Contrast, highlighting one aspect by a direct juxtaposition with another, is one of the most important constructs you can use to express complex ideas in your text.   By directly contrasting one concept with another the same way black can highlight white, your readers derive a clearer picture of the message you’re trying to impart.

Examples

When you say “I’ve always wanted to own a home but I live in a rented apartment,” it shows a contrast that creates a scene in the mind of the reader.  Similarly, explaining the reason for the situation can also be arrived at properly by using contrast, as in “While it’s always been in the back of mind to buy a house, the reality of my financial situation has made it impossible.”

Can you see how contrast worked in these sentences to create a compelling scene instead of an uninspiring one?

Ways To Show Contrast

As with the above examples, sentence connectors are your best bet for showing the relationship between two contrasting ideas in your writing.  The first one (using “but”) is called a coordinating conjunction, which bridges two contrasting statements together.  Subordinating conjunctions (such as the second example), on the other hand, show one idea while putting forward a secondary one that makes the first a struggle (e.g. whereas, while).  Conjunctive adverbs are used when you’d rather force a pause between the two statements (either by a period or a semicolon) and are often accomplished by starting the second statement with “in contrast” or “on the other hand”.  Prepositions are the last way to express contrast, often achieved by prefacing the two combined statements with “unlike” or “even though”.

For the most part, text that lack clarity can be fixed up by using grammar software.  That’s because majority of writing weaknesses  are frequently related to a lack of adherence to best practices and language rules.  When you’ve done due diligence on this end to no avail, it’s time to check the way your presentation is organized.  Often, a lack clarity can be remedied by rearranging the way ideas are shown.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• How would the piece work if you rearrange paragraph order?
• Does the introduction work to generate interest or does it reveal too much that can best be presented towards the end, instead?
• Do you need to build up tension before going into the details?
• Is your closing strong enough to answer any unasked questions?

Many times, simply rearranging the paragraphs to a more logical sequence can do the trick.  Sometimes,  beefing up the introductory groundwork or trimming it down can facilitate a more successful version.  Experiment with cut-and-paste technology, rearranging the way your ideas are presented, and you might eventually hit upon the desired spot.

If you need some help writing an analysis essay, use the following guidelines to help you through:

1. The goal of analytic essays is to determine how well you’re able to comprehend outside information, by breaking it down into its essential components and forming an opinion based on that.

2. Always summarize the piece being analyzed to begin your essay, to give the reader some context about your grasp of it.

3. Introduce the major components of the subject as you understand them in one section, spanning one or two paragraphs.  You can always write longer, but keeping it short will help maintain the reader’s attention.

4. Depending on the complexity of each component, you can dedicate an entire section of your essay discussing each one in detail, delving deeper into the ideas behind them, while dispensing your own opinion on the subject.  Try to provide supporting facts for every personal idea you express.

5. Since the essay is an analysis instead of an argument piece, you may also want to present the other side of the argument to maintain balance.

6. If it’s a take home essay you can compose on your own computer, make sure to run it through a capable English writing software to fix up loose ends on your writing.

As a rule, all numbers smaller than 10 are usually spelled out in words.  Filling your copy with single digit numerals will just leave your paragraphs looking odd – as if you’re poring through a math textbook instead of whatever it is you’re actually composing.   Similarly try to avoid starting sentences with a number.  If you must to do it, spell out the number in words, regardless of how long it is.

Apart from the above, there aren’t really any other hard-and-fast guideline in the English language for writing out numbers, which means every other way of implementing them into your documents will likely be accepted without any objections from an English writing software.  There are quite a few things you can do, however, to make sure your emails, reports and other business materials read considerably better.

One word numbers (ten, fifty) typically read better in the middle of sentences when spelled out.  Anything longer will need to be written in their numeric format.  While commas are not mandatory, using them will improve your text’s readability, especially when your document includes plenty of large numbers.

Any rounded number over a million needs to be written using a number along with a word (e.g. $2 billion).  Writing all those zeros, especially if you don’t use commas, can be quite painful to the eyes.  In a similar way, sentences where two numbers need to be written next to each other best work either spelled out or done in combination (e.g. one $15,000 check).

1. Parallelism

This is the technique of putting various items that relate to a main point side by side.  Instead of just one argument for an issue, it allows you to present multiple paths that all lead to the same place.

2. Framing

Framing is the practice of presenting an idea in different ways to strongly reinforce its argument.  To frame your piece, state it strongly at the start and at the end, all while letting it ooze through at the seams.

3. One-Sentence Paragraph

The one-sentence paragraph is a technique regularly employed by writers to elucidate the impact points of a news item.  Used in your own writing, the idea presented in that lone sentence stands out in a sea of long paragraphs.

4.  Terminal Placement

With any form of writing, the last concept or idea presented before a pause often makes the most impression.  As such, reserving your most important thought for the last sentence of a paragraph allows it to exercise the most influence.

5. Changing Writing Styles Mid-Stream

Shifting your writing style (whether in tone or voice) at some point in your copy will immediately draw to attention to it.

Combining Techniques

All effective pieces of writing combine three or more of these techniques to make their strongest points (apart from sporting cleaned-up grammar by using an English writing software).  Using them in a way that complement each other will help you create the strongest impact.

The following three techniques are some of the easiest and most common ways to structure your paragraphs.  Learning and applying them, combined with the use of the best English grammar software you can find, can go a long way towards making your written work go up a couple of levels in quality.

1. Enumeration

Most people do this by default, spouting one information after another.  If you want to make it both look and sound better, though, try presenting your information in a way that builds up to an ending.   Instead of a random grocery list, try arranging it creatively, such as starting from the most mundane all the way to an earth-shattering fact.

2. Cause And Effect

In this technique, you develop the paragraph by showing how one idea (or action or subject) leads to another.  Done well, it can clarify your message in a huge way, connecting the dots in the reader’s mind.

3. Illustration

When developing a paragraph by illustration, you make your point by citing a story.  Implemented correctly, it can give the reader a better context about the subject, especially when your illustration manages to speak to their sensibilities.

1. Emails that pile on the topics. When you send emails that talk about ten subjects, it’s hard to read, difficult to file and impossible to understand in one sitting.  If the person receiving the email needs to attend to you, they’ll have to set aside a lot of time to go through it.  Most likely, they’ll also need to clarify it one by one.  If they have a choice (if you’re a supplier suggesting some new products, for instance), they’ll probably just ignore it and move on.

2. Emails with non-descriptive subjects. Good emails let the recepient know what it’s about just from reading the subject line.  People usually scan through subjects to find pressing and important matter they should attend to first.  If all you have on your subject is “A Few Suggestions” or “Some Ideas,” you’ll probably end up last on the priority queue.

3. Emails that consist of one long block. If you can’t be bothered to split your email into manageable paragraphs and your paragraphs into readable sentences, your email easily ranks as among the most difficult documents to read through.  Even if the recipient goes through what you’ve written, there’s a good chance they’ll miss important parts.  If you’re unsure how to chop up your email to read better, use an English writing software to help you out.

Paragraphs should always discuss a single idea.  Whether it takes you two or twenty sentences to express that idea, it makes sense to group them all in a single paragraph.  Of course, if you need to express an idea using twenty sentences, you’re probably doing something wrong.  Best to break down what you are communicating further so they fit into five or less.  Some of the best English writing software can help you with suggestions to help keep your paragraphs succinct – take full advantage of them.

Always begin your paragraph with context, introducing the idea as concisely as you can.  The body of the paragraph provides the supporting information, along with the ensuing discussion.  At the end, you both conclude the idea as well as provide a way to transition to the next paragraph.

Transitions can be difficult to craft, although they’re usually necessary to help your copy flow from one paragraph to the next.  For the most part, they’re intended to establish a relationship between the idea in your current paragraph to whatever you’re looking to discuss in the succeeding one.

Your paragraph organization can dictate a lot about how your copy actually reads.  Make sure to give it due attention.

Nominalizations are nouns that have been derived from adjectives and verbs.  Words such as evaluation, qualification and clarity fall in this category when employed as the main subject in a sentence.  Their use often entails adding more helping verbs and passive constructions into your copy to properly express ideas.  As such, it can lead to dragging content that can prove confusing in parts.

Some English writing software can capably detect excessive use of nominalizations and suggest alternative ways of expressing them.  However, you’ll need to watch out before triggering the change as the meaning can also be altered when it isn’t handled correctly. In fact, fixing excessive nominalizations is left difficult because most alternative ways of expressing the same ideas often involve some form of workaround.

When looking to update sentences that use nominalizations, the easiest way to get it done is often to do away with it.  Instead of using the word as a noun, bring it to its original verb or adjective format and express it that way.  A phrase like “my evaluation of the matter” can be altered to “I evaluated the matter;”  an expression like “all participants qualified for the next course” can be written in place of “their qualifications are sufficient to make it to the next course.”

Nominalizations do have their place, though, and should only be trimmed if paragraphs read too clumsily by excessive use.  As always, employ with care.

Start Early. Once your subject matter is approved, start work on your term paper as soon as you can.  Why put off for tomorrow what….you know the drill.

Get A General Idea Of Your Subject. Before doing actual work on your term paper, start browsing through materials on your subject to get a good idea of how you can best present it.

Draft Your Outline. After getting a better grasp of your subject matter, begin your outline.  The outline is essentially your plan – a logical arrangement of the different items that you’re looking at including in your term paper.

Write Out Of Order. Even though you have an outline drafted, don’t feel constrained by it.  You don’t need to perform your research and writing in a sequential order.  In fact, starting with the easier sections should help you ease into the project, allowing you to work on the more difficult areas as you proceed.

Use Research To Support Your Writing. Supporting any claims you make is a crucial part of any term paper.  You can create the most exquisitely-crafted papers yet receive low marks if you don’t support your ideas with solid facts.

Clean Up Your Copy. Like many forms of reporting, term papers will need to be presented in proper form to accomplish best results.  As such, make sure you clean up your sentences and paragraphs with an English grammar software to fashion it into shape.