Today’s sentence makeover comes from an author who used “because” to create long compound sentences in almost every paragraph. When did she really need the “because,” and when could she cut it?
Political Philosophy Sentence Makeover: markets and morals
In this sentence makeover, we start with an overcrowded sentence that is trying to do too much work on its own. We break it down into three distinct sentences, each with its own, manageable task.
Abstract Makeover: making technical philosophy more accessible
A well-written abstract or research statement is one key strategy to help your research reach a broader audience. This abstract makeover makes a technical article in philosophy more accessible for a non-expert reader.
Theology Sentence Makeover: kings and empires
In this Writing is Thinking Sentence Makeover, we make small changes to a sentence that lead to big questions about meaning. In cleaning up the sentence we confront the question, what precise claim is the author making here?
Cognitive Science Sentence Makeover: brain patterns and algorithms
In today’s sentence makeover, Bryce turns a single 68-word sentence into four sentences. He shows us how to map the relationship between parts of a long sentence by identifying subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns.
Social Science Sentence Makeover: choosing a neighborhood
Today’s Writing is Thinking Sentence Makeover challenges the author’s word choice and scrutinizes imprecise transition words like “specifically.” This sentence was published recently in a top journal in sociology.
Neurophilosophy Sentence Makeover: increasing cell availability
Academic sentences often try to cram the work of multiple sentences into one complex sentence. By identifying the core of a sentence, we can decide what work each sentences should do–and what work should be delegated to another sentence.
Sentence Makeover: philosophers’ arrogance
In this Writing is Thinking sentence makeover, I highlight the verbs that get lost in a complex sentence with an em-dash clause. This sentence appears in book of philosophy from Columbia University Press. The author writes: The decision not
Sentence Makeover: taste and memory
In this Writing is Thinking sentence makeover, I tackle a jargon-filled sentence of literary criticism, published in a Bloomsbury Academic anthology. The author writes: The comestible sensations that precede both the achieved reminiscence and its inherent condition of emotional repose
Sentence Makeover: Buddhism
In today’s Writing is Thinking, short-sentence makeover, we look at a sentence from religion and philosophy, published in a MIT Press book. The author writes: The interpretation according to which enlightenment/wisdom and virtue/goodness and meditation/mindfulness are the ultimate end is