer checks. The
better I spell, the more a good spelling program matches with words which I
have not misspelled.
Text Formats
The program assumes text in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange).
If you (V)iew your file first and it appears as you expected to, then
you have a text in ASCII and can go on to my next paragraph. If, however,
your text adds strange graphics, then your text does not conform to ASCII.
Various programs to strip these characters exist. I like to use Gene Plantz'
UNWS.EXE, copyrighted in the public domain. I share copies with the copies
of STYLED I send out. UNWS means un-WordStar. WordStar uses the non-ASCII
characters for its (D) option, the "document" mode from the main menu. You
can create ASCII texts in WordStar if you use the "N" (Non-Document) option
from the WordStar main menu. I prefer to use the D mode first, to have full
editing power, then to strip with UNWS.
STYLED reports sentences by number, consecutively, from the beginning
to the end of the document. It ignores any line that begins with a period,
since many programs format REMARKS thus. It recognizes all initials, plus
a few abbreviations--Ms., Mrs., Dr., Prof., Mr.--as long as the period follows
with no space between.
The program will count the quotation marks (either " or `) at the left
of words to compute the number of your quotes, the <,(, or [ to determine
the number of parenthetical remarks. It does not detect whether you close
these or whether you use them for any other purposes (such as for mathematics).
The program will treat as an ellipsis any string of uninterrupted periods. If
you put spaces between them, you will distort the punctuation report.
The program recognizes spaces as the boundaries of words and tests
the left of each word for no more than one punctuation mark, the right of each
for no more than 2 punctuation marks. The program will treat any additional
punctuation as part of the word: if it ever treats a quotation mark as
part of the word, the program will abort. Although the extra quotation mark
distorts the format of the report files, you can still view all the data if
you type the name of the .REP file from the MS-DOS prompt.
The program recognizes -- as a dash, - as a hyphen. It treats words on
either side of the dash as separate, on either side of a hyphen as one.
The program cannot determine whether a sentence continues after a
quotation that includes terminals. It will treat as two sentences an
item such as:
"John, did you leave?" Mary asked.
or
When I asked "Could you come?" I was not sure you understood.
Reports as Disk Files
STYLLIST saves three lists:
Long words
Forms of `to be'
Potential nominalizations
(It does not save the punctuation report or the report of transitionals
and conjunctions. I describe below a method by which to save even
those.)
STYLLIST stores these three lists into a file called REPORT.
You may rename REPORT at the MS-DOS prompt with the syntax:
REN oldfile newfile.
You must reserve space for these files with any new analysis. They
vary, and all together could require as much space as the original text. Log
onto a disk with plenty of space.
A Tip about the Directory Option
When the program prompts you for the file to view or analyze, it allows
you to see request the directory first. If you enter just the pound sign plus
a carriage return, you will see the full current directory of the logged drive.
You may specify another drive. You may also specify the MS-DOS "wild cards"
--asterisks and question question marks--to limit the clutter. For example:
If you respond:
#B:\ws\*.TXT
the program will show you all files with the extension .TXT on subdirectory
called \ws on Drive B:.
How to Preserve the Reports
STYLLIST preserves for you the three most reports most useful when you
edit. See REPORT, above.
Alternatively, you may save the session with STYLED as a file, from
the MS-DOS prompt type:
STYLED >filetosave
Replace "filetosave" with the name of the file in which to reserve the
session. (Upper/lower case does not matter, but you must use the blank
space and the greater-than sign exactly as shown.) If you trap the session
in this way, you will slow the program slightly, and you must have enough
disk space for the large new file. Some word-processors allow you to
see the graphics in the new file; others, such as WordStar, do not. You
can view the reports if at the MS-DOS prompt you enter
TYPE sessionsaved
If you hit Ctrl-P before you enter this command, you will print the entire
session.
The versions saved in this way will NOT distinguish between high and low
intensity.
Smaller Portions of a Session:
Those who have a dot matrix printer that supports MS-DOS graphics, can
use PrtSc to print any screen. This method saves too much data for most
purposes, however.
Use PrtSc to print the word lists. Refer to those lists as you return
to edit your text with your word-processor.
Or you may print any of the four report files described above. You
may edit them and print them from your word-processor or just TYPE them from
the MS-DOS menu.
Soft Copy
I have explained earlier that the STYLLIST stores three lists as a disk
file named REPORT. When I edit, I use Sidekick to window REPORT.
======
A Note on the versions of STYLED (and STYLLIST):
Version 1.0 (May 1986)
No STYLLIST.
Version 1.1 (June 1986)
Simplified the displays, to view more text with each screen.
Added more forms of TO BE to check, specifically more contractions.
Debugged for codes by word-processors that store ASCII text in lines
(records) the full 255-character length.
Added STYLLIST.EXE, the version that reports only to the disk file the
REPORT of longwords, forms of to be, and a reduced version of
nominalizations in which I eliminate most of the overkill.
Version 1.11 (June 1986)
Further reduced the overkill. Added more examples.
.cp 5
Version 1.5 (September 1986)
Reduced the size of both STYLED.EXE and STYLLIST.EXE by 18%.
In STYLLIST, allowed you to bypass the menu: now you may name the file to
analyze when you invoke the program at the MS-DOS prompt:
styllist filename
Version 1.6 (March 1987)
Simplified the menus. Added a shell feature for STYLED.
Version 1.7 (April 1987)
Added the ability to specify a text to analyze when you evoke STYLED
from the command line.
Added prompts to help you when you enter an incorrect file name.
Version 2.0 (June 1987)
Reduced by 20% the time STYLED takes. Added more counters for STYLLIST.
Version 3.0 (March 1988)
Compiled with a much faster compiler. Provided in a self-extracting archive.
======
Other MS-DOS(2.1+) Shareware Available from Louie Crew
All programs come with manuals on the disks.
ADDRESS A program to manage addresses. It processes people by up
to ten categories, which the user specifies. It also sorts by
zip codes and by birthdays. It prints lists and envelopes,
the latter with or without your return address.
It includes RAMADD.EXE, a program in RAM which reports any
address you need while doing other tasks. (Contribute $5)
APPLY A program which monitors applications (for jobs, grants,
contests....), for the applicant. It stores the relevant
data and merges it with text files which you create. It allows you
to edit your text for fine changes. It orders dossiers and prints
your letters, resumes, and envelopes. APPLY reviews any past
experience you may have had with the person/institution before
you try again. (Contribute $10)
BASICENG A program to analyze your text and report how many words are in
BASIC English. Optionally, it creates a new copy of your text,
flagging the words not in the BASIC list of 850 words. Extremely
useful for those who write for readers that use English as a
second language. (Contribute $5)
CANTONES A program to help you learn to speak Cantonese.
An earlier version, "MailMerge Cantonese," won
best-article-of-1985 by the Hong Kong Computer Society,
reprinted in the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers'
Association, May 1986. (Contribute $10)
HIRE A program which monitors applications (for jobs,
grants, contests....), for the employer or granting
institution. It stores the relevant data and merges it
with text files which you create. It allows you to edit
your text for fine changes. It writes acknowledgments, alerts
when support documents have not arrived, and writes rejections.
It lets you code the applicants and clone special lists, for
printouts to your committee or for private reference.
It prints your letters and envelopes. HIRE does the busy work.
It lets you respond professionally to everyone and frees time for
you to identify the best applicants. (Contribute $10)
INVENT A program which helps writers invent fresh metaphors. It prompts
users to supply nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It
randomly scrambles the entries to provide novel arrangements.
(Contribute $7)
MUSES A program which circulates manuscripts, catalogs publishers,
monitors queries, writes letters, prints manuscripts, summarizes
data, tallies circulation, specializes bibliographies, and more.
(2 disks) (Contribute $15)
MYLOG Documents how you use your computer. MYLOG works best as a
command within batch files. It adds logs to a file call LOGGED
on your root directory. It lists the log either to screen
or to a disk file, and may list the logs for any one project,
or for all projects in the log. MYLOG computes the time you spent
on each log-in and for all log-ins reported. (Contribute $7)
POETEASE A program which asks you to specify phonetic spelling and then
quickly generates lists which match according to:
1=Assonance
2=Consonance
3=Rhyme
POETEASE requires only 34k. It is easy to SHELL to it from most
word-processors, choose the rhyming word or assonant word...that
you want, and return immediately to your composition.
Pronounce it `poet ease,' `poet tease,' or `poetese': your
skill determines the quality of its service. (Contribute $5)
PRINTASC A program which installs two printers and accesses their special
codes (such as proportional spacing); prints envelopes using the
address typed only once, in the letters themselves; lets you
specify headers, footers, etc. at print time, recognizes several
WordStar dot commands; keeps up with two of your names, two of
your addresses; facilitates indexing... Requires ASCII text, but
shares another public-domain program to let you convert
speedily. (Contribute $5)
Copy freely. Do not sell. If you use, contribute.
Louie Crew
P. O. Box 1545
Orangeburg, SC 29116-1545
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Appendix: STYLED Practice
The program tests what we intuit about texts. For example, the program
can chart a writer's "leanness" or "periodicity" with specific, visible
evidence.
The program helps writers test drafts. If we want a lean style, or a
periodic one, the program charts how each new draft nears our goal.
The program cannot provide a style; but it can measure several
dimensions of style. We must know our own goals before we can use the
program effectively.
I value force and directness. I like to unpack nouns, to restore
action to verbs. I eschew passives and most other forms of TO BE....
Joseph Williams' STYLE (Scott, Foresman, and Company) and Richard Lanham's
REVISING PROSE (Scribner's) both preach the style I aspire to practice. I
recommend them highly. Both help me winnow.
A Sample Session with a Student's Paper
I asked my second-year students to write about a book which they had
hated. One student concluded:
As far as science fiction is concerned, the story is not the least
interesting. I can hardly read anything really interesting and
mysterious: no fancy about the wonderful world on planets, no extremely
mysterious, haunted rumors about the bronze statue, no need to puzzele,
no way of amusement. Since the author only reports the plot, the
story is quite boring. And I was dissatisfied after reading it.
[This paragraph appears as STUDNESE.TXT on the disk.]
Notice how she gropes. INTERESTING appears twice, as does MYSTERIOUS. But
her text builds. Use STYLED to look at the punctuation, especially in
sentence number 2, where she repeats more meaningfully. The final two
sentences jab. STYLED charts the pulse.
I argue that the student can make a strong paragraph here but needs
skill to determine what to keep, what to excise. If she merely cuts the
repetition, she could turn turn her pulsating indictment into a cadaver.
With the "cholesterol" report, I found 4 forms I wanted to cleanse.
Instead of the two forms of TO BE, compare
The science fiction here does not engage.
I tried to preserve the pulse of the second sentence, as a weighty
indictment, but to repeat less, and to put the more vivid action into
verbs:
No fancy detail, no mystery, no wonder: no rumor haunts planets;
the bronze statue neither puzzles nor amuses.
In my version, verbs reinforce the jabs at the end.
The author only plots. The book bores me.
(The punctuation report of her text shows the jabs, but the report of her
word-length marks them less clearly than does the report of my word length.)
Some readers may prefer the less forceful original. Perhaps I have
even changed her meaning, especially with "author only plots." I argue that
I have discovered more meaning than she had yet freighted, as I often do
when I revise my own texts.
These exercises cannot prove one's taste better than another's. Some
may prefer to write like the student here, or like the teachers and the
administrator below. Which versions would you prefer to read? Which will
you more likely remember?
A Sample Session with Teachers' Prose
In a 1986 issue of Computers and Composition, two teachers reported:
In order to meet the second condition, that the analysis should
lead to direct improvements in a revision, even the measurements which
do correlate with essay quality need to be used with some caution.
Research which studies the relationship of revised essays to holistic
scores should provide more accurate guidance in this area, but our
initial findings suggest some starting points. Reducing the percentage
of abstract words and spelling errors can be accomplisehd directly and
with measureable effect on essay quality; however, students should not
expect that direct changes in word length, sentence length, or
readability will improve an essay. The correlation of average word
length to quality, for instance, cannot be directly addressed in
revision. Substitution of lexical units for the mere sake of length
would change the data but not, necessarily, the quality of the revised
draft. Perhaps indirectly, through active experience of reading and
practice in writing which increase active vocabulary, a student could
meaningfully raise his or her average word length from the low mean
(4.3) to the high limit of 5.0. The fact that these measurements can
be improved only indirectly, suggests the overall importance of scribal
fluency. Since sentence length, word length, and readability are all
measurements of scribal fluency, the results of this study seem to
suggest that more classroom time should be spent on improving scribal
behavior than on practicing those discrete grammatical and stylistic
elements which do not correlate significantly with essay quality.
Whew!
STYLLIST cites the following long words in this paragraph:
1 > improvements
1 > measurements
2 > relationship
3 > percentage
3 > accomplisehd
3 > measureable
3 > readability
4 > correlation
5 > Substitution
5 > necessarily
6 > indirectly
6 > experience
6 > vocabulary
6 > meaningfully
7 > measurements
7 > indirectly
7 > importance
8 > readability
8 > measurements
8 > practicing
8 > grammatical
8 > significantly
Total word count: 242
Words 10+ chars.: 22 ( 9 %)
They also practice what they preach. They value long words and want
students to value them. In their last sentence they claim that writers
waste time to remove those forms for which holistic graders do not lower
the score. Elsewhere they specify nominalizations and forms of TO BE as
examples. Again they follow their own advice: STYLLIST cites 6 forms of TO
BE in their paragraph:
1 > be
3 > be
4 > be
7 > be
8 > are
8 > be
Forms of TO BE: 2 %
and the following words as possible nominalizations:
1 > condition
1 > improvements
1 > revision
1 > measurements
1 > caution
2 > relationship
2 > guidance
2 > findings
2 > starting
3 > Reducing
3 > spelling
3 > sentence
4 > correlation
4 > instance
4 > revision
5 > Substitution
6 > experience
6 > reading
6 > writing
6 > meaningfully
7 > measurements
7 > importance
8 > sentence
8 > measurements
8 > improving
8 > practicing
8 > elements
Possible buried action: 27 ( 11 %)
Total word count: 242
I used these lists when I revised, to express their ideas in my style:
A student who expects to improve prose must apply our analysis
cautiously. Even when our counts correlate with good grades, further
research needs to define precisely how the correlation occurs. For
example, we found that grades go up when students spell correctly and
use few abstract words; but one should not exchange a word for another
as mechanically as one alters spelling. Perhaps students should read
more. Then they may meaningfully raise average word length from the
low mean (4.3) to the high limit of 5.0. Sentence length, word length,
and readability measure scribal fluency. Classes need to improve
these rather than practice with those discrete grammatical and
stylistic elements which do not correlate significantly with grades.
Crusted with nominals, their prose sounds intelligent. But when I
unclog its arteries, the teachers do not impress me. They discovered too
little:
Spelling helps grades.
&
"Perhaps" [their word!] students should read more.
and claim too much:
Why waste time with features graders do not notice?
Holistically I too give a lower grade to the clearer version, because of its
poverty, not because of its clarity.
I agree that we need to search the data again to determine how quality
correlates with style.
I never finish a text, but halt. STYLLIST cites these long words in my
version:
1 > cautiously
2 > correlation
3 > mechanically
4 > effectively
5 > meaningfully
6 > readability
7 > grammatical
7 > significantly
Total word count: 125
Words 10+ chars.: 8 ( 6 %)
I used no forms of the verb TO BE, but STYLLIST reports five words as
possible nominalizatons:
2 > correlation
3 > spelling
5 > meaningfully
6 > Sentence
7 > elements
Possible buried action: 5 ( 4 %)
Total word count: 125
Since I reduced the total word length by almost half, I decided to live with
the long words listed. I used no form of TO BE, but did use three
nominalizations: CORRELATION and SPELLING name old information, introduced
with the verbs CORRELATE and SPELL. I kept the ambiguous word MEANINGFULLY
because I did not know what the writers MEAN. (SENTENCE and ELEMENTS hide no
action; with them the program misfired.)
Explore your own logic. I share mine to fortify you; examine me for
weakness.
A Sample Session With an Adminstrator's Report
Option 4 of the program reveals many places an administrator buried
action in nouns or used forms of TO BE:
Implicit in what has been suggested above is the fact that the
Department needs significantly to increase its expectations and its
requirements. Both sections of the Graduate Division now have
completed the pioneering phase of their programs. The programs are
well established. A satisfactory international recognition for the
programs has been achieved. The time now has come to build upon the
initial successes of the Department's postgraduate program. During
the forthcoming triennium, postgraduate coursework within the
Department must be made more complex. Students must be required to
operate at more sophisticated--at genuinely international--levels of
commitment and skill.
Compare:
I have implied that the Department needs to expect more, to
require more. We have pioneered long enough. Now we must sophisticate
our graduate students. During the new triennium, our students must
show more skill. They must commit themselves to more complex
materials. The faculty must serve international, not parochial
standards.
When I showed the two versions to a graduate student, he exclaimed, "So much
clearer! The second doesn't sound like a report."
It does not have to. It IS [sic] one.
Yes, I revolt. If you have read this far, maybe you will join me.
Just how many more hours will unclear prose abuse?
Re-Visers unite.
==============
TEACHESE.TXT
In order to meet the second condition, that the analysis should lead to
direct improvements in a revision, even the measurements which do correlate
with essay quality need to be used with some caution. Research which
studies the relationship of revised essays to holistic scores should provide
more accurate guidance in this area, but our initial findings suggest some
starting points. Reducing the percentage of abstract words and spelling
errors can be accomplisehd directly and with measureable effect on essay
quality; however, students should not expect that direct changes in word
length, sentence length, or readability will improve an essay. The
correlation of average word length to quality, for instance, cannot be
directly addressed in revision. Substitution of lexical units for the mere
sake of length would change the data but not, necessarily, the quality of
the revised draft. Perhaps indirectly, through active experience of reading
and practice in writing which increase active vocabulary, a student could
meaningfully raise his or her average word length from the low mean (4.3) to
the high limit of 5.0. The fact that these measurements can be improved
only indirectly, suggests the overall importance of scribal fluency. Since
sentence length, word length, and readability are all measurements of
scribal fluency, the results of this study seem to suggest that more
classroom time should be spent on improving scribal behavior than on
practicing those discrete grammatical and stylistic elements which do not
correlate significantly with essay quality.
UNWS.DOC
UNWS converts text files into pure ASCII format.
To use UNWS, at the MS-DOS prompt, type
UNWS <>.
The program will prompt you to name the input and the output file names.
The input file must have an extension or the program will abort. The program
does not require your output file name to have an extension.
Gene Plantz created UNWS and put it in the public domain.
TEACHESE.TXT
In order to meet the second condition, that the analysis should lead to
direct improvements in a revision, even the measurements which do correlate
with essay quality need to be used with some caution. Research which
studies the relationship of revised essays to holistic scores should provide
more accurate guidance in this area, but our initial findings suggest some
starting points. Reducing the percentage of abstract words and spelling
errors can be accomplisehd directly and with measureable effect on essay
quality; however, students should not expect that direct changes in word
length, sentence length, or readability will improve an essay. The
correlation of average word length to quality, for instance, cannot be
directly addressed in revision. Substitution of lexical units for the mere
sake of length would change the data but not, necessarily, the quality of
the revised draft. Perhaps indirectly, through active experience of reading
and practice in writing which increase active vocabulary, a student could
meaningfully raise his or her average word length from the low mean (4.3) to
the high limit of 5.0. The fact that these measurements can be improved
only indirectly, suggests the overall importance of scribal fluency. Since
sentence length, word length, and readability are all measurements of
scribal fluency, the results of this study seem to suggest that more
classroom time should be spent on improving scribal behavior than on
practicing those discrete grammatical and stylistic elements which do not
correlate significantly with essay quality.
UNWS.DOC
UNWS converts text files into pure ASCII format.
To use UNWS, at the MS-DOS prompt, type
UNWS <>.
The program will prompt you to name the input and the output file names.
The input file must have an extension or the program will abort. The program
does not require your output file name to have an extension.
Gene Plantz created UNWS and put it in the public domain.
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #1181
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
FILE1181 TXT 3787 7-12-89 9:36a
GO BAT 12 7-12-89 9:29a
HELP 1553 11-05-88 1:23p
PAGE COM 325 1-06-87 4:21p
BASICENG <DIR>
INVENT <DIR>
POETEASE <DIR>
STYLED <DIR>
8 file(s) 5677 bytes
Directory of A:\BASICENG
. <DIR>
.. <DIR>
BE DF 5376 1-09-88 1:54p
BE DOC 8320 1-30-88 1:35p
BE EXE 35472 10-21-88 11:47p
5 file(s) 49168 bytes
Directory of A:\INVENT
. <DIR>
.. <DIR>
INVENT DOC 2771 10-15-88 2:43p
INVENT EXE 38832 12-05-88 6:18p
4 file(s) 41603 bytes
Directory of A:\POETEASE
. <DIR>
.. <DIR>
ENDS 504 1-05-88 6:10p
INITS 243 1-30-88 2:50p
POETEASE DOC 9856 1-30-88 4:30p
PZ EXE 34752 10-21-88 11:50p
VOWELS 119 1-05-88 5:55p
7 file(s) 45474 bytes
Directory of A:\STYLED
. <DIR>
.. <DIR>
ADMINESE TXT 768 3-27-88 9:46p
AUTOEXEC BAT 31 3-27-88 9:46p
MANUAL BAT 183 3-27-88 9:46p
REVADMIN TXT 512 3-27-88 9:46p
REVSTUD TXT 256 3-27-88 9:46p
REVTEACH TXT 896 3-27-88 9:46p
STPAUL TXT 896 3-27-88 9:46p
STUDNESE TXT 512 3-27-88 9:46p
STYLED DOC 45440 11-05-88 1:28p
STYLED EXE 56483 10-20-88 10:30p
STYLLIST EXE 44838 10-20-88 10:27p
TEACHESE TXT 1664 3-27-88 9:46p
UNWS DOC 512 3-27-88 9:46p
UNWS EXE 2714 3-27-88 9:46p
16 file(s) 155705 bytes
Total files listed:
40 file(s) 297627 bytes
6144 bytes free