GLOSSARY OF WRITING TERMS
- clarity — clearness; ease of understanding; the paragraph makes sense to the reader
- coherence — logical connection of one idea to another; arranging words and ideas to make sense
- detract — take away from; make less; mess up
- direction — clear, logical pattern; movement in an orderly sequence
- distort — misrepresent; twist out of shape; give a false idea
- impede — hinder; obstruct; get in the way of
- mechanics — the technical part of writing; capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
- minimal — smallest or least possible amount
- numerous — very many
- organization — arrangement by an orderly plan; a plan including all parts needed to make a whole
- primary level of support — a general idea that supports a topic sentence
- relevant — sticking to the point; having to do only with the topic sentence
- secondary level of support — specific details that explain the primary supports; the "for examples" or "for instances"
- variety of sentence structure or sentence constructions — All sentences are not short, simple sentences; many kinds of sentences are used including some which begin with phrases, some which begin with or include dependent clauses, and some which are compound sentences.
- specific — limited; particular or individual
- support — to prove or explain a topic sentence
- syntax — the orderly arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses into logical sentences; sentence patterns
- transition — a word or phrase that smoothly connects sentences in a paragraph and guides the reader through the paragraph
- usage — the accepted way of using the words of a language in speaking or writing; the standard forms of the language; areas such as subject–verb agreement, fragments, and correct verbs and pronouns
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