Occasional Paper Series

Occasional Paper Series Note carefully the distinction between that and which . Here you have an extended compound introductory clause followed by no topic and no verb, and thus you could have a fraction. You could have observed exceptions to the no-fragments rule. Skilful writers do typically intentionally use a fragment to achieve a certain effect. Ideally, your professor will allow you to to improve your writing by specifying exactly what is wrong with a selected passage, however sometimes you might find a simple awk in the margin. This all-objective adverse remark usually suggests that the sentence is clumsy because you've misused phrases or compounded a number of errors. Unless instructed in any other case, you need to assume that your audience consists of educated, clever, nonspecialists. In fact, your professor will normally be your only reader, however if you write directly to your professor, you could turn into cryptic or sloppy (oh well, she’ll know what I’m talking about). Explaining your ideas to someone who doesn't know what you imply forces you to be clear and full. Rewrite as “The blitz destroyed elements of London.” Now you’ve qualified properly . (“Essentially, Churchill believed that Nazi Germany offered a grave hazard to Britain.”) Delete primarily and mainly until you are writing about essences or bases. If you're having hassle together with your writing, attempt simplifying. Write brief sentences and skim them aloud to test for clarity. Start with the subject and follow it shortly with an active verb. Limit the number of relative clauses, participial phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. You will win no prizes for eloquence, however at least you may be clear. Add complexity only when you have realized to deal with it. The first sentence has a nonrestrictive relative clause; the dates are included almost as parenthetical info. But one thing seems amiss with the second sentence. Both sentences are grammatically right, however the writer of the second sentence appears silly. If the writer is a journalist or somebody with no particular historic training, watch out. Now, your objective as a pupil is to come back as shut as attainable to the scholarly perfect, so you need to develop a nostril for distinguishing the scholarly from the non-scholarly. Now, discovering the correct quantity of element can, admittedly, be tricky (how much do I put in about the Edict of Nantes, the Embargo Act, or President Wilson’s background?). When unsure, err on the facet of placing in further particulars. You’ll get some leeway right here when you keep away from the extremes (my reader’s an ignoramus/my reader knows everything). Change some wording or take away something if essential. Reword your thesis and some key facts and claims of the paper. Take note of transitions, connecting phrases, type of words utilized in paper . See how proof is mixed with and supported by explanations, citations and conclusions of a writer. You can't write when you wouldn't have things to write about. Here are a few questions you may ask of your secondary sources (bear in mind that the favored/scholarly distinction is not absolute, and that some scholarly work could also be poor scholarship). Our specialists in customized writing will do it for you with pleasure. After drafting just let the paper sit apart for about 20 minutes and see if there are any inconsistencies or omitted issues. Mind that one debatable level from the thesis may be lined in 1 paragraph, but it may take 3 to 4 paragraphs as nicely . Is it in a journal subscribed to by our library, listed on JSTOR, or revealed by a university press? Oddly enough, the word journal in the title is normally a sign that the periodical is scholarly. Scholarly books come from college presses and from a handful of business presses (for example, Norton, Routledge, Palgrave, Penguin, Rowman & Littlefield, Knopf, and HarperCollins). Most scholarly works are written by skilled historians who have advanced coaching in the space they're writing about.