Common Writing Mistakes

Lesson 22
Using Exact Language
(Chapter 38 – Little, Brown)
 Descriptive
Writing Process Narrative Essay
Essay

Common
Exemplification
Personal Essay Writing
Essay
Mistakes
 Writer’s Prompt:
• With air pollution always a concern, write a
list of examples and/or reasons why or why
not cars should be banned from metropolitan
cities.
 Assignment
• Read Exemplification in GW starting on page
145.
• Using your own words, write a definition of
exemplification.
 Assignment Review
• Chapter 38 – Little, Brown; exercises 38.1 and
38.4 on page 520 and 523
 Whenever we come upon one of those
intensely right words [...] the resulting effect is
physical as well as spiritual, and electrically
prompt.

Mark Twain, “William Dean Howells”

 Using Exact Language
• To write clearly, choose the right word to fit
your meaning exactly
• Don’t worry about this during the drafting
phase
• Revision and/or editing is the time to worry
about word choice – simply flag those words
that aren’t quite right
 The Right Word
 Always appropriate:
• Standard American English
 Sometimes appropriate:
• Regional words and expressions
– Drewes; Dogtown; The Hill
• Slang
– The 411; borrow the porcelain; he’s such a
larry; ain’t no thing but a chicken wing; skates
 The Right Word
• Colloquial language
–words used in different parts of a city,
town, country that mean the same
thing but they use a different word or
expression.
–In West Virginia any kind of soda is
called a “coke.” In Kansas City soda is
called “pop.”
 The Right Word
• Neologisms
– a new word which only a few may
understand
• Technical language
– The retch connects to the protzer and then the
guzi propels the zimmerschietz
 The Right Word
• Euphemisms
– the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague
expression for one thought to be offensive,
harsh, or blunt.2.the expression so
substituted: “To pass away” is a euphemism
for “to die.”
 Examples of euphemisms
1. garbage man Sanitation engineer
2. old people Elderly
3. pregnant A bun in the oven
4. the dead Deceased
5. burier Grave worker
6. asylums Mental institutions
7. imprisoned Sent up the river
 Rarely or never appropriate:
Nonstandard dialect
• Like any dialect, a nonstandard dialect has its own 
vocabulary and an internally consistent grammar
 and syntax; and it may be spoken using a variety
of accents. Describing a dialect as "nonstandard" is
not to imply that the dialect is incorrect or inferior.
Also prestige dialects may be non-standard.
Double talk
• 1.speech using nonsense syllables along with words
in a rapid patter. 2.deliberately evasive or
ambiguous language: When you try to get a
straight answer, he gives you double-talk.
 Rarely or never appropriate:
Pretentious writing
• "So say you take a word like, I don't know, 'talk.' Now, if
you wanted to say that with sort of a pretentious air,
you'd say 'converse.' It's not necessarily wrong. But it has
a sort of a snobbish air to it that's not really casual as
American English is. But if you wanted to go over to the
junk English side, you'd say 'you know, we need to
dialogue.'
Biased language:
• sexist, racist, ethnocentric, etc.
The “late” George Carlin on Euphemisms
 Denotation and Connotation
• Denotation – the thing or idea to which the
word refers – the meaning in the dictionary
minus the emotional associations of the word
• Connotation – many words carry associations
with specific feelings. These words can shape
readers’ responses and can be a powerful tool
for writers.
 For Example
• "slim," "scrawny," and "svelte"
– all have related denotative meanings (thin, let's
say)
– but different connotative meanings.
– And if we're trying to pay someone a compliment,
we better get the connotation right.
 For Example
• All of the following words and phrases refer to "a young
person," but their connotations may be quite different
depending, in part, on the context in which they appear: 
–youngster, child, kid, little one, small fry, brat, urchin,
juvenile, minor.
–Some of these words tend to carry favorable
connotations (little one), others unfavorable (brat), and
still others fairly neutral connotations (child).
–Calling a young person a brat lets our readers know at
once how we feel about the rotten kid.
 Avoiding Clichés
• In groups of 1, 2, or 3 – do the handout no
clichés