How to Write Great Essays

Examples
Positive or Neutral Connotation
Negative Connotation
teenager
punk
knife
dagger
individualist
eccentric
youthful
childish
ethical straight-laced
aggressive
pushy
thrifty
cheap
challenging
perplexing
homeless
vagrant
natural
plain
statesman
politician
smile
smirk
clever
sly
30

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Word Choice  CHAPTER 3 
HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS

31
INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
Biased language, which includes negative stereotypes, has no place in your writing. Your goal
is to include rather than to exclude. Understanding the purpose of inclusive language, and
using it in your essay, will assure that your message gets across without creating or perpet-
uating negative social stereotypes. Use the following techniques to help you to replace any
possibly offensive words and phrases with inclusive language.
Gender
■
Avoid the suffix -ess, which has the effect of minimizing the significance of
the word to which it is attached (actor is preferable to actress, proprietor to
proprietress).
■
Do not overuse he and him. Instead, use his or her or their and those; or alter-
nate between him and her.
■
Degender titles. Businessman becomes businessperson or executive, chairman
becomes chair or chairperson, stewardess becomes flight attendant, weatherman
becomes meteorologist.
■
When referring to a couple, don’t make assumptions. Inappropriate: Mr.
Rosenberg and Caryn, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Rosenberg. Appropriate: Mr. Rosen-
berg and Ms. Fetzer
■
Use professional, rather than personal, descriptive terms. Inappropriate: Robin
Benoit, a lovely novelist. Appropriate: Robin Benoit, an experienced novelist.
■
Avoid making assumptions about traditionally exclusive arenas such as the
home and sports. Not all women are homemakers, and not all homemakers
are women. The word housewife should not be used. Similarly, not all team
members are male. Sportsmanship should be replaced with fair play, and crew-
men should be crew members.
Race
■
To avoid stereotyping, leave out any reference to race, unless it is relevant to
the subject of your writing.
■
Focus on a person’s individual, professional characteristics and qualifications,
not racial characteristics.
Disability
■
Discuss the person, not their handicap.
■
If your writing is specifically focused on disabilities or disease, or you must
mention them for another reason, do not use words that imply victimization
or create negative stereotypes. Terms such as victim, sufferer, poor, afflicted,
and unfortunate should be omitted.

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