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What, in Pope's view, is usually true of wordy writing?

User Wablab
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Final answer:

Pope's view on wordy writing is that it usually indicates a lack of precision and overuse of unnecessary words. He valued conciseness and the deliberate choice of words in writing. Reducing wording without losing meaning makes writing clearer and more effective.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Pope's view, wordy writing usually suggests a lack of precision and a surplus of unnecessary words that could be condensed for clarity and strength. Alexander Pope, specifically in his work An Essay on Criticism, advocates for concise language that communicates effectively with fewer words. He believed that verbose or wordy expression could mask the true meaning and intent, and thus poets and writers should strive to omit needless words. Pope's approach to poetry as a craft emphasizes the importance of word choice and concise expression in writing.

As an example, the sentence 'In almost every situation that I can think of, with few exceptions, it will make good sense for you to look for as many places as possible to cut out needless, redundant, and repetitive words and phrases from the papers, reports, paragraphs, and sentences you write for college assignments' can be stripped down to 'Whenever possible, cut needless words and phrases from your college writing.' This illustrates how to transform a wordy sentence into a more concise, effective one. While editing, the goal is to make language more efficient without losing the necessary information or the overall effect intended for the reader.

User Rahul Upadhyay
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