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Of all aspects of studying， writing is probably the most challenging because when you write down your ideas for other people to read，you have to explain yourself particularly carefully.Unlike what you do when you are in conversation with others or thinking about something for yourself，you can't make the mental leaps.You have to work out exactly what you think about the subject to make your meaning clear.So writing makes you really grapple with what you are studying.In other words，it forces you into a very deep and powerful kind of learning.That is what makes writing so demanding.

You may have“taken in”ideas from books，articles，TV and so on， but it is only when you can use these ideas to say something for yourself that you have really“learned”them.Ideas only become a properly functioning part of your thought-processes when you can call on them as you communicate with other people.A more exacting way of using ideas in argument is to do it in writing.

In our society a very valuable skill is to be able to write clearly and persuasively， which is a key part of using ideas effectively.It puts you on a much better footing with other people if you can present your point of view forcefully in writing.

So writing tends to be both the most demanding and the most rewarding part of any course of study.You have to put a lot of your time and energy into it because it contributes so much to what you learn.

It is not hard to tell whether a piece of writing is good or bad.You just have to read it.But things get more challenging if you have to explain why it's good.Even harder than that is analyzing the good things a writer has done so you can learn to use his or her techniques in your own work.Having simple phrases to describe the good things writers have done makes learning about those things easier.

Good writing has the following six elements.

Ideas that are interesting and important.Ideas are the heart of the piece—what the writer is writing about and the information he or she chooses to write about it.

Organization that is logical and effective.Organization refers to the order of ideas and the way the writer moves from one idea to the next.

Voice that is individual and appropriate.Voice is how the writing feels to someone when he or she reads it.Is it formal or casual? Is it friendly and inviting or reserved and standoffish? Voice is the expression of the writer's personality through words.

Word choice that is specific and memorable.Good writing uses just the right words to say just the right things.

Sentence fluency that is smooth and expressive.Fluent sentences are easy to understand and fun to read with expression.

Conventions that are correct and communicative.Conventions are the ways we all agree to use punctuation，spelling，grammar，and other things that make writing consistent and easy to read.

Differences Between English Writing and Chinese Writing

Thinking and language，are closely related.Dominated by the thinking of a culture，language without thinking would not have the functionality and richness.With different cultures and ways of thinking，English and Chinese fully embody their respective language in the social，cultural and psychological tendencies.Writing is thought.Many of the differences between Chinese and Western writing are rooted in the differences between the two cultures.The writing of different cultures will reflect the differences in thought patterns used by those cultures.

Great differences between English and Chinese writing can be found not only in diction but also in syntax and discourse organization.In diction，Chinese attaches importance to complex ornament and there are abundant magnificent words or phrases，while English usually advocates direct and simple depiction.For example，in putting the ideas of Sentence 1 into English，the writer with a typical Chinese thinking mode tends to use similar structures or repetition，as in 1a.In English thinking mode，the similar three clauses of 1a，can be combined into one sentence， 1b，which seems simpler and clearer.

1.两岸树木葱茏，鲜花繁茂，芳草萋萋。

1a.On both banks，the trees are verdant，the flowers are full-blown， and the grass is luxuriant.

1b.Trees，flowers，and grass，a picture of natural vitality，thrive on both banks.

Another difference in diction lies in word variety.中国理工科的大学生掌握3 000到4 000个汉字就可以读懂许多中文报纸杂志，而知道10 000个英文单词还不能充分理解英文杂志上的文章。这就意味着中文词的使用重复率相对于英文来说非常高。例如，中文的“看”字可以分别用在“看电视、看电影、看书、看父母、看问题”中，而英文则用不同的词表达，如“watch TV，see a movie，read a book，visit parents，look at an issue” 。

In syntax，Chinese is topic-prominent language，a language in which the basic structure of sentences favors a description in which the topic-comment relation plays a major role.Therefore，the relationship between topic and comment is syntactically much looser than the relationship between subject and predicate，the grammatical relation that English sentences must follow.Another contrast is that nouns are widely used in the Chinese language，while the English language usually adopts simple and concrete verbs.For example，in interpreting Sentence 2，2a adopts many abstract nouns to convey the writer’ s idea.Right in syntax as it is， 2a is unclear to the readers and doesn’ t sound idiomatic.2b，however，has made some proper conversion of words.The abstract nouns “stability” ，“readjustment” ，“improvement”are respectively converted to their homologous verb forms“stabilized ” ，“readjust” ，“improve” ，making the sentence clearer to understand and avoiding ambiguity.

2.随着货币和物价取得稳定，根据新的条件和需求，必须在全国进行商业调整和交通与通信的改善，为生产恢复服务。

2a.With stability of currency and prices achieved，there had to be readjustment of industry and commerce as well as improved communications throughout the country，in accordance with the new conditions and demands，so that they could serve the restoration of production.

2b.Once the currency and prices were stabilized，to help restore production we had to readjust industry and commerce and improve communications throughout the country，in accordance with the new conditions and new demands.

In discourse organization，English language usually adopts abundant connective words to demonstrate the relations of different clauses of sentences，but the Chinese uses fewer.A great number of attributive clauses，participle phrases，and prepositional phrases find their way into English to indicate a certain relation，but fewer such expressions are used in Chinese.Chinese adopts juxtaposed structure instead.即，英语是重形合的语言(hypotaxis)———以形显意，句子各成分之间的逻辑关系靠关联词(介词、连词、关系代词、关系副词、连接代词、连接副词)等显性连接手段来直接标示，句子结构因此紧凑严密但缺乏弹性;汉语是重意合的语言(parataxis)———以意役形，句子各成分之间靠隐性连贯、逻辑关系和叙述的事理顺序来间接显示，不用或少用关联词，句子结构比较松散却富有弹性。例如下面一组句子。

3a.On the whole such a conclusion can be drawn with a certain degree of confidence but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the other with whom he is compared，and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possessed。

3b.总地来说，得出这样一个结论是有一定程度把握的，但是必须具备两个条件:能够假定这个孩子对测试的态度和与他相比的另一个孩子的态度相同;他也没有因缺乏别的孩子已掌握的有关知识而被扣分。

中国古代写文章讲究“起承转合” ，由浅入深，水到渠成，观点在最后“合”的部分才告诉读者，非常含蓄。受传统文化的影响，汉语文章观点的提出滞后，而英文恰相反，通常一开始就旗帜鲜明地挑明主题，然后再逐步展开。另外，中文鼓励使用谚语、警句、名人名言等，而在英文中这些常常被认为是陈词滥调(cliche)，没有原创性(originality)。在提供支持材料时，中文喜欢引经据典，使用名人的故事，如讲到忧国忧民就经常提到范仲淹，讲到尊重人才就经常提到三顾茅庐。而英文则提倡引用统计数字和普通人的例子来作证。

Writing is more than putting words on paper; it is a process，or series of stages.In this part you will learn the stages of the writing process and the critical thinking skills needed for making decisions at each stage.

Prewriting is all the thinking and planning you do in order to be able to express your ideas in sentences and paragraphs.You may take notes or make an outline in this stage，but basically you are preparing to write.Most prewriting takes place before you write your first draft.Occasionally，however，you will find yourself returning to this stage even when you are in other stages of the writing process.

During the prewriting stage you need to make several important decisions:Why am I writing? (purpose)For whom am I writing? (audience)What will I write about? (subject)What will I say? (content)How will I say it? (language/tone).Understanding and making sound decisions about each of these questions will help you produce strong writing.

Brainstorming is a method for coming up with ideas for a project.The key to brainstorming is to write down everything that pops into your head—the idea you are the least certain about may be the one you use for your paper! Brainstorming is a way you can provide yourself with topic options.

One brainstorming technique is called listing.This strategy involves a simple list of every idea that pops into your mind.From this list，you might choose to narrow down your topics or branch into a related topic.The important thing is that all of these ideas are down on paper so they won’ t be forgotten and potentially useful ideas are not lost in the process.Clustering is another terrific brainstorming idea.Visual learners may find this technique more effective than listing because of the manner in which ideas are spatially arranged.To start，write the word“ME”in the center of your paper and draw a circle around it.Then branch out from the center circle with any ideas that interest you.If more ideas pop into your head，draw branches stemming from your outer circle.Again，the key is to write down as many ideas as possible.You may find that two smaller branched ideas may work together well to form one solid topic.Or，you may find that your branch circles form supporting ideas or arguments for your main ideas.

It is important not only to find a topic，but to find an angle about that topic that can be argued within an essay.Once you find an idea you like，you might form a new cluster by putting your main idea in the center，and then build supporting claims in branched circles.

Once you decide on a topic，the next stage is to collect information.You may find information in indexes for periodicals，newspapers，and academic journals.Interviews can also be useful，whether by phone，through e-mail，or in person.

After you collect information pertaining to your topics，a useful next stage is to organize it—decide where to place information in the argument，as well as which information to omit.One easy way to do this is outlining.Argumentative and narrative papers generally have three main sections.The introduction is used to grab the readers’attention and introduce the main idea or claim，often in the form of a thesis statement.The body consists of several supporting paragraphs that help to elaborate upon the main claim.Finally，the conclusion serves to wrap up the argument and reemphasize the writer’ s main ideas.By taking time to organize and plan the paper，you save time and frustration in the drafting stage; you find that you can follow the pattern you have established for yourself in the outlines.

As you write your first draft，keep in mind your purpose and audience.With your notes in front of you，try to express your ideas as clearly as possible.Some writers find it helpful to say each idea aloud in a sentence and then simply write the sentence.Remember that this draft is not your final version; you will revise your writing at least once.

Any draft，even one written by a professional writer，has some weaknesses that can be corrected or improved.As a result，all writers—including you—must be able to evaluate what they have written.They must be able to separate the strengths that should be saved from the weaknesses that should be corrected.

When you evaluate，you identify problems with your paper.When you revise，you make changes to improve your paper or to correct mistakes.Some writers write the first draft with little or no stopping to look back at what they have written.Others are constantly evaluating and revising，even as they write.Whatever approach you use，you will still need to find ways to improve what you have written.

The stage following revision is proofreading.In the proofreading stage，you carefully reread your revised draft.Your purpose in this reading，however，is different from your purpose in previous readings.This time you look for and correct mistakes in grammar，usage，and mechanics (spelling，capitalization，and punctuation).

The last step in the writing process is to prepare a clean copy of your revised and proofread draft.This will be the final version of your manuscript.

Technical Considerations in Writing

Grammar，punctuation and spelling，these three factors contribute enormously to ease of reading.The whole point of punctuation is to help the reader approach your words in the right way，and the rules of grammar are what enable the reader to construct the sense intended by the writer.Mistakes in either make the reader stop to work out what is being said.Poor spelling can also cause frequent interruptions.Meanwhile，the reader“loses”the thread of your meaning.None of these abilities is easy to improve quickly，and all fall beyond the scope of this book.But if you think you are particularly weak in them you should seek help.Take comfort from the thought that your tutor will usually try to “read through”your intended meaning，and will also try to help you improve.

The following guidelines should be helpful in using punctuations.

Full stops and capital letters—use at the end and beginning of sentences respectively.Modern typographical practice avoids using capital (upper case)letters within a sentence except when a specific title or proper noun is used.For example，generic titles such as head-teacher，department，government or local authority have lower case letters，but if they refer to a specific person or body，such as the Labor Government，Cardiff County Council or the Department of Physics，then capitals should be used.

Commas—use these when you need to make a pause within a sentence or to ensure the meaning is clear or when writing a list.Usually a comma is not needed before“and” ，but its use can sometimes avoid ambiguity; for example ，“the Schools of Business Studies，Mathematics and Computing，and Languages” .Normally a comma is used when you insert a subordinate clause or a phrase into a sentence，but many writers do not do this if the meaning is clear or they want the sentence to be read as a whole.For example，there is clear difference in meaning，between“The curriculum serves the needs of pupils，who respond well”and“The curriculum serves the needs of pupils who respond well” .Again，the main principle is to be consistent and think of your meaning; if in doubt，leave it out—you need to avoid having commas inserted all over the place!

Colons—these are normally used to indicate that something，such as a list，follows.Do not use a capital letter following a colon.

Semi-colons—people get very confused about these.They are used generally instead of a full stop at the end of a sentence，when the next sentence follows on very closely or is clearly linked to the previous one; they can be used very subtly in this way (i.e.as used here! ).You do need to ensure that two full sentences are involved，but you do not use a capital letter to begin the second one.

Dashes/hyphens—you can use dashes in the way they are used here or to show that something follows on from what you are saying， but it is best to use them sparingly; a semi-colon or colon is preferable.Hyphens are used specifically to link words，such as in semi-colon.They are also sometimes used when an adverb-plus-adjective phrase， such as “well structured” ，precedes a noun.Again avoid using these too often or inserting them unnecessarily—if in doubt，leave them out!

Reinforcement　知识复习

1.As directed by your teacher， use the writing process to write a paragraph on a topic of your choice.Follow these steps as you plan，write，evaluate，and revise your paragraph.

(1)Identify your purpose and audience.

(2)Choose a subject.

(3)Consider your attitude toward the subject.

(4)Limit your subject to a suitable topic.

(5)Gather information about the topic.

(6)Classify and arrange your ideas and information.

(7)Write a first draft，keeping your audience and purpose in mind.

(8)Evaluate what you have written，looking for strengths and weaknesses.

(9)Revise your draft to eliminate the weaknesses.

(10)Proofread the final draft，looking for errors in mechanics and usage.

(11)Follow standard manuscript form as you write a clean final version.

2.Supply capitalization to the following sentences.

(1)this new toyota belongs to uncle myron.

(2)our drama club at shoreline college did an excellent performance of the fantasticks.

(3)my sister came back from miss valerie's school of dance with a dream of joining the pennsylvania ballet.

Extension　知识拓展

Check out these links to get started with spelling and grammar.

Visual thesaurus (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/):a fun way to improve your vocabulary by finding synonyms and related words.The page also contains word lists and a word of the day.

Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/):for checking up words that you have used when you are not sure if they mean what you think they do.But that’ s not all you can do with this brilliant website.It has an interesting feature called reverse dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.com/reverse/)that looks up words when you write few words to describe their meaning，and a good list of further online resources for writers to check out.

Another option for having a spellchecker in your browser is Google toolbar.

Checking for grammar mistakes is much trickier.You may check the grammar first in Microsoft Word or in an online tool (http://www.spellchecker.net/spellcheck/)and then go through it manually.For manually checking your grammar you can use a checklist of the most common grammar mistakes or just play it by the ear，depending on how much you trust your own English language skills.