8/7/2019 Editing and Polishing Our Writing

1/2

Alleviate potential misunderstanding No ambiguity

Does not want readers wandering off

Meaning---more meaning much better!

Form and style

Summarize

Define

Describe

Synthesize

Explanatory

Support Evaluate (pass judgment)

Choose a range of options

Synthesize

Justificatory

Right reasoning (research paper will include BOTH!)

Assembling Idea

NO SUSPENSE

The point you arrive at thorough a process of explanatory/just reasoning

Bifurcation (more than one ideas)

More words => more words responsible for

Wordiness

Proposition = promise to go over

See if you didn't actually do what the proposition said

Unfulfilled expectations

Problems

Proposition = CONCLUSION

Checking the proposition

Reasons ideas and sub reasons

Says

Explain problems

Review the proposed solutions then justify a course of action

Goals and secondary goals

Does

Organize around what the source can do for your expl/just

Organization should be goal-oriented!

They really shouldn't be there if they are not contributing to the

proposition

Not wanton organization

Don't organize paragraphs by source!!!!!

Sources

Organizing the paper

What needs to be explained first? (explanatory)

What requires the most proof? (justificatory)

Consider logical coherence

Cohere ideas

Idea and reasoning

Editing and Polishing Our WritingWednesday, April 20, 2011

5:08 PM

Class Notes Page 1

8/7/2019 Editing and Polishing Our Writing

2/2

What spend most time proving?

Which are at issue?

What ideas are shared with the audience?

First, next, finally (chronology)

At its most general (chronology)

If...then.. (causality)

Furthermore, additionally, also (continuity) Nevertheless, despite this, yet (discontinuity)

Discourse markers (coherence signs) UNDERSCORES your logic

ORIENT AT ALL LEVELS: SECTIONS, PARAGRAPHS, AND SENTENCE

Orienting the reader

Copy down your proposition

Copy down first sentence (or two) of each paragraph that follows. These should be the

REASONS.

Merge them into a paragraph

See if you can make them into a paragraph

Make the paragraph coherent, using discourse markers

Take the revised sentences and copy them back to your text

If you see a disconnection between the sentences in the new paragraph (it doesn't

flow logically), rethink reasoning. Make it read coherently!!!

***Editing from the inside out ***

Writing Concisely (Richard Lanham)

Class Notes Page 2