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Another great technique in editing is called so what analysis. So what analysis will
help you increase the clarity of your writing and make sure that your arguments are
well structured. Its a really simple technique. Here's how it works:
Take every sentence that is in your paper, read it, preferably out loud, and right
afterwards ask the question 'so what?' Let me give you an example of how you might
use this technique. You are writing an essay on biology and depression, and you
write this sentence: To use the test, read the above sentence followed by the
question, 'so what?'
This is what it might sound like: There are twelve neurotransmitters found in the
brain ? so what? Yeah, really so what, so what if there are twelve transmitters? What
does that have to do with my paper? I'm not really saying anything important. I'm
quoting a fact, but what does that have to do with depression? This sentence fails the
'so what test'.
So you can either cut the sentence out of the paper, or change or add material until
it does pass the so what test. For example, compare
with this sentence: There are twelve neurotransmitters in the brain of which
three are linked to depression ? so what. Okay, this is getting better, I can
start to see the connection between them now. At least I'm mentioning depression, but
I think I can go even further. How about this?
Now its crystal clear what the connection is. These two sentences, together, pass
the test. You can think of so what analysis as a fluff detector. Your professor is
interested in your thinking. If there is a lot of fluff in your paper, you are not going
to get a great grade. So what analysis helps
you detect in advance where the fluff is, and gives you the opportunity to correct it.
Good luck.