Are you sure?!?!

Took this pic at a library. It is an advertisement for English tuition.


I'm not an English expert, and I'm not sure if this is good writing. This seems to me a cut-and-paste from composition samples. And for ONE paragraph with imagery, emotive phrases, alliteration, metaphor, personification and hyperbole ... seems very dense! This is sarcasm . Haa Haa.

I vaguely recall that in my primary school days, in the composition, I always 'run as fast as my legs could carry me' and something that is frightening always 'sent chill down my spine'; in Chinese composition, the rainy days are always '乌云密布, 雷电交加'. But those were the days when essays were graded my the number of idioms you could remember and stitch together.

But I don't think, that's my personal opinion, that this is a way to cultivate creative writing. More importantly, for students today, they must learn to express their thoughts accurately, and also in a tone and style most suited for their audience ( or the purpose of that writing).

Coming from a non English speaking background, I can attest that the memorize-1000-idiom method is not really useful.

For good writing guide, at least for those practical uses, I recommend these two books:

1. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr ( This is a classic!)
   
2. Style Guide - The Bestselling Guide to English Usage published by The Economist.

These two books are particularly useful to me. They teach you the principles to good writing rather than telling you what to write. It's like teaching you how to fish rather than giving you tonnes of 'flowery' fishes for you to show off. Once you are left on your own, you will be hungry for words.