INTRODUCTION TO WRITING
Mrs. Kawther Aldosari
WHY ARE WRITING SKILLS IMPORTANT?
Writing beautiful prose and poetry is a
talent. Writing effectively, however, is a skill that can be learned.
Writing is the primary basis upon which
your work, your learning, and your intellect will be judged—in college, in the workplace, and in the community.
Writing expresses who you are as a person.
Writing skills are essential for achieving career and business goals.
It is an important medium of communication.
THE MAIN AIM
The main aim behind taking this course is to be able to write well-developed paragraphs.
To develop a paragraph, one must follow
some stages of the writing process.
WHAT ARE THE STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS?
Prew rit
ing
=
prec oo
kin g
Dra fti
ng
=
co oki ng
Revi sing
=
Alm
ost ready
PREWRITING STAGE
brainstormi
ng Free writing
questions WH clustering
THE PARAGRAPH
A paragraph is a group of sentences that develops one main idea.
A topic is the subject of the paragraph;
it is what the paragraph is about.
The topic of a paragraph is usually
introduced in a sentence; it is called the
topic sentence.TYPES OF PARAGRAPHS
Narration
Exposition
Definition
Classification
Description
Process Analysis
Persuasion
unity
Narratio n
Narration paragraphs are most frequently used in fiction and personal statements.
As such, they will
contain all necessary components of action development:
protagonist, setting, goal, obstacle, climax and resolution. Writing a narration paragraph requires,
consequently, accounting for
sequential order of events and
chronology.
Expositio n
Often times, this kind of a paragraph is used as a component of
other types of writing.
It’s written in order to clarify or explain
problems and
phenomena. Writing exposition paragraphs requires strict focus on evidence and objective language. It can
contain elements of comparison and
contrast, or cause and effect writing as both facilitate accurate
exposition of the subject-matter.
Definition
Definition paragraphs are used in order to explain the meaning, origin and function of things. They are used both in academic
writing and fiction. To write a definition
paragraph, writers
should concentrate on the role of its subject in the context of the essay and account for evidence as well as examples accordingly.
classificatio n
Writing classification paragraphs requires a more varied approach. It should be concentrated on defining as well as making relevant
comparisons. In other words, writers should
classify the subject of the paragraph in a specific context providing
comparisons to
corresponding ideas.
Classification can be performed on multiple levels – semantic
(comparing different meanings of things), linguistic (using
vocabulary to show contrast), and more.
Descriptio n
Preferably, description paragraphs should
concentrate on action (verbs), rather than sensations or
impressions (adverbs and adjectives), which ensures that the tone remains objective and authoritative.
Description
paragraphs should be detailed, clear, and render the
represented reality chronologically.
Process Analysis
It, usually, takes the form of a how-to
paragraph which guides readers
through a process or action to be
performed. It’s very concise and uses formal, non-
descriptive
vocabulary. It should be written in
chronological order accounting for
subsequent actions or events.
Persuasio n
Persuasion paragraphs require exhortatory
and dynamic
language. They are aimed at persuading the reader into taking a particular action or adopting a certain point of view. They should be devoid of descriptive content and rely on the
imperative mode instead.
GRAMMAR
Structure of simple, compound and complex sentences;
Fragments;
Comma splices and run-ons;
Capitalization and punctuation rules;
Adverbs of place, adverbials of time and sequence, adverbial clauses;
Passive vs. Active voice;
Verb tenses.
RHETORIC
Paragraph main idea
coherence
unity
unity
Means that all the
sentences refer to the main idea, or the
topic of the paragraph.
I live in a flat with my family. We have two
bedrooms and a living room. We have a garden and we have some flowers there. In weekdays I
arrive home at five o'clock and I have lunch. Then I do my homework and go to bed. I had a computer but now it doesn't work. I have a brother and a
sister and I think I am very lucky to live with them.
Sometimes our relatives visit us. Our flat becomes very crowded sometimes but I like it.
Example
18
I live in a flat with my family. We
have two bedrooms and a living
room. We have a garden and we
have some flowers there. In
weekdays I arrive home at five
o'clock and I have lunch. Then I do
my homework and go to bed. I had
a computer but now it doesn't
work. I have a brother and a sister
and I think I am very lucky to live
with them. Sometimes our
relatives visit us. Our flat becomes
very crowded sometimes but I like
it.
19
coherenc e
Means that the
sentences should be organized in a logical manner and should
follow a definite plan of development.
Example
I live in a house in Izmit. It isn't old or modern.
It's a normal Turkish house. We can say it is near the sea. It takes about 10 minutes to go to the sea side on foot. We have one bedroom, one living room. We also have two other rooms, too.
We use them as a dining room. Naturally, we have a kitchen, a bathroom, and a toilet. I live with my parents. And our house has a little garden; my parents spend their time there to grow vegetables and fruit.
20
Order of ideas
●
Where the house is
●
Type of house
●
Location of house
●
Rooms in the house
●
The fact that he lives with his parents
●
The garden
●
The paragraph is well
organizes until he says that he
lives with his parents. It looks
like this idea interrupted his
description of the house. It
should be put somewhere else
in the paragraph.
21
I live in a house in Izmit. It isn't old or modern. It's a normal Turkish house. We can say it is near the sea. It takes about 10 minutes to go to the sea side on foot. We have one bedroom, one living room. We also have two other rooms, too. We use them as a dining room.
N aturally, we have a kitchen, a
bathroom, and a toilet. I live with
my parents. And our house has a
little garden; my parents spend
their time there to grow vegetables
and fruit.
My parents and I live in a house in
Izmit. It isn't old or modern; it is a
normal Turkish house. It is near the
sea; it takes about ten minutes to go
to the seaside. In the house, there
are two bedrooms, one living room
and two other rooms that we use as
dining rooms. Naturally, we have a
kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet, and a
little garden. My parents spend their
time growing vegetables and fruit
there.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Academic file
Quizzes
Mid-term exams
Class Work and Home Assignments
Final exam
THE KEY TO PASS THIS COURSE
din rea g
Rea
•d ab
o ut the ass
i e gn d top
i c
pla nn
i ng
Pre
•writ ing tec hn
i qu
e d st s Foc usin g on an re ricti ng the top
•i c
tin wri g
dra
•f d it ting Rev isin g an ed ing
•TEXTBOOK
Folse, Solomon & Clabeaux. F rom Graet Paragraphs to Great Essays.
2001.
Reference
Ann Hogue. First Steps in Academic
Writing, 2nded. Pearson Education Inc., New York, 2008.
