Elias Garcia

Econ 210

Economical Writing Summaries: Chapters 11-20

Chapter 21:

Within chapter 21, McCloskey transitions almost entirely to focusing on word choice and

sentence flow. The next step to writing better consists of constantly ‘tightening’ writing,

typically by examining word choice and sentence form. On top of her examples of gerunds and

infinitives, capitalization, and modifiers, I suggest watching for parallel form, especially with

transitions. While parallel form marks a good writer, an overreliance on the same transitions

does not. The problem becomes worse in proportion to the length of a paper, so always make

sure to check for your redundancy and overreliance on transition words and phrases.

Chapter 22:

Chapter 22 is McCloskey’s (successful) attempt at writing a concentrated, yet

informative, chapter on punctuation. It comes as no surprise that to be a good writer you must

also use proper punctuation. McCloskey covers citation, periods, both types of colons, and the

notorious overuse of commas. A good example on colons and commas, punctuation marks I

believe to be under-and-improperly used, includes as follows: when listing complex lists, you

use semicolons to break them apart as a ‘super comma’ as McCloskey writes; it is important,

however to use them correctly, because otherwise your redundancy is pointless and confusing;

indeed, if using semicolons, make sure to have an actual list of things, otherwise your use of

them is wrong, just like this list.

Chapter 23:

Chapter 23 consists of the importance of sentence rearrangement. The English language

contains a paradoxically fluid and rigid structure for sentence format that allows for significant

variation. Consequentially, McCloskey emphasizes that you constantly rearrange your sentences

until it properly communicates the idea desired. McCloskey also introduces the idea that the end

of a sentence contains the most emphasis. The importance of sentence rearrangement is

amplified by this. Alternatively, Sentence rearrangement is amplified in importance because of

emphasis. This amplifies the importance of sentence rearrangement as an editing tool. That’s

better.

Chapter 24:

Despite McCloskey having mentioned this countless times prior, she argues once more

the need to read your writing aloud. Much of style and the rules of English derive from how

something sounds when vocally read. If you would be embarrassed to read your paper in front of

your English teacher, then you need to edit further. If Professor Gillette would consider your

paper awkwardly worded, you definitely need to edit further. When in doubt, read your paper to

check for necessary edits.

Chapter 25:

Chapter 25 covers active voice, possibly one of McCloskey’s greatest lessons.

McCloskey argues that good writing consists of noun and active verbs, and limits the use of

adverbs and adjectives. An especially good piece of advice from McCloskey includes “find the

action in a sentence and make it into a verb.” She compares the use of passive voice to the

writing of politicians and bureaucrats, who attempt to mitigate accusations and blame by hiding

the ownership of action. Similarly would be a poorly written letter of apology or admission of

guilt. Rather than take direct ownership of the events, an overly prideful individual will try to

hide behind their writing.

Chapter 26:

A very quick lesson in Chapter 26, McCloskey advices against word choice associated, at

minimum, with bad writers. Modern style may exclude perfectly good words, but you must

avoid them if you others to take you seriously. On top of this, you should avoid the overly

pedantic and redundant writing found in most scholarly journals. Simply because you know all

the key terminology of quantum physics, such as Quarks, string theory, Higgs-Boson particle,

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, and etcetera does not mean you actually know quantum

physics. It is better to avoid this and instead focus on writing as clearly as possible to

communicate with your audience effectively.

Chapter 27:

McCloskey addresses the problem of abstract writing in chapter 27. Contrary to popular

belief, writing about complicated terms in abstract does not help lay audiences understand.

‘Concrete writing,’ as McCloskey argues, gives a clear picture for readers, who can then abstract

the intended message to other applications. Another profession that suffers greatly from abstract

writing would be academic philosophy. When your field of study constantly uses words such as

‘ontology,’ ‘epistemology,’ ‘deontology,’ ‘teleology,’ ‘phenomenology,’ and beyond, using

extremely abstract and poorly applied explanations can become rampant. Rather than actually

communicating anything, the writing ends up losing the reader in the incessant use of abstract

terminology.

Chapter 28:

Extending her focus on word choice, McCloskey emphasizes the common sense of plain

writing. Rather than focus on glamorous words, which only serve to highlight your insecurities,

using plain and normal language serves you better in communicating your ideas. McCloskey

also gives the helpful advice of ‘untying’ complex sentences you discover in your writing, which

will allow you to simplify them into more precise and plain form. Extending my previous

example, philosophers hold the title for the field with the greatest use of five-dollar words.

When faced with a field that is hard to innovate in, the common approach by many humanities is

to obfuscate writing as a façade for originality and intelligence. Terms like ‘nomadic

deterritorialization’ and ‘rhizomatic fluid identities’ get thrown around in poorly written prose

engender awe in the audience, who too confused to understand, believe the writer to be a genius.

Chapter 29:

Almost all professional fields use, to some extent or another, acronyms in their academic

writing. McCloskey addresses the use of such typographical ‘tricks,’ given that many writers use

them to compensate poor writing and editing. Rather than needing to use italics to emphasize

your main ideas, you would be better suited to rearrange your writing so that your main idea is

obvious. A common example amongst college students would be over paraphrasing and quoting.

Even if the quotes explain the desired idea beautifully, a reliance on quotation infers that you

lack the ability of communicating an idea yourself.

Chapter 30:

Two common themes McCloskey has consistently taught throughout her book are the

importance of preserving both the flow of your writing and the focus of the reader. In chapter

30, McCloskey points out that ‘this-ism,’ the overuse of the words ‘this,’ ‘these,’ ‘that,’ and

‘those,’ constantly forces the reader to look back over previously read text. McCloskey does not

provide much of an example outside of the lesson itself, but within philosophy, this-ism is

endemic. While the terminology may be a mouthful, it would be clearer if philosophers

repeatedly use the concept/term discussed rather than focusing readers to scan previous text

repeatedly for clarification. Given the weight of such texts, readers of philosophy would benefit

immensely from any edits that reduce the number of items they must break their focus.

Chapter 31:

In the final chapter of McCloskey’s book, she moves beyond stylistic word choice to the

very nature of words themselves. Beyond style, the only thing left to a writer is the meaning

behind their words. Thus, to communicate clearly, concrete, and plainly as possible, choosing

words with literal meanings as close to what you need. The reasoning behind this is clear: it

leaves little room for error. To communicate the function of supply curves, use the words best

suited to it. Exchange rates are a complicated subject, so succinct language serves best to

explain. Rather than being figurative, get right to the point. Such writing emphasizes the overall

message of McCloskey’s book; good writing is writing that the reader understands without

effort.