At a Glance: Editing for Coordination, Subordination, and Emphasis

Editing for Coordination, Subordination, and Emphasis

AT A GLANCE

How do your ideas flow from one sentence to another? Do they connect smoothly and clearly? Are the more important ideas given more emphasis than less important ones?

  • Look for strings of short sentences that might be combined to join related ideas. (25a)

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  • If you use and excessively, decide whether all the ideas are equally important. If they are not equal, edit to subordinate the less important ones. (25b)
  • Make sure that the most important ideas appear in independent clauses that can stand alone as complete sentences. (25b)

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  • Identify the word or words you want to receive special emphasis. If those words are buried in the middle of a sentence, edit the sentence to change their position. The end and the beginning are generally the most emphatic. (25c)
  • If a sentence includes a series of three or more words, phrases, or clauses, try to arrange the items in the series in climactic order, with the most important item last. (25c)