Transcript Revising Sentences and Paragraphs

Revising
Sentences
and
Paragraphs
Module Sixteen
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is “good” style?
 Use friendly, conversational words.
 Avoid contractions, slang, and even minor
grammatical lapses.
 Edit your writing to sound confident, even in
uncomfortable situations.
 Allow for some individual variation
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Different Levels of Style
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Using the Right Tone
 Business writing should be businesslike and
friendly.
 In the past 50 years, social distance in the
United States has decreased.
 Tone is the implied attitude of the speaker or
writer toward what the words say.
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What should I look for when
I revise sentences?
 Use active verbs most of the time.
 Use verbs to carry the weight of your
sentence
 Tighten your writing
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Tighten Your Writing
 Eliminate words that say nothing
 Use gerunds and infinitives to make sentences
shorter and smoother
 Combine sentences to eliminate unnecessary
words
 Put the meaning of your sentence into the
subject and verb
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Eliminate Repeated Words
in Parallel Lists
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Use Parallelism
to Tighten Your Writing
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What should I look for when
I revise paragraphs?
 Begin most
paragraphs with topic
sentences
 Use transitions to link
ideas
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Transition Words and Phrases
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