POL S 390

Fall 2006

Law and Politics

Avoiding major writing errors

Major writing issues (as well as minor ones, like spelling) are for you to clear up before you turn in papers that will be graded, as opposed to drafts, freewriting, or in-class exams. What follows are some major writing issues that I take into account when I assign a paper grade.

Sentence-level issues

A very easy rule is that if you are reading a sentence aloud and you pause briefly, you need a comma; if you pause fully, you need a semicolon or end-of-sentence punctuation. No pause means no punctuation!

Avoid sentence fragments (because they do not express a complete idea):

We were relieved. Whereas/Although/Because/Since/That/Until/Once/the professor stopped requiring students to turn in drafts of papers.

The car skidded out of control. Then rolled over. [You are allowed to write like this only if you are a published novelist J]

Avoid joining (what could be) sentences with a comma:

The details of the child injuries don’t lead me to think that the lawsuit was greedy, it seems quite legitimate.

Do use semi-colons not commas to join what could be sentences (independent clauses):

Her point was stated very strongly; therefore/thus/however/hence/therefore/in fact/for example/as a consequence/indeed/consequently/nevertheless, it was received with enthusiasm. [note there is a comma after the conjunction or transitional phrase!]

The days are hot; the nights are cold. [Note the parallelism: You don’t staple together any old pair of sentences with a semicolon.]

Avoid punctuation between the subject and the verb:

The authors’ tendency to use jargon, shows they do not care if they book has a wide audience.

Avoid punctuation between the verb and the object:

Stella Liebeck case shows, bad things happen to good people or good things happen to bad people.

Avoid subject-verb disagreement:

The vase of roses are lovely. [vase is]

A father, along with his several children, were packed into the car. [father was]

Avoid placing a sentence fragment or an aside (dependent clause) in the middle of sentence without using punctuation on both sides:

It is evident to some people, although not to me that politics is increasingly based on symbols and visual information. [needs another comma, after “me”]

Do use colons or double dashes not semicolons to introduce examples or explanations:

There is no way to prove whether there is too much suing – definitions and measures are inherently subject to contestation. (Also OK: There is no way to prove blah blah, because definitions blah blah.)

Word-level issues

Avoid pronouns – their, it, they, this – unless what the pronoun refers to (the antecedent) is obvious. Much too often, “this” gets used because authors don’t take the time to make a specific connection with the previous sentence:

Because of their negativity and biases, the candidates’ ads aren’t resonating with the voters. This problem interests political pundits. [What is “their” referring to? Which problem?]

Do pay attention to commonly mixed-up words:

bias is a noun or verb

biased is an adjective

affect is (most commonly) a verb

effect is (most commonly) a noun

who is a subject

whom is an object

Who hit whom? I’m giving whoever did this one minute to confess.

[Human beings are who and whom, never which or that. ]

it’s = it is (It’s alive!)

its = belonging to it (Its wagging tail made everyone stop and pet the puppy.)

[Yes, English can be annoying.]

compliment (to say something nice about)

complement (to complete/to fit with)

She complimented her friend on his tie, which nicely complemented his shirt.

Do use possessives correctly:

Derek’s pen fell to the floor when he saw the exam questions.

My boss’s stance on lateness changes daily. [singular possessor]

Some say the women’s movement was at its strongest in the 1970s.

The three bosses’ stances on lateness are different. [plural possessor]

Do distinguish a plural noun from a possessive:

After sixteen hours of sleep, she knew she had to get up.

Ponder before using (because these words can easily be vague and/or redundant):

nouns                                                  intensifiers

topic                                                    very

issue                                                    extreme/ly

concept                                               great/ly

notion                                                 amazing/y

idea                                                     incredible/ly

factor                                                  astounding/ly

Alawys avoid:

due to the fact that [use “ because” ]

deals with [use some meaningful verb instead!]