by Anna-Zoe Herr<\/p>\n
Want to know a simple way to make your wording pop? Pay attention to where you put your words in each sentence! A simple rule is to put the words that carry the most meaning at the end of your sentences.<\/p>\n
Roy Peter Clark explains why this works in Writing Tools<\/em>,* where he advises us that “for any sentence, the period acts as a stop sign. That slight pause in reading magnifies the final word.” That means the last word in every sentence stands out because there is a mental pause right after it. When chosen carefully, the last word in a sentence can provide a bridge to the next sentence, emphasize meaning, and even create a liveliness of tone. Clark calls this\u00a0\u201cemphatic word order,\u201d which is a small edit for a writer, but a huge improvement for\u00a0the written piece.<\/p>\n There are two things necessary in order to use emphatic word order when you write:<\/p>\n If we are very clear about our subject or argument, we often do emphatic word order intuitively; but in many cases we need to go back, play with each sentence, see how<\/em>\u00a0it fits into the whole paragraph, and\u00a0determine what\u00a0<\/em>the important words are. With that understanding, when we rewrite the sentence, it can do miracles!<\/p>\n Here is an example:<\/p>\n \u201cToday, some areas of science seem to have claimed to declare truth and error, a status only\u00a0religion used to have<\/u><\/strong>. Therefore, science is as controversial a topic as it gets, for in our age it started knocking on the doors of individuals on a quest for a more accurate truth and has fallen onto the slippery slope of political\u00a0power-play<\/u><\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Using the principles of emphatic word order, I could revise like this:<\/p>\n \u201cToday, some areas of science seem to have claimed a status that only religion used to have: the right to declare truth and error<\/u><\/strong>. Therefore, science is as controversial a topic as it gets, for in our age it has fallen onto the slippery slope of political power-play, as well as knocking on the doors of individuals in a quest for a more accurate truth<\/u><\/strong>.”<\/p>\n When you look at the last words in these sentences, you can see that they carry the most weight.<\/p>\n The words we choose to put at the end of a sentence can change how readers interpret our intent, but if we understand our intentions, then we can use rhetorical strategies like emphatic word order \u00a0to express them in each sentence.<\/p>\n Anna-Zo\u00eb is a double major in global perspectives and studio art. She has studied in a university in Germany prior to coming to Principia, where she also studied to be a writing tutor. Next semester, she will be going on the Prague abroad to continue with more writing.<\/em><\/p>\n *Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer<\/em> by Roy Peter Clark (2008)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Anna-Zoe Herr Want to know a simple way to make your wording pop? 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