Editing for Style
Goal: to ensure that your paper is polished and professional,
and to ensure that "every word counts"
Time: 30 minutes
For each of the three points below, review your paper and make sure you are
using language wisely.
1. Titling
Each of your papers should have a creative title that clearly indicates
what your paper will cover. Here are some hints about titling your
paper. Remember that your title should not be a question. A
popular and efficient way to title any document is to use a title and subtitle
separated by a colon. This allows you to give the general topic of
your paper along with a more detailed glimpse of the point you are making.
Here are some strong examples.
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Cannibalism: It Still Exists
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Surrogacy: A Gift not a Sale
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Wheelchair Hell: A Look at Campus Accessibility
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The Liberal Arts: A Practical View
2. Organization--Introduction, Conclusion, Transitions
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Your Introduction should be surprising and specific rather than vague and
genral. Try starting with a case study, a narrated example, or description.
Make sure to clearly state your claim.
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Your Conclusion should reinforce the arguments you have made throughout
the paper without sounding repetative. Try using an anecdote, a quotation,
or a statement of the subject's significance.
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Transitions between paragraphs should let the reader know the focus of
the paragraph immediately, and should also link the paragraph to the paper's
claim. Readers need to know if the new paragraph will introduce a
new aspect of the claim or develop one already introduced. Try these
techniques: Announcing the topic, forecasting subtopics, or referring to
an earlier sentence.
3. Empty Language
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Avoid language that is vague, general, and circular. A good way to
detect such language in your text is to find sweeping words such as: many,
most, society, today, people. When these words occur together they
add up to empty language.