writing with a purpose [compatibility mode]

8/10/2019 Writing With a Purpose [Compatibility Mode]

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WRITING WITH APURPOSE


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Introduction

Writing is hard work, but it is also opportunity. You need confidenceto overcome whatever

frustrations a writing assignment may present. The stagesof the writing process:

Planning(strategies to find and produce

information) Shaping (strategies to organize materials) Drafting(strategies to develop piece of writing) Revising(strategies to re-examine and re-

evaluate piece of writing) Editing(checking the technical correctness) Proofreading(checking the final copy)


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Attitudes of ExperiencedWriters

Have faith in their writing habits(a specialenvironment, a disciplined schedule, andfamiliar tools)

Understand the stagesin their writingprocess

Rely on the basic elementsin any writingsituation to guide them as they work

(understand their subject, their audience,and their purpose) effective writing =effective decision making


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The Central Elements of writingsituation

Selecting your subjectAnalyzing your audience

Determining your purposeA Writer is always trying to

communicate a subject to anaudiencefor apurpose.


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Guidelines for Selecting YourSubjects

What do I knowabout my subject? What is the focusof my subject ?

What is the significantabout my

subject ? What is interestingabout my

subject ?

Is my subjectmanageable


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Guidelines for Analyzing YourAudience

Whoare the readers that form the primaryaudience for my writing?

Whatdo my readers know or think they

know about my subject? Whywill my readers read my writing?

Howcan I interest my readers in may

subject Howcan I help my readers read my writing


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Guidelines for DeterminingYour Purpose

What are the requirementsof my writingproject?

As I proceed in this project, whatdo I needto know?

What hypothesiscan I use as my workingpurpose?

What purposehave I discovered for thiswriting project?

What is my thesis?


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Methods of Development

Narration: Whathappened?

Description: Whatdoes it look like?

Illustration: How canyou document it?

Comparison:How is it

similar to or differentfrom something else?

Classification: Whatkind of Subdivisionsdoes it contain?

Process Analysis:

How do you do it?

Causal Analysis: Whydid it happen?

Definition: How doesyou characterize it?


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Requirements for EffectiveParagraph

Unity: Consistent development of the idea

Focus on that idea

Completeness Order:

General to particular or vice versa

Whole to parts

Question to answer, or effect to cause

Coherence


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Revising Sentences

Revision for Clarity(faulty grammar,spelling, punctuation, ambiguos wording,confusing sentence structure)

Revision for Emphasis(emphatic /climactic

word order, emphatic repetition, emphaticvoice) Revision for Economy(amount of words

and meaning they convey) Revision forVariety(through modification,

coordination, subordination, and wordorder)


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Three Qualities of Good Diction

Appropriateness (formal vs informal;four types of words: learned, popular,colloquial, and slang)

Specificity (specific and general) Imagery (simile, metaphor, analogy,

personification, allusion)

Denotation and connotation


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Revising Diction

EliminatingVagueness(unclear or non-specific utility words, )

Eliminating Jargon(highly abstract diction,excessive use of jargon, conspicuouswordiness)

Eliminating Triteness(clich, outdatedslang or expressions)

Eliminating Ineffective Imagery(mixedmetaphor)


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Tone and Attitude

Informativeness(objective, factual,impersonal) VsAffectiveness(subjective, persuasif, personal)

Distance(impersonal and remote Vspersonal and close)


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Style

The styleof a piece of writing is thepattern of choicesthe writer makes indeveloping his or her purpose. If the choicesare consistent, they create a harmony of

tone and languagethat constitutes thestyle of work.

A description of the style of any piece of

writing is therefore an explanation of themeansby which the writer achievedhis orher purpose.


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Practical Advices about Style

Let your purposebe your guide Generally, choose a moderatestyle

Keep your style consistent(tone,diction)

Try to see your writing as your reader

will see it Be as specificas you can


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Guidelines for Revising YourStyle

What is general impressionof my writing? What tonehave I established in my writing?

How can I characterizethe overall style of mywriting

Do my paragraphswork together to convey asense of order and substance?

Are my sentenceswell constructed and easy on

the ear? Have I used wordsas effectively as possible?


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Means of Persuasion

Ethical AppealWinning the trust ofyour readers (trustworthiness,knowledgeability, fairness)

Emotional Appeal Appealing totheir emotions

Logical Appeal Convincing themthrough the logic of argument


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Common Types of Arguments

Types of premises(statement of fact,judgements, and expert testimony)

Types of Inferences(generalization,

causal relation, causal generalization,analogy)


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References

Spatt, Brenda (1983). Writing fromSources. New York: St. Martins Press

Trimmer, Joseph F. and Sommers,

Nancy I. (1984). Writing with aPurpose. Eighth Edition, Boston:Houghton Mifflin Company.

writing with a purpose [compatibility mode]

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