英语写作课件.docx
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英语写作课件.docx
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英语写作课件
Chapter2howtousewordsinthecomposition
ChoosingtherightwordstoexpressourideasisveryimportantinEnglishwriting.Generally,therearethreecriteriaforthechoiceofwords.Thatis,
(1)theyshouldbeappropriateinaparticularcontext;
(2)theyshouldbespecificenough;and(3)theyshouldbeconcise,notwordy.
2.1usingappropriatewords
Tobeappropriateinchoosingtherightwordsforanypieceofwriting,weshouldconsiderthecharacteristicsofthereader.Differentlevelsofformalityanddifferentkindsofwordchoiceareappropriatefordifferentreaders.
Accordingtodifferentlevelsofformality,wordsareusuallydividedintothreekinds.Theyareformal,neutralandinformal.
Formalwordsaremainlyusedinacademicwriting.Thisisrelatedtovariousdisciplines,forexample,thehumanities(suchasliterature,history,orart),thesocialsciences,thenaturalsciences,andalsoinwritingresearchpapers.Onegroupofformalwordsistechnicalwords.Forinstance,physicistsusethefollowingwordstodescribeanelectricalcircuit:
power,switch,bulb,anelectriccurrenttravelsthisway,anodeandcathode.
Neuralwordsarealsocalledgeneralwords.Theyareusedinmostcollegewritings.
Informalwordsarefurtherdividedintoslangwordsandcolloquialwords.Slangisveryinformal,sometimesoffensive,languagethatisusedbyaparticulargroupofpeople,say,youngpeopleoruneducatedfarmers.Slangwordsoftenoccurindialogues,buttheyaregenerallyinappropriateforcollegeorbusinesswriting.ColloquialwordsbelongtowhatwecalleverydayspokenEnglish.Theyareprimarilyusedinconversations.
Remembernottousebothformalwordsandcolloquialwordsinthesamepieceofwriting.Butifweusedoublequotationmarkstoshowitisadirectspeech,ofcourse,colloquialwordsareappropriatehere.
Generallyspeaking,inacademicwritingweshoulduseformalwords;inordinarywritingweshoulduseneutralwords.Weseldomuseinformalwordsunlesswearequotingwhatsomeonesays.Ifwearenotsurewhetherthesituationisformalorinformal,we’dbetteruseneutralwords.
Thefollowingisacomparisonofwordsintheformalstyleandthoseintheinformalstyle:
Formalstyleinformalstyle
departleave
resignquit
positionjob
commencebegin
Contractedwordsshouldnotbeusedintheformalstyle,whereasintheinformalstyletheycanoccur.
Formalstyleinformalstyle
cannotcan’t
advertisementad
televisionTV
laboratorylab
Generallyspeaking,singleverbsarefrequentlyusedintheformalstylewhileintheinformalstylephrasesarecommonlychosen.
Formalstyleinformalstyle
encountercomeacross
participatetakepartin
reducecutdown
utilizemakegooduseof
Then,howtobeappropriateinchoosingwordsinEnglishwriting?
Theansweristhatlanguageisappropriatewhenitfitsourtopic,purposeandaudience.Buthowdoweknowwhatisfitting?
Onewaywecandevelopasenseofaudienceisthroughreading.Whetherwearepreparingtowriteaboutliteratureornaturalscienceorhistory,takesometimetoreadhowwritersinthefieldhavehandledourtopic.ImitationisthebestwaytolearnhowtowriteinEnglish.Rememberthefollowingprincipleswhenchoosingappropriatewords:
(1)Incollegewriting,avoidslang,regionalexpressions,andnonstandardEnglish.
Slang,regionalsaying,andnonstandardEnglishappearofteninconversationbutrarelyincollegewriting—unlessthatwritingisreportingconversation.
Slangwordschangefrequently.Theyarepopularmostlywiththeyoung,eventhoughsomeAmericanjournalistsmayoccasionallyusesuchtermsasbuddy—slangforafriend.Itisusedtotalktoamanorboy,especiallyoneyoudonotknow,accordingtoLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglish.Incollegepapers,slangtermsandthefashionabletonethatgoeswiththemshouldbeavoided.
Likeslang,regionalandnonstandardexpressionssuchascool,y’all,hisself,anddon’tbedoingthat,ain’tworkfineinconversationbutdonottranslatewellintoformalcollegewriting.InAmericancolleges,professions,andbusinesses,thedominantdialectisstandardwrittenEnglish,thelanguageEnglishwritinginChinesecollegesanduniversitiesalsorequires.
(2)Useanappropriatelevelofformality.
Collegewritingassignmentsusuallycallforastylethatavoidstheextremesofbeingtooformalandofbeingtooinformal.Thepointisthatasacollegewriter,youwillneedtofindandrevisearticlesthatarelikelytogotooneextremeortheother.
(3)Avoidjargon.
Jargonreferstowordsandexpressionsusedinaparticularprofessionorbyaparticulargroupofpeople,whicharedifficultforotherpeopletounderstand.Whenspecialistscommunicatewitheachother,theyoftenusetechnicallanguagethatcansoundincomprehensibletonon-specialists.Suchlanguageisappropriateinmanycontextsandhasaplaceincollegewriting.Withoutit,noonecouldwritealabreport,aneconomicanalysis,oraphilosophicalargument.Technicallanguagebecomesaproblemwhenitisusedasjargon.
Jargonistheinappropriateuseofspecializedortechnicallanguage.Technicallanguagebecomesjargonwhenitdoesnotfitawriter’spurposeandaudience.Ifyouwanttobeunderstood,youshouldnotusewordswhichareappropriateforspecialistswhenyouarewritingforageneralaudience.Jargonputspeopleoff,makingthemfeellikeoutsiders.
Ifyouneedtouseafewtechnicaltermswhenwritingfornon-specialists,besuretodefinethem.
(4)Avoidmosteuphemismsandalldoublespeak
Althoughmostwritersstrivetobeclearanddirect,euphemismsanddoublespeakhaveanothergoal:
tocoverupthetruth.Aeuphemismisapolitewordorexpressionthatweuseinsteadofamoredirectonetoavoidshockingorupsettingsomeone.Forexample,passawayisanice-soundingwordfordie.Onsomeoccasions,theuseofpassawaymayavoidupsettingagrievingperson.Butusuallywordsshouldnotbeusedtoavoidordeceive.
Doublespeakisaspeechthatiscomplicatedandcanhavemorethanonemeaning,sometimesuseddeliberatelytodeceiveorconfusepeople.Itisuncleartalkoremptytalk,anotherwordfordeceit.Itspurposeisnottopreventhurtfeelingsbuttoconfuseormisleadreaders.Asthefollowingexampleshows,politicianssometimesusedoublespeaktoobscurefactsandevaderesponsibility.
QuoteJiangzemin’swords
(5)Donotusebiasedorsexistlanguage.
Wordscanwound.Ethnicandreligiousgroups,peoplewithdisabilities,gaymenandlesbians,andworkersinsomeprofessionsoftenobjectstothewaypeopletalkandwriteaboutthem.Remembertoseeifourwritingisunintentionallybiased.Avoidusingwordsthathurtpeopleonthebasisofgender,race,religion,nationalorigin,ethnicgroup,physicalability,sexualorientation,occupation,oranyotherhumanconditions.Forexample,
LeaderswhocomefromHenanProvince,thevastplainsofcentralChina,behaveverybadly.Theyareautocrats,neveraskingcommonpeoplefortheiropinionswhenmakingdecisions.
Sexistlanguagemakeswomenloserespect.Forexample,manylabelsandclichésimplythatwomenarenotasableorasmatureasmen.Considerthemeaningofwordsandphrasesliketheweakersex,thelittlewoman,actinglikeagirl,workingmother,housewife,poetess.
Avoidusingthepronounhe.Traditionally,thepronounhehasbeenusedtorepresenteithergender.Today,however,unlessagroupconsistsonlyofmen,theuseofhetorepresenteveryoneinthegroupoffendsmanypeople.Forexample,
Everybodyhadhisway.
Shouldbechangedinto:
Weallhadourway.
Toavoidsexistlanguage,followthesesimpleprinciples:
Thefirstwayistoreplacetermsthatindicategenderwiththeirgenderlessequivalents:
noyes
chairmanchair,chairperson
congressmanrepresentative,memberofCongress
forefathersancestors
man,mankindpeople,humans
man-madeartificial
policemanpoliceofficer
spokesmanspokesperson
Thesecondwayisnottodomakeunnecessaryreferencestooroveremphasizeawoman’smaritalstatus,relationshiptochildren,orappearance.Refertomenandwomeninparallelways:
ladiesandgentlemen,menandwomen,husbandandwife.
Thethirdwayistoreplace,wheneverpossible,themasculinepronounshe,him,his,andhimselfwhentheyarebeingusedtorefertobothwomenandmen.Onesatisfactorywaytoreplacemasculinepronounsistousetheplural.Forexample,
It’severymanforhimself.
Revisedas:
Allofushavetosaveourselves.
Somewritersalternateheandshe,himandher.Thisstrategymaybeeffectiveinsomewritingsituations,butswitchingbackandforthcanalsobedistracting.Theconstructionshisorherandheorsheareacceptable,aslongastheyarenotusedexcessivelyormorethanonceinasentence.Forexample,
Awkward:
Eachstudentinthepsychologyclasswastochooseadifferentbookaccordingtohisorherinterests,toreadthebookovernight,todowithouthisorhernormalsleep,towriteashortsummaryofwhatheorshehadread,andthentoseeifheorshedreamedaboutthebookthefollowingnight.
Revised:
Everystudentwastochooseabook,readitovernight,dowithoutsleep,writeashortsummaryofthebookthenextmorning,andthenseeifheorshedreamedaboutthebookthefollowingnight.
Noticethattheconstructionhis/herandtheunpronounceables/hearenotacceptableinacademicwriting.
Usingthemoreimpersonalpronounonecansometimeshelpusavoidmasculinepronouns.Onecanmakeourwritingsoundtooformalandold-fashioned,though,soitisusuallybettertotryanotherchoice.Forexample,
TheAmericancreedholdsthatifoneworkshard,onewillsucceedinlife.
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