Writing Process:
1. Get ideas
2. Think
3. Organize
4. Write
5. Revise
Writing a topic sentence / thesis
(statement)
A topic sentence is a single sentence which conveys the point
you want to make and write about. It is the central idea of your
passage.
A topic sentence should be neither a sentence fragment nor a
question.
The topic sentence serves as a guide to yourself and to the
reader.
Everything else in the paragraph should then develop and
support in specific ways the single point given in the first
sentence.
The topic sentence consists of two parts: the
subject or the topic and controlling idea.
The subject is the limited topic which tells what a
passage is about.
The controlling idea is the writer’s idea about the
limited topic, which is usually expressed in a key
word or words.
Cheating is common is everyday life
the topic is “cheating” and the controlling idea
is “common in everyday life.”
The topic sentence consists of two parts: the
subject or the topic and controlling idea.
The subject is the limited topic which tells what a
passage is about.
The controlling idea is the writer’s idea about the
limited topic, which is usually expressed in a key
word or words.
There are two commonly used types of outlines:
the topic outline and the sentence outline.
1) A topic outline
A topic outline is brief and clear, and it gives an
instant overview of the entire paper.
All entries in a topic outline consist of nouns and
their modifiers, or their equivalents, that is, gerund
phraes or infinitive phrases.
A Topic Outline
Thesis: Foreign trade is beneficial to and indispensable for all
nations.
I. Introduction: the foundation of foreign trade
II. The necessity of visible trade
A. Lack of certain commodities
B. Insufficiency of particular items
C. Comparative advantage in certain items
D. Latest innovations and different styles of commodities
E. The importance of a favorable balance of trade
III. The necessity of invisible trade—exchange of services
between nations
A. Transportation
B. Insurance
C. Tourism
D. Technology
IV. Conclusion: the purpose of foreign trade and the
importance of the balance of payments
2) A sentence outline
A sentence outline is provides a more detailed
plan of the paper. The advantage of a sentence
outline is that you can use them directly. The
disadvantage is if you use them, the sentence
structures are the same and will be boring.
A sentence outline
Thesis: Foreign trade is beneficial to and indispensable for all nations.
I.
Introduction: the utilization of different economic resources and the
development of different skills form the foundation of foreign trade.
II.
Trade in commodities (visible trade) is necessary between nations.
A. No nation has all the commodities it needs.
B. A nation may not have enough of certain commodities.
C. A nation may sell certain commodities at a profit.
D. Latest innovations and different styles of commodities may make foreign
trade necessary.
E. All nations strive to maintain a favorable balance of trade so as to be
assured of the means to buy necessary goods.
III. Exchange of services between nations (invisible trade) is part
of foreign trade.
A. Nations vie in providing transportation for foreign trade.
B. Prudent exporters purchase insurance for their cargoes.
C. Tourism brings a nation huge profits.
D. Technology is also exported and imported.
IV. Conclusion: the purpose of foreign trade is to earn money
for necessary imports and it is important to keep the balance of
payments.
3) Rules for writing outlines
(1) Avoid single subdivisions.
If there is a major point marked “I,” there must be at least another marked “II”;
if there is an “A,” there must be a “B,” and so on.
(2) Avoid mixing types.
A topic outline is written in noun phrases, and a sentence outline in sentences.
Do not mix these two types.
(3) Use parallel structures for the headings of the same rank.
Make sure subheads of the same rank are of equal importance and are related
to the heading and arranged in logical order.
(4) Use specific evidence that supports the topic sentence
(5) Make sure the thesis is a complete declarative sentence in the
affirmative; do not use a question, a phrase or a dependent clause.
Everyday Cheating
Cheating is common in everyday life. For one thing, cheating at school is
common. Many students will borrow a friend’s homework and copy it in their
own handwriting. During a test, students will use a tiny sheet of answers stored
in their pockets or sit near a friend to copy answers. People also cheat on the
job. They take home office supplies such as tape, paper, or pens. Some people
who are not closely supervised or who are out on the road may cheat an
employer by taking dozens of breaks or using work time for personal chores.
Finally, many people cheat when they deal with large businesses. For instance,
few customers will report an incorrect bill in their favor. Visitors in a hotel may
take home towels, and restaurant patrons may take home silverware. A
customer in a store may change price tags because “This is how much the shirt
cost last month.?” For many people, daily cheating is an acceptable way to
behave.
Topic sentence:
Cheating is common in everyday life
I. At school
a. Copying homework
b. Cheating on tests
II. At work
a. Stealing office supplies
b. Taking breaks and doing errands on company time
III. With large businesses
a. Not reporting error on bill
b. Stealing towels and silverware
IV. Conclusion: daily cheating acceptable for many people
Exercises:
Write an outline for each of the following topics.
1. education 2. Computers 3.weekend
Education
Thesis: Compared with the traditional education, the quality
education is very different.
I. Traditional education
A. Paying much attention to the marks
B. Reading only for exams
II. Quality education
A. Developing all-around
B. Improving ability and practice
III. Conclusion: Advocating the quality education
3. Computers
Thesis: the importance of computers play an
important part in our life.
I.
II.
A.
1.
2.
B.
1.
2.
Introduction: the foundation and development of computers
The advantages of computers
At work
Looking up the information
Making work efficient
Education
Preparing for the lessons
Managing the studies
C. In daily life
1. Sending emails
2. Giving more news around the world
3. Communicating with different people on the internet
III. The disadvantages of computers
A. Doing Bad harm for our health
1. Eyes
2. Body disease
B. Distracting the youths from their studies
1. Playing games
2. Chatting
C. Making people rely on computers
IV. Conclusion: Making good use of computers
The most important quality of exposition is clarity. To
achieve this the writer should:
1) Limit his subject or the scope of discussion.
2) Prepare enough material (details or examples).
3) Present the facts and views in proper order, in the
order of time or of logical sequence depending on the
nature of the subject.
4) Pay attention to the accuracy and clarity of words and
sentences.
5) Make our exposition, if possible, interesting or moving.
The Two-Day Weekend
The advance of science and technology
makes people have more free time.
Nowadays,
we
have
5-workday
week.
Therefore, our university and college
students can have much more leisure time.
Sports fans can play in the playground.
Some students who are interested in
social work can join many clubs. Of
course, we also can get a part time job
to gain some work experience.
There is a growing concern over the
students who don't put too much emphasis
on study. Some students always idle away
their time, playing cards, drinking,
gambling. These problems are really
serious. Taking into account all these
factors, we can safely come to the
conclusion that the students will waste
more time if they don't make good use of
it.
As a student, busy as I am with my
study, I also do many interesting
things such as reading novels,
writing articles at the two-day
weekend. All work no play makes
Jack a dull boy. It's really true!
Argumentation
The purpose of exposition is to inform; the purpose of
argumentation, on the other hand, is to convince.
While an expository paper makes known something
and explains it to make the reader understand, an
argumentative essay tries to make the reader agree
with its point of view and support it, to persuade him
to change his mind or behavior, and to approve a
policy or a course of action that it proposes.
Speeches on policies, editorials of newspapers, articles
on political or theoretical questions, and various
proposals are often argumentative.
Argumentation makes use of the other
three types of writing—description,
narration, and above all exposition,
for argumentation and exposition are
very closely related –argumentation is
actually exposition with the additional
purpose of convincing or persuading.
Note
(1) A debatable point
1) Mere statements of facts.
Chinese doctors use acupuncture anesthesia to perform
certain operations
Acupuncture anesthesia should replace conventional
anesthesia in all operations.
2) Statements of personal preference
Ba Jin is my favorite author.
Ba Jin is the greatest Chinese writer of 20th century
3) Viewpoints that are generally accepted or can be easily
verified
Noise pollution is harmful to people’s health.
Noise pollution is the most harmful of all environmental
pollution.
(2) Sufficient evidence
Sufficient evidence includes common knowledge;
specific examples; hard, not soft, evidence, or facts,
not opinions, unless the opinions are expert and
authoritative; statistics; and quotations from
authorities.
(3) Good logic
All the facts and reasons that are given, as evidence
should be logically connected with the conclusion
and with each other.
Any fallacy illogic or wrong step in reasoning would
leave the reader in doubt about the whole argument.
There are generally two ways of reasoning:
1) Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning is the more common way.
When we use induction, we start with facts
and proceed from facts to a general
conclusion. In other words, we move from
specific examples to a general statement.
2)Deductive reasoning
The process is just the opposite
(4) Clear logic
(5) Good use of the other three types of
writing—description, narration, and
especially the various methods of
exposition
(6) An honest and friendly attitude
How to Write an Essay
An essay is a short piece of writing that
generally shows the author's view on a
particular subject. There are many
different kinds of essays, including
narrative, descriptive, and persuasive.
The following steps, however, can be
used to write any kind of essay.
Example:
Advertisements are getting their way into people's lives. People depend on
advertisers in their daily lives because they are consumers. The advertisers are
always manufacturers. Sometimes they are salesmen. Their merchandise needs
advertising. Thus nearly every product is advertised. To some extent, good
advertising means success while bad advertising can means failure.
There are many ways to advertise and 'ads' come in different forms.
Newspaper carry advertisements. Some products are announced on TV and radio
which have a wide audience. Billboards also carry advertising. Advertising is a big
industry now and many agencies are set up to furnish a variety of services for it.
However, advertising is not always truthful. A product is often misrepresented.
The advertiser exaggerates the benefit of the merchandise he wants to sell. Thus,
he misrepresents the truth. The consumer falls victim to such advertising. Millions
of people have bought advertised products and they haven't always been satisfied.
Write a First Draft
Every essay or paper is made up of three parts:
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
1.
The introduction is the first paragraph of the paper. It
often begins with a general statement about the topic
and ends with a more specific statement of the main
idea of your paper. The purpose of the introduction is to
let the reader know what the topic is
inform the reader about your point of view
arouse the reader's curiosity so that he or she will want
to read about your topic
2.The body of the paper follows the introduction. It consists
of a number of paragraphs in which you develop your
ideas in detail.
Limit each paragraph to one main idea. (Don't try to
talk about more than one idea per paragraph.)
Prove your points continually by using specific
examples and quotations.
Use transition words to ensure a smooth flow of ideas
from paragraph to paragraph.
3.The conclusion is the last paragraph of the paper.
Its purpose is to
summarize your main points, leaving out
specific examples
restate the main idea of the paper
Establish Your Topic
1.
One method for narrowing down your topic is
called brainstorming. Brainstorming is a
useful way to let ideas you didn't' know you
had come to the surface.
Sit down with a pencil and paper, or at your computer,
and write whatever comes into your head about your topic,
no matter how confused or disorganized.
Keep writing for a short but specific amount of time, say
3–5 minutes. Don't stop to change what you've written or
to correct spelling or grammar errors.
After a few minutes, read through what you have written.
You will probably throw out most of it, but some of what
you've written may give you an idea you can develop.
Do some more brainstorming and see what else you can
come up with.
Organize Your Ideas
Develop an outline to organize your ideas. An
outline shows your main ideas and the order in
which you are going to write about them.
1.Write down all the main ideas.
2.List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas.
3.Avoid any repetition of ideas.
Revise the First Draft
1.
2.
3.
4.
Try to set aside your draft for a day or two before revising.
This makes it easier to view your work objectively and see any
gaps or problems.
Revising involves rethinking your ideas, refining your arguments,
reorganizing paragraphs, and rewording sentences. You may
need to develop your ideas in more detail, give more evidence to
support your claims, or delete material that is unnecessary.
Read your paper out loud. This sometimes makes it easier to
identify writing that is awkward or unclear.
Have somebody else read the paper and tell you if there's
anything that's unclear or confusing.
How to write a good paragraph
1. What is a good paragraph?
One of the important organizational principles is
coherence. This requires that each sentence in a
paragraph leads naturally and logically to the next in
explaining the central idea. The central idea of a
paragraph is often introduced by a topic sentence,
usually in the form of a general statement, which is
further developed in the paragraph naturally ad
logically. This may be done by specific examples,
definitions or arguments. Another is one paragraph
should have only one idea. If you have tow idea, you
should put them in tow paragraphs. The next is that it
should be unity. It means it should be complete. And
the last is that it has proper transitions.
Generally speaking, there is a only one topic
sentence—the main idea of the paragraph, so
identifying the topic sentence in a paragraph
enables you to know exactly what the central
idea is. And when you are reading and taking
notes, it ensures that the most important
points would be not be missed out. When you
are writing, it ensures that your readers will
not miss the main points you wish to make. It
is very important to identify the topic
sentence in your reading and give a clear one
in your writing.
Usually the most general statement is shown by the topic
sentence.
the main parts of a paragraph
It includes three parts:
i) the topic sentence;
ii) supporting sentences;
iii) concluding sentences;
Note: concluding sentences may be
omitted if the paragraph is a short
one.
Where should the topic sentence be
placed?
i. at the very beginning—the first
sentence is the topic sentence
ii. at the end of the paragraph—the
last sentence
iii. there is no specific topic sentence
or in the middle of the paragraph
A University Professor
1A
university professor has many duties. 2In the
classroom, he or she lectures to the students and
answers questions. 3If the professor is a science
instructor, he or she also conducts laboratory
experiments. 4During office hours, students are free
to visit the professor to get help on difficult
material or problems. 5In addition, a professor may
often work for many hours in laboratory doing a
research project. 6Another professor might spend his
or her time writing a scholarly paper for a
professional journal. 7Still another one might spend
time writing a book. 8In conclusion, a professor is
always a very busy person.
Answer: sentence 1 is the topic
sentence,
sentences2-7
are
supporting sentences and sentence 8
is the concluding sentence.
SAMPLE
Direction:
A. Title: A Matter of Approach
B. Word Limit: about 200 words
C. Your composition should be
based on the OUTLINE below and
should start with the given opening
sentence: "Two sencondary school
teahers I remember show how
different people can be though
engaged in the same profession."
OUTLINE:
1. Two secondary school
teahers I remember
2. The differences between the
two teahers in classroom attitudes
3. Their attitudes to their
students
4. Their methods of teaching
SAMPLE
Directions:
A. Cars play an important role in
modern society. But they are also
responsible for a good part of air
pollution in big cities. Write an essay of
about 200 words on car and air
pollution.
B. Your essay should cover the
following points:
1. the serious problem of air
pollution caused by cars;
2. your suggestions on how to deal
with the problem.
Cars and Air Pollution
Too many cars have created a lot
of serious problems in our world.
Besides congestion, accidents and fast
fuel consumption,cars are responsible
for a good part of air pollution in big
cities. All the time, they are pumping
huge amounts of waste gases into the
atmosphere. These gases are very
harmful, causing disease and even
death. Last winter, car fumes formed
heavy smog over Beijing, making the
sky gloomy for weeks and
deteriorating people's health.
One possible solution is to design and
develop clean cars and clean fuels. In
Tsinghua University, campus buses
are driven by electricity. In Beijing
some of the public buses begin to run
on natural gas, which does not give
off as much carbon dioxide as the
petrol. But it may take decades for
the new models of clean cars to
completely replace the traditional
ones.
Another solution is to develop
modern public transportation systems
and restrict the use of private cars. If
the price of petrol rises constantly and
the public vehicles are efficient and
convenient enough, most people will
not private cars. And the total number
of cars in big cities will reduce greatly.
On the whole, the elimination of air
pollution needs the co-efforts from the
government, the public and the
environments. This problem will be
solved only with the help of science
and technology.
Preserving Natural Resources
Through the changes in the
ways of making a living in a
family over several generations,
the cartoon aims at sounding a
warning against man's
wasteful use of natural
resources and emphasizing the
urgent need to preserve these
resources.
Ever since man appeared on the earth,
man's survival has been heavily relied on
nature. Almost everything we use in our
everyday life comes from nature, ranging from
the food we eat, the water we drink, to the
wood which is turned into furiture. With the
development of technology and population
growth, the amount and range of materials
used has increased at an alarming rate.
However, natural resources are not
inexhaustible. Some reserves are already on
the brink of exhaustion and there is no hope of
replacing them. The widespread water shortage
is an example in point. If man continued to
squander natural resources with no thought for
the future, the later generations would end up
selling sand, as is the case in the cartoon, and
the whole world would be in a mess.
Time is running out. It is up to us
to take effective measures before
the situation gets out of hand.
TOPIC
What Will Happen If China
Enters WTO?
Every Chinese is looking
forward to China's entry into
WTO, widely seen as a blessing
and a promise of prosperity. It
seems to be so at first sight,
however, on reflection, we're
convinced that it's just another
coin with two sides.
On the one hand, both the nation and
people will benefit greatly from
China's entry into WTO. Shut out of
WTO, China Dused to be deprived of
equal trade opportunities and was
placed at a distinct disadvantage in
world trade. This situation will change
if China enters WTO. In addition,
foreign coMPAnies will stream into
China and offer great job
opportunities, which, in a sense, will
relieve the unemployment problem.
On the other hand, the entry will
impose some negative effects on
China. State-owned enterprises
in China are undergoing great
difficulties, which will be more
acute with the flow of foreign
competitors into China.
In short, excited about the
advantages caused by the entry,
we should not lose sight of the
severe challenges posed by it.