Specificity in Writing

“Most writing contains a range of abstraction levels, but successful professional writers draw heavily on Level One abstractions. If Level One abstraction is used in writing, the audience will understand what ideas and concepts are being discussed…If a writer is trying to describe a person, and she mentions that the protagonist wore Birkenstock's and a jeans skirt, an image is evoked in the reader's mind; whereas, if the writer says the protagonist was dressed in casual attire, the reader's impression of the character is not as strong, and the audience will be free to interpret the writer's meaning in ways.”

--Jan Streever[ ]

Hayakawa’s Levels of Abstractions

Level Four: Abstractions
life, beauty, love, time, success, power, happiness, faith, hope, charity, evil, good
Level Three: Noun Classes (broad names with little specification)
people, men, women, young people, everybody, nobody, industry, things
Level Two: Noun categories (more definite groups)
teen-agers, middle-class, clothing industry, parents, College-campus, newborn
Level One: Specific, identifiable nouns
Levi 501 jeans, three bedroom house on Hollis Street, African violets, Stephen

Sample Abstraction Ladders:

Level Four / society / human endeavors / economy
Level Three / most people / industries / farm assets
Level Two / spoiled child / cosmetic company / cattle
Level One / my sister, Sue / Revlon / Bessie, the cow

Practice: Take each of these general or abstract terms down three levels of abstraction.

Level Four / Food / Sports / Nature / Students
Level Three / Dessert
Level Two / Ice Cream
Level One / Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip

from: I.S.U. Writing Center

Specificity: Verbs

Underline the verbs in the following story. Use the list of “To Be” verbs to help you.

am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had, be, being, been,
may, might, must, do, does, did, will, would,
can, could, shall, should, seems

She Loved to Run

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Jane. Jane liked to go to school, but she liked to run more. Jane would run to school and feel the breeze on her face. She would run home from school and feel the warmth of the sun on her back. While Jane was at school she worked hard, but she really longed for the time she could go back outside.

Now, rewrite this paragraph so it has more specific and interesting verbs. Try to SHOW us what is happening rather than just TELLING. DON’T add any adjectives or adverbs. Focus on being more specific in your choice of verbs.

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