Readability.ppt

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: Have unity: focuses on one idea or theme, that also help skim-reading Have coherence: one sentence lead to the next in some kind of logical sequence. Have adequate supporting material: it contains some details to support the main idea of the paragraph. 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: 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