06-05-2009, 02:59 PM | #16 |
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Very good advice, cassidym. Though I would point out that, in part, it is good advice in no small part due to the current (medium- to long-term) trends of English.
In many languages--and indeed in English too before the mid to early 20th century or so--simplification is not expected to be a primary concern/aim of the writer, and succinct spartan sentences are eschewed in favour of purposefully complex compound sentences and other devices that in modern English writing would be perceived as unnecessary and undesirable complications. I point this out for the sake of interest. As noted in my first sentence, your advice obviously makes sound good sense for contemporary English writing. - Ahi |
06-05-2009, 03:02 PM | #17 | |
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You're back! Does that mean I'll soon find out what Zelda's regular avatar looks like? Hope you enjoyed your vacation! - Ahi |
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06-05-2009, 03:20 PM | #18 |
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One of the best pieces of advice I ever ran across was from Dwight Eisenhower who, in describing how to write effective orders in the military said, "Your goal is not to write an order that can be understood. Rather your goal is to write an order that cannot possibly be misunderstood!"
Thus short sentences, active verbs help a lot. Problem with English is that 40% of the vocabulary is French, including most of our 'tion' words. This thanks to the results of 1066 and all that. Whereas the French language structure makes noun forms of verbs very clear and effective, English structure (which is essentially Germanic) makes a hash of it. |
06-05-2009, 03:22 PM | #19 |
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06-05-2009, 03:33 PM | #20 | |
.a ribbon around a bomb.
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::sigh::
:: putting on glasses... taking out pad::: ::jotting a note:: Quote:
I have printed this thread and will start on this tonight I'll pick the subject and post the essay that i find... "good enough for gre's" Thank you all for the tips... |
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06-05-2009, 03:35 PM | #21 | ||
.a ribbon around a bomb.
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Quote:
Quote:
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06-05-2009, 03:36 PM | #22 | |
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06-05-2009, 03:37 PM | #23 | |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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well, alphapheemail, you definitely had the right idea posting for advice here ! a lot of excellent tips, which i also will try to keep in mind when writing ! useful info for many many situations. good idea for a thread. |
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06-05-2009, 03:51 PM | #24 | |
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My comment was not meant to influence you in any way, Alphapheemail. Just me babbling away like a brook.
If you have specific points of confusion that you'd like me to try to clarify, just ask and I shall do my best! Quote:
- Ahi |
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06-05-2009, 03:54 PM | #25 | |
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mainly the second paragraph... but then again its friday 4pm, for me here... so that might have something to do with it... |
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06-05-2009, 04:07 PM | #26 | |
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A very plain way to see this is to pick random paragraphs from good quality Dostoevsky or Tolstoy translations. Evidence that the same thing was more the way with English too long enough ago is abundant in many books as late as in the 1800s. The Memoirs of Casanova (the Project Gutenberg translation) has a style that is far closer to Tolstoyian complexity than the nowadays encouraged simplicity and conciseness in contemporary English. Basically, whether simple-as-possible or entire-paragraph-spanning sentences are "correct" depends more on the prevalent literary tastes of a given language's speakers than on much else. - Ahi Ps.: Russian and Hungarian have nothing to do with each other. They are not similar, not related, not even in the same broad language family. Russian being Indo-European and thus being closer to English than Hungarian, which is Finno-Ugric and is very close to basically no present-day languages. (Distantly related to Khanty and Mansi languages still spoken in Siberia [by exceedingly small populations that are assimilating into Russian society] and as distantly [if not more] related to Finnish and Estonian as Russian is to English.) Pps.: I really can't confuse you any worse after this--methinks. Last edited by ahi; 06-05-2009 at 04:13 PM. Reason: corrected pps |
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06-05-2009, 05:02 PM | #27 |
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I was always advised by one of my Tutors to pick the argument I least agreed with, then write a piece backing it up. He said that if you could understand what you agreed with countering it would be easy.
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06-05-2009, 08:26 PM | #28 | |
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It was a thin book, which any math major will tell you is the scariest thing on the plant because you will realize they really left all the detail out and we needed to teach it all to ourselves (not a bad thing just freaking SCARY as an undergrad in math). Still this book was not designed that way, it boiled it all down to using the correct style for the correct problem then adding in the support for the premise and supporting conclusions. The thing was amazing. But your comment pretty much give the perfect way to argue a position. Variations exist but all can be derived from your outline...nice! I would add that is the OP has the time, find a resource which covers developing logical arguments around a premise or position. As well as basic logic, often as long at the techniques you attempt to us are sound and astute reviewer can see what you are trying to convey, even if you fail to do so in a convincing fashion. It would show you have the knowledge of how to form cogent arguments even if you are not in complete possession of sufficient facts on understanding of the topic. I wish the OP good luck!! |
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06-06-2009, 03:13 PM | #29 |
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I love complex-compound. And commas. But that's just me.
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06-06-2009, 05:31 PM | #30 |
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Good advice above, for sure. First, several deep breaths.
Then figure out at least three points you want to make in your piece. Start with the simplest. Explain that. Finish with the hardest point, and then do a fast summary of how these things fit together and the use you hope they will be to the reader, for instance. Or sum it up by something that unites these 3 concepts in your mind and makes you believe this paper will help someone. |
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