Point four.      Use titles and pictures.

The group did not add any titles or pictures to the brochure. We did, however, talk about how this would be important if we were rewriting a story.

Point five.      Use the same word all the time to mean the same thing.

We discussed at length the importance of this step. The women could easily name many situations where they had been totally confused because the person with whom they were talking used synonyms. We discussed when it would be appropriate to use synonyms and when it would be better to use the same word throughout a piece to convey meaning. One woman said that it is very confusing for her when people use a lot of words to say the same thing. The thesaurus was used extensively whenever the group was trying to find the perfect word to use. Synonyms and word meaning were discussed at great length.

Point six.      Put your ideas in order. Put the main idea first.

The group discussed the sequence in which the goals were written. They felt that all of the goals of AMAC were equally important and that in this case the order had nothing to do with importance. This discussion was excellent as the women had a chance to discuss which goal each thought was most important and why. They then had to listen to the opinion of another woman. It was during this discussion that one of the women mentioned that everyone was right even though there was a difference in opinion. They realized that opinion is very different from fact, yet it was very powerful because opinion is often based in emotion. Each woman realized that the goal she found most important was based on her personal experience and needs.

We also discussed when it would be necessary to make sure ideas were in the right order and that the main idea was stated first.

Point seven.      Ask questions to see if the readers understand.

As the group worked on the brochure, the rest of the class was working in another part of the room. Two of the male students would often come over after we were finished with the group work to see what we had done that day. The women would talk to them about what we had done and get their opinion on parts of what was written. We would also ask members of the class their opinion if we had been working on something of which we were unsure. The group depended a lot on the students, the assistant instructor, and a volunteer tutor to give their opinions on what we had written. They saw how something becomes easier to read only because we had been working with it for a period of time. The opinion of others became important to them.