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and to remove items that you could trip on from stairs.
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BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW! LESSON 12 Writing with Style
Which version of the paragraph was easier to read? Which one was more interesting? Which one did
you want to keep reading? To keep your reader interested, try these tips:
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Use questions and answers.
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Vary the length of your sentences.
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Use different sentence structures.
Let s see these tips at work. First, read this letter to the editor of a newspaper.
Example
Dear Editor: I have a few comments about your Know
much about science books? article. I think your
writer wrote an uninformed and not very insightful Avoid
using the
piece. I don t think the textbooks are to blame for
same sentence
American students lower test scores on the national
structure over
and over.
exams. I don t think the writer compared the textbooks
in different countries with those in the U.S. I think that
far superior materials are produced in the U.S. I think
the U.S. is far better invested in these areas. I think
a better explanation for the lower test scores may
be the difference in educational systems . . .
Now compare it to this letter.
Dear Editor: I have a few comments about your Know
much about science books? article. Apparently, your
writer knew just enough to write an uninformed and
Use
not very insightful piece. Are the textbooks really to
questions
blame for American students lower test scores on
and
the international exams as the writer suggests? I
answers. Vary
the length
don t think so. Did she compare the textbooks of the
of your sen-
countries supposedly beating out American stu-
tences.
dents? From my experience, far superior materials are
produced in the U.S. Look at the materials and facil-
Use
different ities these other countries have you ll see the U.S.
sentence
is far better invested in these areas. Perhaps a bet-
structures.
ter explanation for the test scores is the difference
in educational systems . . .
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Writing with Style LESSON 12 BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW!
PRACTI CE
1. Rewrite the following paragraph using questions and answers, different sentence lengths and differ-
ent sentence structures.
Henri Henklebeck is my best friend. He called last Sunday. He asked if I d heard the news of
the circus coming to town. He talked to me for a long time. We decided to spend the after-
noon at the circus. We said good-bye.
TRY SOME FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Figurative language is a different way of expressing ideas. You ve probably used it yourself when speaking to
others or when writing papers. It can bring a fresh way of looking at something or a vivid image to your reader s
mind. In fact, most authors use figures of speech or figurative language because it makes the ideas and images
they talk about much easier for the reader to picture. The most common are similes and metaphors. Here
are some examples.
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I jumped up and down and cried like a whole bucketful of tears. (Simile)
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Papa s words perked me up just like air does a deflated inner tube. (Simile)
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
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With all the things I had learned in all the languages I had mastered all I could say to her,
standing on the porch staring at me, was, Maaaa. Like a dry-mouthed lamb at the udder.
(Simile)
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
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Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly. (Metaphor)
Dreams by Langston Hughes
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BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW! LESSON 12 Writing with Style
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From the day Mr. Radley took Arthur home, people said the house died. (Personification)
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Lightning rods guarding some graves denoted dead who rested uneasily; stumps of burned-out
candles stood at the heads of infant graves. It was a happy cemetery. (Irony)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
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I d rather have been dragged across a cactus desert and dropped thirsty in a lake of salt than listen
to him. . . . (Hyperbole)
%
The roses only sighed a moment before the sun sucked even that little breather away.
(Personification)
Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez
You may be thinking, Wait a minute! Isn t this
the opposite of what you ve been telling me in
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