The Essentials: The Rules Of Thumb

In the guidebook, Rules of Thumb, the authors, Jay Silverman, Elaine Hughes, and Diana R. Wienbroer, demonstrate how to utilize writing principles. The term guide means referring back to what holds a significant message. As people we forget, so when an issue pops up as we’re writing we have an alternative tool to review. There are four main parts included in this tool guide, which are “The Essentials: Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar”, “How to Create a Paper”, “Managing a Research Paper”, and “Genre”. According to the authors, The Essentials section includes common made mistakes and these rules were placed first because they’re what students stress about most. Furthermore, the authors suggest when we’re writing down our thoughts, don’t get …show more content…
First, I came across the title, How to extend a paper and when to cut it down, which I considered to be helpful. For some it’s difficult to meet the maximum amount words for a paper and it can be troublesome when too much is written. However, as I’m writing I’m thinking of examples I could involve to prove why I find this topic beneficial. To extend a piece of writing it may include more of an explanation, differing views, details, or a longer conclusion. I’ve never had an issue where I didn’t write enough; unfortunately for me it’s the opposite because I have a lot to say and often add too many phrases. I may have to discard insignificant ideas, check for repetition, and change wordiness to increase my chances of having a richer and shortened …show more content…
Using too much of the same phrases or words can make a paper boring and tedious. I try to look for likeable synonyms and often arrange phrases so they’re not bunched up into one paragraph. Although, as specified in the guidebook, a synonym won’t always be fitting because the tone might not be correct. Sometimes I’ll try to sound like a genius by using big words, however I might misuse them. It’s best to stick with words we know. Also, students may commonly recap points or facts, which saying the same thing over and over again becomes old. As said by the authors, there’s a time and place for examples. Having the same idea in the same format located in multiple areas will possibly confuse the reader as well. I believe this piece of information is helpful because repetition isn’t entirely bad. Nevertheless, it just depends on the style of writing. In conclusion, Rules of Thumb happens to be a very interesting guidebook and contains powerful material. This book covered four main themes from grammar to formatting essays and to configuring style. Moreover, I discussed each part and selected topics that I considered to be the most