8 Chapter 8: Tone (part 1)
The words we use and the way we use them convey our tone in writing. When we speak, we convey tone as well, but we have our tone of voice, non-verbal gestures, and facial expressions to aid us in conveying the right tone. In writing, all we get are the words. That’s why we need to be careful to use words that convey the proper tone for our subject and put them together in a way that sounds academic.
Absolute vs. Tentative Language
You might thing that your claims should be as strong as you can make them, but there is such a thing as a claim that is trying to be too strong.
Compare the following sentences:
“Teenagers always prioritize social media and image over everything else.”
”Teenagers tend to prioritize social media and image over other considerations.”
The first sentence uses absolute language, thus it tries to make too strong of a claim. The second sentence sounds much more approachable and more likely to be true. Your reader will be more agreeable to tentative claims than absolute ones. In an academic essay, where every claim needs to be well supported, try to avoid making any absolute claims that you cannot support.
You can go to the extreme in either direction. You could make too many absolute claims that you cannot support. You would not have a very effective essay in that case. The other direction, you could use too much tentative language. In that case, you would avoid making any definitive claims at all. Choose your absolute and tentative language carefully.
Absolute Language
”always”, “definitely”, “should”, “every/everything”, “need”, “must”, “never”, etc.
Tentative Language
”tend(s) to”, “seems”, “likely”, “possibly”, “sometimes”, “might”, “can/could”, “appear”, “suggest”, “indicate”, “suppose”, etc.
Cliches
It’s best to avoid cliches in general, and especially in academic writing. Cliches don’t sound smart, and they are often too vague to be useful when we want precise, effective, clear writing. We often rely on cliches when were sorting through our thinking, so it’s completely appropriate to find them in a rough draft. But you should scour your writing and weed them out in revision.
| Cliché | Problem and Alternatives |
| “everyday life” | Consider how “everyday life” is very different for a college student and, say, a stock broker or someone living with cancer. You can either cut the phrase completely or make it more specific. |
| “in today’s society” | This phrase just sounds bad. You can use one of the simple alternatives below.
Try: “today”, “currently” |
| “pros and cons” | This phrase is too casual for academic writing.
Try: “advantages and disadvantages”, “costs and benefits” |
| “people” | Which ones? Be specific. |
| “society” | Who is “society”? Too many alternatives exist to list. Instead, be specific about which group of people you are discussing. |
| “this day & age”/“these days” | Try: “today”, “presently”
Or, get even more specific. If you are talking about technology, don’t say “today’s technology”. Name the specific current technology you want to refer to (“smart phones”, “social media”, etc.) |
| “the light at the end of the tunnel” | Try: “the advantages”, “the positive consequences/effects”, “the unexpected benefits” |
| “stick out like a sore thumb” | Try: “obvious”, “clearly in view”, “plainly in sight” |