英语写作提纲第二版.doc

Writing in English：A Practical CourseContentsLecture 1 Beginning to Write.31.1 Why Writing Matters?.31.2 What Do Writers Say About Writing?.41.3 Why Is Writing Challenging?.51.4 What Is Good Writing?.6Lecture 2 Diction.9 2.1 General or Specific?.9 2.2 Appreciative or Pejorative?.11 2.3 Avoiding Clichs.12 2.4 Watching Jargon.13 2.5 Avoiding Wordiness.14 2.6 Avoiding Redundancies16Lecture 3 Effective Sentences.21 3.1 Sentence Fragments.21 3.2 Run-ons and Comma Splices.21 3.3 Dangling Modifiers.24Lecture 4 The English Paragraph.28 4.1 The Topic Sentence.28 4.2 The Controlling Idea33 4.3 Unity.35 4.4 Cohesion.38 4.5 Coherence.44Lecture 5 Writing Exposition.46 5.1 Classification.46 5.2 Comparison and Contrast.47 5.3 Time.48 5.4 Space49 5.5 Example50 5.6 Cause and Effect.52 5.7 Definition.53 5.8 Process Description.53Lecture 6 Writing for Practical Purposes.56 6.1 Notices.56 6.2 Greetings.57 6.3 Formal Invitations58 6.4 Notes58 6.5 Letters.61 6.6 Curriculum Vitae (CV).63 6.7 Abstract.65 6.8 The Research Paper.67ReferencesPrimary Sources:1. Bander, Robert G. American English Rhetoric. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1978. 2. . From Sentence to Paragraph. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1980. 3. Coats, Sandra. & Mary Anne Sandel. Paragraph Writing. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 1986.4. Lyons, Joseph T. Writing Fundamentals. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc. 1990.5. 丁往道等. 英语写作基础教程（第二版）. 高等教育出版社. 2005.6. 蔡基刚. 英汉写作修辞对比. 复旦大学出版社. 2004.7. 毛荣贵，Dorine S. Houston. 中国大学生英语作文评改. 上海交通大学出版社. 1997.Suggested Readings:1. Barnett, Lincoln. The Universe and Dr. Einstein (Revised edition). Bantam Books. 1975.2. Adler, Mortimer J. & Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book (Revised and updated edition). Simon and Shuster, Inc. 1972.3. Datesman, Maryanne Kearny, Joann Crandall & Edward N. Kearny. The American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Regents. 2005. 4. Tiersky, Ethel & Martin Tiersky. The U.S.A: customs and institutions (Third edition). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 1990.5. Levine, Deena R. & Mara B. Adelman. Beyond Language: intercultural communication for English as a second language. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 1982.Lecture 1 Beginning to Write1. 1 Why Writing Matters?1) In 1983 the Los Angeles Times reported the results of a nationwide survey of over 200 business executives by Communispond, Inc., a communications research group. A full 80% of the executives surveyed listed writing as the most neglected skill in businessnot accounting or technological literacy or electronics, but good old-fashioned writing. 2) In 1984 Hodge-Cronin, a Chicago-based management consulting firm, conducted a survey of over 800 chief executive officers in many fieldsinsurance, manufacturing, banking, technology, utilities, and so on. 98% of the responding CEOs said that writing was important for success in their own and other executive positions. More than 83% felt that their younger executives were not well trained in writing.3) Prof. Sharon K. Hauge interviewed 30 corporate executives in high-tech corporations in the Washington, D. C., metropolitan area. She reported that all of the executives she interviewed “stressed the importance to have excellent oral and written communication skills”: These skills included the ability to listen, to write technical reports, to formulate problems in precise language, to communicate recommendations in a convincing wayto give instructions, to ask the right questionsEveryone who was interviewed indicated that poor communication skills, particularly written communication skills, were the most common problem of new employees in their corporations. (“Skills for the New World,” College Teaching, 34, 1986.)4) According to Business Digest (November 1984), bad writing costs American business an estimated $ 1 billion a year in wasted time, lost contracts, and alienated customers.5) A 1990 Communispond survey of over 300 business executives at the rank of vice president and above revealed that 75% of them wrote more than ten letters, reports, and other business documents per week.6) Separate studies by MIT and the Univ. of Wisconsin showed that engineers spend, on the average, at least 25% of their time on the job doing writing tasks. (Graduating Engineer, March 1984)7) One study (College English, 1982: 557-69) showed that most college-educated professionals spend at least 30% of their time on the job doing writing-related tasks: planning, organizing, writing, and revising essays. In an average week they write three internal memos, five letters outside the company, and two business or technical reports.1. 2 What Do Writers Say About Writing?1) Accurate thinking is the beginning and fountain of writing. (Horace 65-8 BC)2) Biting my truant pen, beating my self for spite;Fool! said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write. (Sir Philip Sidney 1554-1586) 3) Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. (Francis Bacon 1561-1626)4) Proper words in proper places as make the true definition of style. (Jonathan Swift 1667-1745)5) Natures chief masterpiece is writing well. (Alexander Pope 1688-1744)6) Easy writings vile hard reading. (Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1751-1816)7) Writing is a process of using language to discover meaning in experience and to communicate. (Robert Frost 1874-1963)8) Any one who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid. This principle may be translated into practical rules in the domain of vocabulary as follows:Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.Prefer the concrete word to the abstract.Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.Prefer the short word to the long.Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance.(H. W. Fowler 1858-1933 & F. G. Fowler 1870-1918)9) I wish to say everything in the smallest number of words in which it could be said clearlyI would spend hours trying to find the shortest way of saying something without ambiguity, and to this aim I was willing to sacrifice all attempts at aesthetic excellenceA style is not good unless it is an intimate and almost involuntary expression of the personality of the writer, and then only if the writers personality is worth expressing. (Bertrand Russell 1872-1970)10) Gradually, I have come to prefer the 18th century to the 17th century, but it is still the early 18th century that I like bestSwift, and (and in his way) Defoe. From the age of 16 onwards, I formed the habit, in thought, of turning a sentence over and over in mind, until I had a combination of beauty, clarity, and rhythm. I would do this with every idea that came into my head. Brevity, especially, I always greatly desired. (Bertrand Russell)11) I think the following rules will cover most cases:(i) Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.(George Orwell 1903-1950)1. 3 Why Is Writing Challenging?1) Learning to write in either a first or second language is one of the most difficult tasks a learner encounters and one that few people can be said to fully master. (Jack C. Richards, The Language of Teaching Matrix. 1990. p.100.)2) When students complain as they often do, about how difficult it is to write in a second language, they are talking not only the difficulty of “finding” the right words and using the correct grammar but about the difficulty of finding and expressing ideas in a new language. For them the problem is with communicating and not just with writing. (Ann Raimes, Techniques in Teaching Writing. 1983. p.12.)3) The act of writing daunts many students. They believe that they have nothing to say; they do not know how or where to begin when faced with a writing task; and they ignore the process of writing, emphasizing instead only the finished product. (Robert E. Yarber, Writing for College. 1985. ii.)4) 语言之有魅力，风格之值得研究，主要是因为后面有一个大的精神世界；但这两者又必须艺术地融合在一起，因此语言表达力同思想洞察力又是互相促进的。(王佐良，风格和风格的背后，人民日报出版社, 1987. p. 2.)5) One of the mottoes of Confucius was “Make it new.” “It” was thinking, feeling, expressing, writing. Only by making it new, each time we speak or write, can we make it true. To make it new does not mean to make it merely novel. One can leave out capitals, change typography, mount new rules of spellingand still write with clichs or other static. Really to make it new, we must avoid the worn roads of conventional associations; we must find what is uniquely our own voice out of our own experience. Then our words will not make rows of identical houses like the subdivision prose of clichs. “New” is “fresh, genuine, ourselves, our own experience.” (Donald Hall, Writing Well. 1973. p. 7.)6) To be a good writer, you have to write often. Most good writers make it a point to write every day. They find that daily writing improves their writing just as daily practice improves an athletes performance. (Robert E. Yarber, Writing for College. 1985. p.11.)7) The best way to learn to write well is to read good prose. Gradually we acquire the manners of the good writing we admire. It is like learning a foreign language by living daily with a family that speaks it, shopping in it, and listening to television shows dubbed into it. (Donald Hall, Writing Well. 1973. p. 14.)8) So how do we learn to write well? We can do three things, at least. First, we can read well, which helps slowly, but keeps on helping; second, we can study writing and thinking about it and discuss it with others; third, and most important, we can write, and rewrite, and rewrite. (Donald Hall, Writing Well. 1973. p. 18.)9) 要学好英语写作，必须多读书，要以好文章作为学习的楷模。同时也要多写，多实践。写与读有着极为密切的关系。要谈如何学好写作，处处都要结合阅读来谈。(林筠因，“英语写作技巧”，见北京大学英语系编英语学习指南，世界图书出版社, 1987. p. 46.)1. 4 What Is Good Writing?1) Good writing, like a good film or song, is not boring; it keeps your interest by what it says and how it says it.2) Good writing is easy to follow because it follows a plan. In the case of an essay, this means that it sticks to one dominant idea which is supported or developed by enough facts and details.3) Good writing presents ideas that are fresh and original, not hand-me-down, tired ideas borrowed from someone else.4) Good writing uses language that is right for the jobformal when required and informal when appropriate. The writer uses words that are precise and vivid and exact, avoiding wornout expressions and clichs.5) Good writing is free of serious mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation because those errors get in the way of the writers ideas and distract the reader. Criteria for an Excellent Essay Content: 1) Deals appropriately with one of the assigned topics 2) States both a main point and relevant supporting points 3) Includes a sufficient number of examples and details to be clear and convincing 4) Does not digress 5) Provides logical transition terms and pronouns to make the essay coherent 6) Has a clear, interesting introduction and a strong conclusion Organization: 1) Is clearly dividedand proportioned wellinto the basic essay format: a title, short introduction, body and short conclusion 2) Has an effective arrangement of points 3) Contains wellorganized body paragraphs, each of which states and develops a central idea Language Use: 1) Has complete sentences of varied complexity and accurate word order 2) Demonstrates a mastery of verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, number, negation, articles, pronouns, etc. 3) Demonstrate a range of vocabulary appropriate for the topic 4) Is precise and idiomatically natural 5) Has correct word forms Mechanics: 1) Shows mastery of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, indentation, etc. 2) Is neatly written and legibleEXERCISE 1: Examine the following compositions in terms of content, organization and language quality. If you are an instructor of English, how will you grade them? 1We can see from two photos that someone put “Beckham” on his face and someone spent 300 yuan to make his hair like Beckham. Beckham is a famous football star in English. Many people worship him very much. It is very hard to find a place which not impact of star.With the development of our society, more and more people want to enrich their spirit life, especially young people. Nowadays, many people dont worry about their life, they have more time and money to do some other things. They will watch football match, even buy expensive ticket at any cost. The social phenomenon reflected that people spent more energy and money on worshipping star. In my view, counter-measures should be taken to reverse the grim situation. On the one hand, education campaign should be launched to let people realize their misconducts. On the other hand, some regulations should be made by government to control this social phenomenon, let people put more-concentrate on their study and work. Of course, we should take some suitable ways to worship some star. But some ways like in two photos, we should try to stop it! (192 words)2More and more young people are increasingly influenced by foreign culture. As can be clearly seen from the above picture, a young gentleman put “Beckham” on his face. Another decently dressed young gentleman is willing to pay 300 yuan to make his hair in his favorite style. As a matter of fact, the picture implies a common phenomenon in our society today: more and more people, especially the young, are endlessly chasing popular things, disregarding the cost that they must pay.There are at least three good reasons for this phenomenon. In the first place, the spreading of foreign culture in our country in recent years may be the main reason. In the second place, many young people in our modern society have an open mind. Consequently, they are willing to accept new things. Last but not the least, a lot of people have become richer and richer. As a result, they can pay for the expense to do that kind of things. There may be other reasons for it, but it is generally believed that the above mentioned reasons are commonly acceptable. As far as I am concerned, the spreading of foreign culture in our society is not a bad thing. But as a popular saying goes, every coin has two sides. This phenomenon is without exception. My suggestion as to the best way to solve the problem is as follows. On the one hand, people should take a proper attitude to this phenomenon. On the other hand, our society is expecting to appeal to the general public to get rid of its bad effect. I am sure that my opinion is both sound and reasonable. (277 words)3Nowadays more and more people, especially the young, spare no effort to worship sports stars. As is vividly depicted in the above two pictures, a young man painted the name of Bechhama well-known British football player on his face. Another man, to our great surprise, even spent 300 yuan trying to copy Beckhams hairstyle.This kind of social phenomenon is not entirely a coincidence. Three reasons account for this fashion. First of all, thanks to the development of our economy, peoples living standard has been greatly raised. They are able to do whatever pleases them. Second, people today easily feel dull and desperate about the reality, so they naturally follow some celebrities as their own idols. In this way they not only feel satisfied with their life but also have a goal to achieve. Third, some people just trace the fashion for its own sake. They barely want to show that they are keeping up with the current. In their deep heart, they dont treat it as fashion but as fun. To be frank, this social phenomenon is likely to do harm to the young and people around them. Since a number of yo