Writing Enhancer

Elliot Sawyer-Kaplan

1/23/17

This is a short writing guide from me to you. I have incorporated advice based on some mistakes I’ve made this Fall. Here are a few Keys to think about while you’re writing.

1. A Key to good writing is proofreading your work. Scientific discoveries have shown that the best way to proofread your writing is to take a 10 minute break, print out a hard copy, and correct it with a pen. Another Key is to read the Writer’s Guide and Writer’s Tips before proofreading your work. This will help you locate sections of your writing that need to be rephrased or rewritten, and it will help you be more conscious of your writing style and choices.

2. Remember the Dash!

“The dash is a handy device, informal and essentially playful, telling you that you're about to take off on a different tack but still in some way connected with the present course — only you have to remember that the dash is there, and either put a second dash at the end of the notion to let the reader know that he's back on course, or else end the sentence, as here, with a period.”

__ Lewis Thomas

Ex: I am a romantic. Spontaneous decisions excite me, and I encourage my friends to take risks, because the best moments in life are often unplanned.

“Sc: instead of a comma and dependent clause here starting with "because," try this sentence with a dash. The dash will give your statement a "dash" of emphasis and emotion. So: "Spontaneous decisions excite me, and I encourage my friends to take risks--the best moments in life are often unplanned."” - Mr. Arcand

3. You write to explain, discuss, or argue a topic. Your writings should matter to you, and it needs a “So What? Moment.” You need to demonstrate why the topic is important and relevant.

4. Citing Sources is a crucial Key to excellent writing. After plagiarizing, you may find yourself inside the School’s County Jail. To avoid plagiarizing other human’s works, cite early and often.

Sentence that needs citation: Skyglow, the illumination of the night sky in populated areas, affects approximately 80% of the world.

“Ea: cite sources” - Mr. Arcand

5. One of the most important parts of writing is having a clear and concise topic sentence. Topic Sentences are previews for what you will be discussing in the following paragraph. They should make a strong statement about the topic you are arguing about.

Example of a strong topic sentence: Benjamin Franklin is a Romantic.

“This is an effective, direct topic sentence” - Mr. Arcand

Example of a poor topic sentence: Ben Franklin may be a Romantic, but there could be other things showing that he might not be.

This sentence lacks consciousness, cohesion, and effectiveness.

Light pollution has destroyed some aspects of nature's beauty. Two hundred years ago, the night sky looked like a midnight quilt with thousands of tiny Christmas lights scattered underneath.

“Can you rewrite this topic sentence to be slightly more powerful, without being hyperbolic? You do an outstanding job of making "beauty" the main focus of your piece, while incorporating the disruption to animal life.” - Mr. Arcand

6. Furthermore, you must use textual evidence in your paragraph that supports the topic sentence. You should use at least two forms of textual evidence in each body paragraph. Without textual evidence, your argument is weak. Additionally, the content in your body paragraph should directly relate to your topic sentence. If it doesn’t, then readers are left confused and unconvinced. It would be as if you tried to park your boat in a cement parking lot, or if you showed up to a basketball game and saw Spock, The Grinch, Yoda, and the Joker.

Although, at Duke basketball games, anything is possible.

7. Be concise and clear, no one wants to have to investigate a sentence like a Law and Order Episode to comprehend its meaning.

8. Keep it simple. Only use words that you are familiar with. Do not put the entire thesaurus into your writing; no one wants to read with a dictionary next to them.

Ex 1: He utilized fear to inspire people to follow God’s word.

Don't "utilize" a three syllable word when you can "use" a one syllable word that means the same thing. - Mr. Arcand

Ex 2: The indomitable smell toted back redolence of execrable days.

9. Do not contradict yourself (this one is self explanatory).

Ex: In Sherman Alexie's, Flight, there is no right, wrong, good, or bad, only the evils of revenge that consume humans.

“Bs: I don't know if you can write that there isn't any "bad" and then write that there is "evil."” - Mr. A

10. Punctuation Matters! Punctuation is one of the most important elements of grammar. Always look for misplaced modifiers and superfluous commas.

Ex: In Sherman Alexie's, Flight, there is no right, wrong, good, or bad, only the evils of revenge that consume humans.

That comma should be removed because it is unnecessarily breaking up a phrase.

My two drawings above demonstrate another reason why punctuation is crucial. In the first drawing, cats and dogs are raining down from the sky, while in the following drawing, a person is telling her cats and dogs that rain is falling from the sky. One comma easily alters the meaning of this sentence.

11. More Punctuation!

Light pollution has destroyed the beauty of outer space, and has harmful environmental consequences for humans.

"“Cu,” this comma should also be removed because the whole sentence is only one independent clause, so it is not breaking up two independent clauses like the comma in this very sentence is doing." - Mr. Arcand

Ex: Justice manipulates Zits to shoot up a bank, and after Zits does it, he is taken back in time, and placed in the body of a white FBI agent.

“Vc: this sounds as if someone is taking him” - Mr. Arcand

12. Punctuation must go inside the quotation marks. This is a Key grammar rule. If you put the punctuation outside the quotation marks, you are wrong.

Ex: Twirling the shark toothed knife, the Joker said “Why so serious”?

Correction: “Why so serious?”