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Elias Garcia Econ 210 Economical Writing Summaries: Chapters 11-20 Chapter 11: Extending her previous them on stylistic writing, McCloskey emphasis that you can learn good writing by repetition and revision. The end goal of this stylistic writing establishes a clear and concise piece for a group/individual that you preemptively make your target audience. This creates a stable platform that you communicate from, emphasizing the importance of choosing this audience early, as you can't write in the style necessary without knowing who this audience is. A good example includes a walk through recipe for the average cook. You don't want to be excessive or pedantic in description, nor do you want to assume ignorance of basic cooking. By constantly keeping your audience in mind, writing a cooking recipe becomes easier for you and clearer for your audience, the cooks. Chapter 12: McCloskey formally introduces the problem of 'boilerplate' in chapter 12, something inexperienced writers especially struggle with. In order to keep your audience interested, you must stay focused and to the point of your writing. We often get caught up in the details

Economical Writing McCloskey Summaries 11-20

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Summaries for chapters 11-20 of Deidre McCloskey's Economical Writing, second edition.

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Page 1: Economical Writing McCloskey Summaries 11-20

Elias Garcia

Econ 210

Economical Writing Summaries: Chapters 11-20

Chapter 11:

Extending her previous them on stylistic writing, McCloskey emphasis that you can learn good

writing by repetition and revision. The end goal of this stylistic writing establishes a clear and concise

piece for a group/individual that you preemptively make your target audience. This creates a stable

platform that you communicate from, emphasizing the importance of choosing this audience early, as

you can't write in the style necessary without knowing who this audience is. A good example includes a

walk through recipe for the average cook. You don't want to be excessive or pedantic in description,

nor do you want to assume ignorance of basic cooking. By constantly keeping your audience in mind,

writing a cooking recipe becomes easier for you and clearer for your audience, the cooks.

Chapter 12:

McCloskey formally introduces the problem of 'boilerplate' in chapter 12, something

inexperienced writers especially struggle with. In order to keep your audience interested, you must stay

focused and to the point of your writing. We often get caught up in the details in our own writing, and

what we consider important. However, as McCloskey has emphasized before, solely the reader matters,

and retaining their interest comes first. Thus, common methods of 'fluff' writing must be avoided,

including the common introduction passage, background information not immediately relevant, road

mapping, and summaries. Another good example includes passive voice, an issue that Dr. Gillette

emphasizes we avoid at all costs. Using unnecessary terms that obfuscate an article only further extend

and complicate said article, risking a loss of interest at the cost of adding meaningless fluff.

Chapter 13:

Parallel to choosing a target audience early, choosing a specific tone early allows for clarity and

stability in your writing. McCloskey argues that choosing a proper tone gives consistency to your

Page 2: Economical Writing McCloskey Summaries 11-20

writing, and, if done write, makes your article tolerable to readers. A tone to definitely avoid includes

what McCloskey considers the all too common 'Scientist' tone, which hides lack of self esteem behind

pedantry and obscure terminology. Examples of possible tones include the enthusiastic tour guide, fan,

or teacher, tones embodying a teaching, yet enthusiastic and kind, mentality. You must write to explain

well, not to impress. Additionally, avoid putting your opinion in the open or attacking others because it

makes you look weak and gives sympathy to those attacked. McCloskey concludes with humor always

being welcomed in a field that takes itself all too serious.

Chapter 14:

McCloskey transitions from tips on essays as a whole to individual paragraphs, and focuses on

creating focused paragraphs. Paragraphs must have intention, as all your writing should, and will

maintain the reader's interest if done right. Think of paragraphs as stepping stones across a pond. Too

many stepping stones become inconvenient to walk on effectively, while too few make the trip

difficult. If you have too many paragraphs, the point becomes obscured, while too little or too large

paragraphs communicate too little. McCloskey also emphasizes the times when block quotes are

appropriate, limiting use to properly quoting an opposing viewpoint you will systemically deconstruct

or when you desire to quote a passage perfectly encapsulating your argument. On a final note, you

should definitely never plageriaze.

Chapter 15:

Graphs, tables, and equations are indistinguishable in purpose from general writing. Like

writing, graphs, tables and equations are meant to communicate an idea to the reader. Consequentially,

McCloskey strongly believes that they then follow the same rules as general writing, and must be clear

and used with purpose. Think of it this way: would you be able to decipher a economic text with every

equation used by the author printed ad hoc? Absolutely not. Many of the equations would be

purposeless, as you either already know them or they are redundant in use. Only the equations that

communicate a unique role should be presented, clearly and with description.

Page 3: Economical Writing McCloskey Summaries 11-20

Chapter 16:

McCloskey makes a short argument in this chapter about footnotes. Use them only to guide

your reader to the sources you cite. Do not writing mini passages in your footnotes. Do not ramble on

with separate arguments in your footnotes. Do not do anything with footnotes but make footnotes,

which are meant to be citations. McCloskey emphasizes that footnotes are subordinate to your actual

article, so treat them as such.

Chapter 17:

Another tip worth mentioning by McCloskey involves the coherence of your writing. Coherence

is what allows your reader to put together what your writing on the fly, giving a smooth delivery of

concepts that writing that also connects stylistically. Repetition and the use of pronouns bolster the

coherence of your writing, and linking your writing with set nouns and phrases is encouraged. Most

importantly, however, your writing should connect in ideas. Sentences should flow from one another in

references and ideas, chaining your topic together, and style serves to assist in this as well.

Chapter 18:

McCloskey shifts the focus from paragraphs to sentences entirely in chapter 18. Additionally,

she further extends the theme of coherence and style, explaining the minutia of rhythm in prose. Giving

your sentences variation in style creates a flow to their metaphorical march in your essay. You want

your reader moving from sentence to the next with their interest piqued, and like good speeches, this

involves a stylistic use of emphasis. Changing emphasis from within parts of a sentence gives variation

that, McCloskey points out again, keeps your reader focused. McCloskey also introduces the concept of

creating emphasis by extrapolating on the individual parts of a sentence: the subject, object, and verb.

Creating healthy rhythm involves extending one of these parts in each sentence, while leaving the

others to a minimum.

Chapter 19:

This section is extremely short. Make sure to write full sentences. Otherwise, it might confuse.

Page 4: Economical Writing McCloskey Summaries 11-20

Who remains confused is unknown. Maybe if you write full sentences we'd know. McCloskey suggests

that you do that the vast majority of the time.

Chapter 20:

While up to this point McCloskey has encouraged stylistic writing, she now makes sure to

differentiate good stylistic writing from elegant variation. Stylistic writing will keep the reader

interested and communicate clearly what you want. There is room for plenty of individual discretion in

this process. However, a part of keeping the reader interested and writing clearly includes a stable

platform, something McCloskey consistently articulates through the previous chapters. Having a stable

platform includes uniform terminology, using a single word that communicates a single definition.

Having multiple words with the same definition, or vice versa, defines elegant variation, and should

thus be avoided. A good comparison is the child who uses words they don't understand in conversation.

Instead of actually communicating their idea, they simply confuse everybody involved, including

themselves.