The Power of Language - Assignment Example

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE Good writing is very important for one to be successful in school and the workplace of this Century. Wring is a very complex combination of skills that can best be understood by breaking down the process. The process of writing comprises a series of steps to follow so as to produce a well finished piece of writing. Writing is done for many reasons and these includes; Expressive purposes: One may write just to express his/her feelings, ideas, attitudes, and so on. This writing does not take the reader into consideration, it however focuses on the feelings, needs, and experience of the writer. It may take the form of letters, journals, poetry, and, especially, free writing. Conative purposes: This type of writing is intended to affect the reader. This is a persuasive writing hence it is intended for the reader’s entertainment. It is also intended to arouse the feelings of the readers. Conative writing may be of any form, so long as it persuades or affects the reader emotionally. Informative purposes: This type of writing refers to something that is external to the writing itself, with the aim of informing the reader. In recent times, informative writing is normally prose, however, in early periods poetry was utilized for informative purposes. Active reading is important in the preparation of the process of writing and this is efficient by highlighting and annotating of text. This procedure will add to the benefits one gets from reading the text through. Through pre-reading the text and writing down questions you hope to get the answers, it becomes easier and pleasant to read the text the first time, and one engages his/herself actively with the text, creating a personal interest in the information being communicated in the text. Hence the reading becomes more rewarding and more interesting. As one goes back and annotate the text effectively as he/she reads it through, they blaze for themselves a trail through the text which makes it easy to navigate later on. Whenever ones interpretation of something he/she read is questioned, the individual can quickly and easily locate the passage from the margin comments and highlighting colors. If one has to cite a passage from the text, it will not be hard to find. Whenever you have to review the essay so as to prepare for a quiz, class discussion, or an essay, this can be accomplished in a very small fraction of the duration it would otherwise take. By noting the unfamiliar terms that have to be looked up, a lot of time is saved by quickly and easily looking up all of them at once following a careful read-through, and observe the way the new meanings affects the understanding of the text as you go back to review. Choosing essay topics is the first task in the writing process. Before settling on an essay topic, one should think about the purpose of the paper and the audience. These two influence the selection of a topic by helping in choosing and narrowing the choices. The choice of essay topic should be focused on something that the writer finds interesting (Rugg, et al. 2007). The three methods that can be used in choosing a topic are; Brainstorming; the aim here is to roughly write down your thoughts quickly. Phrases, words, or complete sentences may be used but the focus should be on the ideas you write down. Anything that is connected to the assignment that pops the head is written down. Once you get a vague idea of the topic is when you become specific by focusing on the subject to work on by flushing out the potential essay topics. Remember not to criticize your ideas; just write them down. After the brainstorming session, work on narrowing and defining a working topic. Free writing; this is the same with brainstorming the difference here being that ideas are written in paragraphs. The idea is putting your ideas on paper without breaking to think; you write without stopping without worrying over grammar, spelling, punctuations, word choice or mechanics. Don’t even think if the ideas fit together. Whenever the allotted time is over, review what you have written. Remove anything which does not make sense or looks like a weak topic. Concentrate on the things that are possible essay topics, and come up with a list from which you can choose, narrow and define the topic. Clustering; basically, it creates a visual map on paper of your ideas and thoughts. This process enables one to see the relationships that are there between potential ideas, topics and the way they sprawl into different paths and connect. This spatial essay topic representation enables one to explore topics that might be in mind already. Taking essay topics that are feasible, the details of the topic decided may be mapped out in details to see if it can be written into a full essay or paper. It also assist in showing how scattered or connection of ideas within a topic are or the way some topics are similar. The process of writing includes teaching students how to write a variety of genres, supporting creativity, and the incorporation of writing conversations. This process may be utilized in all the areas of curriculum and offers a good way to link instruction with state writing standards. The writing process has five major steps (Hatcher, et al. 2005). These are; Prewriting – This is the planning phase in the writing process, when one brainstorms, do research, gather and outline ideas, mostly using diagrams for mapping out the ideas and thoughts. One has to consider the audience and purpose at this point, and for students who are older, a functional thesis statement has to be stated. Prewriting identifies everything that is required before one sits down so as to begin rough draft. Find an idea – Ideas are all over. One can draw inspiration from a life experience. Alternatively, write down ideas as they come to you. Build on the idea – this can be achieved through free writing and brainstorming. Plan and structure – The next thing is piecing the puzzle together. The ideas are sorted through and the one that would be used to create a story is selected. Writing – This is the first draft. Don’t mind about the word count and grammar. Don’t mind if you stray off the in places. This stage should be thought as a free writing exercise, just with a clear direction. Identify the correct time and location to write and remove potential distractions. One should make writing a regular part of his/her day. Revision – At this stage the story can change a great deal. When revising, a lot of writers automatically adopt the A.R.R.R. approach. Add: Check if have given the readers all the information that they require, if not, return to the notebook that was kept for additional scenes and additional details. Rearrange: Here the flow, spacing and sequencing of the story are considered. Remove: Following additions to the story check the word count. Make sure the readers will not experience information overload. Passages that don’t fit have to be eliminated. Replace: Ask for a second opinion. Ask for the opinion of fellow writers and friends by taking a look and giving their feedback, if something does not work, rewrite it again and replace it. Editing – After overhauling the story, the manuscript is fine tuned line by line. Check for repetition, grammar, clarity, punctuation and spelling. This is an very detailed process and is best done by a professional. Publishing – When the manuscript is ready it can be published. After publishing explore ways through which the book can reach the readers and sell. One can learn the process of marketing the book. When sources are used in academic writing, a conversation with other scholars whose work you have been requested to read, discuss, or analyze in the writing. Every writer has an intellectual identity, though a lot of ideas originate from outside sources. A responsible utilization of sources recognizes that similarity and distinguishes well between what one thinks and what is thought by the sources. One has to interpose him/herself between the sources and own writing, therefore, making the ideas of other people his/her own by a process of critical scrutiny (Schäffner, et al. 2001). Sources are used for the following reasons. Locating sources. Evaluating sources Avoiding plagiarism Integrating sources Citing sources. Plagiarism is using the ideas of someone else or language without acknowledging the fact that he/she did not create them. This definition applies to words, ideas and unusual structures no matter where they were found (in a book, webpage, email etc). Whenever another person’s wording or information has been included in a document, one has to acknowledge the source and has to include a citation inform the readers where the information was obtained from, otherwise one will be guilty of plagiarism (Pecorari, D. (2013). References Hatcher, D. P., & Goddard, L. (2005). The writing process: A step-by-step approach for everyday writers. Springfield, Va: LandaBooks. Pecorari, D. (2013). Teaching to avoid plagiarism: How to promote good source use. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press. Rugg, G., & Petre, M. (2007). A gentle guide to research methods. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Schäffner, C., & Wiesemann, U. (2001). Annotated texts for translation: English-German ; functionalist approaches illustrated. Clevedon [u.a.: Multilingual Matters. Read More