1

How to Improve Your Prose Stylein Literary Analysis Papers

© Karen Thompson ● Department of English ● University of Idaho

2

Be Concise • To be concise means using only the words necessary to meet audience needs and your purpose for writing to them.

• You may write thousands of words concisely, so it’s not about writing fewer words.

3

Yes, but we only eat it, we NEVER write it.

We love lard.

Padding your prose with words that do not contribute to meaning is writing lard.

Learn how to spot it and stop writing it.

4

What Causes Lard? • The most common reason students develop the habit of writing lard is trying to reach word or page counts.

• Most teachers do not insist insist that you meet a specific page number or else.

• Okay, well, maybe my 8th grade English teacher did, but she was a bit strange.

Who are you calling strange sister?

Karen’s 8th Grade English Teacher

5

About word counts and page length guidelines.

• I give these guidelines to help students think about the level of development their writing will need.

• Writing words that do not contribute to meaning is adding lard.

• If you cannot develop your writing, it’s time to ask for help.

6

Cut unnecessary repetition and redundant words or phrases and use only the word you need.already existingalternative choicesat the present time presentlybasic fundamentalscurrently at this timecompletely eliminatecontinue to remainhad done previously

introduced a newmix togethernever beforenone at allnow at this timeprivate industryseparate entitiesthe reason being because

silver in colorstart outstill persistswhether or notfirst beganperiod of timeempty space

7

Bury dead phrases.

it is my intent to showas a matter of factas is well knownas stated earlierit is noteworthythe presence of it goes without saying

A dead phrase is not saying anything necessary.

8

at the present time nowat that point in time thenhas the ability to canhas the potential to willin the event that ifin the vicinity of nearowing to the fact that becausethe reason being that becausethe question as to whether whetherthere is no doubt but that no doubtfor the purpose of to

Some phrases may only be near death; revive with another word.

Yes! They have a heartbeat now.

9

Check if modifiers are unnecessary

They take up space without contributing much to meaning. See if you need them. If not, eliminate.

• Such as:• Actually,• Really,• Basically,• Very,• Definitely• Somewhat,• Kind of,• Probably,• Extremely,• Practically.

10

Use Strong Verbs •Strong verbs convey action. They are specific and descriptive.

Weak:In the House of Usher, the house is like another character.

Strong:In the House of Usher, the house functions like another character.

11

Using To Be Verbs • To be verbs are passive because they cannot convey action only a state of being: is, are, was, were, etc.

• They are fine to use when defining or categorizing something.

• Rowlandson’s captivity narrative is an example of a Jeremiad.

12

Use Topic Position • The beginning of a sentence or paragraph sets up the topic, so it is referred to as the topic position.

• Readers use the topic position, to get a sense of where the sentence or paragraph is going to take them.

• If you don’t write a topic sentence, readers will get lost or confused.

13

Try reading this:

14

Notice how a topic sentence clears up any confusion about what the paragraph is about.

15

Strings of prepositions make it hard for readers to find the emphasis you intend.

The effect of the house on the narrator in the story fills him with a sense of dread.

Be direct with a strong verb to will help you eliminate unnecessary strings of prepositions.

The house fills the narrator with a sense of dread.

16

Use specifics to help you support claims with quotes from the text.

Example: when does the house fill the narrator with dread?

When the narrator first sees the house, he experiences feelings of dread. For example, the narrator describes feeling “[quote from text].”

My final advice is to become the reader.• Think of your reader as a peer in the course. Someone

who is familiar with the story, but who may not interpret what it means exactly the same way you do.

• Help the reader understand how you arrived at interpreting the text’s meaning by writing claims and supporting those claims with evidence from the text.

17

18

• If you were the intended reader, would you know what the writer wanted you to think about, understand, and/or do with this information?

If you respond to your writing like this, your writing is not effective

If you respond to your writing like this, your writing is effective.

What was I trying to say? My writing is

clear. I am awesome!