Workshop on writing English good

Workshop onwriting Englishgood

By Jeff South | Fulbright Scholar | U.S.A.Teaching at Northeast Normal University, Changchun

jcsouth@vcu.edu | WeChat: JeffS63

Workshop onwriting Englishgood well

By Jeff South | Fulbright Scholar | U.S.A.Teaching at Northeast Normal University, Changchun

jcsouth@vcu.edu | WeChat: JeffS63

Writing workshopYour purpose (and audience)Your focus (something to say)Mechanics (grammar, rules)Clarity (being understood)Style (creativity, elegance)

Important for journalists … and for everybody!

http://wp.vcu.edu/datajournalism/2014/05/22/taiyuan/

Emailjcsouth@vcu.edu

for the link

Your purpose‘Medium is the message’Mass media theoryAlso applies to individualsWhat & why are you writing?

◦Research paper? Essay? Letter?To whom are you writing?

◦Official? Acquaintance? Friend?

McLuhan

How do they differ?Article for a journalText message to a friendApplication to study abroadYour résuméStory for a magazineLetter to a professorPosting on social media

ImplicationsFormalityStyle manualHow you address peopleStrictly facts vs. opinionStraightforward vs. creativeWhether to use first-personUse of bullets, abbreviations

FocusOne-sentence summaryYour main pointTell-a-friend techniqueThe Weibo / Twitter techniqueMake an outline: your focus and supporting points

Omit unrelated information

I am asking you for a letter of recom-mendation.

Journalism students’ notes:We searched the database of the U.S. Patent

Office.We found that Chinese inventors got 9,042

U.S. patents in 2013. That’s the most they have ever received.

Here are the number of U.S. patents that Chinese inventors got in previous years:

5,050 in 20105,499 in 20117,445 in 2012

From 2010 to 2013, the number of U.S. patents received by Chinese inventors increased by 79 percent.

Chinese inventors received a record number of U.S. patents last year – almost an 80 percent increase from 2010. China ranked fifth among all countries in the number of patents obtained from the U.S. in 2013. That was up from a No. 8 ranking in 2011 and 2012.

MechanicsGrammarPunctuationSpelling

Without

you’re notgoing anywhere

SentenceWords that express a complete thought

Must have a subject (noun)and predicate (verb)

Begins with capital letterand ends with a period

Common errorsIncomplete sentences (fragments)

Run-on sentencesSubject-verb agreement

Fragment or sentence?On the other side of the mountain.

They live on the other side of the mountain.

Ping Yao is located on the other side of the mountain.

Fragment or sentence?Shao Yifu, the famous Chinese

movie producer, died in January.

It is a sentence!Shao Yifu, the famous

Chinese movie producer, died in January.

Fragment or sentence? Unfortunately, instead of reporting their discovery.

Unfortunately, instead of reporting their discovery, the farmers used many of the coffin planks as firewood and left the site badly damaged.

Fragment or sentence?Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus on Monday night, protesting the indictment against five Chinese military officers.

It’s a sentence.

Fragment or sentence?Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus on Monday night, protesting the indictment against five Chinese military officers.

Fragment or sentence?The group's event will generate an estimated $85 million for the Anaheim area, and the 7,000 attendees will fill 13,000 to 14,000 hotel room nights at more than 30 area hotels.

It’s a sentence.

Fragment or sentence?The group's event will generate an estimated $85 million for the Anaheim area, and the 7,000 attendees will fill 13,000 to 14,000 hotel room nights at more than 30 area hotels.

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Subject & verbThe subject agrees with its verb no matter

how far apart the two are.Do not be distracted by words between

the subject and verb.

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Subject & verbA list of readings [has / have] been sent to

all students.A list of readings has been sent to all

students.

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Subject & verbAll of the students, including the boy who

received the highest grade, [is / are] going to Beijing.

All of the students, including the boy who received the highest grade, are going to Beijing.

Windows 8 replaced Windows XP after Microsoft stopped providing the general public with XP support and security updates on April 8. The company still offers extended XP support to enterprise customers with which they have lucrative support contracts, such as the Netherlands and UK governments.

Windows 8 replaced Windows XP after Microsoft stopped providing the general public with XP support and security updates on April 8. The company still offers extended XP support to enterprise customers with which they havelucrative support contracts, such as the Netherlands and UK governments.

Windows 8 replaced Windows XP after Microsoft stopped providing the general public with XP support and security updates on April 8. The company still offers extended XP support to enterprise customers with which they havelucrative support contracts, such as the Netherlands and UK governments.

?

?

Windows 8 replaced Windows XP after Microsoft stopped providing the general public with XP support and security updates on April 8. The company still offers extended XP support to enterprise customers with which they haveit has lucrative support contracts, such as the Netherlands and UK governments.

ClarityShort sentencesShort subjectActive voiceStart with subject (or use acomma before the subject)

‘Branch to the right’

Short sentencesMore than three decades after the

administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon opened relations with China, the reminiscences of five former US ambassadors to China underscore the boldness of the diplomacy of that era – especially compared with the more cautious dynamic that prevails today.

Short sentencesIt has been more than three

decades since U.S. President Richard Nixon opened relations with China. Yesterday, five former U.S. ambassadors to China reminisced about that breakthrough. Their comments underscore the boldness of the diplomacy of that era – especially compared with the more cautious dynamic today.

Active voiceSubject > action verb > objectThe Robot Challenge was won by a team of students from TYUT.

A team of students from TYUT won the Robot Challenge

Active voiceA speech at the conference was given by Professor Xie Kechang.

Professor Xie Kechang gave a speech at the conference.

Active voiceIn the book, it is said that coal is key to China’s energy future.

The book said that coal is key to China’s energy future.

Weak constructionsThere are many students who are freaking out about taking the gaokao.

Many students are freaking out about taking the gaokao.

Hard to understandIn response to the disclosures by Edward Snowden, who stole files from government computers, gave them to reporters and has sought asylum in Russia, the U.S. House on Thursday passed legislation to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of American phone records.

Hard to understandIn response to the disclosures by Edward Snowden, who stole files from government computers, gave them to reporters and has sought asylum in Russia, the U.S. House on Thursday passed legislation to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of American phone records.

Start with subjectThe U.S. House on Thursday passed legislation to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of American phone records in response to the disclosures by Edward Snowden, who stole files from government computers, gave them to reporters and has sought asylum in Russia.

Introductory phraseIf you start a sentence with a short phrase, use a comma

After graduating from TYUT, he moved to Beiing.

Since about 70,000 people died in the Sicuan earthquake, China has sought to improve building standards.

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Style & graceParallel constructionAnalogiesTransitionsPacing

Parallel construction‘Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.’

– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He didn’t tell his patients. He didn’t tell officials at Baltimore Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was a cancer surgeon. He didn’t tell the doctor who bought his medical practice earlier this year.

But now the case of Dr. Almaraz, who died of AIDS on Nov. 16 at the age of 41, has freightened his patients.

Philadelphia Inquirer

TransitionsTie sentences and paragraphs to the preceding sentences and paragraphs

One idea flows into anotherPresent info; support it with

a fact or quote

As a resultSoConsequentlyThereforeBecause

At the timeMeanwhileBeforeThenIn the past AfterLater

Logi

cal c

onne

ctio

ns

Tim

e co

nnec

tion

s

Transitions

NearbyIn the same …Across the …In China …

ButHoweverStillNeverthelessDespiteIn contrastOn the other

hand

Plac

e co

nnec

tion

s

Cont

rast

s

Transitions

PacingMix long and short sentences and paragraphs

Raise a question (but use this technique rarely)

Effective pacing holdsthe reader’s interest

On New Year’s Eve, Lisa Botzum visited the emergency room of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, complaining of nausea and vomiting. She was given a pregnancy test. She was elated by the result.

Few others were.Philadelphia Inquirer

Final writing tipMark Twain‘Employ a simple and straightforward style’

‘I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time’

Thank you!