Misuse of instead. is an adverb, not a conjunction. Consider Instead this sentence: argued that the framers of the constitu- “Charles tion were not idealists, they promoted their economic interests.” instead Revise as framers of the constitution, Charles Beard argued, did not “The uphold ideals; instead, they promoted their economic interests.” Now the appears properly as an adverb. (Note also that the two clauses are instead now parallel—both contain transitive verbs.) Essentially and basically. These are usually either filler words (the written equivalent of or or weasel words that merely call “uh” “um”) attention to your vagueness, lack of conviction, or lazy unwillingness to qualify precisely. (“Essentially, Churchill believed that Nazi Germany presented a grave danger to Britain.”) Delete and essentially basically unless you are writing about essences or bases. Both or both agree. These are redundant. If two people share or agree, they are both involved by definition. (“Stalin and Mao that capitalism belonged in the dustbin of history.”) Delete both agreed both. Unique. This word means one of a kind. It is an absolute. Something cannot be very unique, more unique, or somewhat unique. Incredible. In casual conversation often means extraordi- incredible nary, astonishing, or impressive (“Yesterday’s storm was incredible.”). To avoid confusion in historical prose, you should stick with the original meaning of not believable. If you write that Jen- incredible: “William nings Bryan gave speeches,” you’re saying that you don’t incredible believe his speeches, or that his audiences didn’t believe them at the time--in other words, that he appeared to be lying or mistaken. You prob- ably mean that he gave great speeches. If you write that incredible “It’s that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,” you’re calling into question the very existence of a historical event. You probably mean that the Japanese at- tack was unwise or reckless. English is rich with adjectives. Finding the best one forces you to think about what you really mean. Issue. As a synonym for subject matter, bone of contention, reserva- tion, or almost anything else vaguely associated with what you are discussing, the word has lost its meaning through overuse. (“There issue
Misuse of instead. Instead is an adverb, not a conjunction. Consider this sentence: “Charles argued that the framers of the constitu- tion were not idealists, instead they promoted their economic interests.” Revise as “The framers of the constitution, Charles Beard argued, did not uphold ideals; instead, they promoted their economic interests.” Now the instead appears properly as an adverb. (Note also that the two clauses are now parallel—both contain transitive verbs.) Essentially and basically. These are usually either filler words (the written equivalent of “uh” or “um”) or weasel words that merely call attention to your vagueness, lack of conviction, or lazy unwillingness to qualify precisely. (“Essentially, Churchill believed that Nazi Germany presented a grave danger to Britain.”) Delete essentially and basically unless you are writing about essences or bases. Both or both agree. These are redundant. If two people share or agree, they are both involved by definition. (“Stalin and Mao both agreed that capitalism belonged in the dustbin of history.”) Delete both. Unique. This word means one of a kind. It is an absolute. Something cannot be very unique, more unique, or somewhat unique. Incredible. In casual conversation incredible often means extraordi- nary, astonishing, or impressive (“Yesterday’s storm was incredible.”). To avoid confusion in historical prose, you should stick with the original meaning of incredible: not believable. If you write that “William Jen- nings Bryan gave incredible speeches,” you’re saying that you don’t believe his speeches, or that his audiences didn’t believe them at the time--in other words, that he appeared to be lying or mistaken. You prob- ably mean that he gave great speeches. If you write that “It’s incredible that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,” you’re calling into question the very existence of a historical event. You probably mean that the Japanese at- tack was unwise or reckless. English is rich with adjectives. Finding the best one forces you to think about what you really mean. Issue. As a synonym for subject matter, bone of contention, reserva- tion, or almost anything else vaguely associated with what you are discussing, the word issue has lost its meaning through overuse. (“There
Writing-Good-History-Paper.docx