A Writing Style Inventory is a way for serious beginning writers to improve their prose. Prose improvement, like literary criticism, requires close reading and thorough analysis. Like all good analysts, we will balance between the concrete and the abstract as we assess the limits and potentials of our individual prose.
For this assignment, please select a recent piece of academic writing that reflects your best effort. There will be time later for revision and inventory of our creative writing methods.
With your selected writing, please submit the essay to the following critique procedures and submit your response and final analysis to me via email before midnight on Monday, September 15. Please give your email the subject: [AP] Writing Style Inventory and include the response in the body of the email, NOT as an attachment. Please DO include the source material–your original essay–as an attachment (.doc, .docx, .pdf are acceptable).
Part One: Word Count, Sentence Length & Variation
1.Count the number of paragraphs in this essay. How many are there total?
2. Count the number of sentences in this essay. How many are there total?
3. Count the number of sentences in each paragraph. What is the average number of sentences per paragraph?
4. How long is the longest sentence?
5. How long is the shortest sentence?
4. Locate the longest paragraph in the essay (longest in terms of sentence count). Count the number of sentences. Then count the number of words in each sentence. What is the average word-count for each sentence?
5. Locate the shortest paragraph in the essay (shortest in terms of sentence count). Count the sentences, then count the number of words in each sentence. What is the average word-count for each sentence?
6. Variation in sentence length is crucial to a piece of writing. Based on this part of the inventory, assess the variation of sentence length in this essay. Discuss the positive and negative aspects of your current sentence-variation status in terms of writing clarity, logical argumentation, and overall readability. (Approx 250 words)
7. Active voice is preferred in academic writing. Go through your essay and highlight every passive verb form or passive constructions that you can locate (passive verbs are most easily indicated with a gerund (-ing ending); passive constructions put the verb near the end of the sentence). How many instances of the passive voice or passive constructions did you find?
8. The Paramedic Method is one way to ensure that your sentences are–to the greatest extent possible–written in the active voice. Select one paragraph and apply the paramedic method to the sentences within. Include your original and your final edited paragraphs as a response (be sure to indicate original and edited).
a. What was the original word count of the paragraph?
b. What is the final word count of the paragraph? (Remember the goal is to eliminate clutter!)
9. Look at the essay as a stand-alone piece of academic writing and consider the goals of the essay as it exists. Do not go back and review the assignment prompt. Answer the follow questions: Does the overall argument make sense to the reader who does not know the prompt? Does the essay achieve it’s stated goals (is the thesis proven)?
10. What do you consider the best sentence in this essay? Why?
11. What do you consider the worst sentence in this essay? Why?
12. Give a brief overall assessment of your writing style. Consider logic, sentence structure and variation, diction and syntax, paragraph length, and any other factors you have noticed. Unless it was a severe impediment to meaning, please omit discussing instances of formatting (MLA, APA, etc) you may determine to be problematic. (Approx 250 words)
Diamond Has Class 