What is Extensive
Reading?
Extensive Reading (ER) is an approach to second language
reading. When learners read extensively, they read very easy, enjoyable books
to build their reading speed and fluency. Another way to say this is students
learn to read by actually reading rather than examining texts by studying the
vocabulary, grammar and phrases. It is instructive to compare Intensive Reading
(IR) with Extensive Reading.
Intensive Reading
For many teachers, there is only one way to teach reading
which involves the teacher walking the whole class through a reading passage.
The passage is usually short and the instruction is focused on carefully
checking comprehension, studying the grammar and/or vocabulary, or developing a
reading skill. Here is an example.
The above reading for elementary learners is short and
introduces vocabulary and grammar. The reading is followed by comprehension
questions and other activities. Using a passage like this is useful when
teaching students new language. This type of reading is called Intensive
Reading because the learners study the reading and check their comprehension.
Typically these types of text are used by the whole class with the teacher
guiding them.
The limits of
Intensive reading
However, if learners only use reading passages like
these:
The reading is difficult, so learners have few chances to
build reading speed and fluency.
The reading is short and because it is difficult, the
learners read slowly and they cannot meet a lot of language.
The whole class reads the same material, which is too
easy for some and too difficult for others.
All the students have to read at the same pace as they do
the tasks together.
The reading is interesting to some learners but not
others.
The benefits of
Extensive Reading
Extensive Reading gives students chances to read longer
pieces of reading, which they choose, which they can read at their own speed
and at their own ability level. This can be done with Graded readers.
Intensive Reading and Extensive Reading are complementary
and teachers should use both. A balanced reading program uses Intensive Reading
to introduce new language, and complements this with Extensive Reading which
consolidates and raises awareness of this language leading to reading fluency.
Why do Extensive
Reading?
There are many reasons why Extensive Reading is good for
language development.
Extensive Reading builds vocabulary. When learners read a
lot, they meet thousands of words and lexical (word) patterns that are not
taught in textbooks. Extensive Reading allows the learner to develop an
awareness of collocations (common word partnerships) and thousands of lexical
phrases.
Extensive Reading helps learners understand grammar. In
textbooks learners meet hundreds of grammar patterns. However, textbooks do not
provide enough meetings with grammar for real acquisition to occur. Extensive
Reading provides opportunities to see grammar in context so learners can deepen
their understanding of how grammar is really used.
Extensive Reading helps learners to build reading speed
and reading fluency. In particular, developing reading speed is important
because it helps learners to understand language faster and better.
One objective of Extensive Reading is reading for
pleasure. This builds confidence and motivation which makes the learner a more
effective user of language.
Intensive vs. Extensive Reading
Reading, despite being one of the four major skills of language
learning, is one of the skills that is most often neglected by language
learners.
Aside from reading the words and phrases that are presented in
textbooks, phrasebooks and grammar guides, most learners do not bother to
regularly engage in reading native texts in any meaningful way.
For the language learner who wishes to reach the upper levels of
target language capability, this lack of reading poses a serious obstacle to
the expansion of one's vocabulary, as a limited vocabulary offers less capacity
to understand and, in turn, be understood.
In spite of all this, the question is not simply "to read,
or not to read"—the answer to that is a resounding
"yes"—but what to read, and how.
You see, although reading is an immensely valuable activity, not
all types of reading are created equal.
Indeed, there are styles of reading that are
more useful in some contexts, and less so in others.
The two most important of these styles are known as Intensive
Reading and Extensive Reading. If you learn to master
the what, how, and why of these two
manners of reading, you will have two extremely powerful tools in your language
learning arsenal, which will fuel your ability to acquire vocabulary
indefinitely.
Intensive
Reading
To read intensively is to completely deconstruct a text, with
the goal of absorbing as much meaning from it as possible. This is done by
taking a text, and systematically looking up every word, phrase, or collocation
that you do not understand.
This is an activity that requires great mental effort and focus.
Because of this, the learner who engages in intensive reading must be careful
to follow specific guidelines, or else risk boredom and burnout. Specifically,
if you wish to read a text intensively, you must take care to read texts that
are interesting and short, to read only for brief
periods of time, and to do so when you have the most mental energy.
Let's explore these concepts in further detail:
Texts for intensive reading must be interesting,
because if you do not enjoy what you read, you will quickly forget the content,
and have more mental resistance to the intensive reading process.
Texts for intensive reading must be short, because
the end goal is to understand the text down to the most minute detail. The
longer a text is, the more laborious it is to complete such a deep analysis, so
it is better to stick to shorter texts in order to avoid mental exhaustion.
Ideal learning materials for intensive reading include:
News articles
Wikipedia articles
Short stories
Blog posts
You must intensively read for brief periods of time specifically
to avoid the mental exhaustion that is described above. It takes much focus and
effort to go from zero (or partial) understanding of a text to complete
understanding, so it is best to limit intensive reading sessions to 30-35
minutes maximum.
You must intensively read only when you have the most
mental energy, in order to further boost your capacity for learning, and to
reduce the risk of mental exhaustion that comes with deep analysis of even the
shortest texts. Of course, mental energy levels fluctuate throughout the
day—and even differ greatly from person to person—so exactly you should
intensively read is something you need to determine for yourself.
Extensive Reading
To read extensively is to simply read as much as possible,
without concerning oneself with the minutia of meaning and the occasional
unknown word. This is done by reading for large swaths of time, and looking up
words only when you deem it absolutely necessary to your understanding of the
text.
If the text you wish to extensively read is at the appropriate
level, you'll find that most unknown words can be deciphered by looking at
their surrounding context, making overt use of translations or dictionaries
unnecessary.
While intensive reading requires a high level of focus and
deliberate effort, extensive reading is meant to be a fun and pleasurable
experience, requiring a low expenditure of mental effort. The more extensive
reading you do, the more language you are exposed to, allowing you to increase
your passive knowledge of vocabulary quite quickly.
Specifically, if you wish to read a text extensively, you must
read texts that are interesting, level-appropriate,
of moderate length, to read when you can dedicate longer
blocks of time, and to do so when you are relaxed.
Let's explore each of these aspects of extensive reading in
deeper detail:
As in intensive reading, texts for extensive reading must
be interesting. Since extensive reading is done for longer periods
of time, you must take care to select texts that hold your attention, and keep
you coming back for more, hour after hour.
Texts for extensive reading must be level-appropriate.
Since you will not be attempting to understand every single word and phrase (as
in intensive reading), you must be able to understand a high-percentage of a
text before you even begin. The goal is to absorb unknown words through context;
therefore, if you don't understand the bulk of the context, the text is not yet
appropriate for you to read extensively.
Texts for extensive reading must be of moderate length.
Specifically, a text should be, on average at least 15-30 pages long. Texts of
this length are long enough to fully develop an idea or narrative, and require
you to keep mental "track" of ideas, concepts or characters as they
develop over time.
Ideal learning materials for extensive reading include:
Graded Readers
Bilingual Books
Monolingual (Native) Books
Magazines
Comic Books
Extensive reading must be done for longer blocks of time when
compared to intensive reading. This is because you will be reading longer
texts, which naturally require more time to read, and because sitting down to
read for longer periods allow you to get into the "flow" of reading,
and therefore mentally process the material more deeply. When aiming to
extensively read a text, it is best to do so for sessions of an hour or more.
When extensively reading, it is best to stay relaxed.
Reading in a relaxed, low-stress environment will help you associate reading
with pleasure, and therefore increase your willingness to read more often, and
for longer periods. Clearly, you don't want to be so relaxed
that you fall asleep, but instead just relaxed enough that you
feel comfortable, and willing to absorb whatever you're reading.
Intensive vs. Extensive Reading
By now, you understand the how to read, what
to read, and why to read of both Intensive and Extensive
Reading. Though you may feel more compelled to one style of reading over the
other, don't fall into the trap of thinking that one method is intrinsically
better.
Instead, it is important to realize that both styles of reading
have their uses, and you should use both styles in tandem (across different
texts) in order to bolster your vocabulary acquisition quickly and effectively.
Remember that extensive reading and intensive reading are, at
their very core, simply tools. Whenever and wherever you read in your target
language, if you know which of these tools the right tool for the job is,
you'll be able to maximize your learning, and take your language skill to new
heights.
Analyzing paragraph Structure
Example Questions
Example Question #1: Analyzing Paragraph Structure
1 The recruitment
of elite athletes by American universities has recently reached new levels of
both sophistication and it is very competitive. The benefits of having
top-quality athletic programs are obvious: massive television revenues,
marketing deals with major corporate sponsors, and increased alumni
donations. However, the desire to
achieve these riches led many colleges to sanction practices that are both
ethically and legally questionable.
2 Colleges have
traditionally made allowances in their admission standards for athletes who
might not have otherwise been academically qualified. In recent years, however, several cases of
outright academic fraud have been uncovered at major American
universities. These include fraudulent
transcripts, fictitious online coursework, and the increasingly common practice
of having a star athlete repeat a grade or two in order to achieve a higher
grade point average.
3 The recruitment of potential college athletes is also
starting at a much earlier age as it was before. Some football and basketball players have
been given scholarship offers before they enroll in high school. The presence of various types of social media
also plays a large role in the recruiting process. Of course, the offers are non-binding, and
oftentimes, the athletes in question do not actually attend the school at all.
4. It would be a good
idea for the leaders of American universities to remind themselves of the
academic mission of their institutions before they allow the pursuit of money
and fame to corrupt them. Success on the playing fields is a noble goal,
but not if it comes at the cost ignoring the true purpose of higher education.
Which choice best replaces the bolded and underlined phrase?
Possible Answers:
In recent years, but,
In recent years; however,
(no change)
Recently, in years, however.
Correct answer:
(No change)
Explanation:
The answer choice correctly uses a prepositional phrase at
the beginning of the sentence and the coordinator "however" provides
the proper contrast to the previous sentence.
Semi-colons require two main clauses.
"But" is a conjunction that requires two main
clauses if it is used alongside a comma.
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Example Question #11 : Hi Set High School Equivalency Test:
Writing
(1) Yoga is an ancient practice. (2) It is a practice that
originated in India. (3) Although many modern yoga practitioners think that
yoga is mostly about stretching and exercise, its origins are much more closely
related to meditation and spirituality. (4) One major text that forms a large
portion of what we now know about yoga is The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. (5) Hatha is the name of one style of yoga.
(6) In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, eight different components or “limbs” of
yoga are introduced. (7) Only one of these “limbs” pertains to a physical yoga
practice. (8) The other seven are related to moral virtuous behavior,
breathing, and inward focus. (9) Yoga was first introduced to the west in the
19th century and gained major mainstream popularity in the 20th century. (10)
In the United States and around the world, a wide variety of yoga styles have
taken hold. (11) A few current popular yoga styles include vinyasa, ashtanga,
bikram, and many others. (12) Many of these styles are quite different from the
earlier forms of yoga. (13) In fact, many of the poses in contemporary yoga
were actually influenced by calisthenics done by the British army. (14)
Krishnamacharya, the yogi-in-residence in Mysore, India for much of the
twentieth century, combined the earlier mystic elements of yoga with movements
borrowed from gymnastics and military conditioning routines. (15) Often called
“The Father of Modern Yoga,” Krishnamacharya personally instructed some of the
most influential teachers who then went on to establish their own styles of
teaching.
The writer is considering breaking the passage into two
separate paragraphs. Where is the best place for a paragraph break?
Possible Answers:
Between sentences (3) and (4)
Between sentences (7) and (8)
Between sentences (10) and (11)
Between sentences (5) and (6)
Between sentences (8) and (9)
Correct answer:
Between sentences (8) and (9)
Explanation:
This is a natural place for a paragraph break because the
content shifts from the historical origins of yoga to its emergence in the
western world. A new paragraph typically signals to readers that there is a new
point of new idea being discussed. In this passage, the transition from the
ancient history of yoga to the more recent history of contemporary yoga (as
well as its journey to the United States) is exactly the kind of shift that
calls for a new paragraph.
Report an Error
Example Question #1 : Analyzing Paragraph Structure
Dear Author,
Thank you for bringing the Harold Rodgers series into the
world—your books have made my life so much better and more interesting. (1)
Your books are just amazing. The characters and the plot spark my imagination
and take me into a new world. (2) I just couldn’t put the books down once I
read them they are so suspenseful. I think you should write another book. If
you did, a lot of people would buy it. (3) When your previous books were
published, the lines at the bookstore were out the door, and people were waited
all night to get your book. You could make a lot of money selling your books to
children and adults since so many people would buy it. (4) Everyone needs to
make money to survive. Please consider writing another book for your fans.
Thank you for taking time to read my request.
What change should be made to sentence 1?
Possible Answers:
(no change)
Omit the sentence
Your book's are just amazing.
You're books are just amazing.
Correct answer:
Omit the sentence
Explanation:
The best choice would be to omit this sentence from the
paragraph. This is because the author has already expressed that he or she
thinks that the author’s books are amazing through the details in the
paragraph, making this sentence redundant and repetitive. The other choices are
grammatically incorrect or do not correct the problem of repetitiveness.
How to Structure a
Five Paragraph Analysis Essay
An analysis essay takes a subject and looks into the
dynamics of that subject very carefully. You are meant to pick apart your subject
to explain to your readers how or why your subject works. While the
five-paragraph structure can be applied to almost any form of an essay, its
particular structure is comprised of an introduction, three body paragraphs and
a conclusion. The standard five-paragraph essay format is a typical requirement
in high school, though this format is a useful springboard in developing higher
level essays as well.
Structuring Your Essay
Analyze your subject to see how it works. This seems like
the most obvious of steps, but it really is the most essential to starting your
paper. Look at your subject critically and ask yourself what your opinion is of
the subject and why. Use various pre-writing techniques and research your
subject online to get yourself started.
Write a thesis statement. Your thesis statement is one
sentence that states your opinion and briefly explains why you think and feel
what you do about your subject. The thesis statement is going to be what your
entire essay revolves around and explains, so you need to make sure it is
clearly written somewhere in your introduction.
Complete your introduction with generalizations. Depending
on where your thesis statement is placed in the introduction, the rest of that
paragraph can either build up to your thesis (if it is at the end of the
paragraph) or explain your thesis further (if it is at the beginning of the
paragraph).
Write your body paragraphs with specific details. Each of
your three body paragraphs should contain a specific example or aspect of the subject
to explain the reasoning behind your thesis statement. In an analysis essay,
the body paragraphs would focus on examining specific features of the subject
to examine how the subject operates.
Write your conclusion. The last paragraph of your essay should
tie your whole argument together, showing how your three body paragraphs prove
the same point. After giving different examples in the body paragraphs, you
need to remind your reader what the point of your essay was. You may reword
your thesis statement in an effort to explain the point of your paper as a
whole.
Tips
Since using a five paragraph format only allows you to use
three body paragraphs to explain your analysis, it is important to narrow down
your points to the most vital. Brainstorming on different ideas, prior to
writing your essay, will help you decide which details are better to focus on
in your essay.
Warnings
Your analysis essay is intended to metaphorically dissect
your subject through a discussion, which requires constant focus. Be sure your
point is clearly stated in your thesis and that your body paragraphs represent
your thesis. Otherwise your readers could be confused with the point of your
entire essay.
Things Needed
Pen
Paper
References
The Standard Five-Paragraph Essay Format Is a Typical
Requirement
Your Analysis Essay Is Intended to Metaphorically Dissect
Your Subject Through a Discussion
How to write a persuasive article:
State your issue and point of view.
Use the best arguments and evidence you have.
Be logical and consistent.
Use influential language (power words, persuasive writing techniques, transitions).
Write in present tense.
With tons of persuasive essays to write in college, you want to understand this concept better, right? Persuasive articles are among the most common writing types to convince readers of a writer’s opinion, so they have a definite structure and language units to communicate arguments.
And while some persuasive articles (political speeches or argumentative essays in newspapers) try hard to make the audience act, persuasive essays you write in college share arguments with readers to prove them your point of view.
We believe you’ve checked our long read on how to write a persuasive essay already. Now, let’s take a look at the structure of a persuasive article to understand what tricks make it… well, persuasive.
Persuasive Articles: The Structure
In plain English, persuasive writing is an essay that offers a polemical opinion and provides an argument and evidence to prove it. When writing it, you want the audience to agree with you, so your task is to convince them.
All persuasive essay examples demonstrate that the structure of such articles reminds a standard five-paragraph essay:
You need to write an introduction.
Then, write 2-3 paragraphs with arguments and counterarguments (remember about the evidence to include).
And finally, finish the essay with a conclusion.
To make it easier for you, here goes a template you can use when writing a persuasive article. Fill it in, and the detailed outline for your essay is ready.
Persuasive Essay Template
Persuasive Articles: The Language
Yes, the structure of persuasive articles is simple. But, as far as you understand, it’s not what makes them so convincing. Clear yet emotional language, concise writing style, power words that reinforce a writer’s opinion with facts and evidence – that’s only a few persuasive writing techniques to use when structuring your essay.
A persuasive article is a mix of emotive language, critical thinking, and successful arguments with hard evidence. To convince the audience, you need to write an essay with particular words, phrases, and persuasive writing techniques in mind.
Persuasive Writing Techniques
Persuasive essays are those written with the right combination of emotional and rational elements in mind. Writers appeal to logic and emotions, which makes their texts sound reasonable and credible.
The basic strategies, also known as the rhetorical triangle, to use for that are:
Logos: logic and facts to persuade the audience.
Ethos: credibility and expertise (appealing to big names and their reputation) to persuade the audience.
Pathos: emotional language to persuade the audience.
For these elements to sound persuasive in writing, authors use techniques such as clarity, consistency, repetition, specific and precise language, calls to actions, power words, etc. All they help to make texts more interesting and memorable.
Carefully-chosen words do wonders. We bet you heard of Robert Cialdini and his principles of persuasion: commonly used in marketing texts to influence buying decisions, they work for other writing styles too.
Top blogger and storyteller, Jon Morrow described power words like this:
“Power words are persuasive, emotional words that trigger a positive or negative response. They can make us feel scared, encouraged, aroused, angry, greedy, safe, or curious. Authors, copywriters, and content marketers use “power words” to spice up their content and compel audience to take action.”
In his article, Jon shares the fragment of Winston Churchill’s speech (with power words underlined) to illustrate how carefully-chosen words can turn a text into persuasive writing.
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
So, don’t forget about persuasive writing techniques when structuring your essay.
Words and Phrases to Use
As you see, vocabulary matters in persuasive writing. Sure enough, you can’t use all power words at once. And you shouldn’t use too difficult language and long sentences with vague phrases. Plus, too emotional phrases won’t work well in academic writing.
Too many can’ts and don’ts, huh?
No worries! Once you’ve figured out the persuasive writing techniques for your essay, feel free to choose among these words and transitional phrases to include. They will help to describe relationships between the arguments in your essay and demonstrate how much you believe in what you’re writing.
Introduce: There is no doubt that…
I question whether…
From where I stand…
In my point of view…
It is clear that…
It is my belief that…
Illustrate the point: For instance…
Specifically…
In particular…
Namely…
Such as…
Like…
Introduce an example: Thus…
As an example…
In other words…
To illustrate…
For example…
In fact…
As evidence…
In support of this…
Examples include…
Make a suggestion: To this end…
Keeping this in mind…
For this purpose…
Therefore…
Support the opinion: First, Second, Third…
Furthermore…
Besides…
In addition…
In the first place…
Similarly…
Equally important…
Moreover…
Also…
Compare and contrast: Compared to…
On the other hand…
Although…
Even though…
Likewise…
On the contrary…
As opposed to…
Rather than…
As well as…
Nevertheless…
All are…
Conversely
Whether or not
In spite of…
Yet…
Conversely…
Conclude: As you can see…
To be sure…
In any case…
For the reasons above…
To be sure…
In other words…
On the whole…
With this in mind…
As a result of…
Because of this…
For this reason…
Since…
In short…
More words to use in persuasive essays are here.
Writing Tips to Follow
Besides power words and relevant transitional phrases, the structure of persuasive articles involves a writing style and tone of voice that would make it sound credible and convincing enough for the audience to believe it.
For that, it needs to be brief and concise, clear and argumentative, punchy and to the point. Consider these tips when thinking about how to write a persuasive essay:
Use active voice and Simple Present tense.
Use straightforward language, and don’t leave any doubts about your point of view.
Make sure to find strong and up-to-date evidence to support arguments in your persuasive essay.
One paragraph = one argument.
Use power words and strong transitional phrases to convince readers.
Use descriptive language (emotive adjectives and adverbs) if
relevant, but don’t go crazy. Stay brief and rational.
Use effective paragraph structure to explain and support your thesis statement.
Student services
Effective paragraphs are important in all types of writing. Your paragraphs guide your reader through the paper by helping to explain, substantiate, and support your thesis statement or argument. Each paragraph should discuss one major point or idea. An effective paragraph has three parts: claim, evidence, and analysis.
Claim
This is also sometimes called a topic sentence. This will be your way of announcing the main focus of your paragraph; it should tell the reader what your paragraph will be about.
It may be helpful to think of your claims as mini arguments that support the paper’s main argument or thesis. Just as in the thesis statement, your topic sentences should be debatable. In other words, they should be arguable claims that you will try to "prove" with your evidence.
If you get stuck developing these claims, try to think of reasons why your thesis is true. Each claim should be a reason why the reader should believe your paper’s main idea. For example, perhaps you’re writing an essay about whether people should drink soy milk instead of cow’s milk. Your "reasons" for this might include health benefits, environmental benefits, cost-effectiveness, and safety, so you would focus one paragraph on each of these topics.
One of the most common mistakes is to present a topic sentence that is actually an observation of facts or a description of events rather than an active argument. When you make a claim based on a fact or event in your topic sentence, you aren’t presenting an arguable claim that you can back up with your evidence in that paragraph.
Here are some sample claims for the "health benefits of soy" paragraph:
Claim based on a fact or event (weak): Soy milk contains healthy isoflavones and nutrients.
Claim based on an active argument (stronger): The isoflavones and nutrients in soy milk help to protect the body from disease and promote good health, so soy is a better choice.
The first example is weak because it presents facts that cannot be disputed; the second example is stronger because it uses those facts to make an argument. As you can see, the second example not only tells the reader that soy contains healthy isoflavones and nutrients, but it also argues that these facts make soy milk a better choice.
To evaluate whether your paper contains effective claims in each paragraph, read only the first sentence of each paragraph. You should be able to follow the development of the paper’s thesis by reading only the claim sentences. These should tell you the main points that you are making throughout the paper. Your claims will also prepare the reader for the second section of your paragraph.
Evidence
This is how you support, or back up, your claims. The evidence will help to "prove" each claim to the reader.
In a paper that incorporates research from secondary sources, your evidence may include information from articles, books, electronic sources, or any of the research you gathered. The evidence may take the form of a direct quotation, paraphrased material, statistical data, or any other information from one of your sources that helps to support your claim.
Try to incorporate information from several sources into each paragraph. Avoid just "retelling" the information from a single author or article. Aim to represent a variety of opinions and views. This way, you’re not just telling the reader what one expert says, but you’re explaining how your claim is supported by research from several experts in your field.
Here are some examples of weak and strong evidence sections:
Evidence that includes information from one source (weak evidence):
According to Collins, soy milk has more protein than cow’s milk, and doesn’t contain the saturated fat or cholesterol (1). Soybeans are "complete protein" because they contain all eight amino acids (Collins 1). Collins points out that "as little as 25 mg of soy protein a day may decrease levels of LDL cholesterol and Triglycerides" (1) and this may reduce the chance of heart disease. Since soy is a "low-glycemic index" food, it may help people trying to lose weight "feel more satisfied and less hungry until your next meal, which is beneficial for weight management and control" (1).
Evidence that includes information from a variety of sources (stronger evidence):
Scientists believe that soy milk has the potential to balance cholesterol levels in humans: "A diet with significant soy protein reduces Total Cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) and triglycerides" (Tsang 1). Since soy milk is one of the easiest ways to incorporate soy into the diet, this is a good choice for people seeking to lower their LDL and triglycerides. Soy milk also may reduce the potential for heart disease. Asian countries, which traditionally consume more soy protein, have a much lower incidence of heart disease and many types of cancer (Berkeley 4). The benefits of soy aren’t just limited to the heart, however. Soy milk and cheese made from soy milk may help with weight loss since they contain less saturated fat than regular dairy products, although they contain about the same amounts of fat as reduced-fat milk and cheese (Collins 1). Some researchers even believe that soy may help to stimulate the metabolism (Duke 4).
Note that the second example seems more "balanced," because the author demonstrates knowledge of the subject and incorporates several expert opinions to back up the claim.
Sometimes your assignment will not require you to conduct research into secondary sources, and you may need to use your own ideas or experiences as evidence to back up your claims. Try to be very specific. If you include detailed examples and explanations, your evidence will be more interesting and more persuasive to the reader, and you will seem like more of an authority on your topic:
Evidence that isn’t specific (weak evidence):
My mother’s cholesterol was bad, and the doctor said that soy might help with this. Our family started eating more soy and soy milk, and her levels eventually got much better. During this time, all of us also lost quite a bit of weight.
Evidence that is specific (stronger evidence):
Two years ago, my mother’s LDL ("bad") cholesterol level was 242, and her HDL ("good") cholesterol was 37, so she was considered "high risk." Since she was hesitant to take cholesterol-lowering medications, her internist suggested that she try to incorporate more soy into her diet. He believed that it was worthwhile to try this before placing her on medications. In order to support her, our entire family started drinking soy milk and walking in the evenings. After six months, her LDL dropped to 198 and her HDL rose to 45, which was a dramatic improvement. Our family all lost quite a bit of weight, as well: my mother lost fifteen pounds and my father lost more than twenty. Her doctor tells her that if she continues this lifestyle change, she will significantly reduce her chance of heart problems in the future.
The second example not only contains more information, but it presents it in a believable and interesting way. By including specific details, the author appears to be an "expert," so the evidence is more persuasive.
Analysis
Your analysis or concluding observation is your way of "wrapping up" the information presented in your paragraph. It should explain why the evidence supports your claim and why this supports the main thesis in your paper.
It’s important to end with your own analysis of the information rather than with evidence. This keeps you "in control" of the paper; if you end with evidence, you’re emphasizing ideas from your sources rather than your own. The reader relies on you to analyze the evidence in the paragraph and explain why it matters to the claim and to the rest of the paper.
Here are some examples of weak and strong analysis/concluding observation sections:
Analysis that is really evidence (weak): Experts at Duke University’s School of Medicine agree that soy milk is a healthy choice.
Analysis that doesn’t relate evidence to claim and thesis statement (weak): Soy milk therefore prevents disease.
Analysis that explains why evidence supports the claim and why
this is important to the paper’s thesis (strong): The disease-fighting and
health-promoting components of soy milk have the potential to change people’s
health and to improve their lives by affecting both cholesterol and weight. This
makes soy milk an important factor in heart health, so people should consider
switching to soy milk.
Analyzing a paragraph means to read and understand between the lines, interpret, and to draw conclusions of that paragraph on your own. Students are often given assignments in which they have to analyze a paragraph. Most of the students usually find it difficult to analyze a paragraph. However, after applying the following techniques, one can analyze any paragraph with great ease:
Reading Carefully
To analyze a paragraph, a careful reading of that paragraph is the foremost requirement. Read the paragraph repeatedly to have a full understanding of what is being conveyed by the paragraph.
Understanding the Topic Sentence
A topic sentence is usually the first sentence of a paragraph containing its main idea. Analyzing and understanding the topic sentence of any paragraph is very important to its overall understanding and analysis. It is preferable to rewrite the topic sentence in your own words to have a better knowledge of the main idea.
Highlighting
Efficient readers, while analyzing a paragraph, always highlight important or informative sentences, words or any other idea. They use this highlighted portion to make inferences, draw conclusions, and interpret the purpose of the writer behind writing a paragraph.
Answering Wh- Questions
Asking yourself all the wh- questions including when, who, where, why, what and how about the paragraph, is a great step in the analysis of any text. Answering such questions in your own words will provide you with a detailed analysis of the paragraph or at least some clue towards a complete analysis.
Writing Analysis
After fully comprehending the paragraph, it is advantageous to
write a short analysis in your own words. This rough analysis must not be more
than two to three lines. Read the whole text again while keeping your written
analysis in mind, this will help you in understanding the paragraph deeply and
will add more to your final analysis. Also, in the future, if one needs some
data relevant to the paragraph, one can only read the analysis instead of
reading the whole paragraph and can save time.
How to Write an Analytical
ParagraphLiterature is more than words on a page. Good literature can move the reader and make an impact on their personal beliefs, either changing them or enforcing them. It can be an exciting endeavor to craft a well-written analytical paragraph.
Definition of an Analytic Paragraph
From finding plot points to dissecting a character’s motivation that spurs on the story arc, an analytical paragraph gives you the power to concisely express your ideas and how you will present evidence to support those ideas. It's broken down into a topic sentence that tells the reader the main idea of the paragraph that will be discussed.
The topic sentence is something that can be argued for or against in the body of the piece. Write a sentence or two that shows the context for your textual evidence. Follow that with a short sentence of textual evidence, such as a passage or quote from the piece you chose. Put quotation marks around any work quoted and add page references, such as “Tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in its petty pace…” (25). Explain how the evidence supports the topic sentence and wrap up the paragraph with a concluding or transition sentence. If it’s a single analytical paragraph, then this is the conclusion sentence. If this is the beginning of a larger piece than this would be a transition sentence to carry the reader further into the piece.
Whole Process Writing
Before you take pen to paper, consider your basic idea. Draw inspiration from current events that may apply to your chosen piece of literature or brainstorm how the plot of the piece has affected you in real life. Once you have pegged down your idea, sit down for some stream of consciousness writing to flesh it out and make it whole. If blocks of writing muddle the process, you can also visualize your narrative by writing the idea in the center of a blank page and surrounding it with subtext. Seeing it displayed physically can help to gather your thoughts in an orderly fashion before beginning the next steps.
Writing the Paragraph
Once you have written out your paragraph in rough draft, revise it to make it as concise as possible. Consider the pacing and flow of the paragraph. Remove any stumbling blocks, run on sentences or repetitive words. Finally, check for grammar, punctuation and spelling. It’s often a good idea to step away from the piece and return with a fresh view. Reading aloud can also help to point out awkward breaks or pauses in the writing.
Introduction
The introductory paragraph of your explication essay presents the reader with your topic and thesis statement. If you’re writing your essay on a short story, state the title, author’s name, and give a brief overview of the essential elements of the story. Present your thesis statement -- the central argument of your essay -- as clearly as possible. Use the last sentence of your introductory paragraph to introduce your thesis.
Construction
An essential part of the explication process is analyzing and explaining how a specific text is constructed. Only after you’ve explained to your reader in detail and with careful observation how a piece is constructed will you be ready to accurately interpret the piece. For example, if your explication essay’s focus is a short story, the major plot points, themes and character objectives lead to the construction of the rising action, climax and other essential parts of the story. Without a paragraph that includes close analysis and examination of the story's construction, a successful explication essay is difficult to write.
Clarity
A successful explication essay contains a paragraph that outlines and clarifies sections of the focus piece that are difficult to digest. For example, if your essay focuses on the greed of the protagonist in a novel and it’s ambiguous as to whether or not the protagonist stole her money or earned it, you must use evidence from the text to prove to your reader that the protagonist stole money.
Interpretation & Conclusion
The examination and clarification of a text's construction and ambiguity offers your reader a developed understanding of the work as a whole, and once this has been achieved, your interpretations can be submitted. Several paragraphs in an explication essay should make assertions related to your thesis and provide supporting examples from the text. For example, if you’re arguing in an interpretation paragraph that the antagonist only loves herself, an example from the text where she’s pampering herself and ignoring her children will prove your point. After your interpretation paragraphs have been written, the conclusion paragraph should re-state your thesis and wrap up all of the ideas and points presented in your essay.
References
How to Write a Textual Analysis
In a textual analysis, the analyzer must go further than describing details. He doesn't state whether he agrees with the opinion in the text but rather analyzes the effectiveness of how the author has presented her argument. He should analyze and describe the success of the individual methods used, discussing whether these techniques achieve the intended purpose and if they are suitable for the intended audience. The analyzer must state how he arrived at these conclusions.
Read the work that you will be analyzing. Make sure you understand the general idea being portrayed.
Reread the text carefully and meticulously and ensure you understand it completely. Write down anything that is difficult to comprehend, and mark, on the article, any points relevant to your analysis.
Divide the text into separate components, such as sentences, paragraphs, phrases and words. Consider each element of the piece, searching for patterns to gain a better understanding of the text. Jot down notes about your ideas.
Look for the meaning of the text as a whole by piecing together the smaller elements. Think about how the writer communicates her idea and why this concept is important.
Plan the layout of your work by deciding on the most logical order for the points you intend to discuss. Don't necessarily follow the chronological sequence of the text you are analyzing.
Start your analysis by including the title, author and main purpose of the text in the first sentence. Continue your paper with your interpretation of the article. You may wish to start drafting the main body before returning to write the introduction.
Find examples in the text to back your work. Refer to these details and quote them in your analysis.
Conclude the article without repeating information. Ensure your paper has a strong summary that allows it to sound finished.
Reread your paper to check for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.
This
is how you can write great paragraphs
A paragraph is a self-contained unit of a discourse in writing
dealing with a particular point or idea. It consists of one or more sentences. – Wikipedia.
Now we know what a paragraph means. But a great paragraph is
another thing entirely, just as great writing is different from just writing.
That’s because a great paragraph has the following characteristics:
·
A great paragraph is one that
means something. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But if you write
something which is meaningless for the vast majority of your readers (for e.g.
writing in complex language when your
readership can only understand simple words) then suffice it to
say, that paragraph has failed. Bad. So the takeaway is: write paragraphs which
mean something not only for you, but for your reader most.
·
A great paragraph is short or
long. What? Short or long both? Yes. The common advice is to write
short paragraphs in web writing because of short reading spans, and that’s
correct. But if you keep writing short paragraphs when the subject demands long
ones, do you think it will work? Of course not. Takeaway: mix it up according
to your needs.
·
A great paragraph has one idea in
it. One idea. That’s the important part. As we learned in the
definition, a paragraph means one particular point or idea—not several. It’s
one of the most common mistakes made
by writers: writing a long paragraph with several points on it which ultimately
guarantees that paragraph, and that entire writing piece’s failure. Don’t do
that.
·
A great paragraph is a piece
of great writing. What
are paragraphs made of? Sentences, and sentences themselves are made of words.
If you don’t know how to write proper sentences, if you don’t know how to use
the right words, if you don’t know how to engage the reader, use emotive
language, and all the other nuts-and-bolts like spelling,
grammar and punctuation, then how is your paragraph going to be a
great one? Point is: great paragraphs are pieces of great writing.
·
Great paragraphs are ordered
and well-connected with each other. What makes a paragraph
ordered? It’s the way you organize your points, your sentences. If they are
ordered correctly, then only will the reader truly go with the flow and then
only will the paragraph achieve greatness. It’s not just the sentences. A
paragraph itself must be connected smoothly with the other ones, as in like
links. Take a continuing paragraph up where the previous one has left off.
Takeaway: connect them with transitioning (connector) words, in short link them
with each other.
·
Great paragraphs are those
which the reader is hooked by. It’s not necessarily
hooked. It can be engaged. It can be interested. The reader has to like them.
That’s the most difficult part: write for your readers. You can write a
masterpiece of a paragraph in your eyes and yet if the reader doesn’t like it,
it won’t make an impact.
Dos of writing great paragraphs covered, read on for the don’ts…
Don’ts
of writing great paragraphs
·
Great paragraphs are not boring. You
know hundreds and thousands of articles and books where the author is genuinely
writing good stuff but writing it in such a way that it appears boring. (Case
in point: textbooks). Are you going to do that? Of course not.
·
Great paragraphs are not
monotonous. Kind of a follow-up to the previous point, great
paragraphs don’t hesitate in using emotive language, figures of speech and
alternating length of paragraphs to make you hooked. They’re not saying the
same thing over and over again in the same voice. What this means is they’re
not afraid in mixing things up to make their paragraphs spicier.
·
Great paragraphs are not
fluffy, overwritten, full of adjectives and adverbs. As
Strunk & White says, omit needless words. Needless words = most of the
adverbs and adjectives. So if you write in such a way like this: “This software
is awesome! It’s mind-blowingly extremely brilliantly good…”, then the reader
stops paying any attention. Takeaway: cut all the unnecessary adverbs and
adjectives like very, basically, just, etc. in your paragraph.
What next?
Are these the only paragraph writing tips? Of course not. These
tips are only a few of the overall picture and I’m sure that the readers have
more. In case you have any more points to add, praise, criticism or simple
discussion, don’t hesitate in leaving a comment below.
Want to learn more about magnetic writing
and the other aspects of writing? Read the Writing
Tips series of articles, and don’t forget to subscribe for free
updates to ensure that you’ll never miss a juicy, action-packed
article.
An Introduction to
Academic Writing
Remember those essays and letters you had to write in
school? Some people hated writing them, but others liked doing it. Essay
writing, letter writing, story writing and dialogue writing all constitute the
term academic writing.
Problem was, academic writing didn’t allow much creativity.
Topics were already given. You had to have an outline. You had to keep your
voice formal and precise. You had to have an introduction, three paragraphs of
body and a conclusion. You were not allowed to go off topic. You were not
allowed to do anything unusual or unconventional.
And you wondered why you couldn’t write anything at all.
Today, let’s forget the pain of academic writing and instead
make it a joy to write. Today, we will study what essays and letters are, and
how to write them effortlessly and with fun. So let’s start!
Essay Writing
An essay means a short nonfiction composition. School essays
are a select kind of essays – they have rules, dos and don’ts and so on. An
essay has to be an attempt at putting down your thoughts on a particular
subject down to paper in a logical manner. This was what many students were
incapable of accomplishing or achieving. Why?
They hadn’t read enough about the subject, which resulted in
them not knowing what to write about.
They hadn’t formed their opinions on the subject, or they
hadn’t observed it yet.
They simply didn’t have an interest in writing about the
subject.
These were all common problems. But once solved (and writing
problems are simple to solve), essays can become a joy to write. All you need
to have is:
An interest in writing.
Proper knowledge and mastery of voices (active and passive),
tenses, other grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Prior reading of the topic.
Observation and curiosity in the minds of the writer.
That’s all. Once you passed this list, essay writing became
easier for you. You now had an opinion about the topic. You could write about
it. Language was not a problem now because you had mastered grammar.
Readability was not an issue because you had mastered spelling and punctuation.
You now had an introduction, body and a conclusion. You were on the right foot.
But did you need an outline?
As I’ve written before, outlining has its own advantages and
disadvantages – and it rests entirely up to you whether you decide to use it or
not. Think it hampers your writing process? Don’t use it! Think it improves the
writing flow? Then do the opposite. Simply put, don’t force outlines on essays
– try and experiment first.
The Length of an Essay
The famous five paragraph essay is quite short. Therefore,
if you want to write on a subject in this format, you must make your writing
concise. You must cut all the unnecessary adjectives, adverbs, generalization,
and you must convert passive sentences to active sentences. By doing this, not
only your writing will become shorter and concise, it will also be better and
easier to read!
If you want to write longer essays, you may want to consult
your teacher. Literary essays are typically longer than school essays. Learn
the difference between them.
Essay Writing Tips
You must have a well written introduction, one which draws
the reader in and doesn’t let them go again. If you want to know how to write
this, use quotes, proverbs, or whatever you like for a grabbing intro. You may
find Writing Compelling Opening Chapters helpful (even though it’s aimed at
fiction writers, you may get some useful tips).
Your language should be simple and lucid, and not too
informal. Some teachers recommend not using the word “I”, but it is not
mandatory and it can actually improve some essays.
You should keep a focus and write inside the topic given.
End your essay with a great conclusion which sums it up.
Don’t force it; write naturally and practise, and your conclusions will improve
automatically.
Don’t use technical words in order to sound professional. It
just has the opposite effect.
Write for an audience. If you are writing a school essay,
this will almost certainly be your teacher. So you should address your writing
style to something which is suitable.
After having written the essay, you should edit and
proofread it. It’s amazing how many errors you can find in this stage, and how
much your essay shines after having corrected them.
Letter Writing
Letters are of two kinds – informal and formal. Today, the
informal letter has been almost completely replaced by email (although it is
still necessary to know how to write it), but the formal is still necessary.
Read Letter Writing 101 for tips and tricks on how to write these letters. For
informal letters, wait for part II of this article, where I will also address
story writing and dialogue writing.
Effective Academic Writing
Even for those who hate it, academic writing is necessary
and will remain so. Therefore it’s better to just learn to like it; learn to
like writing essays. After all, who knows: you may just have some fun writing
them. 🙂
Effective academic writing has this one characteristic: it
is written for a purpose. You don’t want anyone to say “So what?” after reading
your essay. Even you don’t outline, you must have a plan behind it, and you
must know why you are writing it. It must have an idea, and it must have a
focus.
You don’t need to have some degree in English to create
effective academic writing, you just need to have an interest in writing, like
I had. Academic writing came easily to me; in fact, I used to love writing
essays and stories. My marks were always excellent, yet I didn’t have to learn
them by heart or write an outline. I just wrote whatever came in my head, and
maybe you can do the same
After learning the basics of essay writing, today let’s look
at story writing, dialogue writing and informal letter writing. All three are
taught to us from an early age, with the exception of dialogue writing, which
doesn’t come until middle school. Anyway, let’s begin!
Informal Letter Writing
The best resource I can give for anyone wanting to learn
more about letter writing is Letter Writing 101, but here are some pointers on
how to write informal letters:
You must follow the format of an informal letter. Address
and date at the top right, the salutation, the body, the conclusion and the
subscription must be there in your letter in the appropriate order. If you
don’t do this, your marks in your papers will be cut — inevitably.
The informal letter is usually written to family, friends or
relatives. As such, you should begin the salutation with the word “Dear” and
then the name of the person you are writing to.
The letter must be short, no longer than necessary. Its tone
should be informal and simple. You are permitted to distance yourself from the
“formal writing tone” and instead use slang, exclamations and so on. However,
do so in caution!
Please don’t use any technical or “professional-sounding”
words in the letter. Use end instead of terminate, use instead of utilize.
Simple corrections. Big effect in readability.
Write a good conclusion, don’t just let it hang in your
letter. Tip: Read premade informal letters for practice.
Don’t forget to write the subscription, and that too in the
correct way with all the correct capital letters, correct usage of words (Yours
faithfully, Yours sincerely, Your friend) as appropriate.
Do the above and your letter writing will improve —
guaranteed!
Story Writing
Story writing in school is quite different from writing a
normal short story. The short story is usually above 1000 words, the story in
school falls below that word count. Then too, it has different dos and don’ts.
You are given an outline or some points which you must expand
upon. Don’t make the mistake of just filling in the dashes: it really won’t
work. Add your own details. Make the story your own. Give names. Add dialogue
or narrative, whichever is suitable.
In middle school, the question is to write a story based on
the points given, add a suitable title, and give a moral. I always hated doing
this. I was glad to see that when I grew older, this question was skipped. It
was a decision for the better.
Follow all the instructions for writing a story which are
given here. Add your own touches — add everything that is relevant. And… your
story is a winner!
Dialogue Writing
Once again, as applied to stories, dialogue in school paper
questions is quite different from the dialogue used in fiction writing. Fiction
writing dialogue has to be mixed effectively with narrative. In school, you
only have to write dialogue. Easier? Harder? Depends on your perspective.
Dialogue Writing Rules
Begin your dialogue with a greeting from the characters.
This is a must if you are writing dialogue academically. I know… it sounds
incredibly idiotic to begin every dialogue with a greeting, but that’s how it
is. If it is fiction, however, then you should avoid this technique.
Write the body. Formal language is a no-no! Write like you
talk — write how the characters would talk. Short words, short sentences, short
paragraphs, short everything.
Finish it with an effective conclusion which sums up
everything.
Report Writing
Ever read an article in a newspaper? Most of the articles
are reports. Observe them. Observe their writing style and voice. Observe
everything, and use it in your own reports if you are asked to write them. Want
to add your own touches? Do so at your own peril – it’s always good to ask your
teacher!
Conclusion
This article wouldn’t cover academic writing if it didn’t
have a conclusion. Thing is, without the rules academic writing is pretty much
useless. Unlike creative writing where you can break many rules, academic
writing is a strict, formal type of writing. But it can be equally fun to
write. Read and learn, and your writing will automatically become better.
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