On the Art of Writing · Chapter
Lecture II: The Practice of Writing explained
In this lecture, the speaker proposes that English literature, as a living art with an improvable language, requires active practice in writing.
What happens
In this lecture, the speaker proposes that English literature, as a living art with an improvable language, requires active practice in writing. He argues that studying great writers should guide one's own practice, not merely serve as historical study. Drawing parallels to painting and Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses, he emphasizes that studying masters fosters invention and originality. He criticizes the neglect of practicing English prose, contrasting it with the emphasis on Latin and Greek composition in schools. The lecture advocates for perspicuity, accuracy, and appropriateness in writing, quoting Cardinal Newman to assert that style is intrinsic to thought, not mere ornamentation.
Themes in this chapter
Practice of Writing
The central theme of the lecture: proposing that writing be actively practiced at Cambridge to improve clarity, accuracy, and persuasiveness.
Style and Personality
Discussed through Newman's argument that style is intrinsic to thought, not mere ornamentation, and through the critique of 'sham prose' and jargon.
Precision and Clarity
Emphasized as key goals of writing practice, with perspicuity and accuracy highlighted as essential for effective communication.
Literary Lineage and Tradition
Referenced through the study of great writers like Shakespeare and Burke, and through Reynolds' advice to learn from old masters to foster original invention.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker, who delivers the lecture and proposes the practice of writing at Cambridge.
- Shakespeare
Referenced as a great writer whose 'large utterance' should be emulated, and whose native tongue is English.
- Sir Joshua Reynolds
Quoted extensively from his Discourses to illustrate how studying old masters fosters invention and originality in practice.
- Cardinal Newman
Quoted on the inseparability of thought and speech, and on the importance of neatness and propriety in diction.
- Homer
Mentioned as an example of an ancient poet writing in his native tongue, alongside Virgil.
- Virgil
Mentioned as an example of an ancient poet writing in his native tongue, alongside Homer.
- Burke
Referenced as a great writer whose 'large utterance' should be emulated, though not directly quoted in the excerpts.
Key passages
“I seriously propose to you that here in Cambridge we practise writing: that we practise it not only for our own improvement, but to make, or at least try to make, appropriate, perspicuous, accurate, persuasive writing a recognisable hallmark of anything turned out by our English School.”
The speaker formally suggests that students at Cambridge should actively practice writing to make clear, precise, and persuasive prose a defining feature of their work.
This is the core proposal of the lecture, linking practice to the improvement of English studies.
“The more extensive your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled, the more extensive will be your powers of invention. Yes, of invention, your power to make something new: —and what may appear still more like a paradox, the more original will be your conceptions.”
Reynolds argues that studying great artists expands one's ability to create original work, contrary to the belief that imitation stifles originality.
Quoted to support the idea that studying past masters enhances, rather than hinders, creative practice.
“Thought and speech are inseparable from each other. Matter and expression are parts of one; style is a thinking out into language.”
Newman asserts that content and its expression are unified; style is the process of articulating thought into words.
Used to counter the view that style is merely decorative, reinforcing the lecture's emphasis on intrinsic clarity.
