A-manual-for-writers-of-research-papers-theses-and-dissertations

we tend to distrust them.Finally, though, your instructor decides. If he flatly forbids I or we, then so be it.11.2 Diagnose What You ReadOnce you understand how readers judge what they read, you know how to write clear prose,but also why so much of what you must read seems so dense. You might struggle with somewriting because its content is difficult. But you may also struggle because the writer didn'twrite clearly. This next passage, for example, is by no means the thickest ever written:15a. Recognition of the fact that grammars differ from one language to another can serve as the basis for seriousconsideration of the problems confronting translators of the great works of world literature originally written in alanguage other than English.But in half as many words, it means only this:15b. Once we know that languages have different grammars, we can consider the problems of those whotranslate great works of literature into English.So when you struggle to understand some academic writing (and you will), don't blameyourself, at least not first. Diagnose its sentences. If they have long subjects stuffed withabstract nouns expressing new information, the problem is probably not your inability to readeasily, but the writer's inability to write clearly. In this case, unfortunately, the moreexperience you get with academic prose, the greater your risk of imitating it. In fact, it's acommon problem in professional writing everywhere, academic or not.11.3 Choose the Right WordAnother bit of standard advice is Choose the right word:1. Choose the word with the right meaning. Affect doesn't mean effect; elicit doesn't meanillicit. Many handbooks list commonly confused words. If you're an inexperienced writer,invest in one.2. Choose the word with the right level of usage. If you draft quickly, you risk choosingwords that might mean roughly what you think they do, but are too casual for a researchreport. Someone can criticize another writer or knock him; a risk can seem frightening orscary. Those pairs have similar meanings, but most readers judge the second to be a bitloose.On the other hand, if you try too hard to sound like a real “academic,” you risk using wordsthat are too formal. You can think or cogitate, drink or imbibe. Those pairs are close inmeaning, but the second in each is too fancy for a report written in ordinary English.Whenever you're tempted to use a word that you think is especially fine, look for a morefamiliar one.The obvious advice is to look up words you're not sure of. But they're not the problem; the