ENGL 106-Module 1

Activity 1.3- Being Specific

Objectives-The examples in this tutorial are given in particular contexts so you can continue to
develop your feel for the relationship between specific and general.
Context=Giving Directions

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Let's take some examples for the context of giving directions to the party. Here's a set of directions that are
too general to be useful to someone who doesn't already know where the house is located: "I live by the hill
just past the college. It's a big yellow house."
You can make the directions clear by using specific words, phrases, and sentences.
SPECIFIC WORDS. Choose words with more specific information in them, words that answer questions like
who? which one? where? how many? and so on.
TOO GENERAL: "I live by the hill just past the college." Which hill? Which college? How far past the college
and in which direction?
BETTER: Name the hill. "I live by Cirafesi Hill just past the college."
SPECIFIC PHRASES. Sometimes phrases (word groups that go together) can help provide specific detail in your
writing.
TOO GENERAL: "I live by Cirafesi Hill just past the college." How far past the college and in which direction?
BETTER: Give the approximate distance in numbers of miles. Which college (for friends who go to other local
colleges)? Name the college. "I live by Cirafesi Hill about two miles east of Floren Community College."
SPECIFIC SENTENCES. Sometimes you need to add whole clauses or sentences to provide needed specific
information.
TOO GENERAL: "I live by Cirafesi Hill about two miles east of Floren Community College. It's a big yellow
house."
BETTER: "I live by Cirafesi Hill about two miles east of Floren Community College. You take Barrett Boulevard
east from the college for two miles, turn north (left) onto David Street, and travel for a half mile to 2808 David
Street. It's on the left side of the street, the big yellow house with three huge pink flamingoes on the front
lawn."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "BE SPECIFIC"? To be specific means to use facts and details to make sure you are
communicating clearly. Specific writing answers questions like these: who? which one? where? when? how
many?

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR WRITING IS SPECIFIC? You check the words, phrases, and sentences to see if
they say what you are thinking in detailed terms. Check that your generalizations are supported with facts,
details, specific information. Look for names, numbers, words and phrases that paint a picture.

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ENGL 106-Module 1
SPECIFIC AND GENERAL. Specificity is relative. A word, phrase, or sentence may be more or less specific or
general, depending on the context. Words, phrases, and sentences that refer to ideas, thoughts, patterns of
reality, groups of things, or categories of a thing are said to be "general"-whereas examples, illustrations,
facts, details, statistics, descriptions, and narratives are said to be "specific."
The chart below provides an idea of how words and phrases can be more or less specific (or general) relative
to one another. Read from left to right in each row to move from general to specific. Move from right to left
in a row (as the bottom column labels indicate) to move from specific to general.
general-->

more specific-->

most specific

the street

the main avenue

Foothill Avenue

a woman

a female hero

Margaret Sanger

a man

a male hero

Mohatma Gandhi

a tree

an evergreen tree

juniper

the college

the community college

Floren College

some people

ten people

ten college students

most general

<--more general

<--specific

To recap:
SPECIFIC. Examples, illustrations, facts, details, statistics, descriptions, and narratives are said to be "specific."
GENERAL. Words, phrases, and statements that refer to ideas, thoughts, patterns of reality, groups of things,
or categories of a thing are said to be "general." The more objects in the group, the more general the term you
use for the group. Let's consider more examples below.
EXAMPLES:
Professor Gloria Floren (specific: one person)
community-college professor (more general: a class of peoplethere are thousands of community-college
professors in the world)
professor (even more general: a larger class of peopleincluding professors at four-year colleges and
universities)
human being (even more generalthere are many more humans on the planet than there are professors)
animal (more general still; humans are only one kind of animal, and there are many more animals on Earth
than there are human beings)
life (most general of this listan abstract term including animals, plants, etc.all living things)

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ENGL 106-Module 1
BALANCE GENERAL AND SPECIFIC.
Consider this example:
GENERAL: Stanley Kubrick was a reclusive man.
SPECIFIC: Stanley Kubrick rarely gave interviews.

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Note how the specific statement makes an observation about behavior without making a judgment about that
behavior. The specific statement above is a factual assertion. When you make a judgment about a factual
situation, you will most likely be creating a generalization, like the one above about Kubricks being "reclusive."
A general statement always raises questions in a readers mind. Reclusive? How do you mean "reclusive"?
How do you know Kubrick was a "reclusive man"? Prove it to me. A factual claim like "Stanley Kubrick rarely
gave interviews" may need more evidence to define the term "rarely" (is one a month rare? one a year?)but
it relays more precise information than does the general statement about reclusiveness. The precision helps
you communicate a clearer picture for your reader so that your reader can understand your perspective on
reality.

What does being specific have to do with development in writing?

Developmentalso known as "support" or "evidence"is a requirement of good, clear, convincing writing. A
clear essay is like a clear photograph. In order to get a clear photograph, it's not enough to shoot the picture
with good focus; you must also develop the film adequately so that the image that you shot comes out as
clearly as you saw it with your eyes.
To BE SPECIFIC in written communication means that you DEVELOP your writing adequately so that the words
clarify your meaning.
Note how in the example below, the more specific sentence is also the clearer sentence; the second sentence
specifies the meaning of "good boss."
GENERAL: Maria is a good boss.
SPECIFIC: Maria gives her employees lots of encouragement as well as a good salary and benefits like family
leave.
Lack of specificity is a common problem of papers that are inadequately developed. A paper with problems in
this area may be labeled "thinly developed" or "inadequately supported" or "insufficiently supported" or
"lacking in evidence."
Teachers may write in the margins comments like the following:
give an example | needs support | needs development | dev | show, don't tell | where's the evidence to
support your claim? | unsupported claim | too general | prove it | give some details | where are the facts? |
give me a picture | any statistical proofs? | how do you know this is true? | why should I believe this claim?
| what do you mean here?

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ENGL 106-Module 1
LETS TRY IT! Clarify the meaning of sentences which present general ideas by replacing general words with
specific ones. Rewrite them so that they are more specific.
Q1. There was a huge crowd at the party last night.
Q2. My best friend earned a high grade point average last semester.

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Q3. The leader of the group spent some time on his homework last week.
Q4. When my friend went into the room, she saw ants everywhere.
Q5. It's too noisy to study at home!

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