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1、Chapter Three Producing Effective Sentences,Base 4: Concision,Part II Building Good Sentence,Base 4: Concision,Understanding Concision,1. Cutting Empty Words and Phrases,2. Avoiding Unnecessary Repetition,4. Changing Negatives into Affirmatives,3. Simplifying Word Groups and Sentences,Understanding
2、Concision,Activity,Notice how much better this paragraph is when the unnecessary words are canceled out.,Perhaps the most interesting person I have ever met is an interesting Italian professor of philosophy who teaches courses at the University of Pisa in Italy. Although I last met this man eight ye
3、ars ago, I have not forgotten over the long years his special qualities. First of all, I was impressed from the beginning by his complete devotion to teaching his students. Because his lectures were always well-prepared and invariably,Understanding Concision,clearly delivered, a great many students
4、always swarmed into his classroom, filling the classroom to capacity. His many followers also appreciated the fact that he thoroughly believed in what he taught to students and that he was always intellectually stimulating to hear. Furthermore, he could be counted on in every class session to explai
5、n his ideas in an imaginative way, introducing such various aids to students understanding as oil paintings, phonograph records, pieces of sculpture, and guest lectures who were invited to speak to the class. Once he even sang a song in class before the students eyes in order to illustrate a philoso
6、phical point. Second, I admired the,Understanding Concision,fact that he would confer with students at almost any time outside of the classroom or talk with them on the telephone. Drinking coffee in the snack bar after having taught a class, he would easily make friends with students with great ease
7、. Sometimes he would issue a challenge to a student to join with him in a game of chess. At other times, he would quite readily join groups of students to discuss subjects ranging broadly from astronomy to scuba diving. Many young people visited him at one time or another in his office for academic
8、advice; others came to his home for the purpose of social evenings. Finally, I was favorably impressed and attracted by his lively wit. He believed,Understanding Concision,that no class hour is a success unless, during it, the students and the professor have a reason to join tighter to share several
9、 chuckles and at least one loud laugh. Through his inimitable and captivating sense of humor, he made learning much more enjoyable and much more lasting. If it is true, as it seems to be, that life makes a wise man smile and a foolish man cry, then my friend is without question truly a wise man. Pro
10、bably the best example he could possibly have given to us of his wit is this interesting idea with which he once ended a lecture: “It is as dangerous for man to model himself upon his invention, the machine, as it would be God to model Himself upon His invention.”,Understanding Concision,Comment: If
11、 all of the unneeded words had been left in this paragraph, it would have been a glaring example of wordiness. Wordiness occurs when a writer needlessly repeats a word or when he lapses into redundancy, using more words than he needs to express an idea.,Understanding Concision,Discussion: The diamet
12、rical opposite of wordiness is conciseness, which is sure to serve as a useful means to make writing clean, clear and emphatic. As the Latin word indicates, being concise in writing requires cutting whatever adds nothing to your meaning. In revising your sentences, search for forceful and exact word
13、s and details that are essential to your meaning. Cross out all the empty words; cut out repetition that neither clarifies nor emphasizes your meaning; and be sure you have used the most direct grammatical form to,Understanding Concision,express your ideas. Dont mistake brevity for conciseness; they
14、 are not the same thing. Concise writing states without wasting words but does not exclude the concrete and specific details that make meaning clear and exact.,Understanding Concision,Example,Joseph M. Williams once said in his book entitled Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace that saying less,
15、not more, provides one key to clarity. As an example of eliminating wordiness, he prunes the following thirty-one- word sentence In my personal opinion, it is necessary for all of us not to miss the opportunity to think over in a careful manner each and every suggestion that is offered to us to six
16、words: We must consider each suggestion carefully.,Understanding Concision,Comment: He explains that this writer matched most of her agents and actions with subjects and verbs, but in more words than her readers needed: Every opinion is personal, so we can cut personal. And since this statement is obviously opinion, in my opinion, as well. It is necessary means must. Us implies all. Think over means consider. In a careful manner means carefully. Each and every is redundant. A suggestion i
