45. Titles and Headlines Provide Critical Context

Read this paragraph:

First you sort the items into like categories. Using color for sorting is common, but you can also use other characteristics, such as texture or type of handling needed. Once you have sorted the items, you are ready to use the equipment. You want to process each category from the sorting separately. Place one category in the machine at a time.

What is the paragraph about? It’s hard to understand. But what if I give you the same paragraph with a title:

Using your new washing machine

First you sort the items into like categories. Using color for sorting is common, but you can also use other characteristics, such as texture or type of handling needed. Once you have sorted the items, you are ready to use the equipment. You want to process each category from the sorting separately. Place one category in the machine at a time.

The paragraph is still poorly written, but now at least it is understandable.

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People use different parts of the brain to process words

Words are processed in different parts of the brain depending on what you’re doing with them. Viewing or reading words, listening, speaking, generating verbs—all of these word activities engage different parts of the brain, as shown in Figure 45.1.

Figure 45.1. Different parts of the brain process words

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