capstone 4

Long lead-ins

Sentence introductions containing unnecessary words

Editing

Improving content and sentence structure of a message

Proofreading

Correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, format, and mechanics of a message

Evaluating

Analyzing whether a message achieves its purpose

Unnecessary fillers

Expressions like 'there is/are' or 'it is/was' that delay the point of a sentence

Redundancies

Expressions that repeat meaning or include unnecessary words

Microblogging

Short messages exchanged on social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr

Trite expressions

Stale, overused phrases that have lost their vigor

Clichés

Expressions exhausted by overuse

Slang

Informal words with arbitrary and extravagantly changed meanings

Buzzwords

Technical but often empty expressions meant to impress rather than express

Buried verbs

Verbs needlessly converted to wordy noun expressions (nominalizations)

Zombie nouns

Buried verbs that cannibalize and weaken active verbs

Exuberance

Over-the-top intensity

White space

Empty space on a printed page

Margins

Determine the white space on the left, right, top, and bottom of a block of type

Justified margins

When letter and word-spacing align lines at both left and right margins

Ragged right

Unjustified right margin, common in report manuscripts

Serif typefaces

Typefaces with small features at the ends of strokes (e.g., Times New Roman)

Sans serif

Clean typeface without small features at the ends of strokes (e.g., Arial, Calibri)

Font

Specific style (e.g., italic) within a typeface family (e.g., Times New Roman)