Writing Worksheet
The Three "P's" of Writing:Paragraph, Point, and Precision
1. PARAGRAPH:UNITY, COHERENCE, AND DEVELOPMENT: THE THREE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPH (MEMORIZE THE ACRONYM, "UCD")
The paragraph is the most important component of writing. An effective paragraph contains three elements:
1.Unity
In scholarly writing, each paragraph must have a purpose, a clear intent, and a single idea, expressed by its topic sentence.
2.Coherence
A paragraph's sentences must be arranged in logical order, exhibit proper grammatical structure, and maintain a consistent tone. Coherent paragraphs contain:
- A fixed (or single) point of view
- Parallel grammatical structure
- Repetition of key words or phrases
- Appropriate transitions that lead the reader through shifts in tone, considerations of different subtopics, or relevant comparisons and contrasts.
3.Development
To fulfill its purpose, a paragraph must contain an adequate discussion of its topic. Examples of proper development include:
- Simple chronology that moves forward in time
- "Spatial order" or a description of the relationship between the various objects that the paragraph discusses
- “Logical order" or reasons that support the topic sentence, which include:
- definition of a key term or terms
- comparison or contrast
- examples or details
- cause and effect
- elimination of alternatives
Source: I have derived this section from Glenn Leggett et al., Prentice-Hall Handbook for Writers, 3rd edition. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1960), pages 213-257. I highly recommend that you examine older writing handbooks because they distill the elements of writing into simple and easily understood rules.
2. POINT: THE MAIN POINT, THEME, OR THESIS
Effective writing contains a main point that the author seeks to communicate to the reader. In scholarly writing, the author task is to make this point as explicitly as possible.
Author's purpose for writing
What do we mean by a main point? The main point represents the author's purpose for writing in the first place.The main point is not the subject of a paper, but acontention about that subject. "Such contentions," according to the authors of a handbook on historical research, "always involve claims that a particular conclusion is a correct view of the significance of a certain subject."Note: In a scholarly essay, you should express your main point or thesis as early as possible. In the classic five-paragraph form, it comes at the bottom of the first paragraph. In longer articles, it usually comes in the second or third paragraph.
Author's stand on a subject
The main point represents a precise "contention" or the author's stand on a particular subject. With the main point, in effect, the author says to the reader, "After I have analyzed this document or this set of sources, here is proper and best way to think about this subject." Note: Your "contention" provides you with the essential element of precision. For example, your main point does not merely inform the reader that two objects are "different," but explains why and how they are different, and the importance of this difference as it relates to the subject. Your discussion of the subject also must be accurate and thorough enough to convince the reader you have proven your point within the confines of the assigned word limit.
Continuity
Most importantly, an explicit point gives continuity or a theme to an essay. Without it, an essay consists of random evidence that fails to direct the reader to the significance that the author has derived from this evidence. Note: To make sure that your papers express continuity, think of each paragraph in the body of the essay as a discussion of one topic of your main point. In addition, refer back to your main point as you move between topics.When you introduce a new topic, you must also show the reader how this topic relates to your main point.
Author's values and judgments
Finally, an essay's main point is a personal expression of the author's values and judgments that tells the reader what the author thinks about the subject. Note: This is a personal "expression" supported by evidence from authoritative sources, not an "impression" that merely tells how the author thinks about something. In short, always argue from evidence, not from assertions (one historian I know shortens this rule to the phrase, "Show, don't tell.") Because your point is personal, you should clearly define any specialized or abstract terms in your own words so the reader knows exactly how you are using these terms. (Never, ever, quote a dictionary definition of a term.)
Source: I have derived this section of the worksheet from Norman F. Cantor and Richard I. Schneider, How to Study History (New York, 1967), pages 204-211. There is a new edition of this book, and I recommend that you pick up a copy. It contains helpful guidelines about historical research and writing that you can apply to other subjects.
3. PRECISION
Effective writing exhibits precision by combining the elements of elegance, simplicity, and clarity. Lack of precision undermines the purpose of your writing. Unless you can communicate your ideas in clear, plain, and correct prose, your readers will fail to understand your main point. At best, they may have a vague idea about your main point, but will remain unconvinced or befuddled about your intentions.
The Three Primary Causes of Imprecise Writing
1. Passive Voice
2. Clichés
3. Vague words and phrases
1.1.Passive voice
Precise writing uses the active voice by linking concrete nouns to vigorous and active verbs. Imprecise writing uses the passive voice (or passive verb form) in which a direct object becomes the subject of a sentence and the verb takes the past participle form and a form of the verb "to be" (be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been) immediately before it (sometimes to two are split by an adverb). Let me clarify this description, with a few examples.
The royal troops shelled the city. (Active—note that the sentence attributes responsibility to an actual group of people, "troops.")
The city was shelled. (Passive—note that the object "the city" becomes the subject of the sentence, and the verb is now in its past participle form accompanied by "was," a form of "to be." You could put the phrase "by the royal troops" at the end of the sentence. This correction is not only wordy but the verb is less vigorous than in the first sentence.)
Shells were dropped on the city. (Passive—again note the characteristic verb forms and lack of responsibility for the action.)
The late historian Christopher Lasch criticized passive voice as "inert, lifeless, and evasive," because it "disguises the subject and makes it hard to assign responsibility for an action." This lack of responsibility not only applies to individual sentences, but to the individual writer as well. Timid writers prefer the passive voice because they think it exudes an air of detachment, when it actually avoids the "risk of a straightforward judgment." For example, in the above sentences, to locate who held ultimate responsibility, we might ask which person in power ordered the bombing. Was this decision necessary? Was it humane? If so, what values are we using to make these judgments?
Hint: To check your paper for passive voice, look for any form of the verb "to be," such as “is” or “was.”
2.2.Clichés
"Bad writing," Christopher Lasch maintains, "relies on heavily on ready-made phrases" or clichés. "This method of writing," Lasch observes, "requires less effort than original thought, but it provides readers with neither delight nor instruction." In other words, when you use clichés, you are letting someone else's words carry the burden of your argument, without improving your argument.
The problem with clichés is that when you try to make a point by prying a phrase from its original context, that phrase loses its distinct meaning, and conveys little of its original descriptive and explanatory power. Instead of clarifying your point, you have only obscured it with a trite and inaccurate expression. Fortunately, the more you read, the more you will learn to recognize clichés.
Here is a list of some clichés that I have read in students' papers that I want you to avoid "at all costs"—that's the first one.
"untold" or "countless" as in "untold lives" or "countless lives"
"by any means necessary"
"the almighty dollar"
"wanted to have their voices heard" (or any variation of this vague and imprecise phrase, such as "wanted to make people aware," "wanted respect," "wanted recognition") This phrase is most often used when discussing social movement. But people involved in social movements have much grander goals and more specific agendas than simply hoping that someone is listening to them. You should also avoid reducing someone’s goals to a question of “respect” and “disrespect” (see above)
“make a difference" Like the phrase above, this cliché has become a catch-all phrase to describe someone involved in a social movement. Again, tell the reader precisely what the person wanted to accomplish. Remember, even Hitler and Stalin wanted to make the world “different.”
"bite the hand that feeds them"
"Achilles' heel"
"lifestyle" (As Christopher Lasch notes, this term assumes "that life is largely a matter of style.” He recommends: “Find something else to say about life.")
"act out" (This is a colloquialism that you must avoid, unless you are discussing infants. Babies and young children “act out,” adults do not.)
"twists and turns"
"came into play"
“about” when used in the following way: The British Empire was "not exclusively about race or colour, but was also about class and status."
Here’s Benjamin Schwarz’s criticism of the use of “about” in this manner: Most egregious is Cannadine's repeated use of "about," as in the passage quoted above. What does he mean when he asserts that the empire itself, or a method of rule, was "about" this and that? Is he maintaining that these were motivating forces? ("Horses" can't be a motivating force. Can "class"?) His dependence on this word often seems to lead Cannadine to confound flummery and policy, and also ends and means. To argue that the British used ornamental trappings as an instrument of rule is one thing; but to assert that, guided by what he calls their "Burkeian wisdoms and customary conservative modes," British statesmen and imperial administrators ran their empire as a sort of Colonial Williamsburg writ large, for the purpose of "safeguarding the traditional social order and preserving the traditional way of life" of the peoples they ruled, is quite another. Benjamin Schwarz, “A Bit of Bunting,” (A Review of David Cannadine’s Ornamentalism: How the British Saw their Empire), Atlantic Monthly, November 2001
I will add more as the course proceeds, so keep checking this list.Feel free to send me your own suggestions.
3.3.Abstract and vague words or phrases
As a writer, you must use concrete and precise language to express your main point effectively. For this course, I want you concentrate on improving your precision in the following areas:
Inappropriate Context and Overgeneralization, “We’re dealing with something big here!”
Effective writing deals with a precise historical context. You must limit the scope of your essays to the subject and time period that you are discussing instead of tackling all human beings and all of human history. In other words, avoid any variation of the following phrases:
"Ever since the beginning of history…"
"Throughout all time…"
Giving Human Qualities and Force to Inanimate or Virtual Subjects or “Society made me do it!”
Remember that people are the proper subject of historical study, because only people (and the weather, geological changes, and epidemic illnesses—but these are not abstract but real) can exert force over the course of historical events.
Virtual or abstract entities, say, “society” or the “nation,” have no such power. So avoid such phrases as “Society forces people….”
NOTE: I think we can all acknowledge that certain abstract forces—such as social norms, values, and conventions—shape human action and behavior, but be very explicit when you make this point.
“THIS”: The “This is…” or “This proves…” Syndrome
Avoid using the pronoun “This” to begin your sentences, particularly when the reader cannot discern any obvious referent or antecedent in the previous sentence. Instead of beginning sentences with “This,”’ use a precise noun or phrase that refers to a specific object, person, or referent in the previous sentence. Particularly avoid any construction in which you begin a sentence with the words, “This proves….” Show, don’t tell, the reader how one thing “proves” another thing.
Improprieties
Improprieties are legitimate words that an author uses incorrectly. The most common version of this error is the current fad that uses nouns for verbs, such as:
"impacted"
"maximized"
"referenced"
"accessed"
"opinioned"
"serviced"
“transitioned”
“partnered”
As with any fad, I am sure this one will fade away in time, but if you rid your writing of these improprieties now, you will not have to do it later.
Misspellings
With modern computer word processors, your papers should have no spelling errors. But you should always proofread your paper, rather than relying on your spellchecker to catch words that are appropriate in one context, but not appropriate in another context.
The four most common misspellings I have discovered in academic papers are:
"there" for "their"
"loose" for "lose"
“it’s” for “its” (the possessive pronoun. Remember—“it’s” is the contraction of “it is”)
“lead” for “led” (the past tense form of “to lead.” “Lead” when pronounced like “led” refers to a soft metal.)
Dates
Spell all century numbers
twentieth century (not 20th century or 20th century with superscript)
Spell decades without the apostrophe
1980s (not 1980’s)
You can also spell out decades: the eighties
QUOTES
Avoid anonymous quotes that fail to indicate the speaker or writer of the quote. Instead, make sure that you provide the reader with proper attribution (the speaker) and, even better, extract the phrase or phrases from the quote that illustrate your argument and integrate them into your own prose
Here’s an example based on the opening lines of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
POOR: During the Civil War, the Union’s political leaders advanced a new, and even radical, version of American history. “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
BETTER: During the Civil War, the Union’s political leaders advanced a new, and even radical, version of American history. As President Lincoln declared, “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
EVEN BETTER (note the position and information provided in the attribution):During the Civil War, the Union’s political leaders advanced a new, and even radical, version of American history. “Four score and seven years ago,” Lincoln declared in his 1863 Gettysburg Address, “our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
BEST: During the Civil War, the Union’s political leaders advanced a new and even radical version of American history. President Abraham Lincoln expressed this new history in his 1863 Gettysburg Address. Lincoln maintained that the United States had not only been “conceived in liberty” but that the founders of the “new nation” had expressly “dedicated [it] to the proposition that all men are created equal.”Note the use of brackets—in this case, [it]—allows you to insert words in the quote to clarify its meaning.
FINALLY! AVOID UNNECESSARY PRELIMINARIES IN YOUR INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION
In your introductions, eliminate all phrases that begin, “This paper will…”, and eliminate all proceeding phrases that describe explicitly the organization of the paper, “First, it will show”…, and so on). In your conclusion, avoid beginning with “In conclusion,…” and then repeating what you wrote in the previous paragraphs. Rather than wasting space in your introduction on these phrases, which the late historian Christopher Lasch calls “unnecessary preliminaries,” tell the reader something significant about your topic or your stand on the topic. In the conclusion, seal your argument with a final inference that connects your evidence to your argument, and show the implications of your argument. (In other words, generalize from your findings).
Source: I have derived this section of the worksheet from Christopher Lasch, Plain Style: A Guide to Written English, ed. Stewart Weaver, (Philadelphia, 2002). I also recommend that you pick up a copy of Strunk and White, Elements of Style, which is the standard writing guide for academics.