Ⅲ. Types of Writing

1. Description

Description is painting a picture in words of a person, place, object, or scene.
A description essay is generally developed through sensory details, or the impressions of one's senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Not all details are useful. The writer should choose those that help to bring out the dominant characteristic or outstanding quality of the person or thing described, and leave out those irrelevant ones, which, if included, would only distract the reader's attention from the main impression the writer wishes to give.

(1) Description of a person

In describing a person, the writer should not merely give details of his appearance. He should try to reveal the person's character, thoughts, and feelings, which may be shown in what the person does and says, or in how he behaves to others. And it is important to grasp the characteristic features that distinguish him from all other people. Those features that he shares with others can be omitted. Peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of a person, if any, should be included in the description, for they usually impress the reader deeply and give life to the person described.

Models

A. Kittredge of Harvard

    The sight of him as he came to the ten-o'clock class was in itself something that had to be recognized as dramatic. In the pleasant autumn or spring, men stood high on the steps or out on the turf in front and watched in the direction of Christ Church to see who could catch the first glimpse of him.
"There he comes!" somebody called, and then everybody who was in a position to see watched him as he hurried breezily along - a graceful, tallish man in very light gray suit and gray fedora hat, with a full square beard at least as white as his suit, who moved with energy, and smoked passionately at a big cigar. Students used to say that he smoked an entire cigar while he walked the short distance along the iron fence of the old burying ground and across the street to Johnston Gate. But as he came through the gate he tossed the remnant of his cigar into the shrubbery with a bit of a flourish, and the students still outside hurried in and scrambled up the long stairway in order to be in their places - as he liked - before he himself entered. If any of them were still on the stairway when he came in at the outer door like a gust, they gave way and he pushed up past them, and into the good-sized room and down the aisle to the front, threw his hat on the table in the corner, mounted the two steps to the platform, looked about with a commanding eye, and there was sudden silence and unrestrained expectancy.

- Rollo Walter Brown

B. Chou Enlai

    Chou En-lai arrived [at the guest house for state visitors] at 4:30. His gaunt, expressive face was dominated by piercing eyes, conveying a mixture of intensity and repose, of wariness and calm self-confidence. He wore an immaculately tailored gray Mao tunic, at once simple and elegant. He moved gracefully and with dignity, filling a room not by his physical dominance (as did Mao or de Gaulle) but by his air of controlled tension, steely discipline, and self-control, as if he were a coiled spring. He conveyed an easy casualness, which, however, did not deceive the careful observer. The quick smile, the comprehending expression that made clear he understood English even without translation, the palpable alertness, were clearly the features of a man who had had burned into him by a searing half-century the vital importance of self-possession. I greeted him at the door of the guest house and ostentatiously stuck out my hand. Chou gave me a quick smile and took it. It was the first step in putting the legacy of the past behind us.
Unlike Mao, Chou had lived abroad; born of a middle-class family in 1898, he had been a brilliant student and had studied and worked in France and Germany in the 1920s. When I met him, he had been a leader of the Chinese Communist movement for nearly fifty years. He had been on the Long March. He had been the only Premier the People's Republic had had - nearly twenty-two years - and for nine of those years he had also been Foreign Minister. Chou had negotiated with General Marshall in the 1940s. He was a figure out of history. He was equally at home in philosophy, reminiscence, historical analysis, tactical probes, humorous repartee. His command of facts, in particular his knowledge of American events and, for that matter, of my own background, was stunning. There was little wasted motion either in his words or in his movements. Both reflected the inner tensions of a man concerned, as he stressed, with the endless daily problems of a people of 800 million and the effort to preserve ideological faith for the next generation...
Chou could also display an extraordinary personal graciousness. When junior members of our party took ill, he would visit them. Despite the gap in our protocol rank he insisted that our meetings alternate between my residence and the Great Hall of the People so that he would call on me as often as I called on him. After we had settled on Paris as our future point of contact, Chou nevertheless proposed that we continue to use the Pakistani channel occasionally because "we have a saying in China that one shouldn't break the bridge after crossing it."
...
... The Chinese seemed to regard him with special reverence, to see in him all their leaders a special quality. On a visit in late 1975 I asked a young interpreter about Chou's health; tears brimmed in her eyes as she told me he was gravely ill. It was no accident that he was so deeply mourned in China after his death, or that the extraordinary expressions of yearning for greater freedom that appeared in China in the late 1970s invoked and praised his name.
Chou En-lai, in short, was one of the two or three most impressive men I have ever met. Urbane, infinitely patient, extraordinarily intelligent, subtle, he moved through our discussions with an easy grace that penetrated to the essence of our new relationship as if there were no sensible alternative.

- Henry Kissinger: White House Years

(2) Description of a place

Places may be described for their own sake, as in essays on visits to famous scenic places, but also for the purpose of revealing the personality and character of a person, or creating a feeling or mood. A clean and tidy room, for example, might show that the occupant is an orderly person. The howling of a chilly wind, the falling of autumn leaves, a house standing in solitude on a barren mountain, all help to build up a somber mood and increase, the feeling of depression. As in describing a person, in describing a place one should mainly write about the things that make it different from other places.

Models

A. The Middle Eastern Bazaar

The Middle Eastern bazaar takes you back hundreds - even thousands - of years. The one I am thinking of particularly is entered by a Gothic-arched gateway of aged brick and stone. You pass from the heat and glare of a big, open square into a cool, dark cavern which extends as far as the eye can see, losing itself in the shadowy distance. Little donkeys with harmoniously tinkling bells thread their way among the throngs of people entering and leaving the bazaar. The roadway is about twelve feet wide, but it is narrowed every few yards by little stalls where goods of every conceivable kind are sold. The din of the stall-holders crying their wares, of donkey-boys and porters clearing a way for themselves by shouting vigorously, and of would-be purchasers arguing and bargaining is continuous and makes you dizzy.
Then as you penetrate deeper into the bazaar, the noise of the entrance fades away, and you come to the muted clothmarket. The earthen floor, beaten hard by countless feet, deadens the sound of footsteps, and the vaulted mudbrick walls and roof have hardly any sounds to echo. The shopkeepers speak in slow, measured tones, and the buyers, overwhelmed by the sepulchral atmosphere, follow suit.
One of the peculiarities of the Eastern bazaar is that shopkeepers dealing in the same kind of goods do not scatter themselves over the bazaar, in order to avoid competition, but collect in the same area, so that purchasers can know where to find them, and so that they can form a closely knit guild against injustice or persecution. In the cloth-market, for instance, all the sellers of material for clothes, curtains, chair-covers and so on line the roadway on both sides, each open-fronted shop having a trestle table for display and shelves for storage. Bargaining is the order of the day, and veiled women move at a leisurely pace from shop to shop, selecting, pricing and doing a little preliminary bargaining before they narrow down their choice and begin the really serious business of beating the price down.
It is a point of honor with the customer not to let the shopkeeper guess what it is she really likes and wants until the last moment. If he does guess correctly, he will price the item high, and yield little in the bargaining. The seller, on the other hand, makes a point of protesting that the price he is charging is depriving him of all profit, and that he is sacrificing this because of his personal regard for the customer. Bargaining can go on the whole day, or even several days, with the customer coming and going at intervals.
One of the most picturesque and impressive parts of the bazaar is the copper-smiths' market. As you approach it, a tinkling and banging and clashing begins to impinge on your ear. It grows louder and more distinct, until you round a corner and see a fairyland of dancing flashes, as the burnished copper catches the light of innumerable lamps and braziers. In each shop sit the apprentices - boys and youths, some of them incredibly young - hammering away at copper vessels of all shapes and sizes, while the shop-owner instructs, and sometimes takes a hand with a hammer himself. In the background, a tiny apprentice blows a charcoal fire with a huge leather bellow worked by a string attached to his big toe - the red of the live coals glowing bright and then dimming rhythmically to the strokes of the bellows.
Here you can find beautiful pots and bowls engraved with delicate and intricate traditional designs, or the simple, everyday kitchenware used in this country, pleasing in form; but undecorated and strictly functional.
Elsewhere there is the carpet-market, with its profusion of rich colors, varied textures and regional designs - some bold and simple, others unbelievably detailed and yet harmonious. Then there is the spice-market, with its pungent and exotic smells; and the food-market, where you can buy everything you need for the most sumptuous dinner, or eat your humble bread and cheese. The dye-market, the pottery-market and the carpenters' market lie elsewhere in the maze of vaulted streets which honeycomb this bazaar. Every here and there, a doorway gives a glimpse of a sunlit courtyard perhaps before a mosque or a caravanserai, where camels lie disdainfully chewing their hay, while the great bales of merchandise they have carried hundreds of miles across the desert lie beside them.
Perhaps the most unforgettable thing in the bazaar, apart from its general atmosphere, is the place where they make linseed oil. It is a vast, somber cavern of a room, some thirty feet high and sixty feet square, and so thick with the dust of centuries that the mudbrick walls and vaulted roof are only dimly visible. In this cavern are three massive stone wheels, each with a huge pole through its center as an axle. The pole is attached at the one end to an upright post, around which it can revolve, and at the other to a blind-folded camel, which walks constantly in a circle, providing the motive power to turn the stone wheel. This revolves in a circular stone channel, into which an attendant feeds linseed. The stone wheel crushes it to a pulp, which is then pressed to extract the oil. The camels are the largest and finest I have ever seen and in superb condition - muscular, massive and stately.
The pressing of the linseed pulp to extract the oil is done by a vast ramshackle apparatus of beams and ropes and pulleys which towers to the vaulted ceiling and dwarfs the camels and their stone wheels. The machine is operated by one man, who shovels the linseed pulp into a stone vat, climbs up nimbly to a dizzy height to fasten ropes, and then throws his weight on to a great beam made out of a tree trunk to set the ropes and pulleys in motion. Ancient girders creak and groan, ropes tighten and then a trickle of oil oozes down a stone rummel into a used petorl can. Quickly the trickle becomes a flood of glistening linseed oil as the beam sinks earthwards, taut and protesting, its creaks blending with the squeaking and tumbling of the grinding-wheels and the occasional grunts and sighs of the camels.

(from Advanced Comprehension
and Appreciation Pieces, 1962)

B. Lajia Temple

    Lajia Temple lies half way up Dalan Hill in Minghe county, Qinghai province. It was built during the Northern Wei dynasty in remembrance of Lajiameshi, a member of the Yellow Sect of Lamaism of India, who came to China in 321 A.D. to spread Hinayana doctrine and spent thirteen years preaching around this place until he returned to India in 334 A.D.
The stone staircases lead you from the foot of the hill straight to the red gate of Lajia Temple facing the east. Entering the gate there is a path 200 meters long and three meters wide stretching out before your feet.
Standing at both sides of the path are two small cone-shaped pavilions, each is supported by three red pillars. There stands a tablet recording the history of the temple in the pavilion on the left, while in the pavilion on the right, there is a chess table made of stone. Although it is worn by constant use, you can still discern the lines on the stone. It is said during the yeas when Lajiameshi meditated in the cave behind the temple, he sometimes played chess with the local people on this table when he was tired from sitting. Later after his departure, the cave collapsed and the chess table was removed into the temple.
The path finally ends right in front of Falundian, the Hall of Dharma. It is a triangular prism-shaped structure with a clay elephant on the ridge. Under the four overhanging eaves are four great pillars on which flying dragons are spiralling upward. The whole structure is about 11 meters in height and occupies a floor space of 300 square meters.
Once you get into the hall, the first thing you see is the colored clay sculpture of Sakyamuni sitting cross-legged on the waterlily stand. The Buddha has a calm smile on his face. The robe is tightly wrapped around his body as if he has just come out of water. On the right of Sakyamuni is the laughing Amitabha in his half-lying posture, while the Buddha of Infinite Life on the left has a serene look.
At the back of the three buddhas is the standing statue of Lajia-meshi, made of elm. It is the image of a thin man with long curly hair and bright eyes. His left leg is raised as if he were stepping swiftly into the gate of heaven. The long streaks engraved on the cassock give you the impression that he is riding on the wind. This was a most learned man who came to China as a religious preacher, and at the same time he introduced a totally different culture to the Chinese people. Largely owing to his efforts, the Chinese built the first and largest temple of the Yellow Sect of Lamaism of China - Taer Temple.

- Student

(3) Description of an object

To describe an object we have to depend on our senses, because we need to mention its size, shape, color, texture, taste, and smell. It is also necessary to tell how it is used if it is useful, and what part it plays in a person's life if it is in some way related to him. But emphasis should be placed on only one aspect of the object, probably its most important characteristic.

Model

The Earliest Coins in China

Of the various currencies used in ancient China, the round bronze coin with a square hole in the center was by far the most common. The earliest coins in this form, known as Qin ban liang, were a product of China's first centralized kingdom, the Qin dynasty, established by Qin Shi Huang in 221 B.C. Before the Qin dynasty, Chinese currency had taken many forms. Coins shaped like various items of clothing, farm implements, or knives were in circulation, but they were costly and hard to produce, and difficult to carry and transport. The new coins were a great improvement - they were relatively simple to cast and could be strung together for ease of transportation. The new coins also had a particular philosophical significance to the ancient Chinese, who made the coins to symbolize their belief that heaven was round and the earth was square, and that heaven sheltered the earth and all things in the universe were united. This concept of unity was important to the Qin emperors, who ruled over a unified China and believed their power great enough to spread to the four corners of the earth.
The coins also had great aesthetic appeal. They were thought to represent the relationship between man and nature. Commonly found in nature, the circle represents freedom, comfort, and ease; whereas the square is seen as something man-made, a symbol of law, order, and restraint.
All these factors combined to keep the coins in circulation for more than 2,000 years, only in the twentieth century did they cease to be legal tender.

- Chen Xingde

(4) Description of a scene

A scene is sometimes the main part of an essay, and sometimes only an episode in a long narrative. It usually consists of three basic factors: the setting, the people, and the actions. It is also possible to describe the scene of some natural phenomenon.
Again, the writer should try to create a dominant impression when describing a scene. Before he begins to write, he must make up his mind as to what effect he wants the description to achieve. This will help him to decide which details to delete and which to include.

Model

 Typhoon

    The typhoon came out of the sea first as a deep hollow roar. Then it appeared as a monstrous black cloud. The cloud seemed a thing alive, shaping itself this way and that, torn by contending winds. However it might stretch to right or left, it continued to spread upward and reach toward east and west. The day darkened to twilight and the dreaded roar of sound came rushing toward me from out of the depths. I crouched behind my rock and waited.
At first, I remember, there was no rain, only the wild winds and the tossing sea. An hour earlier, the sea had been calm and blue. Now it was black and streaked with crests of white foam. When the rain came it was all of a sudden, as though the clouds had opened and spilled. A curtain of rain fell between mountain and sea, a solid sheet of water three feet away from me. The grass and brush on the mountainside flattened under the wind and the rain. I was surrounded by the madness, the unreason, of uncontrolled, undisciplined energy...
The storm spent itself at last. The winds dispersed, the rain slackened to a drizzle and mist, the cloud fell apart and the sun shone through. I came out from my shelter and surveyed the ruin left behind. Trees had fallen on the lower levels, gullies were dug into the earth between the rocks, the very grass and underbrush lay flat and exhausted.

- Pearl Buck

2. Narration

To narrate is to give an account of an event or a series of events. In its broadest sense, narrative writing includes stories, real or imaginary, biographies, histories, news items, and narrative poems.
Narration often goes hand in hand with description. When one tells a story, one describes its setting and characters. On the other hand, accounts of actions may be necessary to the description of a person or a scene.
When planning a narrative, the writer should consider these five aspects: context, selection of details, organization, point of view, and purpose.

(1) Context

When, where, and to whom the action in a narrative happened is often made clear at the beginning of the narrative. This will provide the reader with a context, or circumstances, to help him understand the whole narrative.

(2) Selection of details

A narrative is made up of details. There should be enough details so that the reader knows what is happening, but there should not be too many of them, or the reader will be confused and lose interest in the story. Only relevant details, or things that contribute to bringing out the main ideas of the narrative, are useful and effective. When selecting details, therefore, the writer should bear in mind his purpose in writing the narrative.

(3) Organization

Events in a narrative are usually related in chronological order, that is, in the order in which they occur. But it is also possible, and sometimes preferable, to start from the middle or even the end of the story with the event that is most important or most likely to arouse the reader's interest, and then go back to the beginning by using flashbacks. A narrative generally has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The setting may be given in the beginning. The middle (the body) tells the story itself. When the story is clearly told, the narrative comes to a natural end; then there is no need for a superfluous concluding paragraph. But sometimes it may be necessary to add one or two paragraphs about the significance of the story or about things that happen afterwards.

(4) Point of view

A story can be told either in the first person or in the third person, each having its advantages and disadvantages. A first-person narrative may be more graphic and lifelike, because it gives the reader the impression that it is what the writer himself has seen or experienced. But the scope of the narrative may be limited, for it is difficult to recount events that happen in different places at the same time. A third-person narrative is free from this limitation, and it may seem more objective, but it is not easy to put in good order things that happen to different people in different places.

(5) Purpose

There must be a purpose in telling a story. The writer may want to prove a theory, to illustrate a concept, to praise a virtue, to condemn a vice, etc. He should make sure that the total effect of his narrative, or the final impression it leaves on the reader, is in agreement with his purpose. To achieve this, he has to choose details and design the plot of his story carefully.

Model

Salvation

I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved. It happened like this. There was a big revival at my Auntie Reed's church. Every night for weeks there had been much preaching, singing, praying, and shouting, and some very hardened sinners had been brought to Christ, and the membership of the church had grown by leaps and bounds. Then just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for children, "to bring the young lambs to the fold." My aunt spoke of it for days ahead. That night I was escorted to the front row and placed in the mourners' bench with all the other young sinners, who had not yet been brought to Jesus.
My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside. And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on. She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. I believed her, I had heard a great many old people say the same thing and it seemed to me they ought to know. So I sat there calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus to come to me.
The preacher preached a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell, and then he sang a song about the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold. Then he said: "Won't you come? Won't you come to Jesus? Young lambs, won't you come?" And he held out his arms to all us young sinners there on the mourners' bench. And the little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. But most of us Just sat there.
A great many old people came and knelt around us and prayed, old women with jet-black faces and braided hair, old men, with work-knarled hands. And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning, some poor sinners to be saved. And the whole building rocked with prayer and song.
Still I kept waiting to see Jesus.
Finally all the young people had gone to the altar and were saved, but one boy and me. He was a rounder's son named Westley. Westley and I were surrounded by sisters and deacons praying. It was very hot in the church, and getting late now. Finally Westley said to me in a whisper: "God damn! I'm tired o'sitting here. Let's get up and be saved." So he got up and was saved.
Then I was left all alone on the mourners' bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting - but he didn't come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened.
I heard the songs and the minister saying: "Why don't you come? My dear child, why don't you come to Jesus? Jesus is waiting for you. He wants you. Why don't you come? Sister Reed, what is this child's name?"
"Langston," my aunt sobbed.
" Langston, why don't you come? Why don't you come and be saved? Oh, Lamb of God! Why don't you come?"
Now it was really getting late. I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything up so long. I began to wonder what God thought about Westley, who certainly hadn't seen Jesus either, but who was now sitting proudly on the platform, swinging his knickerbockered legs and grinning down at me, surrounded by deacons and old women on their knees praying. God had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved.
So I got up.
Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting, as they saw me rise. Waves of rejoicing swept the place. Women leaped in the air. My aunt threw her arms around me. The minister took me by the hand and led me to the platform.

When things quieted down, in a hushed silence, punctuated by a few ecstatic "Amens," all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God. Then joyous singing filled the room.
That night, for the last time in my life but one - for I was a big boy twelve years old - I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldn't stop. I buried my head under the quilts, but my aunt heard me. She woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, and because I had seen Jesus. But I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus any more, since he didn't come to help me.

- Langston Hughes

3. Exposition

Exposition is perhaps the type of writing that is most frequently used by a student, a scientist, or a professional. Exposition means expounding or explaining. An expository paper explains or explores something, such as the process of making a machine, the causes of a natural or social phenomenon, the planning of a project, or the solution of a problem.
We have seen that description mainly deals with appearances and feelings, and narration with events and experiences. Unlike these two types of writing, exposition mainly deals with processes and relationships. We are writing a descriptive essay when we describe the appearance of an object; but we are writing an expository essay when we explain how it is made, how it is used, and how it may change. When we narrate a historical event, we tell what happened, when and where it happened, and who took part in it. In an expository paper, we discuss its cause and effect, its nature, and its significance in history.
Things can be explained by illustration, process, classification and division, comparison and contrast, an analysis of their causes and effects, or definition. That is to say, methods which are good for paragraph development are also good for expository essays. The difference lies in scope and proportion. In a paragraph a point is often made in one or two sentences; in an essay it may take one or two paragraphs to make a point clear.
The most important quality of exposition is clarity. To achieve this the writer should:

1) Limit his subject or the scope of discussion, for it is impossible to explain many things clearly in a short essay;
2) Prepare enough material (details or examples) to help his explanation; the ordinary reader often finds abstract discussions hard to follow if they are not illustrated by concrete examples;
3) Present his facts and views in proper order, in the order of time or of logical sequence depending on the nature of the subject;
4) Pay attention to the accuracy and clarity of words and sentences; avoid ornamental as well as ambiguous expressions; and
5) Make his exposition, if possible, interesting or moving - an experienced writer can often instruct and move or entertain his reader at the same time.

(1) Illustration

Illustration is the use of example to illustrate a point. It is the most common, and often the most efficient, pattern of exposition. Indeed, it is hard to write a good paper of any kind without using it at least some examples. Good examples help to clarify a writer's thought by making the general specific, and the abstract concrete. They also add interest and help to persuade or convince the reader.
Illustration is sometimes used alone as the basic means of development; but it is also, and perhaps more frequently, used with other basic techniques, such as comparison and contrast, classification and division, definition, etc.
A successful illustration paper depends on
1) A wise selection of sufficient examples which are specific and typical, interesting and relevant - the examples may be either personal experiences or second-hand information from reliable sources; and
2) An expert arrangement of these examples - similar or related examples should be grouped together and arranged climactically.

Model

Language and Culture

Once a group of Chinese was visiting the home of a fairly well-to-do American. As they were shown around the house, they commented, "You have a very nice home. It's so beautiful." The hostess smiled with obvious pleasure and replied in good American fashion "Thank you" - which caused surprise among some of her Chinese guests. Later, while conversing at the dinner table, the host remarked to the Chinese interpreter, a young lady who had graduated not long ago from a Chinese university, "Your English is excellent. Really quite fluent." To this she demurred, "No, no. My English is quite poor" - an answer that he had not expected and found a bit puzzling.
Was the American hostess' reply immodest, as it seemed to some of the Chinese?
Was the young Chinese interpreter's remark insincere, as it sounded to the Americans?
In both cases the answer is no. To English-speaking people, praise is to be accepted, generally with a remark like "Thank you." It is assumed that the compliment is sincere, that the praise is for some not unworthy achievement or thing. Therefore, there should be no show of false humility, no pretended modesty. To Chinese, however, the customary reply to a compliment would be to claim that one is not worthy of the praise, that what one has done is hardly enough, or that success was more a matter of luck or some other circumstances. Aceptance of a compliment would imply conceit or lack of manners. So, in the two cases above, the reason for such different reactions was differences in customs and habits. Each was interpreting what the other said according to his or her own culture.
Events like these are fairly common when people of different languages and cultures communicate. Because of cultual differences, misunderstandings may arise, although the language used in communication may be faultless. The same words or expressions may not mean the same thing to different peoples. Because of cultural differences, a serious question may cause amusement or laughter; a harmless statement may cause displeasure or anger. Because of cultural differences, jokes by a foreign speaker may be received with blank faces and stony silence. Yet the same stories in the speaker's own country would leave audiences holding their sides with laughter.

- Deng Yanchang

(2) Division and Classification

Division and classification are two different ways of sorting things out. Division is used to deal with one thing. Its purpose is to separate that thing into parts. For example, a pair of glasses can be divided into the frame and the lens, and a composition, into introduction, body, and conclusion. Classification, on the other hand, is used to organize things which share certain qualities. Its purpose is to group these things systematically. For example, courses in college can be classified into "elective" and "required / obligatory", or into those taught in the native language and those offered in foreign languages. The same group of things may be classified according to different principles.
Division and classification are useful organizational strategies in writing. The former stresses the distinction between things, whereas the latter emphasizes the similarities. The two methods can be used separately, but they often go together. Division deals with the whole and classification, the parts. The whole is composed of parts, and parts make up the whole; the whole and the parts are closely related.
When using division or classification in your writing, keep in mind the following guidelines:

1) Choose an appropriate principle of division / classification suited to your purpose.

Things are divided or classified according to the writer's purpose or interests. Thus a body of students may be classified into male and female, or majors of natural sciences, social sciences, etc. If the writer's purpose is to show the difficulties Chinese students have in pronunciation, he may well classify them on the basis of the dialects they speak rather than their places of origin or the provinces they come from. For people speaking the same dialect tend to have similar inaccuracies in pronunciation.
Be sure that your principle of division / classification is interesting and significant. A division of people according to their weight may be absurd unless you intend to discuss how different categories respond to certain medicine the dosage of which depends on a person's weight.
2) Apply your principle consistently and thoroughly, and avoid overlapping.
Your categories should be divided according to one principle throughout. A body of people may be divided according to sex, race, nationality, occupation, interests, religious belief, family background, socioeconomic background, attitude toward work / marriage, etc. It is faulty to categorize delegates at a conference into Europeans, Africans, Canadians, Somalis, Chinese, and blacks. For the first two categories are based on geographical / regional distinction, and the last category, on race, whereas the three categories in between, on nationality. Furthermore, there is overlapping of categories, since Somalis are at once Africans and blacks. Remember one item can belong to only one category. It is also faulty to say "At the conference were delegates from every continent of the world - Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America", for one continent, Oceania is left out.
It is often difficult, even impossible, to be thorough, and unnecessary to be all-inclusive. You may use such words as "and other..." or "etc." to show you are aware that your division / classification is not complete, but you do not intend to be exhaustive.

Model

Practical and Poetic People

A simple experiment will distinguish two types of human nature. Gather a throng of people and pour them into a ferry-boat. By the time the boat has swung into the river you will find that a certain proportion have taken the trouble to climb upstairs, in order to be out on deck and see what is to be seen as they cross over. The rest have settled indoors, to think what they will do upon reaching the other side, or perhaps lose themselves in apathy or tobacco smoke. But leaving out those apathetic, or addicted to a single enjoyment, we may divide all the alert passengers on the boat into two classes - those who are interested in crossing the river, and those who are merely interested in getting across. And we may divide all the people on the earth, or all the moods of people, in the same way. Some of them are chiefly occupied with attaining ends, and some with receiving experiences. The distinction of the two will be more marked when we name the first kind practical, and the second poetic, for common knowledge recognizes that a person poetic or in a poetic mood is impractical, and a practical person is intolerant of poetry.
We can see the force of this intolerance too, and how deeply it is justified, if we make clear to our minds just what it means to be practical, and what a great thing it is. It means to be controlled in your doings by the consideration of ends yet unattained. The practical man is never distracted by things, or aspects of things, which have no bearing on his purpose, but, ever seizing the significant he moves with a single mind and a single emotion toward the goal. And even when the goal is achieved you will hardly see him pause to rejoice in it; he is already on his way to another achievement. For that is the irony of his nature. His joy is not in any conquest or destination, but his joy is in going toward it. To which joy he adds the pleasure of being praised as a practical man, and a man who will arrive.
In a more usual sense, perhaps, a practical man is a man occupied with attaining certain ends that people consider important. He must stick pretty close to the business of feeding and preserving life. Nourishment and shelter, money-making, maintaining respectability, and if possible a family - these are the things that give its common meaning to the word "practical." An acute regard for such features of the scenery, and the universe, as contribute or can be made to contribute to these ends, and a systematic neglect of all other features, are the traits of mind which this word popularly suggests. And it is because of the vital importance of these things to almost all people that the word "practical" is a eulogy, and is able to be so scornful of the word "poetic."
"It is an earnest thing to be alive in this world. With competition, with war, with disease and poverty and oppression, misfortune and death oncoming, who but fools will give serious attention to what is not significant to the business?
"Yes - but what is the use of being alive in the world, if life is so oppressive in its moral character that we must always he busy getting somewhere, and never simply realizing where we are? What were the value of your eternal achieving, if we were not here on our holiday to appreciate, among other things, some of the things you have achieved?"
Thus, if we could discover a purely poetic and a purely practical person, might they reason together. But we can discover nothing so satisfactory to our definitions, and therefore let us conclude the discussion of the difference between them. It has led us to our own end - a clearer understanding of the nature of poetic people, and of all people when they are in a poetic mood. They are lovers of the qualities of things. They are not engaged, as the learned say that all life is, in becoming adjusted to an environment, but they are engaged in becoming acquainted with it. They are possessed by the impulse to realize, an impulse as deep, and arbitrary, and unexplained as that "will to live" which lies at the bottom of all the explanations. It seems but the manifestation, indeed, of that will itself in a concrete and positive form. It is a wish to experience life and the world. That is the essence of the poetic temper.

- Max Eastman

Exposition

Ⅰ. Illustration

1. Read the model essays and comment on the authors' selection of examples. Are there sufficient examples to illustrate the authors' points? Are the examples specific and typical? Are they relevant and interesting? How do the authors group and arrange their examples?
2. Write an essay on one of the following topics:

(1) College Students' Everyday Expenses Are High
(2) Changes in My Home Town or Beijing in the Last ... Years or since...
(3) Life on Campus Is Interesting (or Monotonous)
(4) There Is a Generation Gap
(5) Sunday Is the Busiest Day of the Week to Me or to Many Chinese
(6) What the Service Trades Can Do for Us

3. Write an illustration paper discussing the feudalistic thinking of some young people today. You may start by considering some of the points listed in the article below. Give specific and typical examples to illustrate your point(s).

青年人也有封建思想

封建制度在我国长达数千年之久。时至今日，残余的封建思想仍在社会生活的许多领域内发生影响，使某些青年自觉或不自觉地成为充任封建思想的活动载体。
一、干涉父母再婚。有的青年人把父母的再婚看作是"丢人现眼"，"伤风败俗"而横加干涉。
二、信奉男尊女卑。自从实行一对夫妇只生一胎的政策以来，“传宗接代”，"多子多福"的封建思想又在某些年轻人身上产生效应。
三、寻求人生依附。一些年轻人在选择职业时，考虑自身素质是否能胜任某项工作的需要较少，向组织要求到父母或亲属所在的系统去工作的较多。
四、讲究哥们义气。十年动乱，"哥们义气"的思想又在少数意志薄弱的青少年中传播开来。
五。畸形贞操观念。女子婚前保持贞操是符合社会主义伦理要求的美德，一旦被迫失身受到社全的歧视或自暴自弃。则是封建的贞操观念在作崇。
六、参与迷信活功。一些青年在现实工作和生活中遇到矛盾挫折心里苦恼，往往容易接受封建迷信的影响。
七、卷入陈规陋习的旋涡。随着社会生产力的发展和人们经济收入的增加，我们民族生活方式中的某些陈规陋习又日渐抬头。特别是一些农村青年在婚姻问题上表现比较严重。
八、特权思想严重。近年来，特权思想在少数干部子女身上暴露得比较充分。他们凭借家长的职权和政治影响，捞取实惠，甚至索贿受贿，成为人民的罪人。
（摘自《青年与社会》）

4. Choose your own topic and write an illustration paper.
List all the examples that come to your mind, examine them and cross out those which are irrelevant, uninteresting, and not typical; group what you have left and arrange them in climactic order.

Ⅱ. Division and Classification

1. Study the model essays and point out the principle of division or classification in each essay. Is the principle interesting and significant? Is it applied consistently and thoroughly?
2. According to Francis Bacon, "studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability," and "some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Do you agree with him? Write an essay on "Studies" or "Books".
3. Write an essay on:
(1) Youth of the 1990s
(2) Qualifications for a Good Teacher or Student
(3) My Requirements for a Friend
(4) Ways of Spending One's Spare Time
(5) Kinds of Second Jobs
(6) Different Attitudes toward Work, Life, Death, or Illness
Take care that your principle of division or classification is interesting and significant and applied consistently and thoroughly. Choose good examples to illustrate your point and avoid overlapping.
4. Choose your own topic and write an expository essay using division or classification as the mode of development.

Ⅲ. Comparison and / or Contrast

1. Read the model essays and analyse the pattern of each essay. Are the two items being compared or contrasted given equal treatment? Does the writer use a consistent order and make a consistent arrangement of paragraphs? Is the comparison or contrast supported by concrete and relevant facts? What point does each essay make? As you read, underline the transitions used in comparison or contrast.
2. Write an essay on one of the following topics, comparing or contrasting
(1) Life in Middle School and in College
(2) Chinese and Foreign Teachers
(3) Youth of the 1990s and Youth of the 1950s
(4) Traveling by Train and by Plane
(5) Chinese and Western Medicine or Food
(6) Two persons (such as writers, friends, figures in history, characters in a book or two books); two things (such as books, films, universities); or two places (such as stores, places of historic interest, cities)
3. Write an essay on values of different generations concerning family, marriage, or education of children. The following articles may help to set your mind working.

Ⅳ. Cause and Effect

1. Read the model essays and comment on each author's analysis of cause and / or effect. Has the writer made clear the major cause(s) or / and effect(s)? Is he objective? Does he support his analysis with solid, factual evidence?
2. Write a cause-effect paper on one of the following topics:
(1) Why People Want to Learn a Foreign Language
(2) Why Some Students Make Better Progress Than Others
(3) Why Many Young Men Do Not Want to Marry Capable Young Women
(4) Job Discrimination against Women in China
(5) Causes and / or Effects of Divorce in China
3. Write a paper on "Why People Smoke". The following article may have a few points worth considering.

Ⅴ. Definition

1. Read the model essays and discuss:
(1) Do they answer the question "What is..."?
(2) Are they expressions of opinions and attitudes?
(3) What pattern does each essay follow? Is it deductive or inductive?
(4) Is there a restatement at the end of the essay?

2. Write a definition paper on one of the following topics:
(1) Backdoorism
(2) Materialism
(3) Individualism
(4) Happiness
(5) Freedom
(6) Courage
(7) Values
(8) Ganbu (cadre)
(9) Wubaohu (a household enjoying the five guarantees; childless and infirm old persons who are guaranteed food, clothing, medical care, housing, and burial expenses by the collective or government)
(10) "One Country, Two Systems"
(11) Project Hope
(12) The Iron Rice Bowl
Make sure that your paper answers the question "What is...?" and expresses some opinion or attitude. Choose a pattern of patterns which best suit your purpose. If you like, you may try to write the same topic using different patterns to see the different effects achieved.
3. Choose a topic of your own and write a definition paper.

Argumentation

Ⅰ. Read the model essays and discuss:
1. Does each essay have a debatable point?
2. Is there sufficient evidence to convince the reader? What kind of evidence does the paper provide?
3. Does the writer consider the other side of the argument before stating and amplifying his or her views?
4. Is the writer's reasoning logical and effective?
5. Is the writer's attitude honest and friendly and his tone placid?

Ⅱ. Write an argumentative essay on one of the following topics:

1. Mercy Killing Should Be or Should Not Be Advocated in China
2. Everyone Should Be Given an Opportunity to Study in College
3. Students Should Be or Should Not Be Allowed or Encouraged to Go into Business"
4. Teachers Should or Should Not Depend on the Government to Improve Their Living Standard
5. Wealth or Power Is a Sign of Success
6. People's Worth Are Shown in the Reward They Earn
7. Books, Plays, and Films Should Be Censored
8. Opportunity, Diligence, Perseverance or Resolution Is the Key to Success
9. Private Schools Should or Should Not Be Encouraged in China
10. We Should or Should Not Build More Luxury Shopping Centers in Beijing
11. Singers Should or Should Not Earn More than Composers
12. Olympic Champions Make More Contributions to the Motherland than Scientists and Teachers
13. We Should Have or Should Not Have a Five-Day Week
14. Clothes Make a Man or Cosmetics Make a Woman

Ⅲ. Choose your own topic and write an argumentative paper. See to it that your theme is debatable, or else the essay will fail completely. Provide sufficient, well-arranged evidence and present it in a composed and friendly tone.

Part Six