Emphasis

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines emphasis as "a force or intensity of expression that gives impressiveness or importance to something", or as "a special consideration of or stress or insistence on something" [1]. Emphatic writing naturally draws readers into a work, making it a very useful style technique. There are many ways to make writing sound emphatic using the natural rhythm of the English language. For instance, it is useful to know that English speakers usually place stresses at the ends of sentences, their pitch rising as the sentence builds climatically. By having important information reside at the end of a sentence, that point is naturally emphasized by the raised pitch.

See the Fall 2009 page on emphasis for more information.

Reference Books

Emphatic sentences can be difficult to write, especially for people who are just delving into composition. When looking for advice on writing with emphasis, a good place to start is a book called, Style Toward Clarity and Grace, by Joseph M. Williams. [2]

Williams devotes an entire chapter to the use of emphasis in Style Toward Clarity and Grace. He details ways to make sentences sound more emphatic by managing the flow of ideas. For instance, when revising a work Williams suggests moving less important information to the beginning of a sentence. This places important information at the end of the sentence where it will naturally be emphasized.

For a different style of teaching, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White's The Elements of Style also offers advice to write emphatically. [3] Instead of the lengthy explanation that Williams gives, Strunk and White offers more rigid rules that add emphasis in writing.

In part two of The Elements of Style, titled Principles of Composition, rule 22 offers insight to making sentences more emphatic. Strunk and White believe that the word or group of words that the author wishes to make the most prominent belongs at the end of the sentence. However, they also state that the beginning of a sentence is also a prominent position. Any part of the sentence besides the subject naturally becomes emphatic when placed at the beginning. At the end of this segment discussing emphasis, Strunk and White take their principle one step further, helping readers understand that the principle of placement for emphasis not just extends words in a sentence, but also to sentences in a paragraph, and paragraphs of a composition.

While both books seem to agree on ways to write emphatically, they offer different styles of advice. Readers who like explanations should use Style Toward Clarity and Grace to help them understand emphasis, as well as those who want an extensive look at the kind of sentence structure that makes emphatic sentences. In contrast, readers who like manuals that simply tell them what to do should turn to The Elements of Style.

Emphasis through Endings

According to Williams, much of the execution of emphasis is concentrated on the organization of a sentence. In order to properly structure a sentence for optimum emphasis, the writer must first realize what is the most important idea being stated. This idea needs to receive the stress of the sentence to be given proper emphasis. The simplest way to do this is to place the concepts of value near the end of the sentence. Thus, there are a few practices that Williams puts in place to guide writers in their attempts at emphasis through endings.

Trim the end.

Many times the information that needs emphasis has already been placed at the end of the sentence, but there is extraneous language directly following the pertinent information. By removing the redundant or unnecessary language, the writer can easily align their emphasis properly, allowing readers to focus on the most important information present.

Example: Scientists have proven eating three meals a day will help build metabolism and keep you healthy. Since building metabolism means keeping yourself healthy, it is unnecessary to use. Instead try: Scientists have proven eating three meals a day will help build metabolism.

Shift less important information to the left.

After re-examining the sentence end and removing the excess, the writer may find that there are components that cannot be cut from the sentence without altering its intentions. In these cases, the relevant information should be relocated to a position earlier in the syntax, where they will not detract from the main point of emphasis.

Example: The trip to Miami was worth it in the end. Knowing if the trip was worth it is more important than how the sentence ends. Instead try:In the end, the trip to Miami was worth it.

Shift important information to the right.

In yet another manner of managing the flow of ideas, Williams explains that the most important concepts, the target of a writer’s emphasis, must come where the stress lies, at the end of the sentence. Williams maintains that older information should begin the sentence, while the newer, more complex ideas should not be introduced until the last moment. This will minimize confusion, as the reader will be left with that final concept to contemplate at the end of the sentence.

If you do these things; you will in turn complement the subject, verb, and main point.

According to Williams there are important syntatic devices one should keep in mind, there are a few grammatical patterns that add weight to the end of a sentence. Williams writes that these patterns must be used sparingly because these syntatic patterns are self-conscious and actually can obscure topics. So be careful.

Using "There is" and/or "There are"

Beginning too many sentences with these two phrases, your prose becomes flat-footed that lacks a feel for energy and flow. But the use of there at the begining of a sentence is useful if the purpose is to introduce and stress the topics for the string of sentences that follow. Remember that "there" does have a function and that function is to stress the ideas that the writer intendes to develop in the sentences to follow.

The use of “there is/are adds a delay and thus emphasis to what follows in the sentence.

Example: English teachers stress grammar in their introductory classes. vs. There are English teachers that stress grammar in their introductory classes.

What

A what-sentence throws special emphasis on what follws a linking verb. This is a pattern that should be used sparingly because using it the writer will have to pay for the emphasis with more words to make the sentence work.

Example: We need extra time in order to properly write this essay. vs. What we need is extra time in order to properly write this essay.

It-shift 1

Using it as a fill-in subject, you are able to shift a long introductory clause that would otherwise have been the subject to a position after the verb.

It-shift 2

With the use of this pattern, you select and emphasize a topic at the same time, as well as throw added weight on the stress.

For extra help and examples: [[4]]

Emphasis on Twitter

Williams’ ideas concerning emphasis make an interesting transformation in the world of Twitter; writers are limited to a tight, 140 character cap. They are, by the nature of the beast, already confined to emphasized ideas and concepts. Emphasis transitions to a concern for which words will make the cut, and the simplicity of structure allows for more freedom in the placement of ideas. The wordiness that Williams wants writers to avoid becomes an impossibility, freeing the writer to stylize his posts with the individual words used. Emphasis, in its existence on Twitter, moves from syntactic to semantic concerns.