When you write a scientific article, you should structure your ideas in a way that your readers can easily follow. However, sometimes scientific prose can be difficult to understand. ❌ All readers expect more or less the same things in the same places, and violating these expectations confuses the readers.😩
Before being told something interesting (the thing you want to Stress), the reader expects to be told what the context (the Topic of the sentence) is. So, the reader will unconsciously focus on the end of the sentence, the stress position, to identify what is important. Considering these aspects, authors can help manage reader expectations ✔ and ensure that the presented ideas are communicated more effectively. 😃
Example:
Before: I should put contextual information in the topic position and the point I want to make in the stress position, if I want to help my reader understand a sentence.
➥ After: To help my reader understand a sentence, I should put contextual information in the topic position and the point I want to make in the stress position.
Finally, start sentences with the Topic, and end with what you want to Stress.
This material is based on the following resources with some additions and modifications from Gavin Lucas and Valeria Di Giacomo.
- https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials/writinginenglish/stress-position/10252690
- https://clauswilke.com/blog/2013/09/26/writing-paragraphs-that-make-sensethe-topic-and-the-stress-position/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sentence-structuring-topic-stress-positions-work-patricia-sadri/
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