英语写作课件

Chapter 2 how to use words in the compositionChoosing the right words to express our ideas is very important in English writing. Generally, there are three criteria for the choice of words. That is, (1) they should be appropriate in a particular context; (2) they should be specific enough; and (3) they should be concise, not wordy.2.1 using appropriate wordsTo be appropriate in choosing the right words for any piece of writing, we should consider the characteristics of the reader. Different levels of formality and different kinds of word choice are appropriate for different readers.According to different levels of formality, words are usually divided into three kinds. They are formal, neutral and informal.Formal words are mainly used in academic writing. This is related to various disciplines, for example, the humanities (such as literature, history, or art), the social sciences, the natural sciences, and also in writing research papers. One group of formal words is technical words. For instance, physicists use the following words to describe an electrical circuit: power, switch, bulb, an electric current travels this way, anode and cathode.Neural words are also called general words. They are used in most college writings.Informal words are further divided into slang words and colloquial words. Slang is very informal, sometimes offensive, language that is used by a particular group of people, say, young people or uneducated farmers. Slang words often occur in dialogues, but they are generally inappropriate for college or business writing. Colloquial words belong to what we call everyday spoken English. They are primarily used in conversations.Remember not to use both formal words and colloquial words in the same piece of writing. But if we use double quotation marks to show it is a direct speech, of course, colloquial words are appropriate here.Generally speaking, in academic writing we should use formal words; in ordinary writing we should use neutral words. We seldom use informal words unless we are quoting what someone says. If we are not sure whether the situation is formal or informal, we’d better use neutral words. The following is a comparison of words in the formal style and those in the informal style:Formal style informal styledepart leaveresign quitposition jobcommence beginContracted words should not be used in the formal style, whereas in the informal style they can occur.Formal style informal stylecan not can’tadvertisement adtelevision TVlaboratory labGenerally speaking, single verbs are frequently used in the formal style while in the informal style phrases are commonly chosen.Formal style informal styleencounter come acrossparticipate take part inreduce cut downutilize make good use ofThen, how to be appropriate in choosing words in English writing? The answer is that language is appropriate when it fits our topic, purpose and audience. But how do we know what is fitting? One way we can develop a sense of audience is through reading. Whether we are preparing to write about literature or natural science or history, take some time to read how writers in the field have handled our topic. Imitation is the best way to learn how to write in English. Remember the following principles when choosing appropriate words:(1) In college writing, avoid slang, regional expressions, and nonstandard English.Slang, regional saying, and nonstandard English appear often in conversation but rarely in college writing—unless that writing is reporting conversation.Slang words change frequently. They are popular mostly with the young, even though some American journalists may occasionally use such terms as buddy—slang for a friend. It is used to talk to a man or boy, especially one you do not know, according to Longman Dictionary ofContemporary English. In college papers, slang terms and the fashionable tone that goes with them should be avoided.Like slang, regional and nonstandard expressions such as cool,y’all, hisself, and don’t be doing that, ain’t work fine in conversation but do not translate well into formal college writing. In American colleges, professions, and businesses, the dominant dialect is standard written English, the language English writing in Chinese colleges and universities also requires.(2) Use an appropriate level of formality.College writing assignments usually call for a style that avoids the extremes of being too formal and of being too informal. The point is that as a college writer, you will need to find and revise articles that are likely to go to one extreme or the other.(3) Avoid jargon.Jargon refers to words and expressions used in a particular profession or by a particular group of people, which are difficult for other people to understand. When specialists communicate with each other, they often use technical language that can sound incomprehensible to non-specialists. Such language is appropriate in many contexts and has a place in college writing. Without it, no one could write a lab report, an economic analysis, or a philosophical argument. Technical language becomes a problem when it is used as jargon.Jargon is the inappropriate use of specialized or technical language. Technical language becomes jargon when it does not fit a writer’s purpose and audience. If you want to be understood, you should not use words which are appropriate for specialists when you are writing for a general audience. Jargon puts people off, making them feel like outsiders.If you need to use a few technical terms when writing for non-specialists, be sure to define them.(4) Avoid most euphemisms and all doublespeakAlthough most writers strive to be clear and direct, euphemisms and doublespeak have another goal: to cover up the truth. A euphemism is a polite word or expression that we use instead of a more direct one to avoid shocking or upsetting someone. For example, pass away is a nice-sounding word for die. On some occasions, the use of pass away may avoid upsetting a grieving person. But usually words should not be used to avoid or deceive.Doublespeak is a speech that is complicated and can have more than one meaning, sometimes used deliberately to deceive or confuse people. It is unclear talk or empty talk, another word fordeceit. Its purpose is not to prevent hurt feelings but to confuse or mislead readers. As the following example shows, politicians sometimes use doublespeak to obscure facts and evade responsibility.Quote Jiang zemin’s words(5) Do not use biased or sexist language.Words can wound. Ethnic and religious groups, people with disabilities, gay men and lesbians, and workers in some professions often objects to the way people talk and write about them. Remember to see if our writing is unintentionally biased. Avoid using words that hurt people on the basis of gender, race, religion, national origin, ethnic group, physical ability, sexual orientation, occupation, or any other human conditions. For example,Leaders who come from Henan Province, the vast plains of central China, behave very badly. They are autocrats, never asking common people for their opinions when making decisions. Sexist language makes women lose respect. For example, many labels and clichés imply that women are not as able or as mature as men. Consider the meaning of words and phrases like the weaker sex, the little woman, acting like a girl, working mother, housewife, poetess.Avoid using the pronoun he. Traditionally, the pronoun he has been used to represent either gender. Today, however, unless a group consists only of men, the use of he to represent everyone in the group offends many people. For example,Everybody had his way.Should be changed into:We all had our way.To avoid sexist language, follow these simple principles:The first way is to replace terms that indicate gender with their genderless equivalents:no yeschairman chair, chairpersoncongressman representative, member of Congressforefathers ancestorsman, mankind people, humansman-made artificialpoliceman police officerspokesman spokespersonThe second way is not to do make unnecessary references to or overemphasize a woman’s marital status, relationship to children, or appearance. Refer to men and women in parallel ways: ladies and gentlemen, men and women, husband and wife.The third way is to replace, whenever possible, the masculine pronouns he, him, his, and himself when they are being used to refer to both women and men. One satisfactory way to replace masculine pronouns is to use the plural. For example,It’s every man for himself.Revised as:All of us have to save ourselves.Some writers alternate he and she, him and her. This strategy may be effective in some writing situations, but switching back and forth can also be distracting. The constructions his or her and he or she are acceptable, as long as they are not used excessively or more than once in a sentence. For example,Awkward: Each student in the psychology class was to choose a different book according to his or her interests, to read the book overnight, to do without his or her normal sleep, to write a short summary of what he or she had read, and then to see if he or she dreamed about the book the following night.Revised: Every student was to choose a book, read it overnight, do without sleep, write a short summary of the book the next morning, and then see if he or she dreamed about the book the following night.Notice that the construction his/her and the unpronounceable s/he are not acceptable in academic writing.Using the more impersonal pronoun one can sometimes help us avoid masculine pronouns. One can make our writing sound too formal and old-fashioned, though, so it is usually better to try another choice. For example,The American creed holds that if one works hard, one will succeed in life.Revised as:The American creed holds that those who work hard will succeed in life.As we said previously, Chinese students of English do not have enough words to express themselves, so they have to create expressions from the Chinese language, thus causing Chinglish to occur. Chinglish is a kind of inappropriate use of words in the particular situation. It is mainly caused by translating each word exactly from the Chinese language, by confusing the similar words in both English and Chinese, and by repeating unnecessarily the same meaning. Read the pages from 19 to 21, and observe the Chinglish way of using words in the examples after class (Zou, 2011). Chinglish is different from China English, which is used to describe the unique phenomenon in China. Most words related to China English can be found on pages from 274 to 318 at the end of Mr. Yu’s book (Yu, 2008).2.2 using exact wordsTo convey our meaning clearly, we need to put words in the right order, but we also need to choose the right words. As we write, be on the lookout for problems with diction and ask us the following question: is my choice of words as precise as it should be? To be precise, we need to follow these principles:(1)choose words with suitable connotations.A word’s denotative meaning is the thing or idea the word refers to, or the meaning found in the dictionary. For example, mother: a female parent of a child or animal; monkey: a small brown animal with a long tail, which uses its hands to climb trees and lives in hot countries.Words have primary meanings, called denotations, and secondary meanings, called connotations.A connotative meaning is the implied meaning or suggested meaning. Some connotative meanings are personal. For example, the word dog may have negative connotations for those who have been bitten several times. Monkey reminds me of cheating. Because I have been cheated several times by the people who were born in the monkey year, I hate cheats very much. Usually people have the same opinion about connotations, for example, mother: love, kind, great; gold: valuable, precious; moon: quiet, pure, unattainable.Words that have similar denotations may have different connotations, different emotional effects and different associations. For example, sports car is defined as an automobile equipped for racing, but it may connote rich, young people in China who are called the affluent second generation. They prefer conducting drag racing at night, having killed lots of people and are hated by most Chinese.What connotations do the following words have for you? Surgeon, politician, cigarette, homeAs we see from the above discussion, connotations come from the feelings and images people associate with a word, so they influence what readers understand a writer to be saying. Consider, for example, the following three sentences:Dean Liu ignored the no-smoking rule.Dean Liu disobeyed the no-smoking rule.Dean Liu flouted the no-smoking rule.Even though the three sentences are about the same event, each sentence describes Dean Liu’s smoking somewhat differently. If Liu ignored the rule, it may simply have been because he did not know or care about it. If he disobeyed the rule, he must have known about it and consciously decided not to follow it, but what if he flouted the rule? Well, then there was probably a look of disdain on his face as he made sure that others would see him deliberately puffing away at a cigarette.If you cannot think of a more suitable word, consult a thesaurus for synonyms, words with similar meanings. Keep in mind that most words have connotations that allow them to work in some contexts but not in others. To find out more about a synonym’s connotations, look the word up in a dictionary. In other words, get a good dictionary at hand, when writing. Consult it whenever you are not sure of a word’s meaning.We need to distinguish between similar-sounding words that have widely different denotations or homonyms（同音异意词）. For example, principal/principle, flower/flour. Of course, there are much more commonly confused homonyms than these.We also need to distinguish between words with related but different denotations. (Keene, 2003: 287-296)Adapt, adoptAdvice, adviseAffect, effectBad, badlyBeside, besidesBiannual, biennialBreath, breatheCapital, capitolCite, sight, siteComplement, compliment Continual, continuousCouncil, counselData, datumDisinterested, uninterestedDue toEmigrate from, immigrate to Farther, furtherHanged, hungImply, inferLater, latterLay, lieLead, ledLiableLike, asLoose, loseMedia, mediumMoral, moralePassed, pastPrecede, proceedPrincipal, principleProvided, providingRaise, riseRespectfully, respectivelySet, sitSometime, some time, sometimes Stationary, stationery(2)include specific and concrete words.Words in English writing can also be divided into general words and specific words, abstract words and concrete words. General words name broad categories of things, such as trees, books, politicians, or students. Specific words name particular kinds of things or items, such as pines, Moyan’s novels, party members, or college sophomores.Abstract words name qualities and ideas that do not have physical properties, such as beauty, hope, radical, inflation, management, culture, liberal. Concrete words name things which we can sense by touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight, such as velvet, vinegar, smoke, sweater, shinny, humming, brick, bitter, musty.By creating images that appeal to the senses, specific and concrete words can help make our writing more precise. For example,Vague: The trees were affected by the bad weather.Precise: The small pines shook in the gale. (a very strong wind)An example of misusing general and concrete words is as follows:From the picture, we can see something, the picture is a girl with all the wears, so does his sister and his husband. We do not know how to do this. I have won.The words something, wears, this, win in the above composition are too general and vague in meaning.Generally speaking, the use of words should be specific and concrete. Try to avoid using vague expressions. For example, suppose you know the name of a particular tree, you should not just use a general word tree as in the sentence:There is a tree in my backyard.You’d better say:There is an apple tree in my backyard.The more concrete the word meaning is, the deeper impression it will make on readers. For instance, the following use of general words is not appropriate.Our teacher of English saw an animal this afternoon.Here, an animal is too general. It should be changed into a dog, a pig or a cat etc.I like to eat food.Here the word food is also too general. It should be changed into such words as noodles, cakes and so on.One more example:His father is a person.a person should be replaced by a teacher, a doctor, and the like. Now, let’s appreciate the use of specific words (Zou, 2011: 32).(3)Use standard idioms.Idioms are habitual ways of expressing ideas, and they usually cannot be translated from one language to another. In fact, sometimes they cannot be transferred from one region to another within a country. If you ask a southerner in the United States for a poke, he or she will hand you a paper bag; if you ask a New Yorker, he or she may hit you in the mouth.As customary forms of expression, idioms are not always logical. Often they involve selecting the right preposition. We are not capable to but capable of; we do not go with the car but in the car or simply by car; we do not abide with a rule but by a rule. If you are not sure which preposition to use, look up the main word in the dictionary.Some verbs, called phrasal verbs, include a preposition to make their meaning complete. These verbs often have an idiomatic meaning that changes significantly when the attached preposition changes. For example,Break down: stop functioningBring up: mention in conversation; raise a childCall off: cancelCall up: contact by telephoneCatch up with: reach the same place asCatch up on: get up-to-date information onDrop in on: visit unexpectedlyDrop off: deliverFill out: completeFind out: discoverGet away with: avoid discoveryGet off (your chest): tell a long-concealed secret or problemGet off (the couch): stand upGet over: recoverGive up: surrender; stop work onLeave out: omitLook down on: despiseLook forward to: anticipateLook into: researchLook up: check a factLook up to: admirePut up with: endureRun across: meet unexpectedlyRun out: use upSend off: say goodbye toStand up for: defendTake after: resembleTake off: leave the airport (a plane); miss time from workTurn down: reject(4)Avoid cliché.A clichéis a phrase that has been used so much that it is not effective or does not have any meaning any longer. The moment we read the first word or two of a cliché, we know how it will end. If someone says, “She was as blind as a…”, we expect the next word to be bat.We have heard this expression so often that it no longer creates a vivid picture in our imagination. It is usually best to rephrase a cliché as simply as you can in plain language. For example,Cliché: When John turned his papers in three weeks late, he had to face the music.Better: When John turned his papers in three weeks late, he had to accept the consequences. (5)Create suitable figures of speechFigures of speech make writing vivid, most often by using a comparison to supplement the literal meaning of words. A simile is a comparison that contains the word like or as. For example,His smile was like the sun peeking through after a rainstorm.A metaphor is an implied comparison. It treats one thing or action as if it were something else. For example,His teaching of English writing was so crystal clear that all of us could understand himcompletely.Two other figures of speech are personification and hyperbole. Personification treats ideas and things as if they were human. For example,I could hear the whisper of snowflakes, nudging each other as they fell.Note: nudge: to push someone gently, usually with your elbow, in order to get their attention Hyperbole deliberately exaggerates. It simply means to say more than what you mean. For example,He yelled so loud that his voice carried to the next county. Read Yu, 2008: 212-213(6)Avoid misusing words.In college, your vocabulary will grow as you learn more about various subjects and ways of talking about them. You can expect some growing pains, however, including mistakes in your use of new terms and unfamiliar words. You can reduce such mistakes by consulting a dictionary whenever you include an unfamiliar word in your writing. A desk dictionary and a thesaurus are essential tools for all writers. You should also find out about specialized dictionaries for the subject area of your major. So it is advisable to make using the dictionary a habit and consult a thesaurus for words that have similar meanings. The word thesaurus in Latin means treasury or collection. A thesaurus is a dictionary of synonyms. Many kinds of thesauruses are available nowadays.Most writers find a thesaurus a pleasure to use, but you need to be cautious when using one. Consider the connotations as well as the denotations of the words you find in the thesaurus. Do not choose a word just because you think it sounds smart or fancy.2.3 using concise wordsThe use of words should be concise. Concise means short, with no unnecessary words. A sentence does not have to be short and simple to be concise. Instead, every word in it must count, especially when the subject matter is complex or technical. To be concise, we should follow these principles: (1)eliminate redundancies.Redundancies are meaningless repetitions that result in wordiness. Be on the lookout for such commonplace redundancies as f irst and foremost, full and complete, final result, past history, mix together, join together, round in shape, blue in color, and refer back. For example,The College of Foreign Languages, TUT has a faculty of teachers who do their jobs well.Faculty: all the teachers in a university. Revised as:The College of Foreign Languages, TUT has a faculty that do their jobs well.Sometimes, modifiers such as very, rather, and really and intensifiers such as absolutely, definitely, and incredibly do not add meaning to a sentence but are simply redundant and can be deleted. For example,The end of the story definitely shocked us very much.The end of the story shocked us.(2)do not repeat words unnecessarily.Although repetition is sometimes used for emphasis, unnecessary repetitions weaken sentences and should be removed. For example,The children enjoyed watching television more than they enjoyed reading books.The children enjoyed watching television more than reading books.(3)Replace wordy phrases with concise wordsMake your sentences more concise by replacing wordy phrases with an appropriate single word. For example,It is necessary at this point in time that tests be run for the purpose of measuring the strength of the switch.Tests must now be run to measure the strength of the switch.In the following, the words in the left are wordy, whereas those in the right are concise:Wordy phrases concise wordsalong the lines of likeat all times alwaysat the present time nowat this point in time nowat that point in time thenbecause of the fact that becausebring all this to a conclusion concludeby means of bydue to the fact that becauseduring the same time that whilefor the purpose of forfor the reason that becausehave the ability to canhave the capacity to canin a great many instances oftenin close proximity to nearin order to toin spite of the fact that althoughin the event that ifin the final analysis finallyin the near future soonin the not-too-distant future soonin this day and age nowadays/todayis necessary that mustis able to canon account of the fact that becausethe reason why why(4)Make your sentences straightforward.Concise sentences are straightforward; they get to the point quickly instead of in a roundabout way. To make a roundabout sentence more direct, eliminate expletive constructions like there is, there are, and it is and replace the static verbs to be and to have with active verbs. For example,There were about 30 students who came to attend my lecture on English writing.About 30 students came to attend my lecture on English writing.(5)Reduce clauses and phrases.For conciseness and clarity, simplify your sentence structure by turning modifying clauses into phrases. For example,The book The Red Chinese Sorghum, which was written by Moyan, the 2012 Nobel Prize winner in literature, is now being sold very well throughout China.The book The Red Chinese Sorghum, written by Moyan, the 2012 Nobel Prize winner in literature, is now being sold very well throughout China.Also look for opportunities to reduce phrases to single words. For example,The film 007, in which James Bond played a leading role, revived the public interest in the detective stories.Notice that James Bond is a character in the books by Ian Fleming, and in the films that have been based on these stories. James Bond is a secret agent who works for the British government and is sometimes called "007".James Bond’s film 007 revived the public interest in the detective stories.Now let’s do the exercises (Zou, 2011: 30, 31)The same piece of information can be conveyed in different numbers of words. (Zou, 2011: 32-33) Overusing formulas may reduce the amount of information carried in the paragraph. For example: Carefully analysizing the drawing, we can safely come to the conclusion. “Pleased” may be the right to describe the cartoonist. As the graphs have it, a sporter is run again. Glad to say, there is no dening that the favorable phenomena is going on for a few years ahead.This paragraph contains 49 words. It does not carry enough information. The overuse of transitions is very serious. Almost all the sentences contain transitional formulas. So we say that the paragraph has a small amount of information.To sum up, ways to achieve conciseness are cutting or shortening empty words and phrases, cutting unnecessary repetition, reducing clauses to phrases, phrases to single words (Yu, 2008: 69-71), eliminating there is and it is constructions, combining sentences.2.4 using cohesive wordsA paragraph is coherent when the writer has succeeded in marking his ideas and details clearly. One technique for doing this is using cohesive words. Then what is cohesion? How does it work in the paragraph? To answer these questions, see Yu, 2008: 19-252.5 varying words for varietiesWithin the same paragraph, try to use as many synonyms, key words, superordinates and hyponyms and pronouns as possible. Do not use a single word many times unless you want to achieve a stylistic effect. Otherwise, your paragraph would sound a little bit boring.How to vary words through synonyms, key words, superordinates and hyponyms and pronouns? Yu, 2008: 25-39。