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prewriting act
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Prewriting Activity Bertha Maya Sopha, S.T., M. Sc., Ph. D.
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What is Scientific Writing?
State your facts as simply as possible, even boldly. No one wants flowers of eloquence of
literary ornaments in a research article
- R. B. McKerrow
- Key characteristics of scientific writing is
CLARITY
- The transmission of a clear signal to recipient
as clear and simple as possible
- The best English is that which gives the sense
in the fewest short words
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Prewriting Activity
Thinking for a theme
Asking questions or acquiring information from literatures
Taking notes
Evaluating texts
Understanding
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Theme
Consider the title
Most writers begins with a theme
You must be clear about what areas you want to cover
Find keywords
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Asking Questions
Sample Questions Sample notes
What is your first
name?
Bertha
Where are you from? Malang
How long have you
lived in this country?
26 years
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Taking notes
Whenever you write, you need ideas to write about
Taking notes is one way to get ideas
when you take note, you do not have to write complete sentence, just write down
the important information
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When writing academic work, it is important NOT to use phrases met in non-
academic texts, e.g. newspapers or
magazines.
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Effective note-making employs
Headings, sub-headings, underlining and listing to organise the data clearly
Simplified grammar (few articles, pronouns or prepositions)
Symbols (such as = or +) and abbreviations ( Do not abbreviate too
much)
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Evaluating Texts
Is the text fact or opinion??
Is the text true or false?
Can the text be trusted?
Is the text useful?
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FactFact or
opinion?Opinion
Agree or
disagree?Disagree?False
True or
false
TrueTrustworthy
and usefulagree
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Examples
It can be seen that even short sentences, such as (2f) above, can contain a mixture of fact and opinion. Most longer texts, of course, consist of both.
Read the following text about crime in Britain and underline facts (_______) and opinions (............).
a)Britain has one of the highest crime rates in the world.
b)A robbery takes place every five seconds. Clearly, criminals are not afraid of the police.
c)Even if they are caught, few criminals ever appear in court.
d)Most of those who are found guilty are let off with a small fine.
e)To reduce crime, we need more police and tougher punishments
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Text Evaluations The text can be evaluated as follows:
a)Fact, but only partly true. Britain does not have one of the highest overall crime rates in the world. For some crimes, e.g. car crime, the rate is high, but other countries, e.g. South Africa, have much higher rates of violent crime.
b)This may or may not be true, but it does not follow that criminals are unafraid of the police.
c)Fact, but not true. A significant number of those arrested are charged and later prosecuted.
d)This fact is distorted. A fine is not letting off . What is meant by small? e)This is opinion. More police would probably help reduce crime, but it is not clear if more severe punishments would have that result
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From this it can be seen that, even if
the facts are correct, the opinions that are
expressed may not be reliable. The
evaluation above would suggest that the
writer of the original text could not be
trusted, and it would be better to look for
another source.
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Understanding
Purpose inform
amuse
Persuade
Entertain
Style
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Example
Compare the two extracts below:
a) Rebus College is seeking candidates for the position of Treasurer. As the Chief Financial Officer of the College, the Treasurer is responsible for working with the senior administration and Trustees to develop and implement a financial strategic vision for the College.
a) Are you wondering what to do with that jumper you were given for Christmas thats two sizes too small or, worse, the personal stereo that simply doesnt work? Well, dont worry. Chances are, youll be able to get your dud gifts swapped, fixed or get a refund. And, armed with our guide to your rights, youll be able to get any defective products sorted
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The first extract is written to inform the
reader about a job vacancy and to give
information about the work. The second aims to
persuade the reader to buy the guide described.
The language style, or register, of the extracts is
also very different. The first uses very formal
vocabulary such as seeking, position and
implement. The second uses an informal tone,
the pronoun you, the question form and informal
vocabulary such as dud and swapped
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Exercise 1 - Keywords
Underline the key words in the following titles and consider what they are asking you to do. a) Define information technology (IT) and outline its main applications in medicine. b) Compare and contrast the appeal process in the legal systems of Britain and the USA. c) Evaluate the effect of mergers in the motor industry in the last ten years. d) Trace the development of primary education in one country. Illustrate some of the issues currently facing this sector.
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Teachers often complain that students write essays which do not answer the question set
Consider the following titles and decide which sections should be included in each essay!!
Exercise 2 Relevant Information
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a)Describe the growth of the European Union since 1975 and suggest its likely form by 2020
1. A short account of European history 19002000 2. An analysis of candidates for membership before 2020
3. A discussion of the current economic situation in Europe
4. A summary of the enlargement of the EU from 1975 to now
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b) Summarize the arguments in favour of privatisation
and evaluate its record in Britain.
1. A case study of electricity privatisation
2. An analysis of the international trends in
privatization
3. A study of major privatisations in the UK
4. A discussion of the benefits achieved by
privatisation
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c) To what extent is tuberculosis (TB) a disease of poverty?
1.A definition of TB
2.A report on the spread of TB worldwide
3.A case study showing how TB relates to social class
4.A discussion of new methods of treating the disease
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d) Nursery education is better for children than staying at home with mother discuss.
1.A study of the growth of nurseries in the UK since 1995
2.A report on the development of children who remain at home until age 5
3.A discussion comparing speaking ability in both groups of children
4.An analysis of the increase of women in the labour market since 1960
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e) Compare studying in a library with using
the internet. Will the former become
redundant?
1.The benefits of using books
2.The drawbacks of internet sources
3.Predicted IT developments in the next
15 years
4.The developments in library services
since 1970
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Exercise 3 - Understanding
The following terms are also commonly used in essay titles.
Match the terms to the definitions on the right.
Analyse Give a clear and simple account
Describe Make a proposal and support it
Examine Deal with a complex subject by giving the main points
State Divide into sections and discuss each critically
Suggest Give a detailed account
Summarise Look at the various parts and their relationships
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Exercise 4 - Understanding Underline the key terms in the following titles, and decide what you are being asked to do.
Example:
Relate the development of railways to the rise of nineteenth - century European nationalism
Relate means to link one thing to another. The title is asking for links to be made between the growth of railways in Europe in the nineteenth century and the political philosophy of nationalism. The writer must decide if there was a connection or not.
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Exercise 4 - Understanding
Underline the key terms in the following titles, and decide what you are being asked to do.
a) Identify the main causes of rural poverty in China.
b) Calculate the likely change in coffee consumption that would result from a 10% fall in the price of coffee beans.
c) Classify the desert regions of Asia and suggest possible approaches to halting their spread.
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