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Article: Sensitivity to emphasis. (sentence construction)
- Article from:
- Technical Communication
- Article date:
- August 1, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Society for Technical Communication. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Probably the most valuable thing about editing that I have learned from experience, rather than from school, is the powerful effect of emphasis. I have mentioned this briefly in other columns, but it deserves more space.
The key principle is simple: The most powerful position in a sentence is not at the beginning, but at the end.
My favorite example is two made-up sentences:
"John is slow, painstaking, and meticulous." That's a compliment.
"John is meticulous, painstaking, and slow." That will get John fired.
This one basic principle of sentence structure can affect many of our precepts in editing, from "continuity" to ...