I. Objective of This Chapter
1. Teaching Purpose: teach students basic rules for choosing
words in essay writing 2. Focus:
1) One of the prewriting skill: inquiring
2) Basic rules for choosing words: Appropriateness;
Exactness and Conciseness 3) Grammar and mechanics: Capitalization and
Punctuation
4) Case analysis: Lacking Conciseness; Error with Wrong
Part of Speech 5) Write about a person
II. Teaching Arrangement.
1. Total Class Time for This Lesson: 180 minutes 2. Teaching Arrangement: 1) Prewriting: 30 minutes 2) Basic Writing Skill: 50 minutes 3) Grammar and Mechanics: 40 minutes 4) Case Analysis: 30 minutes 5) Writing Process: 30 minutes III. Teaching Process
1. Prewriting: Inquiring
1) Introduce prewriting skill: inquiring
2) Assign two consolidating exercises for students to
practice this skill
3) Analyze the following model essay for students as
lead-in to the next topic: basic writing skill
My Cousin Patricia
My Cousin Patricia is a teacher and works for Santa Maria de Fatima High school, in Peru. She has been teaching there for the last six years. She is 32, but looks much younger. Patty is a very nice person to get along with and has some very good qualities.
Patricia believes all people are equal. She likes to show people that women as well as men can do anything and be successful. When she talks about current events, she likes to mention the achievements of men and women of all races and nations. She often asks her students to do research on organizations in which people work together to make the world a better place.
My cousin is a good leader. If you ever had a chance to join any of her group meetings, you would notice right away how she enjoys leading others while encouraging them to participate in what is going on. When there are decisions to be made, she listens to everyone’ opinions and respects
everyone’s suggestions. People who know that aspect of her like her very much. People like to be with her, and she has many friends. The only thing bad I can say about her is that I don’t see her often enough.
In conclusion, my cousin patty is very nice in many ways, is a very
good teacher, and is the best company a person could have. I wish she didn’t live so far away, but someday maybe she will come to live near my family. That will be a wonderful day.
2. Basic Writing Skill: choice of words
1) Appropriateness: definition
A. Introduce the rule of appropriateness for choosing
words
Principle for achieving appropriateness:
The principle is to use common standard words rather than non-standard words or slang or jargon.
Inappropriate: Could you please alternate your eating habits? Revised: Could you please change your eating habits?
Inappropriate: He didn’t ought to have spent the money. Revised: He shouldn’t have spent the money.
Compare the following words in group A and in group B, have students conclude principle for achieving appropriateness
Group A Group B accomplish finish affection love alternate chance appropriate proper assist help blue-print plan cross-section sample fabricate make inform tell proceed go
punctual on time reside live sufficient enough terminate end utilize use visualize imagine
B. Assign exercises for students to practice 2) Exactness: definition
A. Introduce the rule of exactness for choosing words
Principle for achieving exactness:
a. To distinguish synonyms.
English is rich in synonyms (group of words that have similar
meaning). Almost all synonyms differ in their connotation. Exact writers choose carefully among them, observe their precise shade of meaning and use the most exact one. Wrong use of synonyms not only makes your writing inexact, but also confuses your readers. Compare the followings: Improper:He is a renowned gangster. (“Renowned” has a positive or favorable connotation)
Right: He is a notorious gangster. (“Notorious” has a negative connotation) Improper:We are going to commerce our long vacation on the following Monday. (“Commerce” connotes to something very formal.)
Right:We are going to start our long vacation on the following Monday. (“Start” is a common word.)
b. To distinguish homonyms.
Homonyms are group of words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings and different spellings. For example, “idol” and “idle” have same pronunciation but have totally different meanings and different spellings. While you choose words, do not confuse these words. e.g. She is like an angel that everybody likes her. She drew a straight line across the angle.
Following is a list of some homonyms. Check how much you understand.
adapt，adept，adopt alley，ally
angel，angle
arraign，arrange
bean，been
block，bloc
borne，born
cannon，canon
carton，cartoon
costume，custom
flea，flee
marital，martial
proscribe，proscribe
receipt，recipe
steal，steel
statue，statute
sea，see
waive，wave
c. To use fixed idioms or set phrases
An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words. Since it does not follow the standard
pattern of a language, you can’t infer the total meaning simply by adding the meanings of its individual words. For example, “Let the cat out of the bag”, it means to tell a secret by mistake. You can’t write it like this: “Let the dog out of the bag”.
The most troublesome set phrases are those that require a suitable
preposition after a given verb or an adjective. The following is a list quoted from Leggett’sPrentice-Hall Handbook for Writers. (307)
Set Phrases Examples
absolved by, from: I was absolved by the dean from all blame. accede to He acceded to his father’s demands. accompany by, with I was accompanied by George. The terms were accompanied with a plea for immediate peace.
acquitted of He was acquitted of the crime.
adapted to, from This machine can be adapted to farm work.
The design was adapted from a previous invention.
admit to, of He admitted to the error.
agree to, with, in They agreed to the plan but disagreed with us. They agreed only in principle.angry with, at She was angry with me and angry at the treatment she
capable of He is capable if very vice of the ignorant.compare to, with He compared the roundness f the baseball to that of the
concur with, in I confide in, to He confided in me.conform to, with The You must act in conformity with our demands.connect by, with The room are connected by a corridor. He is officially connected with this university.differ about, from, with We differ about our tastes in clothes. My clothes differ from yours. We differ with one another.The plan will admit of no alternatives.
had received.
earth.
He compared the economy of the Ford with that of thePlymouth.
concur with you in your desire to use the revised
edition.
He confided to me that he had stolen the car.
specifications conformed to (or with) his original
plans.
different from Our grading system is different from yours.
enter into, on, upon He entered into a new agreement and thereby entered on
(or upon) a new career. free from, of` He was freed from his mother’s domination and now he
is free of her. identical with Your reasons are identical with his. join in, with, to He joined in the fun with the others. He joined the wire cables to each other.
live at, in, on He lives at 14 Neil Avenue in a Colonial house. He lives on Neil Avenue.
necessity for, of There was no necessity (need) for you to lose our temper.
There was no necessity (need) of your losing your temper.
object to I object to the statement in the third paragraph.
oblivious of When he held her hand he was oblivious of the passing
of time. overcome by, with I was overcome by the heart. I was overcome with grief.
parallel between, to, with There is a parallel between your attitude and his. This line is parallel to (or with) that one.
preferable to A leisure walk is preferable to violent exercise.
B. Assign exercises for students to practice 3) Conciseness: definition
A. Introduce the rule of exactness for choosing
words
Principle for achieving conciseness:
a.To eliminate empty expressions (words or phrases that do not add to your meaning).
b.To eliminate the unnecessary words and phrases. Wordy:Maria is attractive in appearance, so everybody likes her. Concise:Maria is attractive, so everybody likes her.
Wordy:Another aspect of the situation that needs to be examined is the matter of advertising.
Concise: We should also examine advertising.
c.To reduce clauses to phrases and phrases to simple words. Wordy: Smith College, which was founded in 1871, is the premier all-womens college in the United States.
Concise: Founded in 1871, Smith College is the premier all-womens college in the United States.
Wordy:The shirt, made of wool, is a gift from my aunt. Concise: The woolen shirt is a gift from my aunt. d.To use one exact word rather than two or more
approximate words.
Wordy: At this point in time, more and more people realize the importance of protecting environment.
Concise: Now more and more people realize the importance of protecting environment.
Wordy: All the documents in the office were destroyed by the fire. Concise: The fire burnt all the documents in the office. (Active voice is better than passive voice)
e.To avoid redundancy (say the same thing twice).
Wordy: In our opinion, we think we need to do the experiment first.
Concise: We think we need to do the experiment first. Wordy: Soon after the plain took off from the ground, it disappeared from view in the sky.
Concise:Soon after the plain took off, it disappeared in the sky.
B. Assign exercises for students to practice
3. Grammar and Mechanics: capitalization and
punctuation
1) Have students do exercises on the slideshow 2) Help students summarize rules for using
capitalization
Rules Examples 1. The first words if All over the world, people do many of the a sentence. same things that are necessary in order to live, yet they do them in a different ways. 2. The pronoun I Anna and I went shopping on Sunday. 3. In titles, the Many Ways of Life first, last and all important words, but notarticles, prepositions and coordination conjunctions. 4. Names of specific The Amazon River, Southeast Asia persons, places and Cone Dwellers geographical locations. 5. Names of family I went to visit my Uncle Sam andAunt relations when used as Linda. substitutes for names. 7. Names of the days of Valentines Day, which is always the week, months and onFebruary 14th, falls on Monday in holidays, but not on 2005. the names of season. g. Historical events. The Gettysburg Battle is a turning point in the American Civil War. 8. Names of nations, Indians, Eskimo, Turkey, English nationalities, muffin, Chinese languages and words based on such words. 9. Brand names and the Computer Since 101, Xerox copier names of a course used as a title. 10. Titles when they Dean Smith introduces President John to precede names. the Secretary Susan. 11. Abbreviation and U.S.A, P.R.C, FBI, HP, UPS, UN acronyms. 12. Names of deities. God, 13. Names of specific Golden Gate Bridge, Crown PlazaHotel, structures such as the White House building and bridges 14. Names of specific Wells Fargo Bank, Red Cross organizations. 3) Have students do exercises on the slideshow
4) Help students summarize rules for using punctuation
Name Period Rules Is used at the end of a sentence. Exclamation Is used to show strong feeling. Question Is used at the mark end of a question sentence. Comma 1. Is used to separate items. Example She went shopping at Macy. What a good deal she got at Robinson May! Where did she go shopping? She bought catfish, cabbages, grapes and salad dressing at Ranch 99. 2. Is used to Her address is 345 Atlantic separate the Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 66711. parts of an address in a sentence. 3. Is used to separate the day of the month from the year and after the year. 4. Is used before a coordination conjunction in a compound sentence. 5. Is used after a sentence connector in a compound sentence. The day she went to Chicago is on February 1, 2005. I don’t want to go out, for it is snowing. The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival symbolizes the unique meanings of Chinese history; furthermore, it is a way of drawing family members together. 6. Is used Jackson, who is honest, will before and after succeed. a non-restrictive clause. 7. Is used after Because he doesn’t like horror a dependent films, he stays at home for adverbial reading magazines. clause followed by an independent clause in a complex sentence. 8. Is used after Finally, the plane took off. most transitional words at the beginning of a sentence. 9. Is used Three men, Bill, Jack, and Jim, before and after were watching the football non-restrictive games. appositives. Quotation Mark Semicolon Is used in a direct speech. Is used between independent clauses that are not connected by a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence. Hyphen Is used to form a compound word or indicate that a word is continued from one line to the next. Apostrophe Is used to show the possessive case. “I’ll call you tonight,” she said in a loud voice. My mother lost her key; we had to wait for my father’s coming back from work. He is a well-known speaker. The children’s books are on the right section in the library. 3) Assign more exercises for students to practice
on capitalization and punctuation 4. Case Analysis: analyze two cases for students
1) Case one: Lacking Conciseness
2) Case two: Errors with Wrong Part Speech 3) Draw conclusion 5. Writing Process:
1) In class practice: Have students practice
writing by following the steps: Write one or more paragraphs with the title “The Person I Admire”.
Step 1: Prewriting to get ideas.
In part 1: prewriting, you have been required, by using
one of the prewriting skills: asking questions and taking notes, to state reasons why you admire someone. Use the notes you had
for the next step.
Step 2: Outline the ideas. (Refer to chapter 3: Outlining a Paragraph)
Organize your ideas in a logical order. Make a more detailed outline. Step 3: Write a rough draft.
Begin your paragraph with a sentence that name the person you admire.
e.g. Lucy is a nice friend admired by almost everyone in our class.
David is a great magician that people all over the world admire.
Based on your notes to write a rough draft. Use specific facts, examples to show reason why you admire him/her.
End your paragraph with a sentence that tells why you admire him/her.
e.g. In short, Lucy is easygoing, funny and always
ready to help others, so we all admire her. For these wonderful magic performances, all
people admire David. Step 4: Revise your rough draft.
Exchange your rough raft with your partner, and check each other’s draft by using the checklist presented on slideshow. Answer the questions and make comments.
Step 5: Edit your essay
Step 6: Write your final copy and hand in for your
instructor’s final evaluation.
2) Assignment after class:
A. Write one paragraph composition about a person you dislike.
B. Write an essay about one of your relatives whom you like.
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