Clarity, Part 2

As I did in the post titled, Clarity, Part 1, here I will be looking at and describing 4 different ideas presented in the Clarity section of Rules for Writers. I will also be using these Clarity skills to edit my QRG, which I will discuss after the descriptions on the Clarity ideas.

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Active Verbs:
This section explains how active verbs or phrases will make writing more clear and more effective than passive verbs or phrases. When your voice is active, the subject does the action, while in a passive voice, the subject receives the action. Active voice should be used most of the time because it creates a more dramatic and clear point, making the text more effective.

Parallel Ideas:
Parallel ideas or phrases are when a sentence is balanced out. For example, lists should continue in the same structure and compound sentences should also be structured the same (each clause). This creates more emphasis and makes the sentences sound correct, that is, not awkward to the reader.

Mixed Constructions:
Mixed phrases or sentences don't make sense grammatically or logically, and are typically easy to spot. They may appear as a sentence where the two parts don't quite finish out a thought or do so in a way that makes no sense at all, or they may appear as run on sentences that lose meaning towards the end of the sentence. Mixed sentences are an easy fix, as you just need to rearrange a sentence so that it makes sense again.

Shifts:
Shifts refer to any change in writing, such as tense, point of view, or quotes and questions. Some shifts, such as tense, should be avoided in writing to make the paper make sense as a whole. Others, like quotes, just need to be clarified so that the reader knows when a shift is actually happening. If this is how a paper is formatted, the shifts can help the text rather than confuse the reader.

Editing my paper: 
While editing I realized that active voice/passive voice can be hard to spot. I really have to pay attention to the way sentences are worded, or I may accidentally miss it, especially since grammatically passive voice makes sense. If it didn't sound right, it would be easy to pick up on, but since it is correct technically, it is easy to skim over. Parallel structure is something I learned about in high school, especially in regards to lists. I learned more so while editing my QRG just how much better lists sound when the are in a parallel structure. Mixed constructions were already something I knew about as well, and it was usually easy to see when a sentence didn't make sense and to fix it. And shifts I think I'm pretty good at, especially when it comes to quoting. I think it's important to introduce quotes for the reader.

An example of active voice:
"Parents see their kids learning in new ways, teachers have to get used to teaching differently, and students must learn to analyze and understand deeper concepts."
An example of a parallel structure:
"Common core math, according to supporters, will increase test scores, improve students’ understanding, and unify the country educationally."