Jacob Heil
WHO I AM I am the Assistant Director for Digital Learning in Davidson College's E.H. Little Library.
Compose your Prose
five ways to make your prose impactful and readable
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
Holcomb, Chris, and Professor M Jimmie Killingsworth. Performing Prose : The Study and Practice of Style In Composition, Southern Illinois University Press, 2010
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
is active.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
is active.
Your writing should feature human subjects, doing things.
The existence of a singularity phenomenon (SP) has been verified many times (Smith, 1984; Jones, 1988). But the exact nature of the event remains unclear. The possibility that it actually comprises two or three distinct phenomena was raised by research using electron-optical methods (Jones, 1989; Rama, 1990). With the introduction of laser-based methodology (Rama et al., 1992), the hypothesis can be reconsidered.
The research of Smith (1984) and Jones (1988) verified the existence of a singularity phenomenon (SP) but did not go very far in specifying its exact nature. Later researchers used electron-optical methods to show that the events observed in the first experiments may actually comprise two or three distinct phenomena (Jones, 1989; Rama, 1992). Using the laser-based methodology introduced by Rama et al. (1992), we were able to establish that the SP is in fact a single, though complex, phenomenon.
Less of This
More of This
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
is active.
Your writing should feature human subjects, doing things.
Be intentional with...
... passive voice,
... nominalization,
... forms of the verb "to be."
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
flows.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
flows.
An overlapping, woven pattern with each subject taking up the information presented in the previous predicate.
A
B.
B
C.
C
D.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
flows.
The sales team (A) left the St. Louis meeting with many new ideas for promoting the project (B). Wilcox (C) liked the direct mail approach (D). Customers (E) can be located by mailing lists purchased from professional organizations (F). Then we (G) can send them a brochure on the product (H).
Consider an example:
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
The sales team (A) left the St. Louis meeting with many new ideas for promoting the project (B). Wilcox (C) liked the direct mail approach (D). Customers (E) can be located by mailing lists purchased from professional organizations (F). Then we (G) can send them a brochure on the product (H).
Consider an example:
The sales team (A) left the St. Louis meeting with many new ideas for promoting our product (B). Our favorite (B) was the direct mail approach (C). Direct mailing (C) is best for companies like ours that have a good idea of who will buy the product (D). Additional customers (D) can be located by mailing lists purchased from professional organizations (E). These lists (E) will boost the number of people who receive a product brochure (F).
And a revision:
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
flows.
A pattern in which a single topic is repeated as the subject in consecutive sentences.
A
B.
A
C.
A
D.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
flows.
A pattern that blends the first two.
A
B.
B
C.
B
D.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
flows.
• An overlapping, woven pattern with each subject taking up the information presented in the previous predicate.
• A pattern in which a single topic is repeated as the subject in consecutive sentences.
• A pattern that blends the first two.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
organizes for emphasis.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
organizes for emphasis.
Important information goes first. Remember ...
- ... in each paper, make sure the title does work for your paper.
- ... in each paragraph, make sure your topic sentence answers "what is the point of this paragraph."
- ... in each sentence, make sure the new information goes in the predicate, typically later in the sentence (see "Flow" section).
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
uses familiar language.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
uses familiar language.
- avoid "inflated" language
- be deliberate with technical jargon
- vary your vocabulary with care
You are writing to communicate, so communicate as clearly as possible.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
is concise.
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
is concise.
Cut out pretentious-sounding language.
-
You can usually do without impressive-sounding, pseudo-academic phrases such as
-
fundamentally, it is important to note that . . . ,
-
the fact is that . . . , or
-
it is a commonly held assumption that. . . .
-
Readable, impactful prose ...
slides.com/jacobheil/prose/live
is concise.
Reduce redundancy.
Repetition is one thing, redundancy is another.
basic and fundamental, question and problems, hopes and desires
true facts, final outcome
period of time, red in color, slimy to the touch
Repetition is one thing, redundancy is another.
basic and fundamental, question and problems, hopes and desires
true facts, final outcome
period of time, red in color, slimy to the touch
prose
By Jacob Heil
prose
A slideshow for my students about composing impactful and readable prose. Sourced from Holcomb and Killingsworth, Performing Prose : The Study and Practice of Style In Composition ( Southern Illinois University Press, 2010)
