Glossary
Handoff relations, sentence roles and flags
A handoff is the join between one sentence and the next. ProseMap scores every handoff and gives it one of nine relations, which describe what the second sentence does with what the first one left. These are the terms the app uses, defined.
The nine handoff relations
- Advance
- Moves the thought forward. The next sentence moves the thought forward: a new step in the argument, the next event, the consequence. Advance is the default healthy handoff, and a paragraph made mostly of advances is going somewhere.
- Deepen
- Goes further into the same point. The next sentence stays on the same point and goes further into it, with a reason, an example or a qualification. Deepen is how a claim earns its keep. Too many in a row and the paragraph stalls on one idea.
- Contrast
- Sets against what came before. The next sentence sets itself against what came before: a but, a however, an exception. A contrast works when the reader can see what is being opposed. When they cannot, it reads as a non sequitur.
- Disrupt (controlled)
- Breaks the line on purpose. The next sentence breaks the line of thought on purpose: a hard cut, an interruption, a one-word paragraph. A controlled disrupt is scored as a strength. The same move without a legible purpose is flagged as abrupt.
- Restate
- Says the previous thing again. The next sentence says the previous thing again. Restating once, for emphasis or to land a point, can be right. A run of restatements is the signature of prose that is fluent and not moving, and ProseMap flags a paragraph when restatement dominates it.
- Drift
- Wanders without a legible link. The next sentence wanders to something adjacent without a link the reader can follow. Drift is the usual cause of a paragraph that loses its subject by the end.
- Pivot
- Changes topic or section. The next sentence changes topic or opens a new section. A pivot is expected at a section break and is scored on whether the reader is carried across it.
- Payoff
- Delivers on a setup. The next sentence delivers on something set up earlier: the answer to a question, the result of a build, the image a paragraph was moving toward. Payoffs are where earlier weak-looking setup sentences justify themselves.
- Sibling
- Parallel item in a list or series. The next sentence is a parallel item: another entry in a list, another example in a series. Siblings are scored on parallel structure and on whether the series earns its length.
Sentence roles
Each sentence is assigned the role it plays in its paragraph. The role sets what the sentence is judged against: a signpost is not expected to carry evidence, and an image is not expected to argue.
| Role | What the sentence does |
|---|---|
| Claim | Asserts something the document stands behind |
| Evidence / example | Supports a claim with a case, datum, or quotation |
| Elaboration | Explains, unpacks, or qualifies what came before |
| Turn / contrast | Pivots against or complicates what came before |
| Image / description | Shows rather than argues |
| Conclusion / synthesis | Gathers threads into a landing |
| Interruption / aside | Deliberately breaks the line of thought |
| Question | Opens a problem the text goes on to work |
| Signpost / transition | Tells the reader where the text is going |
| Setup / context | Establishes what later sentences need |
| Instruction | Tells the reader to do something |
| Callback | Returns to something planted earlier |
Flags
Flags name the specific thing the evaluator saw. Some mark problems and some mark strengths, and together with the score they decide the band a sentence or handoff is shown in.
On sentences
| Vague | Problem |
| Low information | Problem |
| Generic fluency | Problem |
| Cluttered | Problem |
| Overlong | Problem |
| Uncontrolled fragment | Problem |
| Cliché | Problem |
| Jargon | Problem |
| Ambiguous reference | Problem |
| Repetition | Problem |
| Buried claim | Problem |
| Tonal slip | Problem |
| Over-hedged | Problem |
| Grammar / usage | Problem |
| Controlled fracture | Strength |
| Vivid | Strength |
| Compression | Strength |
| Voice | Strength |
| Controlled surprise | Strength |
| Filler | Problem |
On handoffs
| Missing link | Problem |
| Non sequitur | Problem |
| Flat restatement | Problem |
| Topic jump | Problem |
| Pronoun drift | Problem |
| Abrupt (uncontrolled) | Problem |
| Mechanical connective | Problem |
| Rhythm monotony | Problem |
| Controlled cut | Strength |
| Earned turn | Strength |
| Near duplicate | Problem |
Other terms
- Weak run
- Three or more consecutive sentences whose local score stays below 58. Weak runs are underlined on the map and reduce the overall score.
- Hotspot
- A place where a revision is likely to pay off most, ranked by leverage: sustained weak runs, weak handoffs between strong sentences, isolated weak sentences, and paragraphs that circle.
- Arc
- The document-level judgment of progression and coherence across paragraphs and sections.
- Confidence
- How sure the evaluator is of a sentence score, from 0 to 1. Low-confidence sentences are hatched on the map.
- Contested
- A sentence or handoff where the second, auditing model scored more than ten points away from the first.
- Structural preview
- An estimate computed from length, repetition and overlap when no model is available. Not a judgment of writing quality, and always labelled.