Repetition

Students are often taught that repetition in writing is bad.  In fact, in academic writing key vocabulary is repeated to keep the reader's attention focused on the main ideas.  In the following example certain vocabulary-- concerning fertility, urbanization, agriculture-- is repeated (or synonyms used).  Of course, each sentence also develops ideas.  So academic writing is a careful combination of repetition, to help the reader, and development, to make the point.

Urbanization and Fertility

    A point often made is that there is a relation between urbanization and low fertility.  All developed countries, countries which have low birthrates, are highly urbanized.  In almost all countries, furthermore, fertility is lower in the cities than in the countryside.  This difference in fertility is probably related to the differences between a modern urban economy and a traditional agricultural economy.  In an agricultural economy children are valuable as a source of labor and as old-age insurance for their parents.  They can begin to work on the land and around the house at an early age and they will take care of their parents when they get old.  For these reasons peasants value large families.

    In a modern urban economy, on the other hand, children do not usually work and they are more expensive to raise.  Food must be bought rather than raised; clothes may be bought rather than made.  People working in the modern economic sector may also be less dependent on their children for support in old  age than agricultural workers.  They may have savings, or receive government assistance, when they no longer work.  Finally, urban life offers a greater choice of goods and activities than rural life.  A couple living in a city may choose to limit family size in order to be able to afford or to do other things.  Peasants in the countryside may not have this choice.

The words "fertility," "urban/urbanized/urbanization," and "agricultural" are repeated several times.  Synonyms are also used:
"City" is a synonym for urban area; "countryside" and "rural" refer to agricultural areas.

You can check your writing to be sure you are using repetition effectively.  If the focus of your paragraph is good, you will probably find that the repetition of key vocabulary is automatic.  If there is little repetition of vocabulary, perhaps there should be more, or perhaps the focus/purpose of your paragraph is a bit vague.

05/28/2002