Clarity, Part 1

It is important to know be able to look at your own work in a critical way. The Clarity section of our textbook offers certain ways to improve our writing.

Berit. "The Clear Water, Kefalonia"6/21/2012. Public Domain.

Choosing Appropriate Language – I learned from this section that you should always keep the audience in mind when you are trying to communicate with them. The book advises that you avoid using slang and sexist language. By using appropriate language you can appeal to all audiences without offending them.

Wordy Sentences – Often times I will construct sentences in a way that is overly wordy. I do this to make my writing longer and to add the illusion of being more intelligent than I really am. All in all wordy sentences only dilutes your writing and makes your reader go through more to retain the same amount.

Variety – Often times when we are writing longer papers we tend to subconsciously repeat ourselves whether it be in the formatting of the sentences or stating the actual material. The book offers a fix to this by varying the way that you structure your sentences. They provide examples to different styles of sentences, such as compound, simple, complex, and compound-complex.

Mixed Construction -  This section was helpful to me because it helps me construct my sentences with proper syntax. The book shows you how to structure your sentences so that they make “sense”. The book also points out that starting a sentence with a long propositional phrase causes a “double subject”.