Emphasis

Good writing demonstrates a range of emphasis. One way to vary emphasis is to mingle shorter and longer sentences. Two sorts of writing frequently encountered in student essays make emphasis impossible to achieve: firstly, many very short paragraphs each composed of one or two sentences; secondly, long paragraphs each composed of long and tangled sentences. Avoid both of these.

To emphasise a particular word within a sentence, use italics as a first preference, and underlining or bold as a second preference. Do not capitalise the word you wish to emphasise – this is merely confusing, and do not place it in quotation marks – this merely gives the impression that you don’t believe it is an accurate or credible term.