Clarity, Part 2

In the following blog post, I will be reflecting on four more topics from the Clarity chapter of Rules for Writers. After that, I will reflect on the topics as I find them in my QRG.

Ruppel, Daniela "Glasses on an Open Book" 7/9/15
via Flickr

Parallel Ideas

Once again, conjunctions play a key part in comprehensive writing and parallel structure is a perfect example of how important they are. After reading this section, I learned about the importance of presenting parallel ideas through parallel grammar structure. The importance of maintaining parallel nouns and tenses became much clearer after reading through how they should be formatted.

Needed Words

Needed words was a subject that I have a tendency to overlook in my writing. It's easy to remove a word when you know what you're writing about and you are able to follow the sentence without it. However, most readers can't keep up and it is important to realize when certain words are necessary. This includes words that make comparisons logical, complete compound structures, and misinterpretation of content. These words typically include 'that', 'a', 'an', 'the', and 'who'.

Misplaced and Dangling

I very frequently misplace modifiers either before or after their proper location. This section brought to light the importance of rereading sentences that don't quite sound right. Reading aloud can very frequently help with this issue. The importance of suggestion in a modifier was a specifically insightful portion of the section.

Variety

This particular topic was an important reminder to include some wordiness in my writing. Throughout this class, I've very actively avoided wordy sentences and tried to cut down to as little as possible. However, this has produced a nasty trend of lacking variety in my writing. I am familiar with most other topics in this section, but it did serve as a great reminder.

In my QRG:

After reading through my draft, I noticed that I had two beginning sentences of sequential paragraphs starting with "The renewal..." and "The debate..." it's noticeable that I need to add some variety and break these two sentences up from being to similar.

"For the next several years, the debate of standardized testing will certainly continue, but teachers and students are taking a stand in changing the system and making their voice known."

This sentence has a misplaced modifier, which should be moved to later in the sentence.