Dr. Orla Murphy School of English 27 May 2011

 Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

 An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them. Stephen Fry A man who does not think for himself does not think at all. Oscar Wilde Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise. Alice Walker You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it. Robin Williams

 A beginning - an introduction – draw your audience in  A middle - the essence of your research  An end - a conclusion, drawing all of your points together – send them away with your KEY critical ideas  Be able to explain your idea – simply - to someone who knows nothing about it in three sentences, if you do not have that clarity before you begin to write, think again…

 Simple language is good.  Rather than long rambling sentences that will soon lose the reader without making any real point in using lots of phrases but not being very clear if you know what I mean.

 The lack of control in this example also means that there is a tremendous potential for error to creep in…the most usual error in long sentences is failure to maintain subject-verb agreement.  The policies formulated today represents an important step for the country.

 Use positive, direct, language  The sky is blue.  It may be considered that the sky is blue from this particular viewpoint today, but it is worth bearing in mind that that might not always be the case.  It was awful.  It wasn’t very nice, really.

 Avoid cliché and colloquial or speech expressions  ‘Cause at the end of the day like ya can’t write like ya speak cos it won’t look great ya know

 Avoid using conditional tenses: would, could, might, may etc.  Avoid etc. finish sentences! Etc. is very unsatisfactory for the reader and for your argument.

 One paragraph = One point  Make your point  Support it by quotation or reference  How does it drive your ideas forward?  Avoid listing and dense paragraphing - make it ‘snappy’

 Even visually speaking we all know that when we are faced with a big block of text that is rambling on even if it seems to have information in it vital information and correct information such as there will be information sessions held at the Boole library at intervals these library tours are an integral part of student orientation and are highly recommended for incoming first years of all disciplines in this case there is no cohesion, or coherence or even an attempt to move an argument forward. It is listing information and it is not helpful for your readers.

 ‘s  This is a key indicator of writing ability and education level for a readership.  Control the ‘controllable’ elements of grammar, understand your medium, the text…

 A sentence must contain a finite verb.  A sentence is a complete unit of meaning.  It’s = It is  Orla’s book = the book belonging to Orla  Books’ theme = the theme of the books (pl)  Avoid colloquialism.  Avoid abbreviation.  Do not begin sentences with a conjunction.

 Collins pocket grammar – so you can check the basics  William Strunk – The Elements of Style  808 in the Boole Library 