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Writing with Confidence "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." This sentence is a thesis sentence from the beginning of Section One of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto --a book that had, and still has, a profound impact on the world. The idea contained in this sentence has led to revolutions, wars, the establishment of governments, and negotiations where millions of lives hung in the balance. In short, it is a very influential sentence. Imagine, however, what the effect would have been if Marx had written this: In my own, personal opinion, it seems to me that the history of society seems like the history of class struggles. This version gives you a completely different impression. The person who wrote this sentence is timid and unconfident, and the result is that the idea of the sentence seems timid and unconfident, as well. It is ironic, or at least counter-intuitive, that the addition of "In my own, personal opinion," "I think," and "seems like" makes the writer seem less confident; after all, confidence is about being sure of one's self, and it would seem logical that putting one's self in the text would create more, not less, confidence. But that's not how it usually works. Instead, saying these things creates the impression of a writer who thinks the reader is likely to disagree, and who decides to qualify his or her statement. Generally speaking, qualifiers like "In my opinion," "I think," and "It seems to me that . . ." are unecessary at best--and, at worst, create the impression of a timid writer. A Related Point: Marx follows the sentence above with a very lengthy, detailed, and supported analysis of history. He does not simply make a sweeping generalization without attribution or proof. So, while my point above has to do with becoming a more confident writer and standing your ideas on their own two feet, I am not encouraging you to leave your points unsupported. If your thesis sentence is "In my opinion, dorm food sucks," I am simply pointing out that "Dorm food sucks" would be a stronger sentence--which has nothing to do with the fact that you would still need to prove to me that dorm food sucks (how hard could that be?). |