How does sentence structure affect tone

The goal of academic writing is to present and articulate an argument. While utilizing a large vocabulary can be helpful in terms of explaining complicated ideas in different ways, one does not want to complicate the language of a text. While contractions and colloquial words and phrases often make writing sound informal, the use of shorter words does not necessarily indicate an informal style.

In fact, many writers prefer simpler language as it can help to clearly convey difficult ideas or concepts. Longer words and sentences may confuse your readers, or can make the writing sound arrogant. Here is an example:. The process of narrativization makes present, within a realm of the imaginary, a social and historical awareness that is unavailable within simple, material facticity : The title demonstrates an example of a sentence that is pretentious and jargon heavy.

Avoiding pretentious writing and defining any technical jargon will endow your writing with a clarity that readers will appreciate. In other words, avoid using needlessly inflated words that bloat your prose and distract your readers from your central argument. The goal is formal writing, not extravagant and flowery writing. Jargon is language that is used in a particular context and may not be well understood outside of that context e.

In some situations, specialized terms can help you communicate effectively. They convey precise, technical meanings economically insofar as many specialized terms have no exact equivalent in everyday speech.

They can also help you establish credibility in your field by showing that you are familiar with established conventions. Formal writing may require using specialized terms even though some people in your audience may not understand them.

One of the main differences between a middle grade and YA, or a YA and an adult story, is the tone of the piece. One of the easiest ways to signal tone and, as a result, audience is to control your sentence structure.

A simplistic explanation would say that simple sentences are for younger audiences, while longer sentences are for older. Clarity is paramount. You can—I love to do this—interrupt a sentence with another sentence. When I was teaching college level courses and taught this sentence construction, one student came back to class and reported that her three year old daughter had done this. Even young kids talk in complex ways.

But the connections from sentence to sentence must be absolutely clear. Using lots of introductory clauses, even when well used, can be confusing. If you use phrases and clauses carefully, your sentences will become much more interesting and your ideas much clearer.

For example, the following complex sentence develops a major, central idea and provides structured background information:. Just as a good driver uses different gears, a good writer uses different types of sentences in different situations:.

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