Showing the Links

Even though you've organized everything carefully, your paper may still feel somewhat choppy and disjointed. All the pieces are in place, yet the writing lacks fluidity, rhythm, continuity. The methods used to achieve this fluid quality are called transitional devices. These techniques will help you emphasize the links between levels on a pyramid or between chunks on a cluster map.

Basic Punctuation

Punctuation need not be mysterious or problematic. The number of punctuation marks is small, and once mastered, they become tools that help shape your meaning and vary the rhythms and patterns of your sentences.

Commas, periods, and apostrophes are three basic marks you can't get along without. Quotation marks, also, are often necessary. First master those four, then move on to the others.

Designing Effective Sentences

Basic Sentence Concepts explains the subject-verb/complement pattern and shows how you can expand that pattern almost indefinitely with a few simple principles such as coordination and subordination. Now we'll look at some more advanced sentence strategies. Again the aim is to increase your versatility as a writer, to help you see the full range of options for solving writing problems. As your flexibility increases, you'll not only satisfy minimal standards of clarity and correctness, you'll express yourself with new-found energy and power.

Creative Rambling

As writers, we're often advised to "stick to the topic" and "get to the point." This is usually good advice, but not always. Sometimes it leads to writing that's shallow and one-dimensional, as though the writer had prematurely closed down the process of inquiry, just to produce something neat and tidy with no madwoman in the attic.

Focus and Commitment

Precisely because the immersion stage may produce a jumble of ideas and impressions, it becomes necessary to sort things out. Look for patterns in your early responses. Separate major concerns from minor ones, central issues from peripheral ones. Consider which of the many points you've raised call for more examination and discussion.

Form: Tradition and Innovation

By now, you've probably amassed many notes and ideas for your argument, but you may be wondering how to sort and organize this material into an essay. The following pattern, which gives the traditional Latin names for each section, may help. Like the thesis/support pattern, it offers a basic structural framework that can be modified for various writing contexts. The essential parts include the Introduction, Statement of the Case, Proposition, Refutation, Confirmation, and Conclusion.

Introductions and Conclusions

The beginning and end of your essay are positions of high emphasis. They deserve careful attention. Keep them short and purposeful. Use them to create and satisfy expectations. Get into the habit of reading your introduction and conclusion together, with an eye toward revision, as one of the last stages in your writing process.