Keeping Unbiased Language in your Argument Essay

 

When choosing a topic for your argument essay, it’s always best to choose an issue that you’re interested in and passionate about. There’s nothing worse than spending an entire term researching and writing about something that you have little interest in. But it’s also just as important to be fair and unbiased as you write your essay. The language you choose to communicate your points can work to either persuade – or alienate – your audience.

While it’s okay to feel excited or even enraged about a topic, your audience requires careful respect and consideration. Too much wrath and fury, or on the other side, too much praise and approval, will cause your reader to doubt your reliability, and could turn your audience against you.

Avoid Moralistic Language

A fine line exists between persuasive and opinionated, and it all comes down to word choice. In order for readers to feel sympathetic toward your position, a balance must be struck. In the example below, consider how your reader will react:

An added tax should be placed on all surgery drinks, including sodas, and is the only way to encourage healthy alternatives.

At first glance, many health-conscious readers might think this is a good idea. Added federal and state taxes are placed on another unhealthy – though popular – product, cigarettes, so why not sugary drinks?

But this statement implies that all surgery drinks harm our health. Most fruit juices, however, have as much, if not more, sugar than a can of Coke! But some fruit juices have no sugar added; the sugar content comes naturally from the fruit. Are fruit juices high in sugar? Yes. Is fruit juice as harmful as soda? Many would heartily disagree, and juice-drinking readers might feel targeted.

Avoid Superlatives and Exaggerations

Note the use of “only way” in the above example. The phrase, “is the only way to encourage healthy alternatives” implies that higher taxation will automatically push consumers to choose healthier options. The language of “the only way. . .” is a superlative that might turn off a reader by the moralistic tone. It could be one way, but not necessarily the only way.

Superlatives are terms that suggest the highest degree of something, such as
the best way
the worst way
should always
should never

Using superlatives paints the writer into an absolute corner and has no room for compromise.

Alternative: An added tax should be placed on all surgery drinks, including sodas, and could be one way to encourage healthy alternatives.

Example: Legalizing marijuana is the best way to decrease prison overcrowding.

Alternative: Legalizing marijuana might be one way to decrease prison overcrowding.

Example: Embryonic cell research is the perfect solution for finding a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Alternative:  Embryonic cell research is one of the best options to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Notice the difference in tone? Superlatives and exaggerations come off as dramatic and often biased and opinionated. By simply changing the language, your reader will be more apt to consider your points and consider your position as credible, whether or not they agree with you in the end.

When constructing an argument, consider how your language might be interpreted by varying audiences. While those who agree might not be offended, neutral or opposing audiences might be turned off by the language and opinionated tone.

 

 

 

 

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Stay Positive! How to Avoid Negative Statements for Stronger Writing

Any type of writing, whether it be for an English class argument essay or an email, will benefit from positive statements. This doesn’t mean to look on the sunny side, but to eliminate negative constructions and use definitive statements in your writing.

Elwyn Brooks White 

William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, in their still-popular, The Elements of Style, urge writers to,

“Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language. Use the word not as a means of denial or in antithesis, never as a means of evasion.”

Strunk and White know what they are talking about, but most of us don’t, so let’s break that down.

A definitive statement is a direct, succinct, clear declaration. Look at the two examples below:

a. He was not very often on time.                  b. He usually came late.

It’s obvious that the first example is not only unclear, but wordy and hesitant. Most of the time, a positive, definite statement is shorter, and in academic writing, this is a good thing. Writers should always strive to avoid wordy sentence constructions, which can lead to confusion.

Let’s look at another example from Strunk and White:

a.  He did not think that studying  Latin was much use.

b.  He thought the study of Latin useless.

In both first (a.) examples above, the writer has used a negative (not), which weakens the message (and the writer’s authority). The sentence communicates what is not, as opposed to what is.

Let’s look at another example from a college paper:

The argument in favor of stricter environmental waste laws might not seem to possibly be enforceable.

This sentence has more than one problem, so let’s take a closer look.

The sentence, like the examples above, uses a negative – “might not seem.” Like the previous examples, changing it to a positive will strengthen the sentence immediately:

The argument in favor of stricter environmental waste laws is not enforceable.

The previous version was not only negative, but also indefinite. What does the writer mean? We’re not sure!

Academic writing should be strong and to the point, avoiding words like may, might, seem, possibly, probably. Indefinite constructions communicate the writer hasn’t thought out her opinions, or can’t decide on which side of the fence to sit. In the revised version, we have eliminated the wishy-washy construction, “might not seem to possibly. . .”.

The argument in favor of stricter environmental waste laws is not enforceable.

This statement is strong, bold, forceful, and the reader knows she can trust the writer.

Positive, definitive statements communicate that the writer knows the facts, has strong opinions, and has done their homework. Practice revising your sentences in the positive, definitive form for stronger, bolder writing.

 

Sources:

Strunk, William Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Macmillan, 1959.

5 Best Websites for College Writing Help

It’s 2:00 am, you’re home, in your room, in front of a blank computer screen, and your English Composition assignment is due the next day. You haven’t even started. You’re stuck and have a thousand questions, but the campus Writing Center isn’t open until Monday. You need help, and fast.

Sound familiar?

Never fear! Online help is here! Below is a rundown of the best of the best websites to answer your writing questions.

1. Purdue Owl Writing Lab (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/)

Purdue is the go-to source for students and often listed as a source in class syllabi. You can find help on anything from grammar and mechanics, the writing process, thesis statements, outlining, paragraphs, quoting, research, evaluating sources, MLA, APA, ESL – the list goes on and on. To see a comprehensive list of available online help, click on the sitemap.

If you’re not sure how to format a research paper, Purdue Owl offers several sample papers with instructional notations, as seen above.

2. LEO – Literacy Education Online – (https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/index.html)

Affiliated with the Writing Center at St. Cloud University, LEO offers an exhaustive list of lessons and handouts. On the homepage, you’ll find easy to navigate links that are listed by the problem a writer might be having, such as I want to make sure my ideas are logical; I’m not sure about where commas go; or I’m writing a research paper and want help with online sources. Each link will take you to additional, detailed links for specific help within each topic.

You could get lost in all the information LEO provides. Start with The Write Place Catalogue for a list of general topics and go from there.

3. Daily Grammar (http://www.dailygrammar.com/)

 

This lesser-known website does a great job of simplifying complex grammar subjects in fun, easy-to-understand lessons. If you’re looking for exercises to improve your grammar, Daily Grammar has loads of lessons and quizzes. Perfect for ESL students, the site offers 440 lessons and 88 quizzes. Have no idea what a compound sentence is? They also have a helpful Glossary of definitions to grammar terms.

Daily Grammar also has a blog where lessons are posted Monday-Friday, with a quiz on Saturday. This is a great website for all ability levels.

4. Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips (http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/writing)

Grammar Girl is popular with students for its humorous, easy-to-understand explanations of grammar rules. Though it’s not the easiest to navigate, you can find short articles on simple topics, such as ‘Cannot,’ ‘Can Not,’ or ‘Can’t’: What’s the Difference? or Affect Versus Effect, and even How to Write Good Survey Questions.

While you won’t find handouts or quizzes, Grammar Girl offers a lot of useful information not only on grammar rules but loads of examples of idioms useful for ESL students.

5. Hemingway (http://www.hemingwayapp.com/)

    

We had to include one writing app, and Hemingway is getting decent reviews. It works like spellcheck, but is focused on style.

It does a great job of highlighting sentence-level problems, such as overly complex sentences and poor word choices. Do you tend to overuse adverbs? Hemingway will highlight those in blue. Have a problem with passive construction or confusingly-worded sentences? Hemingway will highlight those in yellow.

I pasted the above paragraph into Hemingway, and here’s what it told me:

 

The awkward adverb is highlighted in blue, and the entire sentence is highlighted yellow, indicating I might need to shorten or reword it.

The app also gives an assessment of the reading level of your writing, and posts the numbers of words, sentences and paragraphs. Although MS Word has some of the same functionality, Hemingway allows you to paste your writing right into the app and gives you immediate feedback, including why the changes are suggested, making it a nifty learning tool as well.

What are your go-to websites or apps for writing help?

 

Understanding Assignment Language

Defining different types of essays

Narrative Essay
Summary Essay
Research Essay
Analysis Essay
Argument Essay

If you’re in a Composition or English class, chances are you’ll be assigned one or more of these essays. Do you know what each of the terms mean? What is the difference between a Summary and an Analysis? Isn’t a Research Essay essentially an Argument Essay? Let’s find out.

Narrative Essay

In most of your college writing, the writing will move from more personal to less personal – except with the Narrative assignment. For a Narrative Essay assignment, you’ll most likely be asked to tell a personal story, maybe an event from your past or a time when you learned a valuable life lesson. Narrative Essays often incorporate fictional writing techniques, such as dialogue, action, climactic scenes, vivid descriptions, and colorful language. This assignment might be the only time you’ll be invited to use the personal pronouns I, me, us, etc. This assignment is often a “warm-up” to other assignments in Composition classes.

Summary Essay

A Summary Essay is just that, a summary of something you’ve read, or perhaps watched. You will simply be expected to briefly state major points. If someone were to ask you, “What was that movie about?” we would answer with a summary of the plot. Summaries relay major details, and leave out minor, inconsequential information. When summarizing an article or chapter, a good guide is that the summary will be about one-fifth of the length of the original. To write a successful Summary, you’ll have to read, analyze, and understand the material thoroughly.

Research Essay

A Research Essay assignment can take on many forms. The assignment may be informative, meaning you will only convey information, and leave out opinion. For example, “Explain the treatment options for diabetes.” For this type of research essay, you would gather research from a variety of reliable sources and explain your findings.

Another type of Research Essay assignment might be to explore an issue, such as “Examine the pros and cons of legalizing heroin.” For this assignment, you would research both sides of the topic and lay out each side. Still another type or assignment might be a persuasive essay, such as, “Should colleges drop the grading system and only be pass or fail?” With this assignment, you would answer the question, yes or no, they should or should not. You would then collect research in support of your position, perhaps include research for the opposition, and then either concede or refute the opposition’s claims. The tone of the Research Essay is often formal.

Analysis Essay

You will be asked to analyze for just about every assignment, but the Analysis Essay specifically will ask you to critically think about any number of aspects of a given text. You could analyze the author, such as his or her fairness or accuracy. You could analyze a piece of poetry or fiction by considering the tone, word choice, or plot. If you are analyzing a persuasive essay, you could analyze the validity of the author’s research or the intended audience. Just like the Persuasive Research Essay, the Analysis Essay will ask you to critically think and form an opinion.

Argument Essay

One of the most common Composition writing assignments, the Argument Essay, is focused on a controversial issue. You will be expected to make a claim with reasons; support the claim with ideas and information to convince your audience; include evidence, such as facts, statistics, and expert opinion; and offer the opposing sides’ viewpoint, conceding or refuting their claims. You’ll often include some summary of the argument for your audience. Your job for this assignment is to argue a position to convince your audience your position is right. The content is determined by who your audience is; they may be in favor of your position, or in direct opposition. The term “Argument” essay is often used interchangeable with “Persuasive” essay. Both are a type of “Research” essay. A Policy Proposal is also a common type of Argument.

Understand Your Assignment

These are only a small sample of the types of writing assignments you might encounter in a college classroom. Others include

Cause and Effect
Compare and Contract
Concept
Descriptive
Evaluative
Profile
Policy Proposal

With any assignment, it’s essential you understand the expectations and requirements. In most cases, essays are assigned in a sequential order so that you learn the elements of the initial ones that will be included in the following ones. Summary of often included in Narrative, Analysis and Research Essays. Narrative elements are often included in Argument Essays. Critical thinking skills are crucial for all writing assignments. Consider the text, research, and your audience as you write your draft, and you’ll be on your way to a successful assignment!

 

Writing Project Management

The Five Phases of Writing-Project Planning for a Stress-Free Paper

Whether you’re writing a fictional essay or an academic research paper, the beginning stages of writing can be overwhelming. Many writers struggle with initial questions such as

What topic should I choose?
What do I think about my topic?
How can I get all my jumbled thoughts to make sense?
How can these jumbled thoughts ever result in a successful essay?

“Don’t just do something. Stand there.” – Rochelle Myer

Beginning writing without spending any time in the initial planning stages is a recipe for failure. Careful planning is vital before any action can be taken. In the world of business, this is referred to as Project Management. According to business writer and coach, David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity, our minds go through five steps to accomplish any task:

1. Defining purpose
2. Outcome visioning
3. Brainstorming
4. Organizing
5. Identifying next actions

Before you ever begin developing an outline for your paper, you’ll need to answer a few key questions.

What is my purpose?

If the purpose of writing is to satisfy a class assignment, what is the assignment? What are the guidelines and requirements? What type of topic can best satisfy those requirements?

This is merely common sense. Don’t get caught up in worrisome details. Think about the “why” behind why you are going to write. Knowing the why will help clarify your focus and make the rest of the decision-making process easier.

If you decide your purpose is to write a policy proposal on a current issue in your community, then knowing that will guide your choice of topic.

What outcome do I envision?

Having a clear vision provides the blueprint for your paper. Do you want to argue in favor or in opposition to a controversial issue? Do you want to propose changes to current laws, policies, or procedures? The vision is the “what” instead of the “why.”

Take some time here to imagine what you want the final paper to communicate. What arguments or points do you want to make? What message do you hope readers take away? What changes in thought or policy do you hope readers will consider?

For example, you might envision readers will agree that spending more in the city budget to increase the number of bike lanes in your town will save money in the long run by reducing road maintenance, traffic, and accidents. That is the outcome that you envision.

Brainstorming

Now that you know your purpose and where you’re going, you’ll need to capture ideas of how to get there. Following the why and the what comes the how.

 “If you’re waiting to have a good idea before you have any ideas, you won’t have many.” David Allen

Brainstorming has lots of terms – mind-mapping, clustering, spider webbing – but they all basically mean the same thing. They are all ways to graphically organize our thoughts. Once you’ve defined your purpose and vision, your brain will automatically begin to create thoughts and ideas, but if you don’t have any method of capturing those ideas, you will either lose them – or won’t have any. Psychologists call this “distributed cognition,” or the need to get all the stuff out of our heads and into objective, reviewable formats, such as a mind map, cluster, or even a Post-It note.

“The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas.” Linus Pauling

The most important thing to keep in mind is to not judge your thoughts as you have them. You are going for Quantity, not Quality. You might naturally analyze them, such as, “Here’s what might not work with that idea,” which is good. You’re beginning to critically think about your project. But don’t let your critical side overtake your creative side yet. Just give all your ideas a chance at this stage and analyze their usefulness later.

Organizing

Now you know the why, what, and how. Once you’ve emptied all the clutter in your head, your mind will naturally begin to organize those thoughts. You’ll think in relationship to sequences and priorities. What are the essential components for the final paper? Which of the brainstorming ideas will best support my argument?

Organizing is a matter of identifying the significant pieces, then sorting by

• Components
• Sequences
• Priorities

In relation to an argument paper, what are the major components needed to reach your vision? This will most likely be the major points of argument that will support your thesis or reasons why your policy proposal should be implemented.

For example, the policy proposal, increasing spending in the city budget to increase the number of bike lanes in your town will save money in the long run, will require the components of argument points, such as

• reducing road maintenance
• reducing traffic
• reducing automobile accidents

Other components might include the opposition’s side, outside research, and a call to action.

The sequences are the natural progression of the paper. How should you order the ideas – which should come first, second, and last? How will you organize the paper to best present the information for a logical flow? Should you introduce the opposition for each point, or should it come after the points are fully laid out?

Finally, what are the priorities, or essential information that must be included? What must you do first to meet these objectives? For example, once you determine your topic and brainstorm ideas, you might need to gather information from research, data or statistics. Consider what is your next step, and what steps should follow, prioritizing your work into manageable steps. Every essay is different, and no two projects are the same, so for one you might need to do more initial research before you begin, and for another, you might need to write out the points of opposition first.

Identifying Next Actions

So far, you’ve considered the why, what, and how, and begun the steps to organize how you are going to approach the work, prioritizing your next steps. The final stage of planning your writing project should come easily once you’ve defined and clarified your project.

Any writing project, especially longer projects, will have lots of moving parts. For each step above, decide what the “next action” is for each moving part of the project. For example, if you know your paper’s thesis, but not quite sure on your major points of argument, your next “action” might be to brainstorm a bit more to decide on your points of argument. If the components of your essay will require quotes from experts, your next “action” will be to locate research from reliable resources. This will most likely require you to find library databases with peer-reviewed research, read lots of articles, and begin keeping notes on source information that will best support your essay.

Make A Plan!

As you can see, a lot of planning goes into a writing project before the actual writing begins. How much planning is enough? As much as you need to get the project off your mind. The reason things are on your mind and causing you worry is that the outcome and action steps have not been clearly defined, or you may not have developed the details sufficiently to trust your plan. If you are worrying about the project, you obviously need to spend more time planning.

Feeling confused or lack clarity? You need more planning in stages 1, 2 or 3. Are you getting bogged down in research? Do you need more action? Move down to steps 4 or 5. You don’t need to read every single article on your topic in EBSCO to collect 6 or 8 required sources for your project. Focus on what you need that will meet your objectives, and move out of the research phase and onto writing.

Applying project management steps in your writing will not only save you time in the end, but will also create a mental environment where worry, stress and anxiety will be reduced, allowing creative ideas to flourish, one step at a time.

Common Logical Fallacies in Argument Papers

(from Grammar Girl: Quick & Dirty Tricks)

5 Types of Fallacies You Don’t Realize You’re Using in Your Writing

 (By Lora Wegman, read by Mignon Fogarty)

The key to writing a strong argument is logic. Even writers who typically have sound logic, however, can fall into illogical conclusions when they are passionate about a topic and use unsound arguments—typically referred to as fallacies.

Here are a few tips for identifying the most common fallacies in writing and how to avoid them.

Overgeneralizations

This fallacy, also called a “hasty generalization,” happens when the writer draws a conclusion about a group of people based on insufficient data. Often, these assumptions come from stereotypes and implicit biases, so these can sometimes be the trickiest fallacies to detect in your own writing. Perhaps you assume, for instance, that all members of a particular political party have the same stance on the death penalty, or you believe that all people who attend a certain school are wealthy. Basing an argument on unproven assumptions will ultimately make your position weaker and therefore easier to attack. As you’re reviewing your writing and come across an assumption, be sure to ask yourself, “Do I really know that this is true?”

Straw Man

A straw man argument oversimplifies an opponent’s position and then attacks it. This is often a big one for politicians, who might portray larger-picture views instead of nuance. For example, imagine that you are assigned to write an essay opposing school uniforms. If you state, “Requiring students to wear uniforms means they will lose all sense of individuality,” then you may be setting up a straw man argument. Instead of arguing for why students should be able to wear their own outfits, you instead take the argument to a simpler and perhaps more emotional conclusion, and then argue against that broader implication. When you’re listening to politicians, as yourself whether their argument is against what their opponents are actually suggesting, or have they thrown a straw man into the ring by misrepresenting their opponents’ position as something more extreme?

Ad Hominem

In ad hominem attacks, a position is attacked not through reasoning related to the argument itself, but instead by attacking the opponent’s personal character. For example, if Squiggly says we should have chocolate cake for dinner, and Aardvark responds by saying that  Squiggly is an idiot, he’s using an ad hominem attack—addressing only Squiggly’s character—and not making a logical argument about why chocolate cake for dinner is bad.

Closely related to the ad hominem attack is the tu quoque fallacy: This is when, instead of opposing an argument or a criticism, the speaker or writer responds by turning it back on the accuser. It’s essentially an argument that says, “Oh, yeah? What about you?” An example would be crafting an argument against doctors’ anti-smoking messages by pointing out statistics about how many doctors smoke. Those facts would have nothing to do with the anti-smoking argument itself but instead simply attack the behavior of those on the opposing side.

Post Hoc

A post hoc argument assumes one event caused another, based solely on the order of occurrence. The full Latin phrase—“post hoc, ergo propter hoc”—means “after this, therefore, because of this.” So, to use a historical example that was once believed to be fact: “People who spend time outside at night are more likely to catch malaria, therefore, night air causes malaria.” The fact that things happen in order doesn’t mean that one thing actually caused the next to happen. We now know that malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitos, not by night air.

This is somewhat like the “slippery slope” fallacy. In these cases, you’re arguing against something with the assumption that it will lead to another undesirable outcome through a series of incremental steps. But in reality, the events may not actually be related if they do occur, or the first event might happen without the catastrophic result.

Red Herring

A red herring is a classic misdirection. We see this all the time in fiction, from Sherlock Holmes stories to modern-day thrillers. False clues are planted to throw the reader off. Similarly, a red herring fallacy can pop up in your writing when your argument veers into an area only tangentially related to the core topic. This may be purposeful, but it’s also easy to do without intending to. Here’s an example in which President Ronald Reagan used humor and diversion as a red herring in answering a debate question:

 Reporter: You already are the oldest president in history. … President Kennedy had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cuban missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?

Reagan: Not at all … and I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.

So, how do you catch yourself using fallacies? Play devil’s advocate with your own writing. Ask yourself what the logical counter-argument is and whether yours holds up. Then, identify any stereotypes or biases you are inadvertently using to inform your position. This should help you identify holes in your logic and set you up for a stronger result.

 

Final Check: Self-editing tips for your final draft

  

MLA Formatting

**MLA has recently made some changes to how things are formatted and cited. Make sure you know if you are to follow the old or new edition. The following are suggestions from the old edition, as most instructors will not change over mid-term.

Include 1” margins on all sides.

Double-space all lines (no extra spaces between header and title and title and text).

Center title. Do not bold, italicize, or enlarge font.

Single space after periods or other end punctuation.

Tab all indents; spacing 5 times is not the same!

Insert a paginated right header. This means to insert your last name only, followed by a space, then the page number. Your instructor may ask that you remove this from the first page, as you’ll have your left header here.

Works Cited should be numbered consecutively after the last page of essay.

Insert 4-line left header on first page only.

Block quotes should be indented one inch with no quotation marks.

All other direct quotes should have quotation marks and in-text citation, followed by period (note: period comes after the citation).

Sources

All outside research or sources should be followed with an in-text citation, whether they are a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary.

Direct quotes should have attributive or author tags.

If a source doesn’t have an author, give the title or website.

The in-text citation should match the FIRST WORD the source is listed under on the Works Cited page.

Avoid giving dictionary definitions of a word as an “outside source.” That’s not research.

Always use italics when referring to a book or website; use quotation marks for small works (article or short story) in a larger work (book or newspaper).

Works Cited

The title, Works Cited, should be centered at the top of the final page. Do not bold, italicize or enlarge font.

Works Cited should also be double spaced. NO EXTRA SPACES BETWEEN ENTRIES.

Works Cited should be alphabetized by author’s last name. If no author, alphabetize by the title or website. See Purdue Owl for other listings.

Each entry should have a hanging indent (the opposite of a regular line indent).

Include URL only if instructor requires it, or if the source cannot be found without it.

When using electronic sources, always include the date you accessed the source.

Other Tips

In Microsoft WORD, the default for paragraphs is set to insert an extra line space when you hit ENTER to move to a new paragraph. You must reset this to avoid triple-spacing the header, paragraphs, and Works Cited entries. To do this, go to the PARAGRAPH tab on the toolbar, clicking on the icon that has up and down arrows with five lines, just to the right of the 4 justification icons. Click the arrow on the right to open the tab, and scroll down to the bottom line that says “Add Space After Paragraph”; click this so that it says “Remove Space After Paragraph.” If you have already completed your essay and have triple spaces, highlight the entire text, follow these steps, and it should remove the extra lines.

The default font in Word is usually Calibri 11. MLA is Times New Roman 12, unless otherwise instructed. Make sure you have changed the font to follow MLA. 

This list is a very abbreviated editing checklist, and your instructor might have different directives, which we refer to as “instructor preference.” Always follow your instructor guidelines and ask for specifics if you are unsure of anything. 

This is only an abbreviated list of editing steps to take to make your essay a perfect as it can be. Hopefully, you’ve read your essay over carefully and had a peer read it as well. Don’t trust Spellcheck! Once you’ve done all you can do, turn it in and let it go. If you’ve followed your instructor’s guidelines and instruction and edited carefully, you should feel confident you’ve done your best work.