Transcript NTU-computer-class

Hess Education
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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“But in science the credit goes to the man
who convinces the world, not to the man
whom the idea first occurs.”
-Sir Francis Darwin
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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Writing Hint
Approach writing as a
continuous iterative
process.
Structuring
Process Writing
Drafting
Re-viewing
Generating Ideas
Focusing
Evaluating
White & Arndt (1991)
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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Your Parameters
Constraints(external) Choices(internal)
Audience
Topic (?)
Format
Structure
Mechanics
Depth
Politics
Language
Illustration
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Liu, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication”
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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Common Problems
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2.
3.
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5.
6.
Articles
Pronoun references
Plurals
Verb/Noun agreement
Verb tense
Modifier with modified
1][8-5][10-]
7. Split infinitive
8. Dangling participle
9. Word Choice
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[1-1]
[1-1]
[8-4
[4-1] [5-3] [1-1]
[5-1] [1-1] [1-2][1-6][2[9-3][9-3][9-4]
[4-2]
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Writing Hint
1. Tell them what you are going to tell
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you told
Beginning
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Middle
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End
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Writing Hint
Know your audience and write from the
reader’s perspective.
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Writing Hint
• Special difficulties in Technical Writing
– Complex subjects
– Complicated insider’s language
• Compensate for these
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Writing Hint
• Generate a large body of ideas to define
the scope of your project
• Define your Basic Research Question
• Focus on a one-sentence Thesis
Statement answering the Question
• Find a Hook
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Writing Hint
• Numbers Rule
– of 3:
• For powerful sets, or
• To make the middle item the winner
– of 2: for contrasts
– of 5: >5 is often too much
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Sentence Hints
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Focus on the main idea
Combine choppy sentences
Simplify sentences
Use a variety of sentences
Use a variety of sentence openings
Use parallelism
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Program
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Word Choice Hints
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Do not omit needed words
Eliminate redundant words
Place modifiers with their subject
Keep verbs consistent in tense and the active
voice
Use the active voice (replace “be” verbs)
Use appropriate language
Use exact language
Keep your voice consistent (I, we, etc.)
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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Writing Hint
• The rule of three revisited: Editing
• Write
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Rest
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Rewrite
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Writing Hint
• Polishing or editing, like writing, is a
continuous iterative process
• BUT
• Unless you have enough written there is
not enough to polish!
– Write first
– Polish later
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ESL Hint
1. Good writing varies by culture, in addition to
varying by audience, discipline and purpose, i.e.
direct or indirect, personal or impersonal, plain
or embellished, etc.
2. Vague is bad in English technical writing.
Some, however, intentionally write vaguely, attempting
to demonstrate their greater wisdom with seductive
phrases and illusory allusions rather than speaking
in diamorphous linear constructions thereby
befuddling those readers lacking a clear personal
sense of rectitude.
Fall 2004
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ESL Hint
In English writers are expected to cite all
sources. This includes as much detail as
is available.
For instance, the page number if available.
[Make it easy for the reader to check!}
Fall 2004
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ESL Hint
• Chinese allows the omission of the subject
or the verb.
• English almost always requires you to
state the subject and verb.
– Expect in commands ( Be quiet!)
– When the subject is impLiud or
– In some special exceptions
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ESL Hint
• English spelling differs slightly from country to country.
• The primary difference is American or British
• Choose one system and stick with it.
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Color
Theater
Judgment
Defense
Analyze
Colour
Theatre
Judgement
Defence
Analyse
• Hppt://www.english.uiuc.edu/cwa/wworkshop/
• Hppt:/www.owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/
index.html#effective
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Selecting Wining Topics
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Ask the field (journals)
Ask the experts (professor)
Ask the next stars (colleagues)
Ask What?
1. Research Question
2. Thesis Statement
3. Idea Set
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From Idea Set to
Research Question
• It IS-- a Question
– Narrow
– Challenging
– Grounded
• What you want to Answer
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Thesis Statement
• This is the sentence stating the main point.
– A generalization, not a fact
– Limited, not too broad
– Focused, not too vague
• Essentially the Title of your work
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Thesis Hooks
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Startling statistic or fact
Vivid example
Description
Quotation
Question
Analogy
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Topic Sentence
• Is the Thesis Statement for the paragraph.
• Is usually at the start
• Signals the next step in the argument
– Suggests the next topic
– Helps the transition
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Structure-Paragraphs
1. Focus the Main Point-Topic Sentence
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Usually first
Sometimes after a transition
Occasionally at the end
2. Develop the main point- too short is often too
little
3. Organize the paragraph
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Fall 2004
Methods include: examples, description, process,
comparison, contrast, definition, cause and effect,
classification and division, etc.
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Structure-Paragraphs cont’d
4. Make the Paragraph Coherent
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Link-ideas
Repeat key words
Use parallel structure (parallelism)
Be consistent
Provide Transitions (handout)
5. Adjust Paragraph Length
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Program
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The Final Product
• Editing/Poilshing
– Sentence
– Paragraph
– Global
• Using editing codes
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Program
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Your Parameters
Constraints(external) Choices(internal)
Audience
Topic (?)
Format
Structure
Mechanics
Depth
Politics
Language
Illustration
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Liu, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication”
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
27
Writing Hint
Approach writing as a
continuous iterative
process.
Structuring
Process Writing
Drafting
Re-viewing
Generating Ideas
Focusing
Evaluating
White & Arndt (1991)
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
28
Common Problems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Articles
Pronoun references
Plurals
Verb/Noun agreement
Verb tense
Modifier with modified
Split infinitive
Dangling participle
Word Choice
Possessive
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A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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Rules I:
Figures/Table/Graphs
Purpose
1. Extends the argument
2. Simplifies complex
3. Allows visual comparison
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Rules II:
Figures/Table/Graphs
Location
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2.
3.
4.
5.
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Requires a mention in the text.
As close to the mention as possible.
After the mention
Reasonable location
Esthetically pleasing [looks good]
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Rules III:
Figures/Table/Graphs
Naming
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Titled
Spelled out
Sequentially numbered, followed by (period)
Centered, bolded, (below)
Same font size and type as text
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Rules IV:
Figures/Table/Graphs
Content
1. Labeled
2. Abbreviations explained in
1. Text
2. Legend
3. Label
3. Readable
4. Consistent
5. No unlabeled data breaks
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A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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