成功写作入门

章节摘录

　　Chapter　　Prewriting　　Getting Started (or Soup-Can Labels Can Be Fascinating)　　For many writers, getting started is the hardest part. You may have noticed that when it is time to begin a writing assignment, you suddenly develop an enormous desire to straighten your books, water your plants, or sharpen your pencils for the fifth time. If this situation sounds familiar, you may find it reassuring to know that many professionals undergo these same strange compulsions before they begin writing. Jean Kerr, author of Please Dont Eat the Daisies, admitted that she often found herself in the kitchen reading soup-can labels—or anything——to prolong the moments before taking pen in hand. John C. Calhoun, vice president under Andrew Jackson, insisted he had to plow his fields before he could write, and Joseph Conrad, author of Lord Jim and other novels, is said to have cried on occasion from the sheer dread of sitting down to compose his stories.　　To spare you as much hand-wringing as possible, this chapter presents some practical suggestions on how to begin writing your short essay. Although all writers must find the methods that work best for them, you may find some of the following ideas helpful..　　The Basics of the Short Essay　　But no matter how you actually begin putting words on paper, it is absolutely essential to maintain two basic ideas concerning your writing task. Before you write a single sentence, you should always remind yourself that　　1. You have some valuable ideas to tell your reader, and　　2. More than anything, you want to communicate those ideas to your reader.　　These reminders may seem obvious to you, but without a solid commitment to your own opinions as well as to your reader, your prose will be lifeless and boring. If you dont care about your subject, you cant very well expect anyone else to. Have confidence that your ideas are worthwhile and that your reader genuinely wants, or needs, to know what you think.　　Equally important, you must also have a strong desire to tell others what you are thinking. One of the moist common mistakes inexperienced writers make is failing to move past early stages in the writing process in which they are writing for————or writing to——-themselves only. In the first stages of composing an essay, writers frequently "talk" on paper to themselves, exploring thoughts, discovering new insights, making connections, selecting examples, and so on. The ultimate goal of a finished essay, however, is to communicate your opinions to others clearly and persuasively. Whether you wish to inform your readers, change their minds, or stir them to action, you cannot accomplish your purpose by writing so that only you understand what you mean. The burden of communicating your thoughts falls on you, not the reader, who is under no obligation to struggle through confused, unclear prose, paragraphs that begin and end for no apparent reason, or sentences that come one after another with no more logic than lemmings following one another to the sea.

前言

　　北京大学出版社2008年最新引进了一套国外畅销的《英语写作原版影印系列丛书》，并邀请我为这套丛书写序，谈谈我对英语写作教学与研究的一些认识。我仔细翻阅后，觉得这套书特色十分鲜明，其中有几本再版达十次以上，经久不衰，非常乐意在此推荐给我国的广大读者。　　在经济全球化和网络高度发达的今天，学好英语已变得十分重要，英语口头与书面语的表达能力已逐渐成为当今的核心竞争力之一，从第二语言学习的社会文化观看，能否流利地运用外语进行口头或书面交流已直接关系到学生的就业和未来发展。

内容概要

Jean Wynck，是美国科罗拉多州立大学(Colorado State University)的荣誉退休教授(Professor Emerita)，曾任该校写作教研部主任11年之久。她有丰富的教学经验，在近30年的教学生涯中，主讲过本科英语写作课、培训过英语写作教师并担任多项写作研究项目的负责人。此外，她还著有“The Rinehart Reader”和“Discovering Ideas”等著作。她曾发表了二十多篇关于写作和美国文学方面的论文。目前她研究的主要内容包括19世纪晚期和20世纪初的美国小说、美国研究以及妇女研究。她出版的三本大学写作教材都曾多次再版。

书籍目录

Part One The Basics of the Short Essay

1 Prewriting

Getting Started (or Soup-Can Labels Can Be Fascinating)

Selecting a Subject

Finding Your Essay's Purpose and Focus

Pump-Primer Techniques

After You've Found Your Focus

Practicing What You’ve Learned

Discovering Your Audience

How to Identify Your Readers

Practicing What You've Learned

Assignment

Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help)

Chapter 1 Summary

2 The Thesis Statement

What Is a Thesis? What Does a "Working Thesis" Do?

Can a "Working Thesis" Change?

Guidelines for Writing a Good Thesis

Avoiding Common Errors in Thesis Statements

Practicing What You've Learned

Assignment

Using the Essay Map

Practicing What You've Learned

Assignment

Chapter 2 Summary

3e Topic Sentence 50

Focusing Your Topic Sentence

Placing Your Topic Sentence

Practicing What You've Learned

Assignment

Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing

Paragraph Development

Paragraph Length

Practicing What You've Learned

Assignment

Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing

Paragraph Unity

Practicing What You've Learned

Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing

Paragraph Coherence

Practicing What You're Learned

Paragraph Sequence

Transitions between Paragraphs

Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing

Chapter 3 Summary

4 Beginnings and Endings

How to Write a Good Lead-in

Avoiding Errors in Lead-ins

Practicing What You've learned

Assignment

How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph

Avoiding Errors in Conclusions

Practicing What You're Learned

Assignment

How to Write a Good Title

Practicing What You've learned

Assignment

Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing

Chapter 4 Summary

5 Drafting and Revising: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking

What Is Revision?

When Does Revision Occur?

Myths about Revision

Can I Learn to Improve My Revision Skills?

Preparing to Draft some Time-Saving Hints

Additional Suggestions for Writers with Word Processors

Writing Centers, Computer Labs, and Computer Classrooms

A Revision Process for Your Drafts

I. Revising for Purpose, Thesis, and Audience

II. Revising for Ideas and Evidence

Ⅲ. Revising for Organization

IV. Revising for Clarity and Style

V. Editing for Errors

VI. Proofreading

A Final Checklist for Your Essay

Practicing What You've Learned

Benefiting from Revision Workshops

Practicing You're Learned

Assignment

Some Last Advice: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks

Chapter 5 Summary

6 Effective Sentences

7 Word Logic

8 The Reading-Writing Connection

Part Two Purposes, Modes, and Strategies

9 Exposition

10 Argumentation

11 Description

12 Narration

13 Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies

Part Three Special Assignments

14 Writing a Paper Using Research

15 Writing in Class: Exams and "Response" Essays

16 Writing about Literature

17 Writing about Visual Arts

18 Writing about Film

19 Writing in the World of Work

Part Four A Concise Handbook

20 Major Errors in Grammar

21 A Concise Guide to Punctuation

22 A Concise Guide to Mechanics

List of Artworks

List of Advertisements

作者简介

《成功写作入门(第10版)》是一本逐步指导写作的书，实用性、指导性非常强。书的内容设计合理，讲解深入浅出，通过举例说明来逐步阐述写作的概念，阐明了写作过程直至写作成功完成。书中配有习题及课后写作，帮助学生将课堂上学习到的内容运用到实践中，学以致用。书中引用了40多幅引人思考的图片、照片、广告，来启迪学生写作思维，并且新增加了第17章关于视觉艺术的写作；书中还引用了17篇学生作文和20多篇专业的例子，提供写作参考、题目建议，增加了写作体裁选择的可能性的模式。

图书封面

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