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Essential guide to writing part 28 Obviously, there are limits: one can¬not learn to write like Shakespeare or Charles Dickens. You can't become a genius by reading a book. But you don't have to be a genius to write clear, effective English. You just have to understand what writing involves and to know how to handle words
For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org Thomas S. Kane For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payments for this "stripped book." For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org Acknowledgments This book is based on The Oxford Guide to Writing: A Rhet- oric and Handbook for College Students, and thanks are due once more to those who contributed to that book: my friend and colleague Leonard J. Peters; Professors Miriam Baker of Dowling College, David Hamilton of the University of Iowa, Robert Lyons and Sandra Schor of Queens College of the City University of New York, and Joseph Trimmer of Ball State University, all of whom read the manuscript and con- tributed perceptive comments; Ms. Cheryl Kupper, who copyedited that text with great thoroughness and care; and John W. Wright, my editor at the Oxford University Press. For the present edition I am again grateful to Professor Leonard J. Peters and to John W. Wright. In addition I wish to thank William P. Sisler and Joan Bossert, my editors at Oxford University Press, who encouraged, criticized, and im- proved, as good editors do. Kittery Point, Maine T.S.K. December 1987 For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org Contents Introduction 3 1. Subject, Reader, and Kinds of Writing 5 2. Strategy and Style 9 3. Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics 13 PART 1 The Writing Process 4. Looking for Subjects 19 5. Exploring for Topics 23 6. Making a Plan 29 7. Drafts and Revisions 34 17 PART II. 8. 9. 10. 11. The Essay 43 Beginning 45 Closing 60 Organizing the Middle Point of View, Persona, 67 and Tone 74 PART 3 The Expository Paragraph 87 12. Basic Structure 89 13. Paragraph Unity 95 14. Paragraph Development: (1) Illustration and Restatement 106 For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org 8 CONTENTS 15. Paragraph Development: (2) Comparison, Contrast, and Analogy 114 16. Paragraph Development: (3) Cause and Effect 125 17. Paragraph Development: (4) Definition, Analysis, and Qualification 132 PART 4. The Sentence 149 18. The Sentence: A Definition 151 19. Sentence Styles 161 20. The Well-Written Sentence: (1) Concision 191 21. The Sentence: (2) Emphasis 200 22. The Well-Written Sentence: (3) Rhythm 223 23. The Well-Written Sentence: (4) Variety 234 PART v. Diction 241 24. Meaning 243 25. Clarity and Simplicity 262 26. Concision 281 27. Figurative Language 295 28. Unusual Words and Collocations 325 29. Improving Your Vocabulary: Dictionaries 336 PART Description and Narration 349 30. Description 351 31. Narration 366 PART Punctuation 377 Introduction 379 32. Stops 383 33. The Other Marks 417 Name Index 439 Subject Index 445 For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org The New Oxford Guide to Writing For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org [...]... CHAPTER 5 Exploring for Topics Before beginning a draft, you need to explore a subject, looking for topics (Subject refers to the main focus of a composition; topic to specific aspects of the subject The subject of this book is writing Within that subject grammar, sentence style, and so on, are topics Any topic, of course, can itself be analyzed into subtopics.) Some people like to work through a subject... You're not going to get answers off the top of your head But at least you know what you're looking for You can begin to collect information, interviewing friends, studying magazines and movies and television shows, reading novels and stories, looking into scholarly studies of changing social attitudes You've got a lot to write about Finding Topics by Free Writing or Brainstorming Free writing simply... of paralysis And so people say, "I can't think of anything to write about." That's strange, because life is fascinating The solution is to open yourself to experience To look around To describe what you see and hear To read Reading takes you into other minds and enriches your own A systematic way of enriching your ideas and experiences is to keep a commonplace book and a journal The Commonplace Book... Yiddish proverb To keep a commonplace book, set aside a looseleaf binder When you hear or read something that strikes you, copy it, identifying the source Leave space to add thoughts of your own If you accumulate a lot of entries, you may want to make an index or to group passages according to subject A commonplace book will help your writing in several ways It will be a storehouse of topics, of those... it's wise to try both For more material and information, please visit www.tailieuduhoc.org EXPLORING FOR TOPICS 27 For Practice D Below is a series of provocative quotations Select one that > appeals to you and explore it for topics You don't have to agree with the idea The goal is just to get your thoughts on paper First, fill one or two pages with free writing Put down everything that comes to mind... will lead to topics Suppose, for example, you are interested in how young adults (20 to 30) in the 1990s differ from similar people in the 1960s Try asking questions Consider definition What do you mean by "differ"? Differ how? In dress style? Eating habits? Political loyalties? Lifestyle? Attitudes toward love, sex, marriage? Toward success, work, money? Already you have topics, perhaps too many Another... or business letters Which is not to dismiss such writing as easy Being clear and concise is never easy (To say nothing of being interesting!) But at least the writing process is structured and to that degree simplified At other times we write because we want to express something about ourselves, about what we've experienced or how we feel Our minds turn inward, and writing is complicated by the double... fast as you can The trick is to let feelings and ideas pour forth Jot down anything that occurs to you, without worrying about order or even making much sense Keep going; to pause is to risk getting stuck, like a car in snow Move the pencil, writing whatever pops into mind Don't be afraid of making mistakes or of saying something foolish You probably will So what? You're writing for yourself, and if... suggests an important fact: it is profitable to use both methods to explore for topics Questions have the advantage of focusing your attention But a focused attention sees only what is under the lens, and that is a severe limitation Brainstorming can be wasteful, leading in too many directions But it is more likely to extend a subject in unforeseen ways and to make unexpected connections The two methods,... topics you listed at the end of Chapter 1, work up a paragraph of 150 to 200 words Before you begin to write, think about possible strategies of organization and tone Organization involves (1) how you analyze your topic, the parts into which you divide it, and (2) the order in which you present these parts and how you tie them together Tone means (1) how you feel about your subject—angry, amused, objective, . based on The Oxford Guide to Writing: A Rhet- oric and Handbook for College Students, and thanks are due once more to those who contributed to that book: my. long way. Readers have egos too. Kinds of Writing The various effects a writer may wish to have on his or her inform, to persuade, to in dif- ferent kinds