Lesson Plan: Concise Writing Skills
Anthropology
Objective
To help students improve their writing style by teaching them how to say more using less words in a fun writing exercise
Estimated Time
3 minutes in class (majority of work to be completed by students outside of class)
Work Completed Before Class
Students will have completed and received back a graded "Interview and Analysis" writing assignment that they have the option of revising. Students will be asked to bring in their graded papers, which will have a paragraph highlighted that they will be asked to use for this in-class writing exercise.
In Class
Briefly introduce students to the purpose of the exercise: to practice making their writing more condensed, and thus more clear, forceful and effective. Students will be asked to select a paragraph from a recently graded essay and to rewrite the paragraph using half as many words while preserving original ideas and content. (3 minutes)
After Class
As a homework assignment, ask students to do the following:
- Choose one paragraph from your original interview and analysis paper (your key motive + thesis introductory paragraph or your key synthesizing + thesis concluding paragraph might be a good choice).
- Copy and paste that original paragraph, as is, onto a separate document. Change it to single spacing so this all will fit on one page.
- Use your "Tools" function to do a word count, and indicate how many words were in the original paragraph.
- Now work on revising. Your requirement is to cut the paragraph down in length by at least one half. So, if the original paragraph was 300 words long, the new paragraph would need to be no longer than 150 words. Remove any unnecessary words or phrases. In many cases, you can keep the same sentences while removing extraneous words from the sentence, or by rephrasing to keep the language moving along at a faster, denser pace. Keep in mind that faster, more condensed writing almost always seems more exciting and even intelligent to the reader. Indicate how many words are in the new paragraph.
- Put your name on the sheet. Adjust the margins and font as necessary so that this all can fit on one page.
N.B.: If they think that their edited/condensed paragraph is better than the original, encourage students to use it in their essay revisions!
Casey Miller and Sarah Lamb
Developed at Brandeis University through a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation