写作Chapter 5.docx

写作Chapter 5.docx

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写作Chapter5

ChapterFive

WritingEssays

1.Structureofanessay

Anessayisapieceofwritingthathasatleastthreeparagraphs.Alloftheparagraphsinanessayarerelatedtothesametopic.Anessayusuallyhasaspecificorganization.Ithasthreemainparts:

anintroduction（orintroductoryparagraph）,atleastonebodyparagraph,andaconclusion（orconcludingparagraph）.

2.Stepsofwritinganessay

Generallyspeaking,therearesevenstepsinwritingprocess.

Step1:

generatingideasandbrainstorming

Therearetwomethodstogenerateideasorbrainstorm:

listingofideasandclustering.

Step2:

organizingideasandplanning

Step3:

gettingfeedback

Step4:

writingthefirstdraft（roughdraft）

Step5:

revising

Step6:

editing

Step7:

preparingthefinaldraft

3.Patternsofdevelopinganessay

Traditionally,essaywritinghasbeendividedintothefollowingfourpatternsofdevelopment:

narration,description,exposition,andargumentation.

3.1.Narration

Anarrationisastorythatdescribesasequenceoffictionalornon-fictionalevents.Anarrativecanalsobetoldbyacharacterwithinalargernarrative.

3.1.1.Stepsonhowtowritethenarrativeessay.

Step1:

Decideonatopic.

Step2:

Brainstormseveraldifferentwaysthenarrativecango.

Step3:

Startwriting.

Step4:

Rereadtheessay.

Step5:

Editforgrammarandthetechnicalrulesofwriting.

Step6:

Asksomeoneelsetoeditorreadoveryouressayforcontentandgrammar.

3.1.2.ElementsofNarration

Inorderforanarrationtobeinterestingandmeaningful,itmusthavethefollowingelements:

1.Emotion. Writingisreallysuchhardworkthatpeopleoughtnottobotherwritingsomethingwithwhichtheyarenotemotionallyinvolved. 

2.Action. Somethinghappens,thatis,tensionincreasesandconflictintensifiesasvariouseventsoccur. Theaction,however,whetheritisexteriorandvisibleorinteriorandinvisible,causesthesituationtochangesothatconditionsaredifferentattheendofthestoryfromthewaytheywereatthebeginning. Thismovement,ordevelopment,isimportant.

3.Suspense.Eachpassagesuggeststhatsomethingisgoingtohappen sothatthereadereagerlyanticipatestheoutcomeoftheseevents. Tobuildsuspense,youplantseedsthathintatconflicts,problems,mysteries. Youpromisethereaderthatyouwillshowtheplantsinbloomandallconflicts,problems,andmysteriessolvedattheendofthestory. Suspenseisavitalelementinbuildingandretainingtheinterestofthereader.

4.Structureororder. Eventsinreallifehappeninadefiniteorder—theorderoftimeorchronologicalorder,butindiscoveringmeaningintheeventsorinimposingameaningonthem,thewritermayneedtoarrangethemdifferentlyfromtheorderinwhichtheyoriginallyoccurred,andthewritermayuseflashback.

5.Pointorpurpose.  Thebeststorieshaveapurposeormeaningofsomekind. Indeed,eventhosewrittenandtoldfortheirownsakes,oftenmakesomekindofstatementofhumanbeings,humanvalues,orsomeaspectoflife. Togetthemostsatisfactionfromtheeffortthatgoesintowritinganarrative,selectanincidentinwhichyoucandiscoverameaningoraneventonwhichyoucanimposemeaning. Sometimesthemeaningisanoverallimpressionorattitude. Atothertimesitisanideathatcanbeexpressedinasinglesentence. 

6.Pointofview. Ineverynarrative,someone（orsomething）tellsthestory,andthisperson,animalorthingmarksthestorywithhisorherpersonalimprint. Ifthestoryistoldinthefirst-person,youarenarratingeventsinthelifeofafictionalcharacterratherthanyours.Inthosecases,youhave“assumedapersona,”ortakenontheroleofanotherperson,muchasanactordoes. Youthenspeakconsistentlyfromthatperson’spointofview—seeingthingsasheorsheseesthem,reactingasthatpersonwould,andevenusingthelanguageappropriateforthecharacter. Sometimes,whenyouarereadingnarratives,itisdifficulttoseparatetheauthorfromthepersonaheorsheis“speakingthrough.” Anotherpointofviewoftenusedinnarrationisthird-personnarrator. Whentellingastoryfromthatpointofview,yourelateeventsasthoughyouwereanonlooker,andyouusethepronouns“he,”“she,”“it,”or“they.” 

3.1.3.Tipsofwritinganarrative

Tip1:

Usinganemotiontostimulateanidea.

Tip2:

Concretepresentationinvolvesappropriateuseofdetails（sensorydetails,description,anddialogue）.

Tip3:

Descriptioncanslowdownyourpace,sodonotdoitallthetimeinyourstory. Inotherwords,youmay“show”and“tell”inturn.

Tip4:

Dialogueisusuallyveryeffective.

Tip5:

Paymoreattentiontotheintroductoryparagraphofthenarrative.Itshouldbeginwithgeneralinformation,bemorespecificinthemiddle,andendwithathesisstatement.Usuallythethesisstatementfocusesonthestoryortheevent.

LookattheintroductionoftheessayaboutRosaParks,andthinkabouthowtowritethethesisstatementforanarration.

3.2.Description

Thepurposeofdescriptionistore-createorvisuallypresentaperson,place,event,oractionsothatthereadermaypicturethatwhichisbeingdescribed.Descriptiveessaysarelucidexplanationsanddescriptions.Theyusesensorydetailstoappealtoreaders.Theyareusuallythepersonalexperienceofanindividualandameansofexpressingtheindividual’sattitudeandtemperament.Descriptiveessayscanbeaboutaperson,aplace,anexperience,anobjectandsoon.

Descriptionessaysfollowthesamegeneralstructureasdootheressays.Whenwritingadescriptiveessay,trytosticktothisstructure.Intheintroduction,tellthereaderwhatthefocusofyouressayisgoingtobeandwhataspectsoftheobjectyouwillbefocusingon.Inthebodyofthepaperdescribeplaces,peopleandeventsinvividmanner.Delveintothesubjectinasmuchdetailaspossible.Describethewholethingasyouhaveseenit.Usewordsthatappealtothesenses.Andintheconclusion,restatetheessenceofyourthesisandsummarizeyourthoughts.Writingadescriptiveessayisnotalwayseasy.Henceyoumayberequiredtodraftandredrafttillitturnsoutthewayyouwantitto.

Asyouwriteyourdescriptiveessay,thebestwaytocreateavividexperienceforyourreadersistofocusonthefivesenses:

sight,sound,smell,touchandtaste.

3.2.1.Sevenstepstodescriptivewriting

Step1.Readthetopicthoughtfullyandcarefully.

Step2.Avoidwritingastory.Eventhoughallnarrativeorstorytellingdependsondescriptiontosetasceneormood,whenwritingtodescribe,it’sbesttoavoidwritingastory.Sticktodescribing,makingthereadersfeelasiftheywereactuallyexperiencingthethingbeingdescribed.

Step3.Describeonlywhatisrelevanttohelpingdeveloptheunderlyingmessage.Recognisingwhattoincludeandwhattoleaveoutinapieceofdescriptivewritingisvitaltomakingiteffective.Effectivedescriptionisfinelydetailedbutverycarefullyfocused.Byincludingonlywhatisrelevant,effectivedescriptionaddsunityandcoherencetowriting.

Step4.Putyourreaderintotherightframeofmindtobecomeinvolvedinyourwriting.Interestandinvolvementarecentraltoagoodreaderresponse.Withoutityourwritingwillnotworkwell.It’simportanttouseyourdescriptiontocreate,developorassistamoodsuitedtoyoursubjectmatterortheme.

Step5.Describe“howyoufeltatthetime”-makethereaderfeelasiftheywere‘there’.Describewhatyousee,hear,taste,smell,andfeel.Youprobablydoneedadjectivestodothis,buttryhardtofindwordsthatdonotneedanadjectiveifyoucan.Chooseprecisevocabulary—thekindofwordsthatalmostcontaintheirowndescription—asthiswillbefarmoreinterestingtoread.Andusevividsimilesandmetaphorswhichhelptoetchanimageintoyourreader’simagination.

Step6.Avoidexcessiveorboringdescription.Ifyoudodescribeallofyournounswithextraadjectives,theeffectisactuallytoweakenthedescription.Itisbettertofollowtheadvicegivenaboveandchooseprecisevocabulary.Besides,whatstrengthensdescriptionagreatdealistouseafewbutcarefullychosenandvividsimilesandmetaphors.

Step7.Createaclearstructure.Aplannedstructureprovides“shape”toyourwritingandaddsenormouslytoitseffect.Aimtodescribeaspectsofasceneinaninterestingandlogicalorder,onethatseems“natural”toyourreader.Thismightmeanworkingfrominsidetooutside,fromthepasttothefuture,fromthegeneraltotheparticular,fromthesmalltothelarge,andsoon.

3.3.Exposition

Expositionisatypeoforalorwrittendiscoursethatisusedtoexplain,describe,giveinformationorinform.Thepurposeofexpositionistopresentbackground,completelyandfairly,andinformthereadersabouttheplot,character,setting,andthemeoftheessayorstory,ormotionpicture.Suchwritingisdiscoursedesignedtoconveyinformationorexplainwhatisdifficulttounderstand.Sinceclarityrequiresstrongorganization,expositionusuallyproceedsbytheorderlyanalysisofpartsandtheuseoffamiliarillustrationsoranalogies.

3.3.1.SomeExpositoryOrganizationalPatterns

Inordertogivemoreinformationaboutoralandwrittenexposition,eightdifferentexamplesofexpositoryorganizationalpatternsareprovided.Mostoftheseorganizationalpatternsareveryfamiliartoyou.

Pattern

Description

CueWords

Circumlocution

Depictsapatterninwhichthespeakerdiscussesatopic;thendivertstodiscussarelatedbutdifferenttopic.

NarrativeInterspersion

Apatternorasub-patternimbeddedinotherpatternsinwhichthespeakerorwriterinterspersesanarrativewithintheexpo