Intermediate Writing

1. Intermediate Writing Unit One We Learn as We Grow

2. Main Points • 1. Introduction toexposition • 2. Definition of exemplification • 3. Selection of examples • 4. Sources of examples • 5. Organization of an exemplification essay • 6. Outlining

3. Patterns of exposition • Exemplification • Process analysis • Cause-Effect analysis • Comparison and contrast • Classification • Definition • Analogy

4. Exemplification Diamonds have lured many people into trouble. ( the topic sentence)The famous Nikolas Verden stole the Khybar stone from a shop in Amsterdam, Holland, fled to Naples and died trying to escape from the police. (example 1) Thomas Bright, a jewelry salesman, swallowed the Van Noos diamond in order to smuggle it out of South Africa and was arrested after it was found during an operation for appendicitis. (example 2) Five members of the Burton family died trying to hide the Courtney stone from the authorities. (example 3)

5. Process (in time or logic order ) • To explain how to do something or how something works. For example: Making Paper Modern paper is manufactured from a mixture of various fibers like rags, linen, wood, wastepaper. The main ingredient is of course wood pulp, produced from complete trees after the bark has been removed. The main areas of production are Finland and Canada, where the trees are cut down, taken to the saw mill, and chopped up. The pieces of wood are thenground up and mixed.

6. Cause and Effect This surge of demand for oil will soon begin to send shock waves through the American economy and transportation system.(the cause) The impact of these tremors can already be anticipated: to the consumer they signal the end of a long love affair with the car, and Detroit they offer an early warning that its 1985 growth aims are dangerously unrealistic. Unless we exercise foresight and devise growth-limits policies for the auto industry, events will thrust us into a crisis that will lead to a substantial erosion of domestic oil supply as well as the independence it provides us with, and a level of petroleum imports that could cost as much as ＄20 to ＄30 billion per year. Moreover, we could still be depleting our remaining oil reserves at an unacceptable rate, and scrambling for petroleum substitutes, with enormous potential damage to the environment.

7. Comparison & Contrast • Whale and human beings are like two nations of individuals who have certain characteristics in common. As mammals they both are warm-blooded, giving milk, and breathing air. As social creatures they both have basic urges for privacy as well as for fraternization. As species bent on reproduction they both show similar patterns of aggression during courtship, the male trying to gain the female’s attention and the female responding. Finally, as mystical beings they both are caught in the net of life and time, follow prisoners of the splendor, travail, and secrets of earth.

8. Classification • Every educated person has at least 2 ways of speaking his mother tongue. The first is that which he employs in his family, among his familiar friends, and on ordinary occasions. The second is that which he uses in discoursing on more complicated subjects, and in addressing persons with whom he is less intimately acquainted. It is, in short, the language which he employs when he is on his dignity, as he puts on evening dress when he is going to dine.

9. Definition • In various ways: • 1. the dictionary definition, which provides a synonym or shows how a word fits into a general class; • 2. using a paragraph to define a term allows for a thorough discussion; • 3. illustration with examples to discuss the word’s origins, compare it with similar one, or to tell what it is not.

10. For example: An atom is similar to a biological cell or a microscopic model of a solar system. It is the smallest unit of a chemical element, composed of a central nucleus surrounded by electronically charged particles. The word “atom” derives from a Greek work which, in English, means “indivisible”, but one of the scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century was the successful attempt to split the atom. Splitting atoms produces energy, providing us with an alternate source of power to reduce the demand for expensive and diminishing natural sources of energy such as oil and coal.

11. Analogy (a figurative comparison) • To explain a complicated idea by comparing it to a simple idea or more concrete image. • The items compared are from different classes. For example, the writer may compare the life of a person to a river. • It can help us make complicated things simpler or show in different ways.

12. For example • The atmosphere of Earth acts like any window in serving two very important functions. It lets light in and it permits us to look out. It also serves as a shield to keep out dangerous or uncomfortable things. A normal glazed window lets us keep our house warm by keeping out cold air, and it prevents rain, dirt, and unwelcome insects and animals from coming in. As we have already seen, Earth’s atmospheric window also helps to keep out planet at a comfortable temperature by holding back radiated heat and protecting us from dangerous levels of ultraviolet light.

13. Exemplification • Exemplification is a method of supporting a thesis statement with a series of specific examples or, sometimes, with a single extended example. It is one of the most common and most useful means of developing a paragraph or an essay.

14. Selection of examples • Choose relevant examples • Choose striking examples • Choose a variety of useful examples • Choose representative examples • Choose accurate examples

15. Sources of examples • From your personal experience • From your personal observations • From short stories, novels, television, or movies.

16. Pattern A: generalization ----specifics • Introduction-- • Body-- or • Conclusion-- Thesis statement Example 1 Example 2 One extended example Example 3 Restatement of thesis

17. Pattern B: generalization ----specifics • Introduction-- • Body-- • Conclusion-- Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Generalization: Thesis statement

18. Outlining 1. Basic structure of an expositive essay • An expositive essay has three parts: • A beginning called the introduction • A middle called the body • An end called the conclusion 2. Elements of the expositive essay? • Outlining • Thesis statement • Title

19. 3. What is an outline? • An outline is a method of organizing materials in logical order. It is a list that shows the main ideas and the structure of something you are planning to write. In other words, it is a plan for a piece of writing. Constructing an outline makes the writing of your essay easier. • Go to page 14 in the text book.