writing workshop writing an advantages/ disadvantages

91Writing Workshop

Writing Workshop

Think of Possible TopicsWhat Do You Know? Finding a topic for your advantages/dis-advantages essay can be a snap if you stick with what you know. Thinkabout topics that relate to your school, hobbies, or home life. Followingare more suggestions for discovering a topic for your essay.

� Think of a time when you made a big decision. List the pros andcons that you thought about in order to make your decision.

PrewritingPrewriting

Writing anAdvantages/DisadvantagesEssay

W hen you decide which electives to take, what helps you

settle on fine art instead of industrial technology, or

Spanish instead of band? Chances are, you investigate the advan-

tages and disadvantages of each class to see which one better suits

your needs. When you group ideas into categories, such as “advan-

tages” and “disadvantages,” you are classifying information.

Classifying information not only helps you make decisions, but

also gives you the opportunity to help someone else make a decision.

When you write about advantages and disadvantages, you provide

readers with the facts they need to make well-informed decisions.

W H AT ’ SA H E A D ?

In this workshop youwill write an essayabout advantages anddisadvantages. You willalso learn how to� choose and evaluate

a topic� evaluate support� identify balance and

bias� eliminate stringy sen-

tences from yourwriting

� correct run-ons whencombining sentences

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

� Refer to resources, such as TV news programs, local newspapers, mag-azines, or the World Wide Web for current topics. Then, freewriteabout the topics, answering these questions: What topics are familiarto me? Can I list these topics’ advantages and disadvantages?

As you search, remember that you are looking for topics with bothadvantages and disadvantages. To help keep your essay focused andinformative, you should look for topics that are specific and narrow.For example, instead of discussing the advantages and disadvantagesof owning pets, investigate the advantages and disadvantages ofadopting a pet from the local animal shelter.

Evaluate Your TopicsFinding the Right One Which topic will work best for thisessay? To find out, ask yourself these questions: Can I think of atleast three advantages and three disadvantages for this topic? Are theadvantages and disadvantages balanced?

A topic with advantages or disadvantages that are too obviouswill not tell your reader anything new. On the other hand, a topicthat has advantages but no disadvantages (or vice versa) will result ina lopsided essay. Instead of discussing the advantages of getting regu-lar exercise, explore the pros and cons of exercising at an indoor gym.

Consider Your Purpose and AudienceDiscovering the “Why” and the “Who” You know yourpurpose for writing this essay: to inform your audience about theadvantages and disadvantages of an important topic. Since yourpurpose for writing is to provide information, you can assume youraudience’s purpose for reading will be to get information, possiblyto make a decision. It is up to you to give the audience the wholepicture. That means you will have to be careful not to leave out animportant advantage or disadvantage.

The next step is to think about your audience. Ask yourself whocan use information about the advantages and disadvantages ofyour topic to make a decision: your classmates? younger students?your teacher? After you have identified your audience, answer thefollowing questions to help you think about their needs.

� What will this audience need to know to get a balanced picture ofthe advantages and disadvantages of my topic?

� What does this audience already know about my topic?

92 Exposition: Looking at Both SidesChapter 3

Some topics youmight explore are� a school dress code� summer vacations� after-school jobs, such

as baby-sitting or paperroutes

� a particular hobby orsport

T I P

K E Y C O N C E P T

K E Y C O N C E P T


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

State Your Main IdeaThe Game Plan Tell your reader early on what your essay will dis-cuss. A main idea statement gives your topic and your plan for dis-cussing it. Your main idea statement may be a single sentence or a fewsentences. Here is how one student developed his main idea statement.

93Writing Workshop

Topic: extracurricular activities

Plan: to discuss the advantages and disadvantages

Main idea statement: Deciding whether or not to participate in anextracurricular activity can be a challenge. Before signing up to singin the choir or play on the volleyball team, first consider the advan-tages and disadvantages of such a decision.

Remember thatyour job in this essay is topresent the facts so yourreader can make a deci-sion. Do not let your ownfeelings about the topicbecome part of yourmain idea statement.

T I P

List the Advantages and DisadvantagesGetting the Picture You chose a topic with at least three ad-vantages and at least three disadvantages. Making a fishbone graphicorganizer like the one on the next page will help you list those ad-vantages and disadvantages and any others you can think of for yourtopic. Later you will evaluate these advantages and disadvantages tosee which ones you will use in your essay.

Evaluating Possible Topics andConsidering Your Audience

Jot down several topics that you might write about in your advantages/disadvantages essay. Then, evaluate each possible topic,and choose one that is interesting and has a balance of advantages anddisadvantages. Next, identify your target audience. Make notes aboutthe audience you have identified using the questions on page 92.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 44

A Matter of Style Once you know your audience, consideryour writing style. Different readers understand different levels ofwriting. For example, when writing for teachers, sentences can belonger and more complex, and your words can be more difficult. Foran audience of third-graders, however, you would have to useshorter, simpler sentences and easier words.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

for an interactive activity.Go to the Chapter Menu


ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html


Topic : Extracurricular Activities makes

last

ing fr

iends

hips

too much stress in

a busy life

helps

stud

ents

do be

tter

in sc

hool

may take time away

from schoolwork

looks

good

on sc

hool

record

s

possibly can’t participate

if you ride the bus

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Listing Your Advantages andDisadvantages

Make a fishbone organizer like the one shown above. List at leastthree advantages and three disadvantages that relate to your topic.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 55

Gather SupportFinding the Facts To help your audience make a decisionabout your topic, you will need to provide support for each pro andcon. Support can take the form of

� facts: statements that can be proved true

� expert opinions: opinions of people with expert knowledge in a field

� examples or anecdotes: instances or brief stories that illustrate a point

To find support for your advantages and disadvantages, you maybrainstorm examples or anecdotes from your own life that show aspecific advantage or disadvantage; research in your school or publiclibrary; look in magazines, newspapers, or school databases; and in-terview experts for their opinions or read about what they think.

Making the Right Choices Your support will help you choosewhich advantages and disadvantages to keep and which to cut.Specifically, favor advantages and disadvantages with strong supportand eliminate advantages and disadvantages not supported by facts,expert opinions, or examples.

Good supportfor your pros and consrequires elaboration.When you elaborate ona point, you extend it alittle bit more, often bygiving an example. Seehow elaboration helpsthe following point.

Advantage: Extracur-ricular activities help stu-dents get to knowcertain teachers better.

Support: I got toknow Mrs. Ashton, theart teacher, betterthrough the Art Club.

Elaborated Sup-port: Mrs. Ashtonhelped me work on myentry for an art contesteven though I was not inher class.

T I P

K E Y C O N C E P T


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Mapping It Out Study the conceptual map below and noticethat the student recorded the support for each advantage and disad-vantage. He also decided not to use one advantage and one disad-vantage. See if you can figure out why.

95Writing Workshop

Choosing the Advantages andDisadvantages

� Refer to the fishbone organizer you made in Your Turn 5 on page94. List each advantage and disadvantage in a conceptual map likethe one above. Add the support you found for each advantage anddisadvantage. Note whether each piece of support is a fact, an ex-pert opinion, an example, or an anecdote.

� Look over the information and cross out any advantage or disad-vantage you could not support well.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 66

Advantage: helpsstudents do better

in school

Topic: Extracurricular Activities

Advantage: makeslasting friendships

Support: anecdoteabout making friends

Disadvantage: too muchstress in a busy life

Disadvantage: possiblycan't participate if you

ride the bus

Advantage: looks goodon school records

Support: fact–researchabout students whoparticipate in extra-curricular activities

Support: It is justsomething I think

I have heard

Support: anecdote aboutan after-school club

Support: found anexpert opinion–a family

therapistSupport: anecdoteabout my brother

and his grades

Disadvantage: maytake time awayfrom schoolwork


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu


ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Read the following essay excerpt about the pros and cons of a long summer vacation, and answer the questions belowthe excerpt.

1. Find two ways in which the writer’s discus-sion of the advantages and disadvantagesof summer vacation is unbalanced.

2. Jot down the words or phrases in the pas-sage that show bias.


What would you think if you were readingan advantages/disadvantages essay andyou came across the following passage:

To check for balance in your essay, lookfor a roughly equal number of advantagesand disadvantages. Also, check your sup-port. Balance may be lacking if you have in-cluded strong support for the disadvantagesbut only weak support for the advantages.

Also, read your writing aloud and listento the voice, the way the writing sounds.Your writing voice can reveal your bias. Forexample, if you hear many sentences begin-ning with I think or I prefer, you are tryingtoo hard to push the reader toward youropinion. Another element of voice is yourchoice of descriptive words. Loaded wordsare words charged with positive or negativemeanings, such as worn-out, disastrous,super, or incredible. Eliminate opinionwords and loaded words to keep your writ-ing balanced.

Another disadvantage of owning apet is that it is too much work. Whowants to clean up horrible messes allthe time? I can think of better thingsto do with my day!

You may have noticed that the writermade a decision about the topic for you.That’s because the writer let his or her biasshow. Bias is the writer’s attitude about atopic. All writers have a bias, and in per-suasive writing the bias will be clear. In informative writing, though, writers try toconceal their biases by presenting a bal-anced picture of their topic.

I think summertime is fabulous.Children and parents can use a longvacation to participate in educationalactivities. Every summer, my familyand I learn a lot about our city’s his-tory and culture.

Sometimes, over a summer,students forget what they learned during the last school year. Whenschool starts, teachers have to refreshthe students’ memories.

MINI-LESSONLESSON

MINI-LESSONLESSON CRITICAL THINKINGCRITICAL THINKING

Telling the Difference Between Balance and Bias

ACTICEACTICEPRPR


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Plan Your EssayArranging Information When you write your essay, shouldyou discuss the advantages or the disadvantages first? If a topic hasobvious advantages or disadvantages, you may choose to discusswhat the reader is familiar with first. Your reader will want to readthe entire essay to find out what he or she does not know. The keypoint is to discuss all the advantages together and all the disadvan-tages together. These separate chunks of information make it easierfor the reader to navigate your essay.

Order in the Court Get organized by jotting down the advan-tages and disadvantages in the order in which you would like themto appear in your essay. In the example below, notice how one writerorganized the advantages and disadvantages of his topic.

97Writing Workshop

COM P UTE R T I P

You may need to try sev-eral different orders forthe advantages and disad-vantages in your essay before you find the orderthat makes the mostsense. To make your jobeasier, type your prewrit-ing notes into a word-processing program. Then,use the program’s cut andpaste commands to tryout different orders foryour advantages and dis-advantages. When you fi-nally decide on an order,you can use the prewrit-ing notes document tohelp you write your firstdraft.

K E Y C O N C E P T

I’ll discuss the advantages of extracurricular activities first becausethey are more familiar to my audience.

Disadvantages

1. too much stress in a busy life(begin with an unexpected dis-advantage—this is unexpectedbecause the reader may notthink this is stressful)

2. possibly can’t participate ifyou ride the bus (place second—has less impact on reader)

Order of My Essay

Advantages

1. helps students do better inschool (a strong advantage withgood impact—will grab thereader’s attention)

2. makes lasting friendships (put second—not as strongas first advantage)

Organizing Your EssayAnswer the following questions. Use the information from thegraphic organizer you created for Your Turn 6 on page 95.

� Will I discuss advantages or disadvantages first? Why?

� In what order will I discuss each advantage and disadvantagewithin the paragraphs? Why is this a good order?

YOURTURNYOURTURN 77


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu


ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html



Directions and Explanations

Conclusion� Restatement of an advantage

and a disadvantage

Body� First paragraph:

Advantage (or disadvantage) #1Support for #1

� Second paragraph:Advantage (or disadvantage) #2Support for #2 and so on

� Third paragraph:Disadvantage (or advantage) #1Support for #1

and so on

Framework

Include an engaging quotation or piece of dialoguethat makes the reader curious about your topic. In amain idea statement, state your topic and informreaders that you plan to discuss advantages and disadvantages. This statement may be one sentence or more.

For each paragraph, be sure to

� clearly state and explain the advantage or disadvantage

� support the advantage or disadvantage with a fact,an expert opinion, or an anecdote

� elaborate by extending your support with examples

Pick a strong advantage and a strong disadvantagefrom the body of your paper. Restate both in a waythat allows your reader to draw his or her own conclu-sions about the topic. Do not include your opinion.

Introduction� Attention-grabbing opening� Main idea statement

WritingWritingAdvantages/Disadvantages Essay

Drafting Your Advantages/Disadvantages Essay

It is your turn to draft an advantages/disadvantages essay. As you write,refer to the framework above and the Writer’s Model on page 99.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 88


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

99Writing Workshop

(continued)

To Join or Not to Join?“Hey, Juan, did you hear about the new multicultural

club? Why don’t you come with us?”“I don’t know—I have to finish my homework, prac-

tice the saxophone, and do my chores. It sounds like agreat club, but I already have so much to do! I’ll have toget back to you about it.”

Many students are overwhelmed by all the things theyhave to do. Can students juggle their time betweenschool, home, friends, and extracurricular activities suchas sports or clubs? Deciding whether or not to participatein an extracurricular activity can be a challenge. Beforesigning up to sing in the choir or play on the volleyballteam, first consider the advantages and disadvantages ofsuch a decision.

Participating in extracurricular activities has many ad-vantages. Students are successful when they participate inmany activities. They do well in their classes and feelmore connected to school. Research shows that studentsin extracurricular activities have better attendance andgrades. Research also shows that these students havehigher goals for their education after high school.

Extracurricular activities also help students make newfriends and lasting relationships. I met my best friendwhen we were on the YMCA swim team. We were both inthe eight-and-under age group, and we swam on thesame relay team. Even though we became friends a longtime ago, we are still close today.

While these activities have many advantages, studentsshould consider the negative side as well. One drawbackto participating in extracurricular activities is the stress it

A Writer’s ModelA Writer’s Model

Attention-grabbingopening

Main idea statement

Advantage #1

Support (fact)

Advantage #2

Support (anecdote)

Disadvantage #1

The final draft below closely follows the framework for an advantages/disadvantages essay on the previous page.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html


can add to a student’s life. Extracurricular activities canbe too much for students who do not practice good timemanagement. Students need to be good at budgeting theirtime between different activities, such as homework, in-strument practice, and sports. Kathleen Glenn Doyle, afamily therapist, says that a child needs a healthy balancebetween structured time (time spent in class or in ex-tracurricular activities) and free time (time spent withfriends or family or time to unwind).

Another downside to extracurricular activities in-volves transportation. What if you ride the bus to school,or a parent picks you up right after school? Some clubs orsports meet before or after school. This situation limitsstudents’ extracurricular choices to those outside ofschool and closer to home. A few of my classmates joinedthe school’s multicultural club. They later discovered thatit met after school. These students dropped out of theclub after the first meeting because they had to catch theirbuses.

Only you can decide if extracurricular activities areright for you. Activities outside of school can help you besuccessful in many areas of your life. However, you needgood time-management skills to avoid stress that comeswith a busy life. Are you up for a challenge?

Support (expertopinion)

Disadvantage #2

Support (anecdote)

Restatement ofadvantage and

disadvantage

(continued)

FOR

BET

TER

OR

FO

R W

OR

SE ©

Lyn

n J

oh

nst

on

Pro

du

ctio

ns

Inc.

/Dis

t. b

y U

nit

ed F

eatu

reSy

nd

icat

e, In

c.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

101Writing Workshop

A Student’s ModelA Student’s Model

Source

Outcome

Example

Compare

Outcome

Relate

Advantages and Disadvantages of Being a Teenager

. . . One significant asset of being a teen is havingfewer worries. “When I was a teenager, I didn’t havethe family’s needs to take care of,” claims my uncleBob Arndt. “I also didn’t have bills to pay.” Havingfewer of these problems to worry about results inmore overall free time, extra-curricular activities, andadditional time to spend with friends. When I askedmy mother and brother if they would like to ridebikes, my brother immediately agreed to join. Mymother, on the other hand, shook her head no becauseshe was “much too busy sorting out the bank books.”Besides having to worry about paying the bills, adultsconstantly have to worry about how much they spend.They are usually very resourceful shoppers, so as notto spend more money than they need to. Having fewerworries is a definite plus of being a teenager.

Although there are benefits of being a teenager,there are also drawbacks. One certain disadvantage isthe fact that we get fewer privileges than the averageadult. One of the significant privileges teens miss outon is voting. Not being able to vote is like being blockedfrom the political world. Because teens have not beenintroduced to politics sooner, many make mistakeswhen they can vote. Another privilege that the youngerteens miss out on is driving. Since I am not able todrive, I constantly have to bother my parents. Just theother night I had to get to soccer practice. With my fa-ther at work and my mother at a party, I was in atight spot. I had to wait until my father arrived homeand was over a half hour late. Having fewer privilegesis definitely a minus to being a teenager. . . .

Jenna Arndt, a student at Labay Middle School in Houston, Texas,wrote about the advantages and disadvantages of being ateenager. Below are excerpts from her essay.

Relate

Jenna usedthe acronym SCOREto support and elab-orate on her ideas.SCORE stands forsource/statistic, com-pare, outcome, re-late, and example.

T I P


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html


RevisingRevising

Tips

Circle the main idea statement.

Put a star next to each advantage and put a checkmark next to each disadvantage.

Highlight the explanation andsupport for each advantage anddisadvantage.

Put brackets around the restated advantage and disad-vantage in the conclusion.

Put exclamation points nextto statements of opinion and biased words. Count the advan-tages and disadvantages.

Evaluation Questions

Does the introduction includea main idea statement?

Are all the advantages to-gether? Are all the disadvan-tages together?

Is each advantage and disad-vantage explained and sup-ported?

Does the conclusion include arestatement of both an ad-vantage and a disadvantage?

Does the essay present a balanced discussion of thetopic?

Revision Techniques

If needed, add a sentence or twoto state the topic and explainthat the topic’s advantages anddisadvantages will be discussed.

Rearrange the advantages anddisadvantages so that all the advantages are together and allthe disadvantages are together.

Elaborate on advantages anddisadvantages with facts,anecdotes, or expert opinions.

Add a restatement of thestrongest advantage and disad-vantage from the essay, if needed.

Delete personal opinions andbiased language. If necessary,add more advantages or disadvantages.

Advantages/Disadvantages Essay: Content and Organization Guidelines for Self-Evaluation and Peer Evaluation

Advantages/Disadvantages Essay: Content and Organization Guidelines for Self-Evaluation and Peer Evaluation

1

2

3

4

5

Evaluate and Revise Content,Organization, and StylePlay It Again, Sam As you evaluate your own essay or a peer’s,make sure to read the essay twice. In the first reading, keep an eyeout for content and organization problems, using the guidelinesbelow. During your second reading, focus on strengthening eachsentence by using the guidelines on page 103.

First Reading: Content and Organization Use the followingchart to evaluate and revise your essay so the advantages and disad-vantages of your topic are clear to your reader.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Second Reading: Style Now, take a look at your sentencestyle. Your readers can become confused if you include long, drawn-out sentences, called stringy sentences. Improve your style by elimi-nating stringy sentences from your writing. Use the followingguidelines, and study the Focus on Sentences on page 104.

103Writing Workshop

Another really big downside to extracurricular activities

involves transportation. What if you ride the bus to school,

or a parent picks you up right after school? Some clubs or

sports meet before or after school. This pitiful situation

limits students’ extracurricular choices to those outside of

school and closer to home. A few of my classmates joined

the school’s multicultural club. They later discovered that

it met after school.

ONE WRITER’S REVISIONS Study this revision of an early draftof the essay on pages 99–100.

Responding to the Revision Process1. Why do you think the writer cut out words in the first and

fourth sentences?

2. Why do you think the writer added a sentence to the passage?How does it improve the passage?

delete

delete

elaborate

As you evaluate a peer’sessay, ask yourself thefollowing questions:� Which advantages

and disadvantageswere presentedclearly? Which werenot?

� How many advantagesand disadvantageswere discussed?

PEER REVIEW

Tip

Draw a wavy line under eachsentence that connects morethan two ideas using and, but,or, or so.

Evaluation Question

Are there any sentencesmade up of several ideasconnected with and, but, or, orso?

Revision Technique

If necessary, break the stringy sen-tences into separate sentences.

Style GuidelinesStyle Guidelines

These students dropped out of the club after the first meeting because they had to catch theirbuses.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html


Stringy SentencesThe reader of an advantages/disadvantages essay should not haveto pick apart sentences to get to the meat of the topic. Havingmany ideas in a sentence connected with and, but, or, or so results ina stringy sentence. Stringy sentences don’t give the reader a chanceto pause before each new idea. One way to fix a stringy sentence is tobreak it up into separate sentences as in the example below.

Stringy: I have to finish cleaning my room so we’ll have towait to go to a movie, but I will call you when I’m done.

Revised: I have to finish cleaning my room, so we’ll have towait to go to a movie. I will call you when I’m done.

Sentences

I met my best friend when we were on the YMCA swim

team, and we were both in the eight-and-under age

group, and we swam on the same relay team.

ONE WRITER’S REVISIONS

Responding to the Revision ProcessHow did breaking the stringy sentence above into two parts improve the flow of the writing?

When you breakapart a stringy sentence,you may need to addpunctuation or a wordto make the new sen-tence clear.

T I P

.---

Evaluating and Revising YourAdvantages/Disadvantages Essay

� First, evaluate and revise the content and organization of youressay, using the guidelines on page 102.

� Next, use the Focus on Sentences above to see if you need to reviseany stringy sentences in your essay.

� If a peer evaluated your essay, think carefully about each of yourpeer’s comments as you revise.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 99


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu


ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

105Writing Workshop

PublishingPublishing

ACTICEACTICEPRPR

Proofread Your EssayStriving for Perfection Avoid including any errors in thefinal draft of your essay. Remember, your goal is to inform thereader. Edit your essay to eliminate grammar and spelling errors.Enlist the help of a peer to read your essay and check for mistakes.

An independent clause expresses a com-plete thought and can stand alone as a sen-tence. However, when you identify a pair ofadvantages or disadvantages, you may findthat you want to combine sentences. Becareful, though. Combining two sentenceswithout proper punctuation or a conjunc-tion results in a run-on sentence.

Run-on: One benefit of bringing your ownlunch to school is that you have more controlover what you eat another benefit is thatyou may save money.

You can correct a run-on sentence by in-serting a semicolon or a comma and a con-junction between the independent clauses.

One benefit of bringing your own lunchto school is that you have more control overwhat you eat; another benefit is that youmay save money.

One benefit of bringing your own lunchto school is that you have more control overwhat you eat, and another benefit is thatyou may save money.

Decide whether each sentence below is arun-on sentence. If it is a run-on, revise it byinserting a semicolon or a comma and a con-junction in the correct place. If the sentenceis not a run-on, write C on your paper.

Example:1. The bell rings at noon the students fill the

cafeteria.1. The bell rings at noon; the students fill

the cafeteria.

1. I start to smell cafeteria food my stomachbegins to growl.

2. I packed a big and nutritious lunch.

3. We have only twenty minutes for lunch Ieat very quickly.

4. The cafeteria serves fresh fruit and sand-wiches until they sell out.

5. Lunch is fun I enjoy spending the timewith my friends.

For more information and practice on punctuat-ing independent clauses, see page 618.

Correcting Run-ons When Combining Sentences

Reference Note

For more on proofreading, see page 13.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Publish Your EssaySounding the Trumpets It is time to share your work with anaudience. Try one of these ideas.

� Add your essay to a class collection of advantages/disadvantagespieces, and post the collection on a school bulletin board or Webpage. Invite students and teachers to view your class’s essays.

� Make a quick-reference booklet for readers. Fold a piece of paperin half. On one side, print the advantages from your essay. On theother side, print the disadvantages.

Reflect on Your EssayBuilding Your Portfolio We all learn from our experiences.Reflecting on your advantages/disadvantages essay gives you achance to think about what you wrote and how you wrote it.

� What was the strongest support in your essay? Why?

� How did you find the best topic ideas for your essay?

� Review your writing portfolio. What strengths and weaknesses doyou notice? Set goals to use your writing strengths and improveupon your weaknesses in future assignments.


Boldface Heads In an advantages/disadvantages essay, it is some-times hard for readers to tell whether you are discussing the ad-vantages or the disadvantages of a topic. To help readers, you canuse boldface heads that include clue words.

Advantages The Pros of Participating in Extracurricular ActivitiesDisadvantages Why You Should Not Join

Before you makedesign decisions, such asadding boldface heads,check with your teacherto be sure that yourchoice is acceptable.

T I P

Proofreading, Publishing, andReflecting on Your Essay

� Correct grammar, usage, and mechanics errors in your essay.

� Publish your essay so that others can learn more about your topic.

� Answer the Reflect on Your Essay questions above. Record your responses in your learning log, or include them in your portfolio.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 1010

P O R T F O L I O


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Explaining Advantages andDisadvantages for Tests

THINKING ITTHINKING ITTHROUGHTHROUGH

THINKING ITTHINKING ITTHROUGHTHROUGH

Analyze the test prompt to identify the

� topic [the good and bad points of adding a new sport to the school athletic program]

� audience [the school principal]

� format [an essay]

To find out what you know about the topic, ask yourself the follow-ing questions.

� Have I seen or read anything positive or negative about the topic on TV orin magazines?

� What do I know about the pros and cons from firsthand experience?

� What are some of the good and bad things about the topic that I can figure out for myself? (MoTiVate yourself to find the pros and cons bythinking about money, time, and hidden values relating to the topic.)

In a fishbone organizer, jot down the good and bad points of the topic.

Use an outline or a conceptual map to organize your good and badpoints. Support the points with examples or anecdotes from your own expe-riences or experiences of people you know.

Write your essay. Then, verify that you have supported each goodpoint and bad point, and check your essay for correct grammar and spelling.

107Writing Workshop

An essay test may ask you to discuss theadvantages and disadvantages of a specifictopic. Some tests may ask you to discusswhat is good and bad about a topic. “Thegood points and bad points” is anotherway of saying “the advantages and disad-vantages.” How would you respond to theprompt to the right from a writing test?

Your school is considering adding girls’field hockey to its athletic program.Write an essay for your principal that re-ports the good points and bad points ofadding a new sport to the school’s cur-rent athletic program. Include solid sup-port for each advantage anddisadvantage you discuss.

� STEP 1

� STEP 2

� STEP 3

� STEP 4

MINI-LESSONLESSON

MINI-LESSONLESSON TEST TAKINGTEST TAKING

Explaining Advantages and Disadvantages for Tests


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Connections to

Comparing “TV Life” to “Real Life”The classification skills you learned bywriting an advantage/disadvantage essaycan help you with many other types ofwriting and thinking. For example, com-paring and contrasting also requires youto place information into two categories.In the following activity, instead of point-ing out pros and cons, you will examinesimilarities and differences between life ontelevision and life in the real world.

It Looks Like . . . What you watch ontelevision is not real life. That may soundobvious, but it is an important point foryou to remember as a knowledgeable, crit-ical viewer of television. What you watchon television is created by people whochoose what activities and events to showand how to show them.

For example, think of hospitals ontelevision. TV hospitals are exciting placesbrimming with extremely young and at-tractive doctors and patients. These TVhospitals might not match your own expe-rience of hospitals, where perhaps youfound that you spent a lot of time waiting,that most of the patients were older, andthat your doctors were no more attractive,on average, than anyone else. On the otherhand, perhaps you have never been in ahospital. TV hospitals might have shapedyour idea of what a hospital is like.

Get Real This is the question: Is TVlife realistic? You may get many answers to

this question. People have different pointsof view, or ways of seeing “real life,” sopeople also have different ideas aboutwhether events on TV are realistic. Afterall, everyone has had different experiencesand ways of doing things. Your experiencewith hospitals may be limited to your tripto the emergency room of a small commu-nity hospital. Perhaps you know someonewho volunteers at a large city hospital(with many young interns) and sees moreof what goes on behind the scenes. Yourideas are based on your experiences, just asyour friend’s ideas are based on his or herexperiences.

Call It As You See It To explore thedifferences between TV life and real life,you will compare how an activity such asdoing homework or eating dinner looks onTV with how it happens in your own life.

In the example on the next page, onestudent compared a classroom discussionon TV to classroom discussions from hisown experiences. The student watched atelevision program and made a Venn dia-gram based on what he saw. On the leftside, he recorded how the activity lookedon TV. On the right side, he recorded howthe activity looks in his class. In the center,he listed similarities between the two. Thestudent used the information in the dia-gram to make a decision about how realis-tic the TV activity was.

108 Exposition: Looking at Both SidesChapter 3 Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

109Writing Workshop

Program: Junior High Blues Activity: a classroom discussion

The class discussion on TV was not realistic. It was too smooth and orderly. While myclass does have good discussions, sometimes we are not as focused as the show’sclass, and we do not always raise our hands.

Comparing an Activity on TV to anActivity in Your Life

Pick an everyday activity or event from a TV show and think aboutwhat it looks like. What point of view about that activity is reflected?Next, think about what that same activity looks like in your own life,from your point of view. (You should choose an activity you are com-fortable sharing.) In a journal make a Venn diagram like the oneabove to compare the TV activity to your own experience. Then, an-swer the following questions in a journal entry.

� Was the activity portrayed on TV in a realistic way? Explain.

� Remember that someone chooses the way you see things on TV.Why do you think the show portrayed the activity as it did?

YOURTURNYOURTURN1111

TV Similarities My Experiences

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

The students sat inneat rows.All students paidattention.All students raisedtheir hands.Every student thatspoke sounded smart.

We sit in groupedtables.Not all studentsparticipate indiscussions.Some studentsshout outcomments during a discussion.

Some studentsget really involvedduring discussions.Most students raisetheir hands and waitto be called on.Some students add something intelligent to a discussion.


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

Connections to

When you compare and contrast, youplace information into categories, much asyou organized your advantages/disadvan-tages essay. Comparing and contrastingrequires you to look at the similarities anddifferences between two subjects. To com-pare two informative television or videopresentations, you might use the followingpoints of comparison:

Video: What do you see? Do the pro-ducers include documentary (or actual)footage, animation (cartoons), or still pho-tography? Does the program use actors indramatizations (pre-scripted scenes)?

Audio: From whose point of view is the“talk” delivered? Is there an unseen narra-tor, or do people on-screen do the talking?How is music used?

Overall Effect: How do the audio andvideo add up? Does the program succeed ininforming? Does it have any other purposesor goals besides informing?

Study the following comparison.

grams about bugs are “The Giant BugInvasion!” (Kratt’s Creatures, 1995) andInsect (Eyewitness Video, 1994). Eachprogram uses different techniques, re-sulting in different overall effects.

Insect features rapid cuts of stills,animation, and documentary footage.The producers used 3-D animation.These visuals force the viewer to lookat the insect world in a fresh, new way.For the audio, narrator Martin Sheenstays off-screen and remains in thebackground, accompanied by soothingbackground music.

Like Insect, “The Giant Bug Inva-sion!” uses rapid editing to presentdocumentary footage of bugs. Theprogram entertains as it informs bymixing facts with funny scenes involv-ing the hosts. Music plays a big role.Different styles of upbeat dance musicaccompany each image, creating anenergetic mood.

Both programs are informativeand highly entertaining.

Bugs are everywhere, even on yourTV screen. Two good television pro-


Comparing Informative TV or Video Presentations

Comparing Informative TV or VideoPresentations

View two informative TV or video presentations about the same sub-ject, and make notes about the audio and video elements used ineach. Then, write a comparison-contrast essay like the one above.

YOURTURNYOURTURN 1212


Chapter Menu

Chapter Menu

ch03_menu.html

ch03_menu.html

writing workshop writing an advantages/ disadvantages

Documents