Good writing is_an_art with mind map(1)

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Plantilla para Desarrollo de Objeto Contenido

Información General

Programa Virtualization

Tema: Propuesta de Negocio

Duración estimada de

estudio (horas):

10 hrs.

Desarrollador de contenido Alba Nury Cardona Yepes

Fecha de entrega Abril 26 de 2013

Versión

GOOD WRITING IS AN ART

Introduction

Chapter 1 Abstract´s generalities

1.1. General questions to be addressed in the

Abstract section

1.2. Conclusions

Chapter 2 Cohesion in writing

2.1. Five Ways to improve the Cohesiveness

On your Writing

2.2. Examples of abstract

2.3. The four C´s in writing

2.4. Formality and Informality

Chapter 3 Essay´s keys for writing

3.1. Advantages and Disadvantages

3.2. To agree with someone or something.

3.3. To partly agree with someone or something

3.4. Ways of saying what the aim or purpose

Of something is

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3.5. Words meaning aim or purpose

3.6. Words meaning approximately

3.7. Ways to say that you are certain

about something

3.8. What you say when comparing things

or people

3.9. What you say when concluding your

essay or argument

3.10. Saying again what your aims were

at the conclusion of an essay

3.11. What you say when emphasizing that

something is important

3.12. What you say when giving your opinion

Mind Map

Reinforcement Activities

Glossary

References

Credits

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Introduction

To write is easy and simple. It implies a series of skills that can be developed

following, of course, some grammar rules, spelling, punctuation as well as

common sense.

When you develop a project, the searching must be registered using different

tools like questionnaires, reports, interviews, in which it can be typed different

details of that investigation. The Abstract presents only the most important and

general ideas of the result got from those findings.

There are important factors to be considered to write the ideas with coherence

in such a way that the final decision of your client would be to hire you as

professional, to buy your product or getting your service.

The good writing should include an introduction, main body and conclusion.

This guide will be of help to understand and learn more about the production of

an excellent written document with all the requirements to be successful in your

searchings´ findings.

1. Abstract Generalities

In the written reports, it is the first part of it, directly following the title page and

preceding the introduction.

The abstract, although it comes first logistically, always should be written last. It

needs to be written last because it is the essence of your report, drawing

information from all of the other sections of the report. It explains why the

experiment was performed and what conclusions were drawn from the results

obtained. A general guideline for an abstract has five sections or areas of focus:

why the experiment was conducted; the problem being addressed; what

methods were used to solve the problem; the major results obtained; and the

overall conclusions from the experiment as a whole. Do not be misled, however,

from this list into thinking that the abstract is a long section. In fact, it should be

significantly shorter than all of the others. All of this information should be

summarized in a clear but succinct manner if the abstract is going to be

successful. An estimated average length for all of this information is only a

single paragraph. Although this may seem as though it is a short length to

contain all of the required information, it is necessary because it forces you to

be accurate and yet compact, two essential qualities.

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The best way to attempt to go about writing an abstract is to divide it into the

sections mentioned above. The first two sections are very similar and can be

grouped together, but do not have to be. If you decide to address them

separately, make sure that you do not repeat anything. Often a section can be

mentioned in only one sentence. Remember, brevity is the key to a successful

abstract. Each section is addressed below to help clarify what needs to be

included and what can be omitted.

The most important thing to remember when writing the abstract is to be brief

and state only what is pertinent. No extraneous information should be included.

A successful abstract is compact, accurate and self-contained. It also must be

clear enough so someone who is unfamiliar with your experiment could

understand why you did what you did, and what the experiment indicated in the

end. An additional note is that abstracts typically are written in the passive

voice, but it is acceptable to use personal pronouns such as I or we.

1.1. General questions to be addressed in the abstract section

i. Why it was done and what is the problem being addressed?

These two sections can be grouped together into one brief statement

summarizing why the experiment was performed in the first place? What

was the question trying to be answered? Science is an exploration for

truth. It is all about curiosity and answering questions to find out why and

how things work. The scientific method is a clear example of this; first

state a problem or question and then try to determine the answer. This

section is the statement of the original problem. It is the reason behind

why an experiment is being done. This should not include many details;

rather it should be a simple statement. It can even be stated in one or

two sentences at the most.

ii. What did you do?

This part of the abstract states what was done to try to answer the

question proposed. It should in no way be very detailed. It contains a

brief outline of what were done, highlighting only crucial steps. It is the

materials and methods section of your abstract, but it is only one or two

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sentences in length. It is a description of how you decided to approach

the problem.

iii. What did you find out?

In other words, what did all of your hard work and preparation tell you

about the question you set out to answer. This contains only the crucial

results obtained. The crucial results are those that are necessary to

answer your original question posed. Without these results, the

experiment would have been useless. The results should be stated

briefly and should not be explained; they should only be mentioned. It is

very similar to the results section of your paper, but it highlights only

pertinent results used to draw conclusions. An average length for this

section is two or three sentences at the most. This number can vary

however, depending on the complexity of the experiment, and so these

length guides are just that, guides, not rules.

1.2. Conclusions

This is the end of your abstract, directly hinging on the results obtained. This is

the "so what" part of your experiment. "So what" refers to what the results mean

in the long run? You need not include how you drew your conclusions, only the

final conclusion. This should directly follow the results so the reader knows what

results led to what conclusions. This is the equivalent to the discussion part of

the paper, but again, like the rest of the abstract, it needs to be stated briefly

and succinctly. You do not need to explain how you deduced the conclusion

from the results obtained, only the end conclusions. After you have stated this,

the abstract is complete.

2. Cohesion in Writing

Cohesion is revising to make sure that your words, ideas, and paragraphs fit

together. Without cohesive sentences, readers feel like they are reading a long

list of unrelated ideas. They often have trouble remembering what you said.

They also have trouble understanding how these ideas connect to one another,

which may mean that they don’t understand the main point in your essay. When

writing is not cohesive, it’s very difficult to be an effective communicator.

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Cohesive Papers:

1. Group similar ideas together

2. Constantly refer back to the thesis or main idea

3. Use a well-defined structure that is easy for the reader to follow

Incorporating these connecting words and phrases into your essays will help the

reader understand how your sentences and ideas relate to one another:

also

anyway

consequently

finally

furthermore

however

incidentally

indeed

therefore

thus

instead

likewise

meanwhile

nevertheless

next

nonetheless

otherwise

still

then

after all

as a result

at any rate

at the same time

by the way

even so

for example

in addition

in fact

in other words

on the contrary

on the other

hand

Using this phrases and coordinating conjunctions (and, so, yet, but, or, for) will

ensure that your reader can follow your meaning, and trust your voice as a

writer.

2.1. Five ways to improve the cohesiveness of your Writing

i. Check the first sentence in each paragraph. Ask yourself: does this

sentence explain the connection between the ideas in the previous

paragraph and the ideas that I’m about to discuss?

Example: Let’s say that I’m writing a paper about the personalities of

different household pets. If my first paragraph is about cats and my

second paragraph is about dogs, I can make my writing more cohesive

by beginning the 2nd paragraph with the following statement: “While cats

tend to be moody and self-centered, dogs are usually cheerful and aim to

please their owners.”

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ii. Check the first few words in each sentence. Ask yourself: Have I

made it clear exactly how this idea relates to the previous one? Will

readers be able to move smoothly from one idea to the next?

Example: Instead of using two disjointed, short sentences like “She ran

outside. Her shoe fell off,” I might make the sentences more cohesive by

emphasizing a connection. I’d change it to: She ran outside so quickly

that her shoe fell off.

iii. Use topic sentences. Read each paragraph and ask yourself 2

questions: What is the main point in this paragraph? How does this point

support my thesis statement or main purpose in this essay? Make sure

that your topic sentences answer BOTH questions.

Example: If the purpose of my essay is to argue that the death

penalty should not be used in the U.S., I’ll want to make sure that

each of my paragraphs helps defend my opinion. Rather than

beginning a paragraph about innocent people being mistakenly

executed using this system with the vague words “Innocent people in

the U.S. are dying every day” I’d make my writing more cohesive and

remind the reader of my main purpose by saying “The death penalty

system allows our country to take away innocent lives, therefore it

should not be used as a form of punishment.”

iv. Underline the subject in longer sentences. Check to make sure that

you’ve placed the subject as close to the beginning of the sentence as

possible, rather than hiding it in the middle or towards the end.

Example: If my paper is about the effects of global warming, I’ll want to

avoid sentences like this: “There are several harmful effects on our

environment like global warming and people not cleaning up their

garbage.” That sentence is confusing because it drags on too long and

does not emphasize any particular main point; it also mentions garbage,

which doesn’t really relate to what I’m talking about at all. It would be

better to change the sentence to: “Global warming is the most dangerous

environmental problem that we must face.”

v. Don’t be afraid to re-state your thesis or main idea several times

throughout your essay. Just make sure that you do so in slightly

different words!

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Example: If my thesis statement reads, “The best way to learn to

drive is to practice in a vacant parking lot,” hen throughout my essay

I might use statements like: “Practicing in a large, open space is also

helpful because…” or “Learning to drive on the road will cause a lot

more anxiety than practicing in a less cluttered space because…”

2.2 Examples of Abstract

Journal of the American Statistical Association © 1967 American Statistical

Association

Abstract

Returns and findings from three strategies of data collection are compared.

Each strategy contains personal interviews, telephone interviews, and mail

questionnaires in different combinations-one mainly personal, one mainly

telephone, and one mainly mail. All three strategies are based on area

probability samples of households in Alameda County, California. The test was

made on two separate studies, with identical questionnaires used in all

strategies within each study. The responses from the three strategies were

found to be highly comparable. Rate of return and rate of completeness of

questionnaires were high for all three; substantive findings were virtually

interchangeable; and there was little difference in validity. The only important

difference was cost per interview which varied considerably by strategy.

The Academy of Management Review © 1999 Academy of Management

Abstract:

In this article I describe and compare a number of alternative generic strategies

for the analysis of process data, looking at the consequences of these

strategies for emerging theories. I evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of

the strategies in terms of their capacity to generate theory that is accurate,

parsimonious, general, and useful and suggest that method and theory are

applied to that multiple strategies are often advisable, and that no analysis

strategy will produce theory without a creative leap, however small. Finally, I

argue that there is room in the organizational research literature for more

openness within the academic community toward a variety of forms of coupling

between theory and data.

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=astata

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=astata

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aom

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2.3. The Four C´s in writing

i. The correctness refers to accurate spelling, punctuation, and

grammar and sentence structure.

ii. The conciseness refers to length of the text. It should be as

short as possible. It must be direct, readable and logical.

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iii. The clarity: the writer must be clear, and to the point. It

depends on three main things: Sticking to your basic purpose,

arranging your material logically and using specific, concrete

language.

iv. The courtesy: the writer must be polite and avoid informal

words, or expressions that might confuse the meaning.

HELP!!!!

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2.4. Formality and Informality

To develop a good writing is of great value when the final decisions will be

taken. Therefore, the information given might be fundamental to take an action.

Formality is used in business writings, like: CV´s and letters of application, End

of term papers, discursive essays, Factual descriptions, Reports, Formal letters.

Informality is common in emails and informal letters.

Following the next tips, will assure a positive answer by the reader of the

message, creating a positive action: To get the services, to hire an employee, to

buy a product, and so forth:

i. Never use contractions in formal writings.

The researching can´t be done. (X)

The researching cannot be done.

ii. Do not use slaggy expressions.

Example: This is a terrible report. (X)

The report is not good enough.

iii. Avoid incomplete sentences.

Example: be appropriate to solve the problem. (X)

The solution will be appropriate to solve the problem.

iv. Do not include personal details.

Example: I liked very much the topic investigated because it remembers

me the childhood (X)

The topic of the investigation created many expectations in

the team.

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Chapter 3 Essay´s keys for writing

Below you will find different ways to develop and connect ideas in a

formal writing like reports, summaries, essays and abstracts. The

bold words could be replaced to write your own concepts.

3.1. Advantages and Disadvantages

i. The great advantage of digital camera is that there is no

process.

ii. The main disadvantage of this book is its price.

3.2. To agree with someone or something.

i. Many people agreed with his views about the war.

ii. Professor Dawkins is of the same opinion as Dr. Jones.

3.3. To partly agree with someone or something.

i. I agree with him up to a point,

ii. I broadly agree with the proposals.

iii. There is some truth in the argument that…

3.4. Ways of saying what the aim or purpose of something is

i. This paper aims to show how science and technology have

Influenced the work of artists.

ii. Tests were carried out in order to find out if the drug have

any side effects.

iii. The film is supposed to be a serious drama.

3.5. Words meaning aim or purpose

i. The main aims of the project are as follows…

ii. The main aim of the study is..

iii. My aim in this article is…

iv. He did not tell them about the purpose of his visit.

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v. The company´s long term goal is to be the market leader.

vi. He set himself the target of raising .over $1 million for

cancer research.

vii. The terrorists will do almost anything to acie from ithieve

their ends.

3.6. Words meaning approximately

i. Approximately 30% of adults who have the disease will die

from it.

ii. There were about 50 people at the meeting.

iii. The amount of caffeine in one can of cola is roughly

equivalent to four cups of coffee.

3.7. Ways to say that you are certain about something

i. I am sure that many other writers share this view.

ii. She was convinced that her husband was innocent.

iii. The researchers were confident of success.

3.8. What you say when comparing things or people

i. Young male drivers have far more accidents by comparison with

other groups.

ii. Mortality rates are lower for women as compared with men.

iii. In contrast to the South of the island, the North is still untouched

by tourism.

3.9. What you say when concluding your essay or argument

i. In conclusion, the results of our study…

ii. To summarize: there are many people reasons why people buy

technology.

iii. The organization main aim can be summarized as follows…

iv. The following conclusions may be drawn from these figures,

Firstly, .. Then, … Next, Finally.

3.10. Saying again what your aims were at the conclusion of an essay

i. The aim of this study was to determine whether it is possible to

reduce the amount of salt in bread without spoiling its taste.

ii. In this…I have tried/attempted to…

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iii. In this essay I have tried to set out..

3.11. What you say when emphasizing that something is important

i. I would like to stress that…

ii. It should be noted that…

iii. It is worth bearing in mind that…

iv. Crucially, it was claimed that…

v. It is essential that the work is…

3.12. What you say when giving your opinion

i. In my opinion,..

ii. I think that,..

iii. In my view,..

iv. In this writer´s view,..

MIND MAP

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REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES

If you want to practice a little more, go to the reinforcement activities proposed:

crossword puzzles: Months and Seasons and Days of the Week.

Reinforcement

Activity´s Name

Activity´

Description

Activity´s File

GLOSSARY

About: Alrededor

Achieve: Alcanzar

Advantage: Ventaja

Agree: Estar de acuerdo

Aim: Objetivo

Approximately: Aproximadamente

Attempted to: Pretender

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Benefit: Beneficio

Bold: Negrilla

Cause: Causa

Certainly: Efectivamente

Challenge: Reto

Circa: Cerca de

Compared to/With: En comparación a/con

Comparing: Comparar

Contrasting: Contrastar

Cure: Cura, remedio

Cut: Cortar

Decline: Disminuir

Decrease: Disminuir

Disadvantage: Desventaja

Effect: Efecto

Emphsizing: Enfatizar

Essay: Ensayo

Explaining: Explicar

False; False

Firstly: Primero que todo

Furthermore: Más aún

Generalizations: Generalidades

Giving: Dar

Goal: Meta

In order to: Con el fin de

Increase: Incrementar

Insecure: Inseguro

Issue: Dificultad

Lead to: Liderar, dirigir

Lower: Más bajo

Making: Haciendo

Means: Significar

Opinion: Opinion

Opposite. Contrario

Others: Otros

People: Personas

Provide: Proveer

Purpose: Propósito

Reason: Razón

Result: Resultado

Right: Correcto, exacto

Rise: Levantar

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Roughly: Casi lo mismo

Saying: Decir

Share: Compartir

Someone: Alguien

Summaries: Resúmenes

Sure: Seguro

Therefore: Por lo tanto,

Things: Cosas

Trouble: Problema

True: Verdad

Try to: Tratar, perseguir

View: Punto de vista

Ways: Manera, forma

Which: El cual

Without: Sin

Writers: Escritores

Bibliography

Exercises on line. Recovered 2012, May 28. Available in:

http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/Connect.html.

Activity 1, Basic I and Basic II. Recovered 2012, May 28. Available in

http://www.duoc-teachers.mundomas.com/index.php.

Abstract Example. Recovered, 2012, October 18. Available in:

http://writing2.richmond.edu/training/project/biology/abslit.html#sample1.

Writing Handbook at Longman Exams Dictionary (2007). Fourth Impression,

Pearson Education Limited, England. P.WH-36-38, WH59-83.

Credits

Good Writing is an Art. Cardona. A.N. (2013). Curriculum Designer/Instructor

at the Virtualization Project. Centro de Servicios y Gestiòn Empresarial-CESGE,

Antioquia, Colombia S.A. SENA.

http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/Connect.html

http://www.duoc-teachers.mundomas.com/index.php

http://writing2.richmond.edu/training/project/biology/abslit.html#sample1