How to Write Great Essays

HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
CHAPTER 2
Clarity
18
Retain only the first word:
Drop the modifier (first word):
U
S E
P
R O N O U N S
C
A R E F U L LY
Pronouns (words such as 
I
,
we
,
them
, and 
her
) take the place of nouns. They should only
be used when the noun to which they refer (known as the 
antecedent
) is obvious and mean-
ingful. Check the pronouns in your writing to be certain they are not one of the following:
■
unclear
■
too far from the antecedent
■
useless
Example:
Trini is interested in teaching and farming, which is her career choice.
What is her career choice? 
Which
could mean either teaching or farming, making it unclear.
The writer needs to restate the career instead of using a pronoun in order to eliminate the
possibility the reader will not understand the sentence. Write instead:
Trini is interested in
teaching and farming, but farming is her career choice.
Example:
Bring the paper with you tomorrow to the meeting that discusses the
detention policy.
past memories
final destination
general consensus
various differences
each individual
basic fundamentals
true facts
important essentials
future plans
terrible tragedy
end result
final outcome
free gift
past history
totally obvious
rarely ever
unexpected surprise
sudden crisis
any and all
first and foremost
refer back
close proximity
large in size
often times
reason why
heavy in weight
period in time
round in shape
odd in appearance
mathematics field
cheap quality
honest in character
confused state
modern in design
unusual in nature
extreme in degree
strange type