Clarity, Part 1

For this post, I will be describing what I learned about four topics within Rules for Writers. The four topics I chose Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers, Variety, Emphasis, and finally Wordy sentences. 

Shorrock, Steven. "Listen, Understand, Act" 10/9/2011 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic .

Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers:

I honestly didn't know that there was a word for these types of words! I understood that words such as "even", "almost", and "only" were good to use, but I have always struggled with where to place them. It turns out that the limiting modifiers go in front of the words that they modify. Also, this section states that a sentence should flow from subject to verb to object, which I feel is a very good rule to follow. Finally, I learned that dangling modifiers are an issue, and overall, a once a modifier has been stated an actor should be named directly after.

Variety:

This section was very helpful by showing me ways to make my sentences have variety. It states that adverbial modifiers are easily movable, and they can even be moved ahead of the object instead of always appearing after. I have also always struggled with sentence structure variety. This section gives good examples of the four main types of sentences, which I can use as a reference later on. A good idea to give variety to your text is to invert them. While the normal subject-verb-object sentence model is what we are accustomed to writing, inverting them can make a paper flow even more.

Emphasis:

This section revealed to me the importance of emphasis within an essay. Accidentally emphasizing the wrong thing within a sentence can completely contradict your whole thesis! Subordination versus Coordination  is essential to understand, as they can both be used to make your paper stronger.

Wordy sentences:

This is my main issue when writing. This section gave many helpful examples and ideas for me to use when I revise my paper. For example, eliminating redundancies can shorten a sentence to only include the important parts. It is sometimes difficult to spot redundancies when you are the author, but it is very apparent to the reader. Something I would like to focus on that the section pointed out is when a word suggests something about the subject and their action (such as very hurriedly to scribbled: scribbling suggests that the subject was moving quickly!). Avoiding repetition of words is also very important. Finally, reducing clauses to phrases and phrases to single words can make a paper easier to read and understand.


Reflection:

I learned many things from Mark's QRG draft. Throughout his draft, there were many well-crafted transitions to his next subject. One of these both acting as a transition and an introduction.

• "As the story was picked up by more outlets, it gained another dimension: the scholarly community became much more heavily involved."

I have been struggling to figure out how to include the timeline of my controversy without it ruining the flow of my text. I feel that this single sentence did a wonderful job, but, it has also removed the need for wordy sentences. The transition is simple, short and does not leave any question of what he will discuss next.

Thomas' QRG was about a very interesting topic. I feel that within my draft, I was having trouble leaving the audience with a bigger idea, or analysis in general of my topic. Thomas, however, was able to discuss the point of his topic very well, as shown by the following quote.

• "The success of traditional taxi services and Uber truly depends on an individual customer’s personal preference of whether or not he or she likes the reliability that a standard taxi represents, or the new and innovative technology that Uber embodies."

This sentence shows how to place emphasis on the point being portrayed. It coordinates what the success of taxis and Uber depend on and subordinates that the taxi is reliable, but Uber showcases new technology.