Brief Introduction

1. Brief Introduction • Definition • Importance • Basic Principles

2. Definition： Choice and use of words in speech or writing

3. Let’s have a look at an example is the selection and arrangement of words in relation to effective expression • Diction: • Wording: • Vocabulary: • Phraseology/ Phrasing : stresses style or manner of expression is the aggregate of words a person understands or uses phraseology and phrasing include vocabulary, characteristic style, and the way in which words are grouped

4. Importance The difference between the right word and almost right word is as great as that between lighting and the lighting bug. —— Mark Twain Brevity is the soul of wit. —— William Shakespeare

5. Denotation And Connotation

6. word Denotation 字面义 literal meaning Synonym同义词( word or phrase that means the same as another) meaning emotion( negative贬义, neutral中性, positive褒义) Connotation 引申义 abstract(抽象)and concrete(具体) word replaced

7. Denotation: the literal meaning of the word, by the dictionary as a definition of the same. • Connotation: extended to the meaning of associable and emotional.

8. Warm-up 国家 • Country: • Nation: • State: • Land: mainly refers to land and nationals. that the nation and race. multi-fingered national government and government agencies. although not precise enough to the meaning of country, but have more literary color.

9. Synonym (word or phrase that means the same as another) Tip: Pay attention to subject, object and the situation.

10. Example : • inexpensive and cheap May I have something cheaper? inexpensive cheap: low in price, charging low price (denotation) of poor quality, hence of little worth (connotation)

11. Emotion • Negative There are over 2,000 vagrantsin the city. • Neutral There are over 2,000 people with no fixed address in the city. • Positive There are over 2,000 homeless in the city.

12. Vagrant: A person who has no home or work and goes from place to place . (A public nuisance) Negative

13. Homeless: People who have no home. (A worthy object of pity and charity) Positive

14. People with no fixed address: People who live in many places, don’t have a fixed address. neutral

15. Abstract Word and Concrete Word • Honest labor creates wealth for the society. • In the GM contract dispute, labor seeks a five-cent per hour wage increase. labor: a lot of social works. labor: WAW(美国汽车，飞机，农业机械工人联合会）

16. Words replaced ________ (negative) • Negro (黑鬼) • Crippled （残废的） black (neutral) African (positive) ________ (negative) handicapped (neutral) differently-abled (positive)

17. word Denotation synonym meaning emotion( negative, neutral, positive) connotation abstract and concrete word replaced

18. Introduction Key words： wordy： using or expressed in too many words margin： a space near the edge of a page fundamentally：foundation, essential or primary prettify： make pretty, in an affected way sophisticated： worldly-wise cultured, elegant, highly developed and complex

19. Increasing Clarity by Eliminating Wordiness • Unclear pronouns ： E.g. My cousin Jake hugged my brother Trey, even though he didn't like him very much. • Misused words ： E.g. Creek Indians were a monotonous culture until French and British settlers arrived.

20. Garbled syntax ： E.g. As a woman, he liked her. • Loaded language ： E.g. Huck Finn suggests that to recover democratic ideals one must leave civilized society.

21. Helpful Hints for the Wordy I realized that She thinks that • I came to the realization that • She is of the opinion that • Concerning the matter of • During the course of • In the event that • In the process of About During If During, while

22. Regardless of the fact that Although • Due to the fact that Because • In all cases Always • At that point in time Then • Prior to Before

23. Clichés: Why and how to avoid them? disagree • Agree to disagree • Dead as a doornail • Last but not least • Pushing the envelope dead last approach in the limit

24. Try these yourself: • Up in the air __________ • Can’t see the forest for the trees __________ unknown/undecided Superficial /shallow

25. Selecting and Using Key Terms When writing academic papers, it is often helpful to find key terms and use them within your paper as well as in your topic.

26. Repetition vs. Redundancy(重复与多余) • Key terms can be repeated but you needn’t use the same nouns, verbs, or adjectives, or making the same point over and over again.

27. Strategies • Do not use words you are unfamiliar with. • Make sure that you are using the right words in the right context. • If you feel that the words you’re using aren’t quite right, look up alternatives in the thesaurus and then, if you’re not overly familiar with those words, check their meaning in a dictionary to make sure they’re appropriate in the context of your paper.

28. Don’t try to impress your reader or sound unduly authoritative. For example, which sentence is clearer to you: "a" or "b"? • Under the present conditions of our society, marriage practices generally demonstrate a high degree of homogeneity. • In our culture, people tend to marry others who are like themselves.

29. Building Clear Thesis Statements • Example: You’ve been assigned to write an essay that contrasts（对比）the river and shorescenes in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn（哈克贝利费恩历险记）. You work on it for several days, producing three versions of your thesis:

30. __________ • Version 1: • There are many important river and shore scenes in Huckleberry Finn. • Version 2: • The contrasting river and shore scenes in Huckleberry Finn suggest a return to nature. • Version 3: The contrasting river and shore scenes in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggest that to find democratic ideals, one should return to nature. ______________

31. Version 1 :There are many important river and shore scenes in Huckleberry Finn. • “important”: overused and vague • It suggests that the author has an opinion but gives very little indication（暗示) about the framework(框架) of that opinion. • Reader knows only that you’re going to talk about river and shore scenes, but not what you’re going to say.

32. Version 2:The contrasting river and shore scenes in Huckleberry Finn suggest a return to nature. • The words "return to nature" give your reader a better idea where the paper is headed. • But reader still does not know how this return to nature is crucial to your understanding of the novel.

33. Version 3:The contrasting river and shore scenes in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggest that to find democratic ideals, one should return to nature. • Version 3 is a strong topic because it offers a sophisticated(文辞优美的）argument and the key terms used to make this argument are clear.

34. Fixed Match (固定搭配)

35. for ___ on prepare to drop in to somebody pay of put a side be familiar with somebody ___ off ___ aside ______ to ___

36. ｛ up , for , in , on , at (some place) , off call come get ｛ across , down , along, by, off , bout , up , over , round ｛ up , away , rid of , in , along , over , around

37. a pair of shoes a bar of chocolate a fit of anger a drop of water a bottle of milk

38. Abstract vs. Physical • Some verbs have abstract meanings,so their objects should be abstract nouns. • Some verbs have physical meanings,so their objects should be physical nouns.

39. 有的动词只有抽象意义，没有物理意义，因此它的宾语只能是抽象概念；相反，有的动词只有物理意义没有抽象意义，它的宾语只能物理概念的名词。有的动词只有抽象意义，没有物理意义，因此它的宾语只能是抽象概念；相反，有的动词只有物理意义没有抽象意义，它的宾语只能物理概念的名词。

40. cherish (abstract) cherish love , cherish friendship cherish our body ____________________ fasten (physical) fasten your shoes tie enhance (abstract) enhance your ability

41. Diction of culture differences

42. China west phoenixfortune renascence （凤凰） petrelpower of advance unstable economy （海燕） green environmental, living envy ,new bluecalm,gloomy royal, obscene

43. drink soup Have Have soup Have medicine Have a meal Have a cigarette Have tea eat soup take medicine suck the breast

44. Diction skills in examinations • Principles of diction in examinations • Important words in examinations

45. The principle of more concrete nice humorous interesting smart Warm-hearted hospital

46. General walk out of the room • Chiefslip out of the room • Gentlewomansail out of the room • Childdance out of the room • Old manstagger out of the room

47. The principle of Phrase first • I cannot bear it. • I cannot put upwith it. • I want it. • I am looking forward to it

48. Important words and phrases in examination compositions

49. to begin with， then， furthermore， finally to start with， next， in addition， finally first and foremost， besides， last but not least most important of all， moreover， finally Words to list items

50. however nevertheless in spite of despite notwithstanding The car was quite old， yet it was in excellent condition. Notwithstanding the coat was thin， it was warm. Words to express transition