基础英语写作-说明文写作

说明文写作Contents3.课时

CauseandEffect4.划分与分类DivisionandClassification1.插图Illustration2.对比ComparisonandContrastWritingtype4.词典dictionaries5.广告介绍advertisingintroduction6.指导directions3.研究论文researchpaper2.学期论文termpaper1.报告reportsContents02030401插图IllustrationIllustrationA详细的例子来说明B使抽象的思想具体化C使一般的观点更具体Whenchoosingexamples,makesuretouserepresentative,typical,effectiveandrelevantexamples.Whenlistingexamples,wemayusetheorderoftime,place,familiarity,orclimacticorder,thatis,putthemostconvincing,significantorimpressiveexampleattheend,sincetheendingpartisusuallythemostemphaticplace.Justasthefollowingessay“CityStreet”.IllustrationContents02030402插图ComparisonandContrast

ComparisonandContrastComparisonexplainshowthingsaresimilar.Contrastexplainshowthingsaredifferent.Comparisonandcontrastoftengotogetherinanessay,perhapswithstressononeortheother.ComparisonandContrastWemayusecomparisonandcontrast:ABCDToexplainsomethingunfamiliartothereadersbycomparingitwithsomethingfamiliar.Toconvincethereadersthatoneofthesubjectsissuperiortotheother.Toinformthereadersofthesimilaritiesanddifferencesoftwosubjectstohelpthereadersunderstandorevaluate.Toshowhowsomethingorsomeonehaschangedbycomparingthepresentsituationwiththepast.Forexample,ifyouaregoingtowriteanessaytocomparecollegelifewithmiddleschoollife.Youmayfirstwriteyourthesisstatementas:Thecollegelifeisbetterthanmiddleschoollifebecauseofitslivingcondition,academicatmosphereandsocialactivity.ComparisonandContrastComparisonandContrast

Usually,inlongerandmorecomplicatedessays,point-by-pointpatternora“combinedpattern”aremoreappropriate.Contents02030403插图CauseandEffect

CauseandEffect

Cause-effectessaymayconcentrateoncauseoreffect,oronthecombinationofthetwo.Whenwewriteacause-effectessay,weareactuallymakingacausalanalysis.CauseandEffectASingle-Cause-Single-EffectBMany-Causes-Single-EffectCSingle-Cause-Many-EffectsDCausalChain.CauseandEffectWhenwritingessay,trytorememberthefollowinglogicalrequirements:First,donotover-simplifycausesMosteffectshavemorethanonecause.Forexample,astudent’sfailureinexamcanbetheresultofvariouscauses,whenanalyzingthecauses,avoidbeingone-sided.CauseandEffectSecond,avoidlogicalfallacyForexample,“Adogswallowedacoinbyaccidentandthenthedoggotfever.”Itwouldbefallacytoconcludethat“swallowingthecoin”isthecauseof“fever”.Sodonotconfusechronologicalorderwithcause-effectrelationship.Sequenceisnotalwayscausation.CauseandEffectThird,distinguishbetweendirectandindirect,majorandminorcausesandeffectsForexample,whenanalyzingthecauseofawar,historiansoftenmentiontheimmediatecausewhichtouchedoffthewarbutstressontheremotecauseswhichtheyconsidertobebasic.Similarly,theessayshouldnottreatallcausesandeffectsequallybutgivemorespacetomajorones.CauseandEffectFourth,beobjectiveandsupportthethesiswithsolid,factualevidence.Youwillalwaysbenefitfromacarefulandobjectiveexaminationofotherpeople’sconclusion,whetheryouacceptthemornot.Atleasttheywillhelpyoutoavoidone-sidedness.Contents02030404插图DivisionandClassification

DivisionandClassificationDivisionandclassificationaretwostrategiesforsortingthingsout.Divisionistheprocessofbreakingawholeintoparts.

Whileclassificationistheprocessofsortingindividualitemsintocategories.DivisionandClassification

Whenusingdivisionandclassification,keepinmindthefollowingguidelines:ABApplythesamecriteriaconsistentlyandthoroughly.Sincethesamegroupofthingsmaybeorganizedaccordingtodifferentcriterion.Thecategoriesshouldnotoverlapeachother.Forexample,inthesentence“Collegestudentscanbeclassifiedinto:freshmen,sophomores,graduatesandtransfers.”Transferscanbefreshmen,sophomoreorgraduates.Sothisisanoverlappinginclassification.DivisionandClassification

Whenusingdivisionandclassification,keepinmindthefollowingguidelines:CDAllthecategoriesshouldbeexpressedequallyingrammaticallyformandcontent.Forexample,theoriginalessaycanberevisedintermsofsentencepatterns,inordertoachievegrammaticallye