Option A: When revising and reviewing papers, such as for college papers, it’s often a very good and important idea to carefully and cautiously study each and every word in a sentence.

Option B: When revising papers, it’s important to carefully study every word in a sentence.

 

So which option do you like best? Most people will choose the second sentence over the first as it’s more direct and to the point. In other words, it is more concise. The term concise, when referring to writing, means a brief statement that doesn’t contain any superfluous details. Concise writing gets to the point quickly and avoids unnecessary verbiage. Excess words and descriptors add fluff to writing and simply add clutter. The power in language lies in the actions, the verbs.

Sometimes, however, we might not realize we aren’t being concise when we write—especially if we’re trying to incorporate a lot of research. Therefore, it’s important to revise for conciseness when reviewing papers. This action falls under what I have coined the “micro” editing process, meaning that each sentence is assessed for not only grammar and style, but also for concision. To do this, I recommend removing the following:

 

* Unnecessary adjectives, such as synonyms and words that convey similar meanings
* Verbs that repeat an action or convey a similar meaning
* Phrases, such as clauses, that do not contribute to the main idea or message

It’s important to note that the meaning of the sentence should remain the same. The overall idea is that the sentence should convey its meaning in the most efficient manner. And what if you’re adding words to meet a word count or paper length requirement? Then good luck and fingers crossed that your instructor likes wordiness. Ha ha.

In the CPB book, we describe two methods for outlining notes: Electronic File and Note Card. Since the Electronic File method is a little quicker, we’re going to focus on that one in this Slacker Skills blog entry. (For a more detailed explanation, check out the CPB book.) So, let’s have some outline fun!

Electronic File Method for Outlining Notes:

For this method, we recommend typing notes into an electronic file, i.e., a Word doc. Whenever you type a fact, quote, or statistic into the file, you should also include the citation information (e.g., author last name and year of publication for APA or author last name and page number for MLA). Be sure to space between entries.

Once you are finished taking notes, you can begin outlining them. First, group together introductory and conclusion notes into separate sections. Then, cut and paste information together that appears to support and describe a similar topic or idea. The goal of this step is to be able to identify the three (or more) points that would support an overall thesis statement (if you haven’t already crafted the thesis). Once the main groups have been formed (i.e., introduction, first supporting point for the thesis . . . conclusion), you can arrange the facts within each group in an order that seems most logical. The overall idea is that once your are finished outlining your notes, you will have your paper organized and outlined with all of your information and ideas and, thus, the final step will be to quickly tie these notes together with complete and well-written sentences.

The key to reading sources and taking notes for a paper is knowing the typical places where important information can be found within a text. Skimming through a text and knowing where to look for valuable information will save a lot of time during the research process. Below we’ve listed some quick tips for taking notes. Before the list, however, we just one to touch on one important point: Context.

Whenever you’re skimming through a text and gathering facts, quotes, etc., it’s important that you understand the context from which you pulled the information. Without understanding the context, you could potentially be using the information in the wrong manner. For example: If you’re reading an article about how bacon grease is unhealthy, and one person in the article is quoted as saying bacon is healthy, and you use this quote in your paper, and thus imply that the article championed the healthiness of the food, then you’re using the information in the wrong context. Just make sure you understand the overall gist, and you will be good to go.

Now on to the fun stuff. Enjoy!

•    Read through the introduction, noting the thesis or arguments that summarize the main point of the article or chapter.

•    Peruse each heading and subheading.

•    Read the topic sentence, or first couple of sentences, for each paragraph as this is where the main idea is stated.

•    Take note of any italicized or boldfaced words and phrases.

•    Read the conclusion to gather the key points that are summarized for the overall argument.

•    Read through any chapter or section summaries.

One of the most common remarks we hear from students is in regards to how difficult it is to begin writing a paper. The actual physical process of typing those first few words into a Word doc presents more of a challenge to some people than actually writing all of the remaining parts of the paper. However, as many people know, once that first-sentence threshold is crossed, the writing process feels a lot easier and like a manageable task.

So, how do we overcome this challenge? Just write!

Ha ha  . . . just kidding. We totally understand that sitting down to write just about anything can be difficult. Simply telling ourselves to sit down and type is one of those things that is a heck of lot easier said than done. Therefore, we’ve provided some tips for starting a writing project. We hope these suggestions and activities will motivate students to get their writing on. Ready, set . . . write!

•    Perform a free-writing activity that will help generate words on the computer screen

•    Turn off phones and TVs and close FB and Twitter pages—eliminate possible distractions

•    Brainstorm the introduction and ways to begin it with a writing tutor

•    Set a goal to have written a certain number of words before engaging in a fun activity

•    Discuss the paper with a peer; ask him or her to sit with you for a few sentences

•    Type any introductory notes into the document and re-write into complete sentences

•    Check out one of the online writing tools to help generate ideas

•    Peruse past papers for ideas on how to begin writing as well as for motivation

•    Begin writing the paper as if you were explaining the topic to a friend or parent

•    Review CPB’s suggestions for creating a captivating introduction

• Talk with friends or roommates over lunch or drinks about the papers they’ve written for their classes. Their paper topics might help you think of a topic, and they might be able to give you ideas for finding sources!

• Skim through past paper assignments and look at the papers that interested you. These papers might lead to additional ideas—plus you might be able to recycle some of your research!

• Post a Facebook message asking your friends for paper ideas and paper help—you might even find a friend who is also working on an open-ended paper assignment. The two of you could share leads on helpful sources.

• Google. It seems really simple, but sometime students forget about the simple act of entering random words into the search field and then seeing where the results (and sub-results) lead them. If anything, you might learn something as you research.

Parallel Construction

According to Merriam Webster, the term parallel refers to entities that exhibit “parallelism in form, function, or development.” So, when discussing writing, the term parallel refers to the parallel constructions of various phrasal elements. In basic terms, when a series of words and phrases don’t match in form, then the construction isn’t parallel. When writing a series of verbs or verbal phrases, the tense and form of the words should match. And, generally speaking, when writing any sort of series, the form and function of the words and phrases should match. Does this all sound a little confusing? Well, it’s a little confusing to describe, so below are examples to illustrate the concept of parallel construction. Each section includes a sentence that is not parallel and then a revised version of that sentence.

Not Parallel: At the football tailgate, we grilled food, drank beer, and were playing bags.

Parallel: At the football tailgate, we grilled food, drank beer, and played bags.

Not Parallel: We watched the butterfly as it flew to the flower, sipped on the nectar, and the cat saw it.

Parallel: We watched the butterfly as it flew to the flower and sipped on the nectar. The cat saw it . . .

Not Parallel: Cooking dinner, we cut all of the vegetables and washed all of the fruit.

Parallel: While we cooked dinner, we cut all of the vegetables and washed all of the fruit.

So, for this entry, we decided to create an informal end-of-term checklist that students can use as they wrap up their classes. The main focus of the list is centered on ways students can better prepare for subsequent terms—and even gain an advantage in future classes! This is definitely not a comprehensive list, but hopefully it will provide a good foundation for when students complete a term and prepare for a new one. Enjoy, and happy Thanksgiving!

• Class Notes: If the class relates to your major, then it would be a good idea to save class notes in a binder just in case they’re needed for a review or future study guide. It might even be helpful to go on course websites to pull any PowerPoint slides or other documents before your access to the site expires.

• Papers: It’s usually a good idea to save all class papers, because you never know if you’ll be asked to write on a similar topic again. CPB recommends creating electronic folders for each term where you can move all papers and conveniently store them. Sometimes, it’s also helpful to store the research for these papers as well.

• Textbooks: Evaluate whether or not the previous term’s books will be useful for future classes or research papers. It’s important to ask yourself, “Is the refund make it worth it to part with this book?” You can also check to see if a friend or roommate might need the book for future classes—and they might have a book that you can have.

• Class Handouts: Before throwing all of your class papers into the air a la Dazed & Confused, it would be beneficial to peruse through them first to see if any handouts or other papers might be useful resources for future classes, such as for future paper assignments.

Em Dashes

The em dash is by far the coolest punctuation mark out there. An em dash (—) can be inserted from the Insert toolbar section in Word, or you can type two hyphens immediately after the last letter of a word, and then immediately follow the second hyphen with the first letter of the next word, which will prompt the document to create an em dash. Here are a few of the most common uses for the em dash:

• To create emphasis. Insert the em dash when you want the reader to take a dramatic pause or to create a slight sense of anticipation. For example: I knew who stole the keg from the party—it was the professor!

• To set off a key idea within a sentence. Separate a key idea from the other elements of a sentence by setting it between two em dashes. For example: The tailgate party—which included 250 simultaneous games of bags—raised a ton of money for the fraternity.

• To set off a short series or to add clarifying information. Set off a short series or information that is meant to add clarification between two em dashes. For example: The college student’s roommates—Emily, Andy, and Kota—trashed her room while she was at the library studying.