Sin Boldly!: Dr. Dave's Guide To Writing The College Paper

Shortly after Walt Whitman composed his famous book of poetry, Leaves of Grass, he commented on the influence of his hero, Ralph Waldo Emerson, "I was simmering, simmering, then Emerson brought me to a boil!" This is exactly how I felt after a semester with David Williams, and it is the result that many aspiring writers will undoubtedly experience after digesting the lessons of Sin Boldly.

The main point of Sin Boldly is that you must abandon your inhibitions, forget the tyrannical instructors who tried to mold your prose in the past. Writing is an iterative process, the first stage of which is exposition. How you expose your points sets the pace for the rest of the process and the final composition.

David Williams educational credits include a degree from Harvard Divinity School and Ph. D from Brown College in American Studies. He is a seasoned expert on American culture and possesses a unique talent for bringing out the suppressed literary skills that we all have. He is one of the rare educators who belong to an elite corps of literary intellectuals who have abandoned the snobbery of departmental politics to dedicate his career toward teaching english composition college undergraduates. I was fortunate to have Dr. Williams for one of the first classes toward earning my masters degree in English literature. He set me free from the fetters of conventional paper composition that had been drilled into my head throughout my collegiate career. He has an entertaining and provacative style in his teaching that comes across remarkably intact in his writing. He makes you want to write.

The point is writing is easy. It is something to be enjoyed, not dreaded. You don't have to be an English student to enjoy composition, either. Whether you are composing an e-mail or writing a proposal for a multi-million dollar telecommunications venture, writing your words should be as easy and natural as thinking them, with the added gratification of being able to see them on paper.


Don't judge a book by its content.   April 12, 2001
 21 out of 25 found this review helpful

This is a potentially useful book to the student writer who discovers it on his own and therefore has no reason not to buy into its solid, commonsensical advice. There's nothing new here--Strunk&White directives, concisely expressed tips about brainstorming and revising, admonitions about cliched language and ignoring the conventions of grammar, punctuation and citation form. The strength of the book is the author's personal voice, logical reasoning disguised as irreverent defiance of the academic establishment, and invocation of countless examples from pop culture (the Simpsons to Monica Lewinsky), literature (a definite bias toward Melville), philosophy (Derrida and the post-modernists), and theology (Luther--the source of the book's title).

While most of the author's points are on target, some may question his failure to distinguish between "opinion" and "idea," especially in the context of exhorting student writers to use the medium to trust and express their opinions ("Here I stand"). It's one thing to "sin boldly," the better to experience a state of despair and to be open to divine grace. But the gain in writing flagrantly bad somehow eludes this reader.

Certainly the text is too spare to be of any use as a "Handbook," but as a "Rhetoric" it succeeds remarkably well in its first half in addressing the constant student refrain: "Is this what you want, Professor?" (I want what you want when you might have cause to be proud of yourself for having wanted it in the first place.) By so overtly taking the student's "side," the author conveys a responsible writing instructor's agenda in a manner that allows the student to view it as privileged information.

In the latter half of the book, I'm afraid the author grinds a few too many personal axes--taking on the deconstructionists and postmodern types, for example--and strays too far from the matter at hand to hold, let alone influence, his audience. In some respects, the author's purpose becomes suspect (cf. David Foster Wallace's "display" piece on grammar and usage in Harper's, 4/2001). And the book ends in an eerily preachy style.

The loud, naughty cover and penchant for scatological language (admittedly a potential turn-off for delicate sensibilities) help atone for the book's didacticism and moralizing as do the moments of refreshing candor (Ronald Reagan didn't know what he was talking about, George Will can at least write effective essays, etc). The price is right, so you can read or assign the first half of the book and ignore the rest.


Long Overdue   October 13, 2000
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

This book is a godsend for people who have either forgotten how to write or who are now being forced to write correctly. I recommended it to doctoral students who have been in business for so long that they can only compose memos or email. Hidden within its witty pages are the answers to such secrets as: 1) its or it's? 2) commas--are they just sentence jewelry? and 3) where do I put the punctuation -- inside the quotes or outside? Run, do not walk, to purchase this invaluable writer's best friend.


It is definitely bold... and interesting   May 31, 2002
 4 out of 8 found this review helpful

I found this book very useful since it helped me make my arguments stronger. Humorous and an enjoyable read.


Beat the format and express yourself better   July 14, 2000
 3 out of 7 found this review helpful

Well, ostensibly this book is about beating a simple format, the 5-paragraph composition required by most colleges and governmental agencies. Underneath this however is a philosophically and emotionally powerful guide to mental self-discipline and success orientation which can't be beat. The writing is quirky and often brilliant, but what makes the book is the content.