Comments on: Writing Levels of the U.S. Presidents — Can You Write at a Higher Level Than George W. Bush? — Here’s How to Find Out (Encore Presentation) http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/ Janice Harayda Reviews Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry for Adults and Children Mon, 20 May 2013 13:35:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/#comment-5653 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:22:14 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=808#comment-5653 Stephen King writes at an eighth-grade level, and among critics, he’s one of the most respected genre-fiction writers …

]]> By: moonbeammcqueen http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/#comment-5652 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:54:31 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=808#comment-5652 I checked a few of my blog posts, and I’m hovering at an eighth-grade level. I’m going to do a Google search to see if Mitch Albom is teaching any writing courses.

]]> By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/#comment-5637 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:26:56 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=808#comment-5637 P: On the bright side, I read that Mitch Albom got $8 million in one of his publishing deals. Maybe you’re closing on the big money.

Wikipedia has an entry on Flesch-Kincaid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch-Kincaid_Readability_Test/. Wikipedia is far from perfect (or, as in some of its posts about Ishmael Beah, even objective). But its page on F-K does give some basic info. Thanks for your comment.
Jan

]]> By: P http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/#comment-5636 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:20:46 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=808#comment-5636 Janice – you just had to bring this up didn’t you!
I just pasted one of my little blurbs and found that I’m writing at a third grade level. Another gem was rated at a 5th grade level.

Jeesh.
(Jeesh is one of those 3rd grade words)

Who is this Flesch Kincaid fellow anyway – and what’s he doing in my computer! :)

]]> By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/#comment-5629 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:21:56 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=808#comment-5629 You’re right, Chris. In general I’ve found the writing levels of novelists more consistent than those of politicians, no doubt for one of the reasons you mentioned — in the modern era, so much depends on the speechwriters.

I agree with those who say that the Gettysburg Address is the greatest speech in American political history. But I wonder if we’ll ever have another that comes close now that so many speeches are written by a committee (at least a committee of two — the speaker and the speechwriter). Even 9/11 didn’t produce one.

]]> By: Chris Routledge http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/writing-levels-of-the-us-presidents-can-you-write-at-a-higher-level-than-george-w-bush-heres-how-to-find-out-encore-presentation/#comment-5627 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:02:27 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=808#comment-5627 An interesting analysis, but what about the audiences involved? Writers adjust their reading level depending on their audiences. So Jefferson writing a letter is different from Jefferson writing the Declaration. The Declaration itself shows just how skilled he was in rhetoric and linguistic variation–what a remarkable piece of writing that is, single-handed or not. In the modern era I suspect a lot of this depends on editors, advisers, and publicity folk.

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