-
writer-responsible vs. reader responsible
In
Chinese,
it
is
not
the
responsibility
of
the
speaker
to
communicate
his
message in a clear and
direct way. It is the
responsibility of
the listener or reader
to
understand what the speaker or writer intended.
This apparently requires people to
be
able to read between the lines.
Scollon (2002) points out
that the
desire to write or speak
clearly
is an integral
and
historically long-standing part of English
culture.
2)
inductive vs. deductive
Difference: English writing is more
preferable to the deductive way of thinking, while
Chinese writing is more preferable to
the inductive way of thinking.
Conclusion: Both English and Chinese
writings have both ways of thinking, that is,
inductive and deductive. We cannot say
which one is better. However, if we want our
writing to be more native-like, we
should use more deductive way of thinking.
3) Randomness and Linearity (Unity and
Coherence)
?
?
Conclusion:
English
writing
is
linear,
and
more
coherent;
while
the
thoughts
in
Chinese
writing are often
random, putting too many ideas in one paragraph.
?
English
writing
emphasizes
“logic”;
while
Chinese
writing
emphasizes
“prospect”
.
English is a noun-oriented language
Predominance of prepositions
?
Collocation is
an important concept in both Chinese and English
learning.
1.
Objectives
1) to know what an essay means;
1
2) to know the
typical patterns of essay development;
3) to know the structure of an essay;
4) to know the important considerations
in essay development.
2. What is an
essay?
An essay:
1) is a
short collection of paragraphs
2)
presents facts, opinions, and ideas on a topic.
Features of an essay
1) length: usually three to
ten paragraphs.
2)
unity: each paragraph discusses one
idea, often stated in the topic sentence of
the paragraph. This idea is related to
the topic of the whole essay.
3.
Patterns of typical essay
development
Traditionally,
essay
writing
has
been
divided
into
the
following
patterns
of
development:
1) Description:
a verbal picture of a person, place, or thing.
2) Narration: a story of something that
happened.
3) Exposition: provide
information about and explain a particular
subject.
a. Examples b.
Process c. Cause and effect
d. Comparison and contrast
e. Definition f. Division
and classification
4) Argumentation:
support a controversial point or defend a position
on which there is
a difference of
opinion.
4. Structure of an essay
1) Introductory Paragraph
2
a. hook: start with several sentences
that attract the reader's interest.
b. thesis: advance the
central idea, or thesis, that will be developed in
the essay.
The thesis often includes a
plan of development
—
a
preview of the major points that
will
support the thesis. These supporting points should
be listed in the order in which
they
will appear in the essay. In some cases, the plan
of development is presented in
a
sentence separate from the thesis; in other cases,
it is omitted.
c. connecting information: bridge the
gap between hook and thesis.
?
?
?
The
introductory paragraph serves as the
“movie
trailer”
for the actual
“film.”
2
）
Body:
Supporting Paragraphs
Most
essays
have
three
supporting
points,
developed
at
length
over
three
separate paragraphs.
(Some essays have two supporting points, others
four or more.)
Each of the supporting
paragraphs should begin with a topic sentence that
states the
point to be detailed in that
paragraph.
?
Just
as
a
thesis
provides
a
focus
for
an
entire
essay,
a
topic
sentence
provides a focus for a supporting
paragraph.
3
）
Concluding Paragraph
?
?
?
The concluding paragraphs
a. often
summarizes the essay by briefly restating the
thesis and, at times,
the main
supporting points.
?
?
?
?
3
b. often
presents a concluding thought about the subject of
the paper.
5.
Important considerations in essay
development
Knowing your subject
Knowing your purpose and audience
?
?
Determining your point of view
1) Knowing your subject
No
idea about the subject?
You should
At least have
indirect
experience
—
knowledge gained
through thinking, reading, or
talking
about the subject as well as from prewriting.
?
3)
Determining your point of view
When
you
write,
you
can
take
any
of
three
approaches,
or
points
of
view:
first
person, second person, or third person.
In the
first-
person approach
—
a strongly
individualized point of
view
—
you draw on
your own experience and speak to your
audience in your own voice, using pronouns
like
I, me, mine, we,
our
, and
us
.
In the
second-
person approach
, the writer speaks
directly to the reader, using the
pronoun
you
.
The
second-person
approach
is
considered
appropriate
for
giving
direct
instructions and explanations to the reader.
You
should
plan
to
use
the
second-person
approach
only
when
writing
a
process
essay.
Otherwise, as a general rule, never use the word
you
in writing.
?
The
third-person approach is by far the most common
point of view in academic
writing. In
the third person, the writer includes no direct
references to the reader
(
you
)
or the self
(
I, me
).
?
In
this
approach,
you
draw
on
information
achieved
through
observation,
thinking, or reading.
?
Coherence
suffers
whenever
draft
shifts
confusingly
from
one
approach
to
another. The solution is
to choose a suitable perspective and then stay
with it.
4
?
How does Unity
embody in Writing+?
?
(1)
When
we
talk
about
paragraph
unity,
we
mean
that
only
one
main
idea
should be
d
iscussed in each paragraph.
?
When we talk about unity of an essay,
we mean that
only one theme
should be
discussed in the
essay.
?
When we
talk about the sentence unity, we mean one
sentence expresses
one
complete thought
.
?
Sometimes it is
possible to discuss two or even three aspects of
the same
idea in one
paragraph/essay
if they are closely
related to each other.
?
When we talk about paragraph unity, we
mean that every supporting sentence
must
directly
explain or prove the main idea, which is stated in
the topic sentence or
thesis statement.
?
Elements of Writing a Topic Sentence
?
Three important
points
?
1) It is a complete sentence;
?
2)
It contains both a topic and a
controlling idea;
?
3) It gives only the main idea
?
Common errors
in writing a topic sentence
?
1)Announcements
rather than statements
?
a. The subject of this paper will be my
parents.
?
b. I want to
talk about the crime wave in our
country.
?
c. The
“baby
boom”
generation is the
concern of this essay
.
?
A topic
sentence must advance a point about a limited
subject.
This point is
the
central idea of the paragraph.
5
?
2)
Statements that are too
broad
?
a. My parents have been the
most influential people in my life.
?
b.
Crime is a major concern of everyone in our
country.
?
c. The
“baby
boom”
generation has changed
history.
?
3)
Statements that are too
narrow
?
a. My parents had only one
child.
?
b. In the last year there
have been over twenty robberies in our
neighborhood.
?
c.
The
members
of
the
post-World
War
II
“baby
boom”
make
up
the
largest
single age group in the United
States.
?
4)
Statements that contains
more than one idea
?
a.
My
parents
helped
me
grow
in
important
way,
although
in
other
respects
I
was
limited.
?
b. The problem of
overcrowded American prisons must be solved, and
judges
must start handing out tougher
sentences.
?
c.
The
“baby
boom”
generation
has
had
many
advantages,
but
it
also
faces
many problems.
?
coherence
means
“
when the parts of something
fit together in a natural or
sensible
way
”
.
?
There are
several main classes of transition
words:
?
Chronological
(words about the order of things)
?
First,
second,
third,
next,
then,
after,
following,
at
that
very
moment,
earlier,
eventually,
immediately, meanwhile, later on, an hour later,
later that same day,
delay
,
etc.
?
Cause-Effect
(words about
things which make other things happen)
6
?
so, thus, what
followed…,
therefore, hence,
for this reason, consequently, the
result
was…,
?
due to, the
reaction
to…,
in response,
etc.
?
Example
(words to show what a thing is)
?
one
such, another, such as, to illustrate/demonstrate,
for instance, for example,
especially,
specifically, that too, an example of,
e.g
., etc.
?
Addition
(words that add
more information)
?
similarly,
additionally,
another,
also,
next,
moreover
，
besides,
like/unlike,
likewise, close
to, near, same, furthermore, in addition, etc.
?
Opposition/Concession
(words
that signal a conflict or problem)
?
but, though, although, whereas, while,
however, on the other hand, conversely,
yet, nonetheless, nevertheless,
despite, in spite of, in contrast, etc.
?
Spatial
Relationship
（
words that
describe location, arrangement, space,
etc.
）
?
between, near, to the right, to the
left, in front of, beside
?
Conclusion/Summary
?
In
conclusion, in summary, to conclude, to summarize,
to sum up, etc.
?
. However, you should not use a
transition signal in front of every sentence in a
paragraph. Using too many transition
signals can be just as confusing as using too
few.
?
Chronological order, therefore, is
a
way
of
organizing
the
ideas
in
the
order
of
their
occurrence in time.
?
Order of importance
?
There are two
ways to do this: you can discuss the most
important point first and
work down to
the least important point, or you can begin with
the least important and
7
end your paragraph with the most
important.
?
Facts do not normally bring about any
disagreements because there is a
general consensus that, for example, a
book is a book, a daffodil is a daffodil, a
ball is a ball and a doll is a
doll.
?
Opinions
refer
to
a
particular
person's
(or
group's)
feeling,
thought,
judgment,
belief,
estimate,
and/or
anything
that
is
not
100
percent
true
and
can't be
proven.
?
opinions in your writing, but you must
provide is perfectly acceptable to express e
your opinions with concrete support.
?
There
are
two
cautions
you
should
keep
in
mind
if
you
use
examples
and
illustrative incidents
for support.
?
Remember that in formal academic
writing
–
research papers,
theses, and the
like
–
examples and illustrative
incidents are considered the weakest kind of
support,
so use them sparingly.
?
Be sure that
your examples really prove your point
?
One
of
the
most
effective
ways
to
support
your
position
on
a
topic
is
to
cite
figures and statistics.
?
When you use
other
people’s
ideas:
?
1.
Be
accurate
. Whether you use a direct
quotation or an indirect quotation, do
not change the meaning of the original.
?
1)
If you use a direct quotation, do not
omit any words.
?
2)
If you have a
very good reason to omit part of a quotation, use
an ellipsis (
…)
in place of the missing words:
?
“
The
first
reason…is
the inability of
underdeveloped nations to produce enough
8
food,”
Dr. Doom
stated.
?
If you have a very good reason to add
words to the original, put brackets
([…])
around the
added words.
?
“
The
second
reason
[for
the
inevitability
of
famine]
is
that
developed
nations,
which have only 30 percent of the
population, consume 70 percent of the
food,”
he
said.
?
If you use an
indirect quotation, you may summarize or
paraphrase the
author’s
words. However, be careful not to
change the meaning.
?
2. Punctuate direct quotations
correctly.
?
3.
Shift verb
tenses in indirect quotations if
necessary.
?
4.
Document
the
source
of
your
quotation.
In
academic
writing,
it
is
ALWAYS
necessary to state the exact source of your
information.
?
The basic parts of an
argument
?
1)
an
issue:
a
controversy,
a
problem,
or
an
idea
about
which
people
disagree and hold
different points of view.
?
2) a claim: the
point the writer tries to prove about the issue,
usually the
writer’s
view on
the issue.
?
3)
support:
consists
of
the
ideas
and
information
intended
to
convince
readers that the claim is sound or
believable.
?
4)
refutation/rebuttal
?
The common
types of support are: reasons and evidence.
?
In
Aristotle’s
words:
?
Logos
(reasoning); the appeal to logic, means to
convince an audience by use of
logic or
reason.
9
?
To use logos
would be to cite facts and statistics, historical
and literal analogies,
and citing
certain authorities on a subject.
?
Pathos
(emotions); or the emotional appeal, means to
persuade an audience by
appealing to
their emotions.
?
Authors use pathos to invoke sympathy
from an audience; to make the audience
feel what the author wants them to
feel. A common use of pathos would be to draw
pity
from
an
audience.
Another
use
of
pathos
would
be
to
inspire
anger
from
an
audience;
perhaps in order to prompt action.
?
Ethos
(people’s
characters).
or
the
ethical
appeal,
means
to
convince
an
audience of the
author’s
credibility or
character.
?
Ethos
can
be
developed
by
choosing
language
that
is
appropriate
for
the
audience
and
topic
(also
means
choosing
proper
level
of
vocabulary),
making
yourself
sound
fair
or
unbiased,
introducing
your
expertise,
and
by
using
correct
grammar and syntax.
?
Refutation:
also
called
rebuttal,
recognizes
and
argues
against
opposing
viewpoints.
?
Basically, refutation
involves finding a weakness in the
opponent’s
argument,
?
either
by
casting
doubt
on
the
opponent’s
reasons
or
by
questioning
the
accuracy,
relevancy,
and
sufficiency
of
the
opponent’s
evidence
(facts,
examples,
statistics, and
quotation)
?
Elements in an Effective Argumentative
Essay
?
A clear,
concise and defined thesis statement
?
Clear and logical transitions
?
Evidential support
10
?
A strong conclusion
?
Controlling
tone with modals
?
1) Asserting a
point
?
e.g. a. The fact clearly show that
researchers
must
stop
unethical animal
testing.
?
2)
Acknowledging an opposing point
?
e.g. a. While
it
may
be true that people
have eaten meat for a long time, the
number
one
killer
of
Americans
now
is
heart
disease,
caused
in
part
by
the
consumption of large amounts of animal
fat.
?
Avoid faulty
logic
?
Sweeping generalization
?
e.g.
All
Americans eat fast food.
?
2)
Events related only by
sequence
?
e.g.
Henry
went
to
the
football
game,
then
he
got
drunk.
Therefore
,
football
games cause
drunkenness.
?
3)
Inappropriate authority
figures
?
e.g.
Madonna
is a
good singer. As a result, she would make a good
orchestra
conductor.
?
4)
Hasty generalizations
?
e.g.
Joe
didn’t
want
to
study
at
a
university.
Instead,
he
decided
to
go
to
a
technical
school.
He
is
now
making
an
excellent
salary
repairing
computers.
Bill
doesn’t
want
to study at a university. Therefore, he should go
to a technical school to
become
financially successful.
?
5)
Loaded words
(words that can intrigue
readers’
feelings)
11