On Writing Well CH18

I. Words and express

1. They will trot out the hard-won words of their college education.

trot out   to bring forward, as for approbation or admiration, esp repeatedly 

hard-won   achieved only after a lot of effort and difficulty

2. Criticism is the stage on which journalists do their fanciest strutting. It's also where reputations for wit are born.

strutting    someone who struts walks in a proud way, with their head held high and their chest out, as if they are very important.

"It's also where reputations for wit are born" （评论文体）同时也是智慧展示声望的地方

3. The reader deserves a movie buff who will bring along a reservoir of knowledge, passion and prejudice.

a movie buff   电影迷  

reservoir   原义是“蓄水池”，此处比喻为作者的知识储备

4. A final caution is to aviod the ecstatic adjectives that occupy such disproportionate space in every critic's quiver----words like "enthralling" and "luminous".

ecstatic   feeling extremely happy and excited

5. Obviously I'm now assuming a more urbane body of readers.

urbane   behaving in a relaxed and confident way in social situations

6. But even in this world of evanescent notes a good critic can make sense of what happened by writing good English.

evanescent  something that is evanescent does not last very long

II. Summary

Criticism is a kind of nonfiction which appraise an art work, evaluate a performance, recongnize what is good and which is bad. The critic need a special set of skills and a special body of knowledge. However, there are more things to prepare before writing. Critics should figure out the purpose of their writing. If they were the readers, what they would like to know?

Zinsser told us four conditions that apply to good criticism. Fistly, write something you like. Critics are also normal people. You should know everything you want to write, but you don't need force yourself like everything. Secondly, don't give away too much of the plot, or you'll destory reader's enjoyment. Thirdly, use specific detail, you can cite some examples. The last, avoid ecstatic adjectives, use a lean and vivid style to express what you observed and what you think. What's more, criticism is one person's opinion, so the writer should dare to express themselves.

III. Thoughts

相比其他文体，评论文体具有高度个人化的特点。首先，评论针对的对象就是主观的存在，比如电影、音乐、文学等等，个人审美不同，做出的喜好判断自然有颇多差异，并没有一致的优劣标准。其次，评论文体要求作者直抒己见，展现一己之好恶，这显然是十分主观化的写作。最后，读者在阅读评论文章时，想要得到的并不是客观的再现电影场景、音乐节奏与小说情节，毕竟作者的描写是无法与原著媲美的，他们想要在阅读中收获作者的个人观点。或者说，当他们面对电影中的某些费解而包含隐喻的情节，希望有人能够给出某种解释。

但是，评论文体的主观性并非意味着作者可以任意发表观点。他们在写作时，要有预设的读者群体，设身处地的为读者考虑，他们想要从评论中得到些什么。另外，在评论作品的好坏时，要有理有据，立足与事实，而不是一味主观臆测。毕竟，评论文体的价值是引发读者对原著的兴趣，让读者一读再读，而不是主观地向读者灌输自己的观点。事实上，我们现在接触的评论文体，主观臆测、歪曲事实的居多，比如，于丹解读的《论语》、《庄子》，毫无凭据，尽是主观猜测；再比如像安意如之流，其笔下的宋词与纳兰，也仅此是存在于在她的主观想象之中，不过是编一些故事来夺人眼球罢了。对此，我们还需谨记Zinsser对待评论文体的态度——评论是一种严肃的写作。