Crafting Sentences for Effective Communication in Essay Assignment
Saturday, December 19th, 2009A rigorous pre writing research, path breaking ideas and convincing point of view may not necessarily guarantee an A level gcse coursework or essay assignment. You must be adept at the skill of crafting smooth flowing and flawless sentences to write an easily communicative and powerful piece of writing.
Writing a flawless sentence requires proper training and understanding of the components of sentence formation. The two most widely sentence construction errors are caused by overloading and uneven arrangement of the parts of speech. While too much of information packed in a sentence makes it misleading and dull, on the other hand, any disarrangement of words causes ambiguity.
Tips to Constructing Effective Sentences.
Choose the appropriate word: To write a great sentence is to begin right. Choose words closest to your ideas and feelings that you will use in your essay writing. It is not essential to overburden a sentence with bombastic vocabulary but to bring the vast resources of words into proper use. Delve into the various nuances of meanings of a word and its application before using it in a sentence. For example, the word criticism has many synonyms (censure, disparagement, flak) which differ in terms of the intensity and application of the word.
Position the words correctly: Just choosing the right word is not enough. You have to position them correctly to bring the desirable impact. The position of the elements of speech should be in accordance to the grammatical rules. Any disarrangement can lead to logical lapses and ambiguity. Consider the sentence: He shot the tiger sitting in the room. In this sentence mismanagement of words leads to ambiguity. The correct sentence therefore will be: Sitting in the room, He shot the tiger.
Keep note of punctuation marks: Avoid writing unnecessarily long sentences which becomes dull and misleading. Make sure you have placed the right punctuation marks at the right places. Any misapplication of a punctuation can alter the meaning of the sentence and can lead to misunderstanding and ambiguity. Consider the two sentences where a slight change in comma alters the meaning of the sentence. Paul said, Jack is a fool / Paul, said Jack, is a fool.
One Idea per sentence: The secret of effective sentence construction is to have one idea per sentence. This will not only help you organize your essay structure but also leave a greater impact on your reader. When writing a tight packed assignments like research papers or short essays, this rule can be shortened to one idea per phrase or clause. But make sure you use right connectors or else you loose the impact of your sentence.
A perfect combination and frequency of short and long sentences flowing into sequence produces a clearer and forceful writing. A good essay will have an effective use of this technique, where sentences do not only serve as vehicle for meaning but also add the desirable impact on the reader.
