Transcript Anatomy of a policy brief

Readability
Paul Mundy
www.mamud.com
Readability
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Counts
 3800 words
 113 paragraphs
 150 sentences
Averages
 2 sentences/paragraph
 24 words/sentence
 5.4 characters/word
Readability
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Passive sentences = 18%
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Flesch Reading Ease = 24.4
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Keep low!
90-100: easy for 11-year-old
60-70: easy for 13-15-year old
0-30: university graduates
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level =
15.6
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Need 15.6 years of formal
education to understand
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Drought weakens people’s immune systems because
of lack of food, thus exposing them to other illnesses
due to HIV and AIDS. HIV in turn worsens the effects
of drought because households with one or two
persons weakened by HIV and AIDS would not be
able to cope with the effects of drought. Moreover, HIV
and IADS increases the number of orphans who are
not able to engage in any meaningful economic
activity. Therefore the weak and dependent persons
must be considered when planning ways to lessen the
effects of drought.
Grade level: 11.2 
How about this?
If people can’t get enough food during a drought, they
get weak and ill. If they already have HIV or AIDS,
they may get other illnesses too.
HIV also makes the effects of drought worse. If
someone in the family has HIV, he or she may not be
able to work. The rest of the family will have to work
even harder to support their ill relatives. The parents
may die because of AIDS, leaving their children as
orphans. So it is especially important to take care of
them during a drought.
Grade level: 5.5 