6.1: Introduction

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Gabriel Winer & Elizabeth Wadell
Berkeley City College & Laney College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

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What will we learn in this chapter?

In this chapter, you will learn about clarity and style in academic English writing along with strategies for writing clear, lively, and effective essays. You will read and identify elements of clarity and style in others’ writing and apply these ideas to your own writing. You will also practice revising writing for greater clarity and appropriate academic style, focusing on word selection and sentence variety.

Why is this important?

Expressing your ideas clearly and with your audience in mind is central to effective communication. You don’t want your audience to have to work too hard to understand your message; if they are distracted by your writing, they may lose interest or not be able to fully understand the ideas you’re expressing. If you are writing an argument, they may be less likely to agree with you. On the other hand, a clear, well-written argument may convince skeptical readers to change their minds. Learning strategies to revise for clarity and conciseness will help you achieve this goal of effective communication.

What theme will this chapter focus on?

California is known for its abundant agriculture; in fact, California’s Central Valley is known as “the salad bowl” of the nation. However, many residents of the state cannot easily access or afford fresh produce grown here. They live in areas known as food deserts -- areas with limited access to affordable, healthy foods. The readings in this chapter will explore this issue and consider some solutions.

A row of fields with farmworker vehicles. — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): "The Nation's Salad Bowl" by Malcolm Carlaw is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Learning objectives

In this chapter, you will learn to

write in an academic voice.
use specific strategies to write clear, strong sentences.
identify an author's tone and intentionally modify your own tone.
use effective word choice and sentence variety to communicate clearly.
identify and revise common errors that get in the way of clear writing.

Licensing and Attributions

CC Licensed Content: Original

Authored by Clara Hodges Zimmerman, Porterville College. License: CC BY NC.