Unit 4: Finishing Touches
Your writing style refers to the way you write a sentence and how you assemble your arguments within a sequence of sentences so they make sense to your audience. A "sound" writing style is not a luxury; it is necessary to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively. For example, you may write with perfect grammar, but if your style needs work, your audience may not understand what you are trying to convey.
While opinions on the best type of writing style is inherently subjective and may even be based on cultural standards or preferences, in this unit we provide you with some guidelines that are most academics generally agree upon. Our first goal is to learn how to write as clearly, persuasively, and elegantly as possible. Our second goal is to apply these skills and learn how to revise and edit our work. Revision and editing are important stages of the writing process. It allows you to fine-tune your ideas so your reader can easily follow your argument.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- identify and apply concepts of style to academic writing;
- practice applying stylistic techniques to a variety of writing exercises and assignments based on unique rhetorical situations;
- apply techniques for using research to support various logical structures and rhetorical strategies, including analysis, discussion, and comparison/contrast; and
- demonstrate competence in analysis, persuasion, and stylistic variation by developing, analyzing, and editing essays that embody various rhetorical, stylistic, and logical requirements.
4.1: Academic Writing Style
4.1.1: Sentence Patterns
Read this article, which reviews how to use different sentence patterns in your writing.
4.1.2: Wordiness and Concision
4.1.3: Parallel Structure
4.1.4: Active vs. Passive Voice
Read this article about passive voice. When is passive voice an appropriate choice for writing? When should you use active voice?
Read this article. How can using stronger verbs in your writing keep your audience interested?
4.1.5: Word Use
Read this article to learn how to improve your diction (that is, your word choice) in your writing. Choosing appropriate words in your writing gives your readers a sense of harmony and makes it easier for them to understand your ideas.
Review this article. Since you want your writing to be inclusive, it is important to use language that is sensitive to your audience.
4.2: Reviewing, Revising, and Editing Drafts
Revision is an important stage of the writing process. You may find yourself revising multiple times throughout the writing process. Writing is a recursive process, and revising allows us the opportunity to go back and change things we already wrote, as necessary. How is revision different from proofreading?
Read this article to learn strategies for better organizing the ideas in your essay, and how outlining can be helpful before, during, and after you write.
Editing and revising are very different practices. When we revise we look at the big issues in our writing (often referred to as "global concerns"). These may include the strength of the thesis statement, the validity and relevance of the supporting evidence, and the logical structure of the organization. Editing looks at lower-level concerns, such as sentence clarity, grammar, punctuation, and word use. Editing is the final step in the writing process before publication.
This article gives tips on proofreading and editing your paper to enhance your style of writing, make your writing more concise, and ensure that you are using proper punctuation. How are revision, proofreading, and editing similar? How are they different?
A common method for catching errors and editing your own writing is reading aloud. This strategy helps you hear any errors that your eye may pass over if just reading.
Unit 4 Activities
In this practice exercise, read the essay you drafted in Unit 1 aloud, taking time to make notes about any areas that seem weak, poorly constructed, illogical, or that just do not "sound right". Then, edit your essay one more time for structure, clarity, and style. Try to use the strategies you learned about editing in Unit 4.
The topic for that essay was:
"What does it take to succeed in an Internet-based college course?"
In this practice exercise, review the essay you wrote for Unit 3 on "Hetch, Hetchy Valley, Yosemite" by John Muir and demonstrate you know how to use MLA style by reformatting your paper according to MLA standards. Be sure to convert all citations and bibliographic entries to MLA style.
Unit 4 Essay
Write an essay (1,000 to 1,300 words) in which you explain how online tools and social media affect Internet-based learning. Consider the claims you made in your other essays to determine how students in Internet-based programs can be successful. Do online tools and social media help or hinder an Internet-based college student? Think about how rhetorical strategies you've seen before can help you develop your argument. What audience are you writing to and what is your purpose?
Use the prewriting techniques you learned in Unit 1 to focus your topic and refine your thesis. Use research where necessary to bolster your argument and respond to any counterarguments. Be sure to cite and document your research in accordance with MLA style standards.
After you have completed your first draft, use the Toulmin method to evaluate your argument (claim, grounds, warrant, qualifier, and rebuttal). Revise your essay as needed. After you have completed your second draft, read your essay aloud to someone else. Revise and edit your work to address any relevant suggestions and questions. As always, remember to properly cite the authors or copyright holders of any material you reference or paraphrase. It can be especially useful to read your work aloud, to yourself or to a friend. As you read, pay attention to anything that seems illogical or sounds incorrect.
Unit 4 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.