Readability
Part IV
Readability, Few Issues
• Writing is readable if it provides the information
that the readers need, located where they can
quickly find it, in a form in which they can easily
use it.
• You need to provide new information, organize
your document according to readers’ needs, and
apply forms that can easily be used.
• You should do your best to make your writing
easy to skim-read.
• “It is easy to make things difficult, but difficult to
make things easy”
A- Writing Paragraphs
•
A good paragraph should:
1. Have unity: focuses on one idea or theme, that also help
skim-reading
2. Have coherence: one sentence lead to the next in some
kind of logical sequence.
3. Have adequate supporting material: it contains some
details to support the main idea of the paragraph.
4. Fit in with the overall structure of points being made in
the text as a whole.
For this you can use certain tools such as: a good topic
statement, an appropriate pattern of organization,
and appropriate functions and emphasis. These
tools will be discussed in details.
A-1 A Good Topic Statement
•
•
The topic of a paragraph is the main idea or theme,
what the paragraph is about.
There are two ways of presenting the topic of a
paragraph:
1. Deductive-Pattern: the opening sentence introduces
the topic, the introduction can be extended to -and
maybe beyond- the second sentence. It is the most
common strategy in scientific writing. It allows the
reader to guess what is coming and thus digest it more
easily, and it allows them to skip the paragraph if the
subject matter holds no interest to them.
You should include key words that are related to the
topic, and be a complete statement of the topic.
2. Inductive-Pattern: in which you delay the topic statement until
the end or near the end of the paragraph.
Can be used in special cases, for example if you are laying out the
logic of an important point in a step-by-step fashion and want the
reader to follow it each step of the way. Or, if you want to delay
the bad news till the end!!
Example of an effective topic statement:
“Unlike the gasohol-powered cars, the fuel cell alternative
is virtually pollution-free” What do you expect this
paragraph to say??
Bad example:
Example (1)
“Utility costs for the argon process are 75% greater than for
the proposed hydrogen process. Initial capita cost is $5.4
million, roughly three times the hydrogen process cost.
However, annual income from
the sale of argon, increased ammonia production, and
reduced natural gas requirements elsewhere in the plant is
160% higher than that generated by the hydrogen process.
Present-worth analysis shows that the argon process is the
better investment. The present worth of the argon process
is $10.25 million. The present worth of the hydrogen
process is $4.14 million.”
1. What is the main problem with paragraph above?
2. How would you restructure this paragraph to be more
effective?
A-2 A Clear Pattern of Organization
•
A topic statement is followed up by a number of
supporting statements, they should follow a consistent
pattern of organizations, some of the most commonly used
patterns in scientific research are:
1. Chronological description: use a time frame to tie the
sentences together: in 1981 ….last week, soon after the
project begun . First … then. Finally…..
originally we wanted…now we ….
Example (2)
2. Cause and effect analysis: when you want to make a
logical argument, explain a process, explain why
something happened the way it did, or predict some
future sequence of events.
Mention the cause first and then the result.
– Use some of the signals such as:
Therefore, thus, consequently, accordingly, as a result, so,
since, because of, due to, causes, result in, when, where,
if, or then.
Example (3)
A-3 Comparison and Contrast
When it is necessary to compare two or more things that are
similar in some ways but different in others.
Use Characteristic features of comparison and contrast such
as: however, on the other hand, conversely, similarly,
likewise, in contrast to, more than, -er, less than, as … as,
rather than, is different from, while, whereas, but.
•
Avoid:
1. Jumping back and forth from one alternative to another.
For example: if you are comparing two kinds of
material X and Y using four criteria A, B, C, and D.
Suppose that the first three criteria favor X and the
fourth favor Y. You should present the comparison in
terms of these two criteria groups: first A through C and
then D.
2. Do not routinely make neutral statements of
comparison. For example, instead of saying “item X
weighs 3.2 Kilos, and item Y weighs 2.7 kilos”
consider saying “ item X weighs 3.2 kilos, whereas
item Y weighs only 2.7 kilos”. The second sentence
helps the reader follow your point, you favor item X.
Example (4)
A-4 Listing
•
•
•
Sometimes you need to present the information in the
form of a list such as a list of equipment, list of things
done, list of reasons why you are recommending
something, etc.
A list is a set of items all of which have something in
common and yet are independent of each other.
Lists can be
– Formatted: the list is set off the from the rest of the
paragraph by means of indentation and numbering or
lettering. They use alphanumeric sequencing and vertical
alignment. For Example:
“REFS:
a) Government invoice # 79
b) Bonded Stores invoice # 20
c) DECADS letter # 5/20/79”
– Partially Formatted: they either use alphanumeric
sequencing or vertical alignment but not both, for
example:
“Factors taken into consideration include the following: (1)
size of lot, (2) parking requirements, (3) cost per gross
square foot, and (5) need for elevator.
– Unformatted lists: the list does not have such visual
cues as the formatted lists, no alphanumeric sequence or
vertical alignment. Sometimes hard to identify. Example:
“compared to standard bipolar types, VMOS transistors
offer higher input impedance, faster switching times,
wider operating range, and smaller chip area”
• All items in a list must be cast in parallel grammatical form,
this is essentially important in the unformatted lists to make
it easier to identify.
• You should use parallelism whenever you are constructing a
list.
•
Negative example: “The principal processes are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Coagulating and flocculation.
Removing the solids.
Nitrogen-Removal
Disinfection.”
Revised version: 1. Coagulation… 2. Removal of…
3. Removal of… 4. Disinfiction
• Sometimes it is useful to use small words in the making of
parallelism to clear the meaning, example: “The purpose
of this report is to present evidence that the contracting
officer acted within the range of his authority and his final
opinion was binding”.
Here the two parallel clauses are the: “ the contracting officer
acted within the range of his authority” and “his final
opinion was binding”. The two his suggested the
parallelism.
Revised form: “The purpose of this report is to present
evidence that the contracting officer acted within the range
of his authority and that his final opinion was binding”.
Parallelism can prevent misinterpretation of writings,
example: “This filter has two important functions: to reject
impulse noise signals and passing low frequency command
signals without amplitude or phase distortion.”
This section suggests that the filter rejects both impulse noise
signals and reject passing low frequency..
Revised: “This filter has two important functions: to reject
impulse noise signals and to pass low frequency command
signals without amplitude or phase distortion.” Can you see
the difference?
• Misleading Parallelism: Do not use parallelism when no
list is involved and do not include items that do not belong
to a list. Example: “Khaled Omar, senior engineer, asked me
to develop a magnetic tape measurement system, to reside
permanently on the computer, to give better control, and to
coordinate the numerous magnetic tapes.”
• Te first sentence does not belong to the list, the
person will not reside on the computer!
• Revised: “Khaled Omar, senior engineer, asked me to
develop a magnetic tape measurement system which will
reside permanently on the computer, give better control, and
coordinate the numerous magnetic tapes.”
• Punctuation of a list
Unformatted lists are set off ,if needed, by a colon (:), by
dashes (-…-), or by parentheses. Here are the rules:
1. Use a colon if the list ends the sentence for example:
“the new technology is most widely known for its
microelectronics: pocket calculators, microcomputers, and
other products that have revalorized information processing
and communication.”
2. Use dashes or parentheses if the list does not end the
sentence, for example: “Every aspect of the peptide
neurotransmitters-how they are made, what they do, where
and how they act, how they are disposed of, and even
whether they are true transmitters or serve some other
functions-is being studied with great intensity.
“The charge of an electron has been shown to occur in integral
multiples (1, 2, 3, etc) of its basic value.”
To separate the items of a list:
1- Use a comma in most cases
2- Use semicolons if the items are long or punctuated
internally. For example:
“We have assembly plans in the following locations: Cedar
Rapids, Iowa; Totowa, New Jersey; Edmonds,
Washington;and Castle Rock, Colorado.”
Another example:
“An efficient project cost system must accomplish three
important objectives: (1) check actual and predicted costs of
ongoing projects against the estimated cost; (1) obtain
production rates for use in estimating work and create
historical files (3) forcast the project final cost.
3- In formatted lists, punctuation is optional.
• If the items in a list are not equally
important, they should usually be arranged
in descending order of importance.If you
chose to do the opposite, you must signal
that, for example, say: Finally, and most
important, …”
A-4 General to Particular Ordering
• In this pattern, supporting details are ordered from the more
general to the more particular. Each sentence focuses on a
smaller frame of reference than the one before it.
• Example (5)
• The example moves from the magnetic bearings to the
permanent magnets to “only ten pounds of such magnets”,
to the subcomponent “ magnet servo loop”
• Remarks:
– THERE ARE OTHER PATTERNS.
– PATTERNS CAN BE MIXED