Arroyo is the new president, not Estrada.
This mission is extremely important for our future: we must not fail!
Adding
Emphasis
Visual Devices for
Achieving Emphasis
In the days
before computerized word processing and desktop publishing, the publishing
process began with a manuscript and/or a typescript that was sent to a print
shop where it would be prepared for publication and printed. In order to show
emphasis, to highlight the title of a book, to refer to a word itself as a word,
or to indicate a foreign word or phrase, the writer would use underlining
in the typescript, which would signal the typesetter at the print shop to use italic
font for those words. Even today, perhaps the simplest way to call attention to
an otherwise unemphatic word or phrase is to underline or italicize it.
|
Arroyo is the new president, not Estrada. |
Because writers
using computers today have access to a wide variety of fonts and textual
effects, they are no longer limited to underlining to show emphasis. Still,
especially for academic writing, italics or underlining is the preferred way to
emphasize words or phrases when necessary. Writers usually choose one or the
other method and use it consistently throughout an individual essay. In the
final, published version of an article or book, italics are usually used.
Writers in academic discourses and students learning to write academic papers
are expected to express emphasis primarily through words themselves; overuse of
various emphatic devices like changes of font face and size, boldface,
all-capitals, and so on in the text of an essay creates the impression of a
writer relying on flashy effects instead of clear and precise writing to make a
point.
Boldface
is also used, especially outside of academia, to show emphasis as well as to
highlight items in a list, as in the following examples.
|
The picture that television commercials portray of the American home is far from realistic. |
|
The following three topics will be covered: |
topic 1:
brief description of topic 1
topic 2: brief description of topic 2
topic 3: brief description of topic 3
Some writers use ALL-CAPITAL
letters for emphasis, but they are usually unnecessary and can cause writing to
appear cluttered and loud. In email correspondence, the use of all-caps
throughout a message can create the unintended impression of shouting and is
therefore discouraged.
Punctuation Marks
for Achieving Emphasis
Some punctuation marks prompt
the reader to give a word or sentence more than usual emphasis. For example, a
command with a period does not evoke the same emphatic response as the same
command with an exclamation mark.
|
Watch out! |
A
dash or colon has more emphatic force than a comma.
|
The employees were surprised by the decision, which
was not to change company policy. |
Choice and
Arrangement of Words for Achieving Emphasis
The
simplest way to emphasize something is to tell readers directly that what
follows is important by using such words and phrases as especially, particularly, crucially,
most importantly, and above
all.
|
See your good times come to life in brilliant color: perfect pictures protected by an elegant finish, perfect pictures that can be made into beautiful enlargements, perfect pictures you can take with you in less than an hour. |
When
a pattern is established through repetition and then broken, the varied part
will be emphasized, as in the following example.
|
ABC Computer Store is first in reliability, first in service, and last in customer complaints. |
The initial and
terminal positions of sentences are inherently more emphatic than the middle
segment. Likewise, the main clause of a complex sentence receives more emphasis
than subordinate clauses. Therefore, you should put words that you wish to
emphasize near the beginnings and endings of sentences and should never bury
important elements in subordinate clauses. Consider the following example.
|
No one can deny that the computer has had a great
effect upon the business world. |
In the first version of this
sentence, "No one can deny" and "on the business world" are
in the most emphasized positions. The
writer has embedded the most important ideas in a subordinate clause: "that
the computer has had a great effect." The edited version places the most
important ideas in the main clause and in the initial and terminal slots of the
sentence, creating a more engaging prose style.
Arrangement of
Clauses for Achieving Emphasis
Since the terminal position in
the sentence carries the most weight and since the main clause is more emphatic
than a subordinate clause in a complex sentence, writers often place the
subordinate clause before the main clause to give maximal emphasis to the main
clause. For example:
I believe both of these
applicants are superb even though it's hard to find good secretaries nowadays.
Even though it's hard to find good secretaries nowadays, I believe both of these
applicants are superb.
Sentence Position
and Variation for Achieving Emphasis
An abrupt short sentence
following a long sentence or a sequence of long sentences is often emphatic. For
example, compare the following paragraphs. The second version emphasizes an
important idea by placing it in an independent clause and placing it at the end
of the paragraph:
|
For a long time, but not any more, Japanese corporations used Southeast Asia merely as a cheap source of raw materials, as a place to dump outdated equipment and overstocked merchandise, and as a training ground for junior executives who needed minor league experience. |
|
For a long time Japanese corporations used Southeast Asia merely as a cheap source of raw materials, as a place to dump outdated equipment and overstocked merchandise, and as a training ground for junior executives who needed minor league experience. But those days have ended. |
Varying
a sentence by using a question after a series of statements is another way of
achieving emphasis.
|
The increased number of joggers, the booming sales of physical training devices and the record number of entrants in marathon races all clearly indicate the growing belief among Americans that strenuous, prolonged exercise is good for their health. But is it? |