1. WRITING IN “PLAIN ENGLISH” MC 207 Dr. Snyder By: Kate Anderson, Christine Annelli, Scott Boland, Lindsay Gondek, Purvi Shah

4. THE “PLAIN ENGLISH” MOVEMENT “The premise behind the plain English movement is that legal documents ought to be plainer--and more comprehensible--to the average person” (Tiersma). Origin 1970s—1990s

5. Process of writing in “Plain English” Know your audience Organization Give the “big picture” 3 Important Steps: Pre-writing Writing Revising (The Plain English Handbook).

6. Direct vs. indirect pattern AUDIENCE (Guffey).

7. Composing Effective Sentences Achieve Variety With 4 Sentence Types Simple Sentence Compound Sentence Complex Sentence Compound-complex sentence Control Sentence Length Only make sentence long enough to get your point across

8. Common problems that hinder "Plain English" writing Lengthy sentences Passive voice instead of active Superfluous words/phrases Legal jargon (gobbledygook) Too many defined terms Unreadable layout Scarcity of personal pronouns (The Plain English Handbook).

9. Tips for “Plain English” writing Keep sentences short (Guffey). Write positively Use common, familiar words Use the natural word order of speakers: subject-verb-object Keep the sentence structure parallel (The Plain English Handbook).

10. EVALUATING YOUR “PLAIN ENGLISH” ACTIVITY Form team groups Convert these GOBBLEDYGOOK sentences to “Plain English” Best sentences get sweet rewards!

11. Activity 1. The culinary area is an operational mess led by the depreciation of the beloved java and it might well soon be terminated. 2. We have been closely monitoring your perplexing situation and it is fairly obvious that your operational skills are lagging far behind. 3. You have to ascertain your client and then conceptualize and encompass his thoughts into the stipulations of the contract.

12. Activity Answers 1. Please keep the kitchen neat and clean or I’m banning coffee from the building. 2. You need to do your job better or I will fire you. 3. Put what your client wants into the contract.

14. 3 steps of writing process