Lesson

    The longer a document is, the more important it is for you to sustain the energy in the writing. Sustaining energy calls on you to select strong verbs and to rid sentences of needless words. These three films address both issues. (26 minutes) 

Choosing Strong Verbs (Part 1): This film discusses sustaining the energy of scientific writing by choosing strong verbs and placing them early in sentences.


Choosing Strong Verbs (Part 2): This film discusses sustaining the energy of scientific writing by choosing strong verbs and placing them early in sentences.


Cutting Needless Words. This film discusses sustaining the energy of scientific writing by cutting needless words.

Comprehension Quiz

     Forthcoming in September 2019 will be a quiz for each lesson so that instructors can check whether students have understood the content. Each quiz will have both a pdf version that teachers can download and a Canvas version that teachers can export. For the pdf version, we will give instructors an answer key. For the Canvas version, we will give instructions on how to locate those quizzes in the Canvas Commons. ​

Exercises

     Rewrite the following paragraph to make the verbs stronger. Because this exercise focuses on verbs, keep the same number of sentences. In other words, do not combine sentences. Also, please work in the good news of this paper—namely, that the process eliminated 99% of nitrogen oxide emissions. Please note that because the paper has two authors, using the first person would call for we, not I. 

     A new process for eliminating nitrogen oxides from diesel exhaust engines is presented.  Flow tube experiments to test this process are discussed.  The percentage decrease in nitrogen oxide emissions is revealed.

     For a possible answer, please view Choosing Strong Verbs (Part 2) or see page 57 in The Craft of Scientific Writing.

References

  1. Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Writing, 4th ed. (New York: Springer Verlag, 2018), Lesson 4.
  2. Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (New York: Scribner, 2000), p. 125.
  3. William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1979), p. 23.
  4. Mark Twain, letter to D. W. Bowser (20 Mar 1880).
For the academic year 2019-2020, we are collecting comments, questions, criticisms, and suggestions for the films, text, and quizzes of each lesson on scientific writing. To help us understand your input, would please let us know what your discipline is and whether you are a student, professional, or faculty member?