Lesson 1

An Understanding of the causal factors involved in excessive drinking by students could lead to their more effective treatment.

We could more effectively treat students who drink too much if we understood why they do.

bereaucratese, legalese, academese

450 years of unreadable writing in law, medicine, social science, science, textbooks, etc.

Anti-democratic Makes readers struggle, feel dumb,

and/or give up Hurts exchange of ideas and

pursuit of knowledge

Writers “pump up” prose to impress readers (especially when we don’t know what we are talking about)

Writers focus more on avoiding grammar errors than exploring their ideas and explaining them clearly for a reader

Writers are unfamiliar with the topic/writing setting

It seems clear to the writer

We are imitating unclear style because unclear “sounds” complex and deep to us (because we don’t fully understand it and so assume it is smart)

Don’t worry about style principles as you draft. All first draft sentences are vague and unclear in part because the ideas are still vague and unclear to the writer.

Style is revision. As the ideas take shape and become more clear to YOU, you can work on expressing the ideas clearly for your reader.