Clarity, Part 2

Wikimedia Commons. Clarity-Zedd, October 31, 2014, Public Domain

Find the exact words:

I learned that searching through a thesaurus in order to find new ways to state something may not always be the best option. In high school we were taught to provide as much variety as we could in our sentences, but sometimes you end up with a word that does not exactly express your meaning. I realized that trying to get fancy with big words can completely change the meaning of your sentence if the chosen word does not mean the same as a simpler, more commonly used word. In my essay I wrote, "All these examples summate Dighe’s argument as to why marijuana should be legalized in the U.S...." I realized that summate does not directly fit the context of the sentence, and changed it to "bring together."

Tighten wordy sentences:

While reading this section, the most important thing I learned was about inflated phrases. I am guilty of using inflated phrases to add bulk to sentences sometime, and I realized that it isn't always necessary. The point can be made clear with one or two words rather than a short phrase, and that is what business writers need to do. I will definitely implement this in my writing from now on. In my essay I wrote, "we will take a look at his background and credentials, and how he explains the issue while also appealing to the values and beliefs of his audience." I decided to change "take a look" to just "look" because it implies the same thing while tightening the sentence structure.

Choose appropriate language:

Another error I realized I was making was puffing up sentences to impress readers, which therefore less informs them. You can do a much better job of informing if you just state the facts rather than use fancier words that take away from the true idea. I took the most from the section regarding the use of gender-neutral terms such as firefighter instead of fireman. Before reading this section, I would have never even thought of that being sexist, as the book suggests.

Prefer active verbs:

From reading this section I learned that the use of active verbs make your essay more vigorous and colorful. They express more meaning than passive verbs and place more emphasis on the point I am trying to make. I also learned that I used be verbs more than I should, and how to effectively replace them to make my sentences less dull.