ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION

Analytical Exposition

An analytical exposition is a type of spoken or written text that is intended to persuade the listeners or readers that something is the case. To make the persuasion stronger, the speaker or writer gives some arguments as the fundamental reasons why something is the case. This type of text can be found in scientific books, journals, magazines, newspaper articles, academic speech or lectures, research report etc. Analytical expositions are popular among science, academic community and educated people. The generic structure of analytical exposition usually has three components: (1) Thesis, (2) Arguments and (3) Reiteration or conclusion.

A.Generic Structure of Analytical Exposition
1. Thesis : Introduces the topic and shows speaker or writer’s position;
Outlines of the arguments are presented.
2. Arguments : It consists about Point and Elaboration
Point, states the main argument
Elaboration, develops and supports each point of argument
3. Conclusion : Reiteration (restatement), restates speaker or writer’s position

B. Generic Features of Analytical Exposition

1. An analytical exposition focuses on generic human and non human participants.
2. It uses mental processes. It is used to state what the writer or speaker thinks or feels about something. For example: realize, feel etc.
3. It uses emotive and evaluative words
4. It often needs material processes. It is used to state what happens, e.g. ….has polluted… etc.
5. It usually uses Simple Present Tense and Present Perfect Tense.
6. Enumeration is sometimes necessary to show the list of given arguments: Firstly, secondly …, Finally, etc.

Now look the sample of analytical exposition below!

Corruption and Indonesian Culture

Thesis:

Corruption has happened for many years and today it becomes a bad culture in Indonesia for three reasons

Argument 1:

Most adult Indonesian or foreigners have known and admitted that corruptions happen in many places. The daily newspapers, news programs on TV and radio have reported corruptions are done everywhere, almost in all departments or public services of this country. Corruptions happen in health, education departments and banks. When we manage to get some documents in public service offices, we usually need much money to pay. Manipulations happen everywhere

Argument 2:

The actions to eliminate corruption are weak. The ever stronger culture seems not to come to an end when the responsible institutions who have to reinforce the justice today commit corruption. This is the worst. Corruptions happen in police department, courts where judges, public prosecutors, lawyers make deals to do corruption. All of us also heard in the end of 2004, Probosutejo reported that he had bribed the Supreme Court, or called Mahkamah Agung which becomes the highest level where the justice can be obtained. Perhaps you have to try to come to the local courts and see what happen there. You will see practices of bribery and other kinds of corruption. Therefore, we can say that corruptions becomes our culture. Do you like it?

Argument 3:

The citizens have no goodwill to fight against the corruption. They create the situations in which people have opportunities to do corruptions. The citizens like to break the rules because they are not disciplined. For example, in the street when they drive a car or ride motorcycle, they do not have the driving license or necessary documents. Then, they are caught by the local policemen. To avoid more difficulties, they like to bribe the officer. The officer let them go then. In other words, the citizens and officers are the same, doing corruption together. If only the people were critical, disciplined, and obey the rules, and willing to report any wrong behaviors, this country will not be number one corrupting country in the world.

Reiteration/ conclusion:

Conclusion Based on the reasons, we can conclude that corruption is becoming a bad culture in Indonesia if it is not ended soon by all of us. It seems that there must be more severe penalty for the Corruptors. Do we still care about the future of this country?

Written by Hamdani

More information:

1. Emotive language adds strong description to the facts and so help to create an extremely subjective tone of the text. It plays a role in persuading the readers toward the writer’s opinion e.g. Most adult Indonesian,
2. Evaluative language is another way to persuade people agree with the writer’s opinion e.g. This is the worst, It’s true, It’s important, It’s clear, I believe, It is obvious that etc.

Read the following text of Analytical Exposition!

The Importance of English

Thesis { I personally think that English is the world’s most important language. Why do I say that?


Argument 1 { Firstly, English is an international language. It is spoken by many people all around the world, either as a first or second language.


Argument 2 { Secondly, English is also the key which opens doors to scientific and technical knowledge, which is needed for the economic and political development of many countries in the world.

Argument 3 { Thirdly, English is a top requirement of those seeking jobs. Applicants who master either active or passive English are more favorable than those who do not.

Conclusion { From the fact above, it is obvious that everybody needs to learn English to greet the global era.

Notes:

1. Enumerations such as Firstly, secondly, thirdly etc are sometimes given to show the list of given arguments
2. Present Tense: I think, English is international language, Everybody needs to learn English etc.

To make clear understand these notes:

ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION

Purpose : to persuade by presenting arguments
to analyze or explain ‘how’ and ‘why’
Text Organization :
A thesis
Arguments
Reiteration or Conclusion

Language Features :
Emotive words (e.g. worried, alarmed etc)
Words that qualify statements (e.g. usual, Probably etc)
Words that link arguments (e.g. firstly, However, therefore etc)

Sources:
Cahyono, Kristiawan Dwi and Eka Purnama.2006. Communicative Competence 2B: A course in Acquiring English Communicative Competence, For Senior High School Level, Grade XI Semester 2. Jombang: CV Karunia Agung

Sudarwati and Eudia Grace.2007. Look Ahead: An English Course for Senior High School Students Year XI, Science and Social Study Program. Jakarta: Erlangga

Examples of Analytical Exposition Text

Controlling Children Using Computer

Computer and internet are useful as well as powerful. Information about health and safe usage of computer and Internet, especially for children, should be owned by each family. Computer connected to internet is powerful way to socialize with others. It can be good but also bad effect. Recently we hear a lot of children get the advantage of social networking sites but we often see the news about the disadvantage of it for children. Healthy and safety of computer and Internet usage should continue to be campaigned.

The role of parent in assisting and directing children in using computer is very necessary. Installation of software monitor such as key logger which has function to watch and note all activities relating to keyboard usage is helpful but not enough to protect children from potential harms. Children tend to hide what they have done in front of the computer to their parent. They see that all of they have done are their privacy and no one may know.

We can not prevent children from using computer because it is multifunctional. However, many parents worry about what their kids do in front of the computer; whether they are doing homework or even just playing games. Or spending all time to surf internet which is the materials do not fit with his age. There is a tendency, especially teenagers, want to become acquainted with many strangers out side. The lack parental supervision of children's activities is likely to pose a potential danger to them. So parental monitor against the use of computers needs to be done from time to time.

The Power of Music in our life

Do you agree that music is important in our life? Yes I do, music has certain role completing our day to day activities. Here are some reasons why music is heard everywhere and anywhere.

Music is a way to express feelings. When we fall in love, the kind of music we’d listen to would be all about love. When we’re sad, we would go for music that is melancholic in nature and immerse ourselves in the sadness. When we’re happy, we’d choose songs with happy tunes too.

Song can help to memorize the last experiences. A favorite song is a powerful documentary. People with Alzheimer which are impaired the brain would remember details about songs they were familiar with. For example, an elderly woman who couldn’t even remember her husband’s name would remember the details of her favorite song; when it was played, how it made her feel and things about the song that made it especially memorable for her.

Further, music can unite people for a cause and changes the world. A song with good lyric and striking deep chord can stimulate the universal feeling of all people. We can see it in the case of the famous and legendary Michael Jacson's Heal the World. It can arouse humanism of a lot people in this world.

So what would the world be like without music? It would be lonely.

Laptop as Students' Friend

Conventionally, students need book, pen, eraser, drawing book, ruler and such other stuff. Additionally, in this multimedia era, students need more to reach their progressive development. Students need mobile keyboards to record every presented subject easily. Of course it will need more cost but it will deserve for its function.

First, modern schools tend to apply fast transferring knowledge because the school needs to catch the target of curriculum. Every subject will tend to be given in demonstrative method. Consequently students need extra media cover the subject. Since there is a laptop on every students' desk, this method will help student to get better understanding.

Secondly, finding an appropriate laptop is not difficult as it was. Recently there is an online shop which provides comprehensive information. The best is that the shop has service of online shopping. The students just need to brows that online shop, decide which computer or laptop they need, then complete the transaction. After that the laptop will be delivered to the students' houses. That is really easy and save time and money.

From all of that, having mobile computer is absolutely useful for students who want to catch the best result for their study. Buying laptop online is advisable because it will cut the price. This online way is recommended since online shop also provide several laptop types. Students just need to decide which type they really need.

Why Exercise is Important

The majority of us claim that we do not have time for exercise. We feel too busy to do that. However, many expert said that exercise has great role in making our body healthy

Being physically active offers many advantage. In physical reword, exercise can reduce weight then our body will become fitter. Exercise is also believed to reduce stress levels, improve sleep patterns, and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer. Beside physical advantage, exercise also brings good effects mentally. Due to the fitter body, exercise can make us feel refreshed and happy then we can increase our life quality and expectancy.

How can we do exercise while we are busy? Such question is commonly found among us. Actually exercise can be done in simple ways. We can go walking while shopping. In the office we can take stair rather than lift to run up and down. Or we can go cycling while enjoy the leisure time.

Over all, doing exercise is little bit difficult in busy life but the little bit of exercise will help better.

The Unhealthy Fast Food

Fast food nowadays is considered a normal eating venture. People are not just eating out on special occasions or weekends anymore. It means that all the time they mostly eat fast foods. However is fast food good for health?

Fast food has its popularity in the 1940’s. Within a few years, fast-food operations popped up everywhere. With the compelling rise in fast-food restaurants since the 1940’s, oddly it started the rise in obesity and cancer during that same time period.

Fast food is highly processed with a wide array of additives. To ensure fast food’s low cost, the fast food products are made with highly-processed ingredients to give it shelf-life, to hold consistency, and to enhance flavor. Fast food is altered from its original healthy form.

It is not the calories in fast food which damage health and waistline. It is the chemical additives such as aspartame and MSG (monosodium glutamate). Studies show that the chemical additives lead to weight and disease issues.

So, there is absolutely nothing nutritional about fast food. Fast food simply feeds hunger and craving.

Why is Learning English Important?

Language is the mean of communication. Mostly groups of society have their own languages. Some of them appear the top global languages. Most people in the world hear about English, Arabic, and Mandarin. However English is the most global spoken language. Then if a man wants to catch a global goal, he has to master English.

Everyone recognize that English is an international language. English is used in writing and speaking by many people all over the world. It can be either as a first or second language. We even hear British, American, Australian, and even Singaporean English. Those various names of English are used as the first language in those countries. Futhermore, some countries have their own languages as a mother language but also use English mostly in daily comunication.

Besides usage in daily interaction, English is also used as a key to open doors leading to scientific and technical knowledge. No wonder we find manual guides and instructions of many devices written in English. Even if we have a pack of instant noodle, we will see the cooking instruction also written in English. This transfer of science and technic will include many countries in economic, social and politics developement.

Finaly, the most easily seen in the importance of learning English is that most top requirement in filling job opportunities is the ability using English; active or passive. Job applicants who master English are more favourable than ones who do not.

The above facts prove that everybody needs to learn English if he likes to greet the global era.

Evidence-Based Practices for Teaching Writing

Evidence-Based Practices for Teaching Writing

Amy Gillespie and Steve Graham reveal the techniques that have been proven to work when teaching students to write
WRITING IS A MULTIFACETED TASK THAT involves the use and coordination of many cognitive processes. Due to its complexities, many students find writing challenging and many teachers struggle to find methods to effectively teach the skill.

Gathering evidence for effectively teaching writing

Advice from professional writers and the experiences of successful writing teachers offer some guidance in developing sound writing practices. However, these accounts are frequently based on testimonials involving the writing development of an individual or a single classroom. This makes it difficult to understand how or why a writing strategy was effective and what elements of the strategy would be essential to make it work in new situations.
Scientific studies of writing interventions provide a more trustworthy approach for identifying effective methods for teaching writing; they supply evidence of the magnitude of the effect of a writing intervention, how confident one can be in the study’s results, and how replicable the writing strategy is in new settings with new populations of students.

What does the research show?

The list of recommendations presented below is based on scientific studies of students in grades 4–12. The strategies for teaching writing are listed according to the magnitude of their effects. Practices with the strongest effects are listed first. However, the effects of some writing interventions differ minimally from the effects of others. Therefore, one should not assume that only the first several strategies should be implemented. All of the strategies are potentially useful, and we encourage teachers to use a combination of strategies to best meet the needs of their students.
Evidence of the effectiveness of each strategy or technique was compiled from research studies that met several criteria. First, a recommendation was not made unless there was a minimum of four studies that showed the effectiveness of a writing intervention. Second, in each study reviewed, the performance of one group of students was compared to the performance of another group of students receiving a different writing intervention or no intervention at all. This permitted conclusions that each intervention listed below resulted in better writing performance than other writing strategies or typical writing teaching in the classroom. Third, each study was reviewed to ensure it met standards for research quality and that study results were reliable (reducing the chance that error in assessment contributed to the results). Fourth, studies were only included if students’ overall writing quality was assessed post-intervention. This criterion was used to identify strategies that had a broad impact on writing performance, as opposed to those with a more limited impact on a specific aspect of writing such as spelling or vocabulary.

Effective writing practices

• Writing strategies: Explicitly teach students strategies for planning, revising, and editing their written products. This may involve teaching general processes (e.g., brainstorming or editing) or more speci?c elements, such as steps for writing a persuasive essay. In either case, we recommend that teachers model the strategy, provide assistance as students practice using the strategy on their own, and allow for independent practice with the strategy once they have learned it.
• Summarizing text: Explicitly teach students procedures for summarizing what they read. Summarization allows students to practice concise, clear writing to convey an accurate message of the main ideas in a text. Teaching summary writing can involve explicit strategies for producing effective summaries or gradual fading of models of a good summary as students become more proficient with the skill.
• Collaborative writing: Allow students to work together to plan, write, edit, and revise their writing. We recommend that teachers provide a structure for cooperative writing and explicit expectations for individual performance within their cooperative groups or partnerships. For example, if the class is working on using descriptive adjectives in their compositions, one student could be assigned to review another’s writing. He or she could provide positive feedback, noting several instances of using descriptive vocabulary, and provide constructive feedback, identifying several sentences that could be enhanced with additional adjectives. After this, the students could switch roles and repeat the process.
• Goals: Set specific goals for the writing assignments that students are to complete. The goals can be established by the teacher or created by the class themselves, with review from the teacher to ensure they are appropriate and attainable. Goals can include (but are not limited to) adding more ideas to a paper or including specific elements of a writing genre (e.g., in an opinion essay include at least three reasons supporting your belief). Setting specific product goals can foster motivation, and teachers can continue to motivate students by providing reinforcement when they reach their goals.
• Word processing: Allow students to use a computer for completing written tasks. With a computer, text can be added, deleted, and moved easily. Furthermore, students can access tools, such as spell check, to enhance their written compositions. As with any technology, teachers should provide guidance on proper use of the computer and any relevant software before students use the computer to compose independently.
• Sentence combining: Explicitly teach students to write more complex and sophisticated sentences. Sentence combining involves teacher modeling of how to combine two or more related sentences to create a more complex one. Students should be encouraged to apply the sentence construction skills as they write or revise.
• Process writing: Implement flexible, but practical classroom routines that provide students with extended opportunities for practicing the cycle of planning, writing, and reviewing their compositions. The process approach also involves: writing for authentic audiences, personal responsibility for written work, student-to-student interactions throughout the writing process, and self-evaluation of writing.
• Inquiry: Set writing assignments that require use of inquiry skills. Successful inquiry activities include establishing a clear goal for writing (e.g., write a story about conflict in the playground), examination of concrete data using specific strategies (e.g., observation of students arguing in the playground and recording their reactions), and translation of what was learned into one or more compositions.
• Prewriting: Engage students in activities prior to writing that help them produce and organize their ideas. Prewriting can involve tasks that encourage students to access what they already know, do research about a topic they are not familiar with, or arrange their ideas visually (e.g., graphic organizer) before writing.
• Models: Provide students with good models of the type of writing they are expected to produce. Teachers should analyze the models with their class, encouraging students to imitate in their own writing the critical and effective elements shown in the models.

What we know

Evidence-based practices for teaching writing include: Teaching strategies for planning, revising, and editing Having students write summaries of texts Permitting students to write collaboratively with peers Setting goals for student writing Allowing students to use a word processor Teaching sentence combining skills Using the process writing approach Having students participate in inquiry activities for writing Involving students in prewriting activities Providing models of good writing

Additional suggestions

With any combination of teaching strategies a teacher chooses to use, students must be given ample time to write. Writing cannot be a subject that is short-changed or glossed over due to time constraints. Moreover, for weaker writers, additional time, individualized support, and explicit teaching of transcription skills (i.e., handwriting, spelling, typing) may be necessary. For all students, teachers should promote the development of self-regulation skills. Having students set goals for their writing and learning, monitoring and evaluating their success in meeting these goals, and self-reinforcing their learning and writing efforts puts them in charge, increasing independence and efficacy.
Teachers should supplement their current writing practices and curricula with a combination of evidence-based practices that best meets the needs of their students.
A combination of effective writing practices
No single strategy for teaching writing will prove effective for all students. Furthermore, the above strategies do not constitute a writing curriculum. Teachers should aim to supplement their current writing practices and curricula with a mix of the aforementioned evidence-based writing practices. The optimal mixture of practices should be tailored to best meet the writing needs of the class, as well as the needs of individual students. It is especially important to monitor the success of each technique implemented to be sure that it is working as intended, and to make adjustments as needed.

About the authors

Steve Graham is the Curry Ingram Professor of Literacy at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on writing and writing instruction. Steve is the author of Writing Next and Writing to Read, meta-analyses conducted for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Amy Gillespie is a doctoral student in the Department of Special Education at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. She is in the Experimental Education Research Training Program (ExpERT) at Vanderbilt, supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences (IES). Her primary research interests include writing activities that support reading and interventions for struggling writers.

Further reading

Graham S (2010), Teaching Writing. P Hogan (Ed), Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language Sciences (pp. 848–851). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.Graham S & Perin D (2007),
Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools – A Report to the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.www.all4ed.org/? les/WritingNext.pdf

 

How to Use Graphic Organizers

How to Use Graphic Organizers as a Reading/Writing Strategy

 

Students can outline writing assignments with a Word Web.

Graphic organizers are simple charts that help students communicate effectively and classify ideas. These charts work well in the reading and writing classroom, because they allow students to outline basic ideas and brainstorm. Students no longer have to take basic notes or write a traditional outline when reading new material or writing. Graphic organizers can be modified to work well with all grade levels.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Acquaint students with new information using a KWL chart. KWL charts provide a way for students to integrate previous knowledge with new information. To use a KWL chart, provide a KWL worksheet for students or have them make their own. To make a KWL chart, make three columns on a blank sheet of paper. On the left column, write, "What I Know." In the middle column, write, "What I Want to Know" and in the right column, write, "What I Learned." Before students read a new piece of material or listen to a lecture, ask them to fill out the left column. In this column, students should write what they already know about a topic. Then ask them to fill out what they want to know about the topic. After the new information is presented, ask them to write down what they learned about the new topic in the right-hand column.
     
   • 2
     Brainstorm ideas for writing about a new topic using a cluster/word web. Cluster/word webs allow students to jot down notes about what they want the main points of a writing assignment to be. Use a premade cluster/word web worksheet---several templates exist---or ask students to make their own. In the center of a sheet of paper, students should draw a square and write the word, "Topic." Ask students to write their topic in the square. Surround the square with several circle offshoots. Each circle should be a main point that deals with the writer's topic. For instance, if a student were writing a story about the benefits of exercise, her circles might contain the phrases, "fun with friends," "helps build muscles" and "burns calories." Depending on the topic, students could have different numbers of offshoots, as some topics or writing assignments demand more details. Also, older students should be required to provide more information.
     
     
   • 3
     Dissect and revise pieces of writing using a graphic organizer such as the sequence chart. A sequence chart asks students to focus on the main ideas of a piece but in chronological order. Sequence charts work well for peer writing groups. Divide students into groups of four and have them analyze each other's work. In a sequence chart, students should first list what the topic is. Under the topic, they will then chronologically write what happens next in a story. Then, at the end, they write what comes last. Younger students can use a sequence chart to help them understand the order of events in a fiction piece, too, or even cause and effect. Older students can use a sequence chart to analyze a longer piece of nonfiction that has an obvious beginning, middle and end.
     

Prewriting Strategies

Prewriting Strategies

What Is Prewriting?

Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process and the point at which we discover and explore our initial ideas about a subject. Prewriting helps us to get our ideas on paper, though not usually in an organized form, and brainstorm thoughts that might eventually make their way into our writing. Listed below are some of the most common types of prewriting techniques. You should become familiar with all of these and figure out the one that works best for you. The different types of prewriting that we will explore here are freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, tagmemics, and journalistic technique.

Some Useful Prewriting Strategies

Freewriting

Freewriting involves jotting down on paper all of the ideas you have on a particular topic before you even begin to read about it or do research. You are not worried about complete sentences, proper spelling, or correct punctuation and grammar. Instead, you are interested in “dumping” all of the information you have on paper. You should write everything that comes into your head—even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense yet. Give your self a set amount of time (maybe five to ten minutes), and write down everything that comes to mind about your topic.

Example: I have to write a paper about the environment. I have no idea where to start! I know there are many problems with the environment, but I don’t know much about this topic. Maybe I could take a look at my biology book to come up with some ideas. I know my biology professor is also really into the environment, so maybe I could ask for his help. I remember he was talking about hybrid cars in class the other day and how much better those are for the environment. What is a hybrid car? I know it uses some sort of alternative fuel and they are becoming very popular. Maybe that is something I could write about…

Brainstorming

Much like freewriting, brainstorming involves capturing all of the thoughts, ideas, and fragments in your head and writing them down on paper. Often, brainstorming looks more like a list while freewriting may look more like a paragraph. With either strategy, your goal is to get as many ideas down on paper as you can.

Example:         Environment

                        Problems

                        Future

                        Cars

                        Alternative fuels

                        Hybrid cars

                        Costs

                        Benefits?

Clustering

With this technique, you start with a circle in the middle that contains your main idea and then you draw lines to other, smaller circles that contain sub-ideas or issues related to the main idea. Try to group like ideas together so as to organize yourself.

Example: About the value of a college education

Particle, Wave, Field (Tagmemics)

The basic idea underlying tagmemics can be easily stated: an object, experience, or idea can be viewed as a particle (a static unit), a wave (a dynamic unit changing over time), or a field (a unit seen in the context of a larger network of relationships). Each of these perspectives encourages you to ask different kinds of questions about your subject (represented here as X).

• Particle perspective:      What is X?
• Wave perspective:        How has X changed over time?
• Field perspective:          How does X relate to Y or Z?

 

Example:

If you view something as a particle, you focus on it as a static (still) entity. For example, if you were exploring ideas for a sociology paper on the transformation of the American nuclear family, you could use a particle perspective to ask questions like the following:

• What does the term nuclear family mean?
• Who formulated the term nuclear family?
• What features characterize the nuclear family?

If you look at a subject from the wave perspective, you view it as dynamic or changing over time. The wave perspective would encourage you to ask the following questions:

• How long has the nuclear family characterized family structure in America?

• When did the nuclear family begin to change?
• What factors have caused the nuclear family to change?
• How might these factors affect the American family in the future?

Finally, if you look at a subject from a field perspective, you ask questions about the way that the subject functions as a part of a larger network of relationships. This perspective would encourage you to ask questions like these:

• How are changes in the structure of the American family related to other changes, such as those in the work force, organized religion, the educational system, and divorce rates?
• What are the consequences of changes in the nuclear family for American life in general? For politics? For social services? For education?

Journalistic Technique

As you may know, journalists have six important questions they need to answer about any story they report: who, what, when, where, why, and how. By answering these questions, journalists can be certain that they have provided the most important information about an event, issue, or problem to their readers.

These questions are also useful to you as writers when you are describing and event or writing an informative essay. As with the exploded moment, this technique allows you to make sure you have provided all of the important and specific details of a situation.

Example:

Suppose that your government professor has asked to write about the political conflict in the Middle East. Using the journalistic technique, you could begin working on the paper by asking yourself the following questions:

• Who is involved in the conflict?
• What issues most clearly divide those engaged in this dispute?
• When did the troubles in the Middle East begin, and how have they developed over time?
• Where does the conflict seem most heated or violent?
• Why have those living in this area found it so difficult to resolve the situation?
• How might this conflict be resolved?

Using the journalistic technique helps you make sure you have answered all of the important questions.

Other Useful Strategies

Aside from the strategies listed on these pages, it is also sometimes useful to discuss your ideas with a classmate, friend, or professor. Often, brainstorming aloud and hearing your ideas in auditory fashion can help you think about ways to start your paper. A great resource is the Writing Lab. You do not have to have a rough draft to go the lab; often, it is useful to go there and brainstorm ideas with one of the tutors. Finally, before you begin your prewriting techniques, make sure you thoroughly understand the purpose and audience for the assignment. Ask questions if you are unsure what you are supposed to do. It is difficult to prewrite if you do not understand the assignment.

Why Use these Techniques?

Though you have already used brainstorming, clustering, or any of a number of other prewriting techniques, the particle, wave, field and journalistic techniques are slightly more formal. Try these new ways of prewriting and compare them to the previous strategies you used. The key to any prewriting is finding something that works for you and also finding a technique that is comprehensive enough. Jotting down a word or sentence or two for prewriting is usually not enough; the more ideas you can get on paper in the early stages of writing, the stronger your final paper will be.

Parting Words

Remember to save all of your prewriting! You will have to turn in this step with the rest of your writing, so make sure you put is somewhere safe until the paper is due. Also, your prewriting will often look very different from the final draft. That’s ok—remember that this is just the first step to get you started writing. Your writing will evolve in each step you take it through.

Summary Writing Tips

Summary writing

Remember to summarize the text you've read. Use the following tips:
1)	Shorten the text in such a way that all facts are in the summary. Leave out examples, evaluations and interpretations.
2)	Skim the text. You should know what is the main content of it. Read the headline carefully. It is important.
3)	Read the text again to understand more details. You must have understood the whole text.
4)	Make notes (use keywords). Underline important words in the text.
5)	Form sentences with the help of your keywords. These sentences should reflect the main content of the text.
6)	Connect the sentences using suitable conjunctions. The first sentence should describe the main content of the text.
7)	Use Simple Present or Simple Past. Write sentences in Reported speech.
8)	Sometimes you have to change the persons.
9)	Check your summary. Watch out for spelling mistakes.

Creative Writing - English as a foreign language

         We talk about Creative Writing when we write a text about a special topic. There are various topics to write about when you learn a foreign language. Let's show some examples.
At an early stage you are able to write short texts e.g. about My hometown or My hobbies and interests. Intermediate learners are able to write texts about pros and cons, like: Which do you prefer? - holidays at home or abroad? Advanced students should write texts about more specific topics. Let's think of Martin Luther King and his words: "I have a dream."
Do not forget: Write simple sentences, don't make your structures too complicated
If you follow some rules, it's not complicated to write English texts.
1) Read the task and think twice before you begin.
2) Collect ideas. Make notes on a sheet of paper.
3) Arrange your text, avoid repetitions. Think of an introduction and a conclusion.
4) Write the draft.
5) Read your text again and have a look at the vocabulary and the grammar. Use an English-English dictionary to check the usage of the words. Remind the word order in sentences and questions. Think of additional information you could use in your text.
6) Write your text.
7) Read your text again and watch for spelling mistakes.

Creative Writing - Topics

There are a lot of topics to write about. We've listed some down here.

Me and others

Let me introduce myself...

My sister/brother

My father's/mother's job

My best friend

People I like

Problems of young people

What I think about fashion

My strangest dream

Who can be a hero?

Would you do any voluntary activity?

My world

My home town

Which do you prefer - city life or country life?

Holidays at home or abroad?

I'm happy when...

If I had a million dollars...

Living as a teenager in my country

Hobbies and leisure

Cost of Cds/DVDs

My hobbies and interests

My favourite pop group

My favourite sport

An interesting weekend

An interesting film/book

My last holidays in...

Plans for my next holidays

I have a dangerous hobby

Education and work

Applying for a job

Give arguments for or against teenage working

My dream job

My dream school

My favourite subject

School uniforms

Schools in Blitar

Healthy life

What's my day like?

What I like to eat...

At the doctor's

Try to convince your friend to stop smoking/drinking/taking drugs

My attitude towards sport

My favourite sports

I like fast food

I'm a vegetarian

Me as a consumer

I like/don't like shopping

Pocket money - how much do you get - how much do you need?

Do you save money?

Life on earth

My pet

How can you save the environment?

Endangered animals

Skiing and the environment

Why I like animals

Media and Arts

Do you like reading?

Which do you prefer - reading a book or watching the film?

I like my mobile phone

I like watching TV.

I like playing on the computer.

There's too much violence on TV

Success changes people - what do you think?

The world of English

Life in Britain/the USA/Australia/Northern Ireland (or another English speaking country)

Why should people speak English?

Past, Present and Future

A day without electricity

My future wife/husband

How do you see yourself in 10 years?