Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
i/e Rules
This resource contains an exercise on the i/e rules and their
appropriate use. Print the five exercises and apply the i/e rules
appropriately. Click the "Go to Answers" link to see the answers for this
exercise.
exercise, and complete the sentences with the appropriate tense and control
shifts in example paragraphs. Click the "Go to Answers" link to see the
answers for this exercise.
To add
To compare
To prove
To give an
example
To
summarize
or conclude
To
emphasize
To repeat
all the sentences in a paragraph follow the pattern so that the paragraph is
clear and logical.
The organization of a document is like the structure of a paragraph because
there is not a standard pattern that works for every document. However, it is
important that the document follow a logical order. Paragraphs in a
document might be arranged to show time or a sequence of events. In other
documents, paragraphs may be arranged from least important to most
important point, or vice versa. Many documents will be arranged so that
points move from most general to most specific, or most specific to most
general. Like paragraph organization, the organization of a document should
be consistent.
Think about the type of organization pattern that the paragraph or document
seems to follow. Overall, do ideas or paragraphs appear to be placed in
chronological order? Do ideas flow from least to most important, or vice
versa? Does information move from most general to most specific, or vice
versa? Get a general sense of the organization of the paragraph or
document. Understanding a general idea of organization will help you spot
sentences or paragraphs that do not seem to follow the pattern.
Look for sentences that provide support for a point. This support might be
examples, reasons, explanations, or details. In an effective paragraph, these
sentences will directly follow the point they are supporting.
For each question, look at the options presented for restructuring the
paragraphs or ideas. Do any of the options match what you noted the first
time you read the passage? How would the changes proposed affect your
reading of the passage? Remember that your goal should be to choose the
organizational change that will make the passage most logical and clear.
Sometimes, no revision will be necessary.
The paragraph below is reorganized to be more logical. Think of
other ways that are also appropriate:
It is important to plan your trips carefully. When you go on a trip, you need to
think about how much money to allot for things like transportation, food, and
hotels. Hotels and transportation on trips can be expensive if you dont book
them with plenty of time in advance. Another thing to plan for is how much
time you want to spend sightseeing and doing different sorts of activities.
Even though you may want to do everything, you have to remember that
there are only so many hours in the day! Planning your trip carefully will
allow you to have a more relaxed trip.
The goal of concise writing is to use the most effective words. Concise
writing does not always have the fewest words, but it always uses the
strongest ones. Writers often fill sentences with weak or unnecessary words
that can be deleted or replaced. Words and phrases should be deliberately
chosen for the work they are doing. Like bad employees, words that don't
accomplish enough should be fired. When only the most effective words
remain, writing will be far more concise and readable.
1. Replace several vague words with more powerful and specific words.
Often, writers use several small and ambiguous words to express a concept,
wasting energy expressing ideas better relayed through fewer specific words.
As a general rule, more specific words lead to more concise writing. Because
of the variety of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, most things have a closely
corresponding description. Brainstorming or searching a thesaurus can lead
to the word best suited for a specific instance. Notice that the examples
below actually convey more as they drop in word count.
2. Interrogate every word in a sentence
Check every word to make sure that it is providing something important and
unique to a sentence. If words are dead weight, they can be deleted or
replaced. Other sections in this handout cover this concept more specifically,
but there are some general examples below containing sentences with words
that could be cut.
Bold the sentences in the paragraph below are irrelevant and could
be eliminated:
Exercise is really good for ones physical and mental health. It is proven that
aerobic exercise is good for the heart, which is very important to overall
health. I used to run every day, but now I go to dance classes to get my
aerobic exercise. Strength training is important for maintaining muscle mass
and improving bone density. Both muscle mass and bone density can
decrease as we age, so improving them through strength training is
important. My grandmother broke a hip last year because her bones were so
fragile. All kinds of exercise have been shown to relieve depression, anxiety,
and stress.
Final Proof
Make sure that you leave plenty of time after you have finished your
paper to walk away for a day or two, a week, or even 20 minutes. This
will allow you to approach proofreading with fresh eyes.
Print out a hard copy. Reading from a computer screen is not the most
effective way to proofread. Having a hard copy of your paper and a pen
will help you.
Have a list of what to look for. This will help you manage your time and
not feel overwhelmed by proofreading. You can get this list from
previous assignments where your instructor(s) noted common errors
you make.
Use the search in document function of the computer to look for common
errors from your list.
Read from the end. Read individual sentences one at a time starting from
the end of the paper rather than the beginning. This forces you to pay
attention to the sentence itself rather than to the ideas of the paper as a
whole.
Role-play. While reading, put yourself in your audience's shoes. Playing the
role of the reader encourages you to see the paper as your audience might.
writing. It means that you should differentiate your use of language for a
casual party and for academic writing.
From your own angle
What does it mean to write from your own angle? If your professors or
instructors require you to write something from your own angle, it means
that they want to see your own perspectives and your own ways of viewing
the world in your writing. It means that you should think about certain topics
from your own ways of looking at those topics, instead of reproducing
arguments made by others.
First person point-of-view refers to using the first-person pronouns I or We. If
you write your paper with your co-authors, you might use we in the paper
when you are referring to actions or beliefs that you and your co-authors
have taken. In the first person point-of-view, you usually write your paper
from your own experience or perspective. The use of first person point-ofview is usually avoided in academic writing. But, sometimes you are allowed
to use it; for example, when you explain your own data or primary resources.
Second person point-of-view means that you use the second-person pronoun
you in your writing. You can sound informal to your audience, so it is often
avoided in academic writing. But, if you are writing a recipe for some food, or
instructions, or in casual or creative writing, you may use second person
point-of-view.
Third person point-of-view refers to the use of third-person pronouns: he,
she, they, and it. The third person point-of-view has a wide range of uses in
both creative and academic contexts.
Context
Context refers to the surroundings of certain words, phrases, sentences, or
paragraphs. The meanings of words, phrases, sentences may change based
on a given context. For example, in give a hand, hand would be
interpreted as help or assistance, rather than as the thing at the end of
your arm that has four fingers and a thumb.
Conventions
Conventions refer certain traditions or rules of a context or genre. In other
words, conventions are generally agreed on practices or rules that writers
should pay attention to when they compose a text. For example, in academic
writing, you should write in a formal style while using certain styles of
citation to deliver your arguments to your audience.
Critical
If your assignment tells you to write a critical review or critical analysis about
a specific topic, it means that you will carefully examine and analyze
whatever you are reviewing. You need to lay out and explain your analysis,
providing both strengths and weaknesses of it. In this type of writing, it is
important to think about your own critical analysis of other's' opinions, rather
than merely summarizing them.
Argumentative
If your assignment tells you to write an argumentative paper, you will choose
your stance on certain topics, and create a statement that clearly reflects
your position or opinion on the topic. You will elaborate on your arguments,
by explaining further, providing examples, and referencing relevant
literature. In an argumentative paper, it is important to have a good
understanding of a topic, and to develop your opinion.
Expository
If your assignment tells you to write an expository paper, you will explain and
illustrate something in a way that your readers can clearly understand what
you are saying in your texts. In an expository paper, you will not be expected
to write your own opinions, or positions on certain topics. Instead, you will
mostly explain, review, and describe certain concepts or facts.