1. Save Your Paper From Sentence Stagnation
THE METHOD
Save Your Paper From
Sentence Stagnation

2. Richard Lanham’s Method
In a Chapter titled “Where’s the Action?” Richard Lanham lays out a five-step plan for improving sentence clarity.
His method is aimed at eliminating jargon and bureaucratic language that thrives on not being understood.
The main point: your sentences may need some drastic resuscitation to wake them up.

3. Lanham’s Paramedic Method
Circle the prepositions.
Circle the “is” forms.
Ask “Where’s the action?” “Who’s kicking who?”
Put the kicking action in a simple (not compound) active verb.
Start fast—no slow windups (eliminate “blah, blah, blah is that” phrases).

4. 1. Circle the prepositions.
Prepositions are words that show how a noun or pronoun relates to the rest of the sentence. They explain location, direction, time, and relationship.
“OVER the river and THROUGH the woods to Grandmother’s house we go.”

5. at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, with
Finding Prepositions
For our purposes, it’s only important to know some of the most common prepositions.
The nine most common prepositions in English are:
at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, with

6. 2. Circle the “is” verbs.
The phrase “is verbs” means any form of the verb “to be” (e.g. is, was, are, were, has been, will be, etc.)
Sentences that are formed using an “is” verb don’t emphasize the action in the sentence and force you to use a string of prepositional phrases.
Here are some examples:

7. Can you find prepositions?
This sentence is in need of an active verb.
Physical satisfaction is the most obvious of the consequences of premarital sex.
In strict contrast to Watson’s ability to control his mental stability through this type of internal gesture, is Rosalind Franklin’s inability to even conceive of such “playing.”

8. 3. Ask “Who’s kicking who?”
To revise these sentences, we need to figure out what the main action of the sentence is and put the “news” of the sentence in the verbs.
So, we might revise our first two sentences to the following:
“This sentence NEEDS an active verb.”
“People usually ENJOY premarital sex.”

9. 4. Use a simple (not compound), active verb.
Lanham revises the third example sentence by using two interesting and active verbs rather than using IS plus a string of prepositional phrases.

10. Lose Length to Gain Clarity
IN strict contrast TO Watson’s ability TO control his mental stability THROUGH this type OF internal gesture, IS Rosalind Franklin’s ability TO even conceive OF such “playing.”
Watson CONTROLS himself THROUGH these internal gestures; Rosalind Franklin does not even KNOW such gestures exist.

11. Another Example
IN the light OF the association IN the last quarter OF the sixteenth century OF wit WITH the means OF amplification which consist mainly OF the processes OF dialectical investigation, this definition probably has more validity than has generally been accorded to it.
REVISION: This definition holds true more than people think, especially considering what wit meant around 1600.

12. 5. Eliminate “is that” phrases.
“Is that” phrases delay the opening of a sentence.
Blah, Blah, Blah IS THAT…
What I would like to signal her IS THAT…
What I want to make clear IS THAT…
What I have argued here IS THAT…
My opinion IS THAT…
The fact of the matter IS THAT…

13. Amputation is the Answer
Does it lose anything?
Does this one?
My opinion IS THAT on this point we have only two options
vs.
We have only two options.
The fact of the matter IS THAT Chipotle has better guacamole than Pancheros.
vs.
Chipotle has better guacamole than Pancheros.

14. When reading academic writng, "see if those timid little thoughts, concealed under layers of clauses and phrases, do not remind you of those agitated but cautious brothers, arrayed in their bolsters, blankets, dish covers and coal scuttles. The motive, too, is similar. Tweedledum and Tweedledee were in terror of being hurt, and so they padded themselves so thoroughly that they could not be hurt; nor, for that matter, could they move. A properly dreary, inert sentence has exactly the same benefit; it protects its writer from sharp disagreement, while it also protects him from movement.” –Patricia Limerick

15. Compiled from These Resources
Lanham, Richard. “Where’s the Action?” Revising Prose. New York: Mormidan, 1992.
Limerick, Patricia Nelson. “Dancing with Professors: The Trouble with Academic Prose.” New York Times Book Review. Oct. 31, 1993: 3.
“Learning to Use Prepositional Phrases” LessonSnips,