When composing a piece of writing intended for an audience --even if that audience is only your teacher --one of the most difficult skills to master is the ability to write clearly for someone who cannot read your thoughts. As a reader, I am often confused by what budding authors are trying to communicate. One important skill that I learned from my (surprise!) tenth grade English teacher is to seriously consider the state of your pronouns. That is not to say that all pronouns are evil and should be summarily avoided. That is to say that, if you are not attentive, pronouns can be vague, thereby making your reader pause and reread to find the clarity that is required for comprehension. A vague pronoun lacks a clear antecedent, in essence leaving your reader wondering who or what you are talking about, or worse yet incorrectly assuming and , as a result, misinterpreting your message.
Beware of the lonely this. One nastiest of offenders is the demonstrative pronoun this as in "this only compounds the problem". It is more helpful to use this as an adjective as in "this focus only compounds the problem." It is even more helpful to declare that "this focus on high-stakes testing only compounds the problem of a narrowing curriculum."
Who are they? Be especially vigilant with regard to the pronoun they. If you try to use "they say that more people are relying on the internet for their news" as evidence in an argument about the importance of purchasing more technology for schools, you should expect a challenge from your reader. Instead, if you have a source, quote it; otherwise, go do some more research to back up your claim. A better piece of evidence would be to say that "A Gallop poll conducted at the beginning of this year showed that a majority of former newspaper subscribers are relying on free online news services for their daily news."
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