Development
- Try to provide some specific examples from both the professional writer’s work and your work to add clarity and support to your ideas and claims. The trick to adding the examples is to summarize the information and context without simply copying and pasting a bunch of long quotations.
- As you analyze the long and short sentences, consider how those sentences function to help carry meaning among sentences surrounding them and within the paragraphs in which they are located. Similarly, consider how the particularly short and long paragraphs work as part of the larger text.
- It’s worth considering audience and purpose of the published writer’s text and your own text. When you do, be fair to the audience–don’t imply that they are stupid or lazy. There are plenty of other reasons why one would prefer shorter sentences and/or paragraphs for different audiences, purposes, and formats.
Mechanics
- As a general rule, do not use ambiguous forms of the second person (“you”) in formal writing. As you edit, work specifically on being more concise.
- Be sure to review the punctuation guidelines for coordination.
Rhetorical Concerns
- Try to incorporate our coursework into your drafts. For example, if we are considering strategic use of long and short sentences, try to use long and short sentences strategically.
- I will admit that it is difficult to whip up much excitement about an analytical paper. That said, try to do something with your opening.
