Download English 2332 - Revision Guidelines - Clarity (clear, distinct diction)

English 2332 - Revision Guidelines - Clarity (clear, distinct diction)
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines 'clarity' ( item 4) as "Clearness: in various current uses; e.g.
of color, sky, atmosphere, sight, intellect, judgement, conscience, style." As it applies to college writing, 'clarity'
indicates a distinct style and diction that reveals content. Unless specified by the writing prompt, most courses
require a discussion and analysis of the course subject(s) rather than yourself (I, me, my) or the reader
(you, your, one, we, our).
Consider your essay or written work a painting. Your presence appears explicitly when you place your name on
the essay. As with the choice of color or medium, your unique presence in the writing appears implicitly in the
choice of support details (with MLA documentation) and the analysis that follows such choices. As with
paintings, no two essays are alike - you are the rhetorical artist.
Clear
"I require a clearenesse." - Shakespeare (Mac, III, i, 133), c.1605.
The terms 'clearness' (OED: 'freedom from anything obstructive' ) also applies with reference to any aspect of a
writing style that obstructs or prevents understanding the writer's content or argument. In aeronautical terms,
an 'obstruction light' is a large beacon light that civic authorities place on tall buildings or structures as a warning
to aircraft of their presence. Metaphorically speaking, these guidelines allow you to avoid stylistic habits that
obstruct, conceal, or mask the meaning of your thoughts or arguments as you imprint them to paper or pixels.
Distinct
"The worker from the work distinct was known." - Pope (An Essay on Man, III, 229), c. 1733.
Revision for clarity and conciseness gives prose a distinctive style. Because arguments are complex, writers
distinguish or separate mentally one idea or point from another in order to perceive the differences and
similarities between their ideas and those of their sources. Revision promotes a fairer judgement of a writer's
arguments and lessens the ambiguities (double-meanings that result from an inexactness of expression).
Though unintentional, vague or indirect verbs or nouns create uncertainty and misinterpretation with
reference to content and arguments.
Diction
"Elocution: By which they always meant, what we call, Diction; which consists in suiting our Words to our
Ideas, and the Stile to the Subject." - John Mason (Elocution, 5), c.1748 .
Diction (OED: ‘the manner in which a writer expresses anything in words, or the choice or selection of words
and phrases; wording; verbal style’) plays a critical role in the revision process with reference to clarity and
conciseness. As the English poet Dryden stated, "The first beauty of an Epick poem consists in diction, that is,
in the choice of words and harmony of numbers." (Fables 496 , c.1700). Revising for a more appropriate verb and
voice greatly impacts the content of any college writing. With reference to literary or rhetorical analysis, an active,
direct presentation of an argument or idea is always preferable to an indirect or passive discussion. Specific verbs
promote and create a logic to arguments and ideas as well as strengthen and extend an essay's content.