先来几个English Idioms 冷静一下：
- Actions speak louder than words：
People's intentions can be judged better by what they do than what they say. - Best of both worlds：
Meaning: All the advantages. - Best thing since sliced bread：
A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan. - Burn the midnight oil：
To work late into the night, alluding to the time before electric lighting. - Can't judge a book by its cover：
Cannot judge something primarily on appearance. - Caught between two stools：
When someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives. - Cry over spilt milk：
When you complain about a loss from the past. - Don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched：
This idiom is used to express "Don't make plans for something that might not happen". - Every cloud has a silver lining：
Be optimistic, even difficult times will lead to better days. - Make a long story short：
Come to the point - leave out details - Miss the boat：
This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance - On the ball：
When someone understands the situation well. - Picture paints a thousand words：
A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words. - Piece of cake：
A job, task or other activity that is easy or simple. - See eye to eye：
This idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something. - To hear something straight from the horse's mouth：
To hear something from the authoritative source.
punctuation
This part will help you with punctuation,such as using commas , quotation marks , apostrophes , and hyphens.
Comma
- Use a comma to join two independent clause and a coordinating conjunction(and,but,or ,for nor, so)
- Use a comma after an introductory phrase, prepositional phrase, or dependent clause.
- Use a comma to separate elements in a series. Although there is no set rule that requires a comma before the last item in a series, it seems to be a general academic convention to include it. The examples below demonstrate this trend.
- Use a comma to separate nonessential elements from a sentence. More specifically, when a sentence includes information that is not crucial to the message or intent of the sentence, enclose it in or separate it by commas.
- Use a comma between coordinate adjectives (adjectives that are equal and reversible).
- Use a comma after a transitional element (however, therefore, nonetheless, also, otherwise, finally, instead, thus, of course, above all, for example, in other words, as a result, on the other hand, in conclusion, in addition)
- Use a comma in a date.
- Use a comma to separate a city name from the state.
- Use a comma in a personal title.
- Use a comma in a number.
Commas: Quick Rules
The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments. The rules provided here are those found in traditional handbooks; however, in certain rhetorical contexts and for specific purposes, these rules may be broken.
The following is a short guide to get you started using commas. This resource also includes sections with more detailed rules and examples.
Quick Guide to Commas
Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.
Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.
Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.
Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.
Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives.
Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.
Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.
Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.
Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.
Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.
Semicolon
- Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses when the second clause restates the first or when the two clauses are of equal emphasis.
- Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses when the second clause begins with a conjunctive adverb (however, therefore, moreover, furthermore, thus, meanwhile, nonetheless, otherwise) or a transition (in fact, for example, that is, for instance, in addition, in other words, on the other hand, even so).
- Use a semicolon to join elements of a series when individual items of the series already include commas.
Colon
Use a colon to join two independent clauses when you wish to emphasize the second clause.
Use a colon after an independent clause when it is followed by a list, a quotation, an appositive, or other ideas directly related to the independent clause.
Use a colon at the end of a business letter greeting.
Use a colon to separate the hour and minute(s) in a time notation.
Use a colon to separate the chapter and verse in a Biblical reference.
Parenthesis
- Parentheses are used to emphasize content. They place more emphasis on the enclosed content than commas. Use parentheses to set off nonessential material, such as dates, clarifying information, or sources, from a sentence.(这里的enclosed content是指用commas围起来的空间)
Dash
- Dashes are used to set off or emphasize the content enclosed within dashes or the content that follows a dash. Dashes place more emphasis on this content than parentheses.
- Use a dash to set off an appositive phrase that already includes commas. An appositive is a word that adds explanatory or clarifying information to the noun that precedes it.
Quotation Marks
- Use quotation marks to enclose direct quotations. Note that commas and periods are placed inside the closing quotation mark, and colons and semicolons are placed outside. The placement of question and exclamation marks depends on the situation.
- Use quotation marks to indicate the novel, ironic, or reserved use of a word.
- Use quotation marks around the titles of short poems, song titles, short stories, magazine or newspaper articles, essays, speeches, chapter titles, short films, and episodes of television or radio shows.
Italics
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WRITING
The Writing Process
These resources will help you with the writing process: pre-writing (invention), developing research questions and outlines, composing thesis statements, and proofreading. While the writing process may be different for each person and for each particular assignment, the resources contained in this section follow the general work flow of pre-writing, organizing, and revising. For resources and examples on specific types of writing assignments, please go to our Common Writing Assignments area.
Invention: Starting the Writing Process
Writing takes time
Find out when is the assignment due and devise a plan of action. This may seem obvious and irrelevant to the writing process, but it's not. Writing is a process, not merely a product. Even the best professional writers don't just sit down at a computer, write, and call it a day. The quality of your writing will reflect the time and forethought you put into the assignment. Plan ahead for the assignment by doing pre-writing: this will allow you to be more productive and organized when you sit down to write. Also, schedule several blocks of time to devote to your writing; then, you can walk away from it for a while and come back later to make changes and revisions with a fresh mind.
Use the rhetorical elements as a guide to think through your writing
Thinking about your assignment in terms of the rhetorical situation can help guide you in the beginning of the writing process. Topic, audience, genre, style, opportunity, research, the writer, and purpose are just a few elements that make up the rhetorical situation.
Topic and audience are often very intertwined and work to inform each other. Start with a broad view of your topic such as skateboarding, pollution, or the novel Jane Eyre and then try to focus or refine your topic into a concise thesis statement by thinking about your audience. Here are some questions you can ask yourself about audience
Who is the audience for your writing?
Do you think your audience is interested in the topic? Why or why not?
Why should your audience be interested in this topic?
What does your audience already know about this topic?
What does your audience need to know about this topic?
What experiences has your audience had that would influence them on this topic?
What do you hope the audience will gain from your text?
For example, imagine that your broad topic is dorm food. Who is your audience? You could be writing to current students, prospective students, parents of students, university administrators, or nutrition experts among others. Each of these groups would have different experiences with and interests in the topic of dorm food. While students might be more concerned with the taste of the food or the hours food is available, parents might be more concerned with the price.
You can also think about opportunity as a way to refine or focus your topic by asking yourself what current events make your topic relevant at this moment. For example, you could connect the nutritional value of dorm food to the current debate about the obesity epidemic or you could connect the price value of dorm food to the rising cost of a college education overall.
Keep in mind the purpose of the writing assignment.
Writing can have many different purposes. Here are just a few examples:
Summarizing: Presenting the main points or essence of another text in a condensed form
Arguing/Persuading: Expressing a viewpoint on an issue or topic in an effort to convince others that your viewpoint is correct
Narrating: Telling a story or giving an account of events
Evaluating: Examining something in order to determine its value or worth based on a set of criteria.
Analyzing: Breaking a topic down into its component parts in order to examine the relationships between the parts.
Responding: Writing that is in a direct dialogue with another text.
Examining/Investigating: Systematically questioning a topic to discover or uncover facts that are not widely known or accepted, in a way that strives to be as neutral and objective as possible.
Observing: Helping the reader see and understand a person, place, object, image or event that you have directly watched or experienced through detailed sensory descriptions.
You could be observing your dorm cafeteria to see what types of food students are actually eating, you could be evaluating the quality of the food based on freshness and quantity, or you could be narrating a story about how you gained fifteen pounds your first year at college.
You may need to use several of these writing strategies within your paper. For example, you could summarize federal nutrition guidelines, evaluate whether the food being served at the dorm fits those guidelines, and then argue that changes should be made in the menus to better fit those guidelines.
Pre-writing strategies
Once you have thesis statement just start writing! Don't feel constrained by format issues. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, or writing in complete sentences. Brainstorm and write down everything you can think of that might relate to the thesis and then reread and evaluate the ideas you generated. It's easier to cut out bad ideas than to only think of good ones. Once you have a handful of useful ways to approach the thesis you can use a basic outline structure to begin to think about organization. Remember to be flexible; this is just a way to get you writing. If better ideas occur to you as you're writing, don't be afraid to refine your original ideas.
Introduction to Prewriting (Invention)
When you sit down to write...
Does your mind turn blank?
Are you sure you have nothing to say?
If so, you're not alone. Many writers experience this at some time or another, but some people have strategies or techniques to get them started. When you are planning to write something, try some of the following suggestions.
You can try the textbook formula:
State your thesis.
Write an outline.
Write the first draft.
Revise and polish.
. . . but that often doesn't work.
Instead, you can try one or more of these strategies:
Ask yourself what your purpose is for writing about the subject.
There are many "correct" things to write about for any subject, but you need to narrow down your choices. For example, your topic might be "dorm food." At this point, you and your potential reader are asking the same question, "So what?" Why should you write about this, and why should anyone read it?
Do you want the reader to pity you because of the intolerable food you have to eat there?
Do you want to analyze large-scale institutional cooking?
Do you want to compare Purdue's dorm food to that served at Indiana University?
Ask yourself how you are going to achieve this purpose.
How, for example, would you achieve your purpose if you wanted to describe some movie as the best you've ever seen? Would you define for yourself a specific means of doing so? Would your comments on the movie go beyond merely telling the reader that you really liked it?
Start the ideas flowing
Brainstorm. Gather as many good and bad ideas, suggestions, examples, sentences, false starts, etc. as you can. Perhaps some friends can join in. Jot down everything that comes to mind, including material you are sure you will throw out. Be ready to keep adding to the list at odd moments as ideas continue to come to mind.
Talk to your audience, or pretend that you are being interviewed by someone — or by several people, if possible (to give yourself the opportunity of considering a subject from several different points of view). What questions would the other person ask? You might also try to teach the subject to a group or class.
See if you can find a fresh analogy that opens up a new set of ideas. Build your analogy by using the word like. For example, if you are writing about violence on television, is that violence like clowns fighting in a carnival act (that is, we know that no one is really getting hurt)?
Take a rest and let it all percolate.
Summarize your whole idea.
Tell it to someone in three or four sentences.
Diagram your major points somehow.
Make a tree, outline, or whatever helps you to see a schematic representation of what you have. You may discover the need for more material in some places. Write a first draft.
Then, if possible, put it away. Later, read it aloud or to yourself as if you were someone else. Watch especially for the need to clarify or add more information.
You may find yourself jumping back and forth among these various strategies.
You may find that one works better than another. You may find yourself trying several strategies at once. If so, then you are probably doing something right.
Stasis Theory
Introduction
Stasis theory is a four-question, pre-writing (invention) process developed in ancient Greece by Aristotle and Hermagoras. Later, the stases were refined by Roman rhetoricians, such as Cicero, Quintilian, and Hermogenes. Working through the four stasis questions encourages knowledge building that is important for research, writing, and for working in teams. Stasis theory helps writers conduct critical analyses of the issues they are investigating.
Specifically, stasis theory asks writers to investigate and try to determine:
- The facts (conjecture)
- The meaning or nature of the issue (definition)
- The seriousness of the issue (quality)
- The plan of action (policy).
The four basic stasis categories may be broken down into a number of questions and subcategories to help researchers, writers, and people working together in teams to build information and compose communication. The stases also help people to agree on conclusions, and they help identify where people do not agree. Here are the stases and some questions you can ask to help you conduct research, write, and work toward solving problems:
Fact
- Did something happen?
- What are the facts?
- Is there a problem/issue?
- How did it begin and what are its causes?
- What changed to create the problem/issue?
- Can it be changed?
It may also be useful to ask critical questions of your own research and conclusions:
- Where did we obtain our data and are these sources reliable?
- How do we know they're reliable?
Definition
- What is the nature of the problem/issue?
- What exactly is the problem/issue?
- What kind of a problem/issue is it?
- To what larger class of things or events does it belong?
- What are its parts, and how are they related?
It may also be useful to ask critical questions of your own research and conclusions:
- Who/what is influencing our definition of this problem/issue?
- How/why are these sources/beliefs influencing our definition?
Quality
- Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
- How serious is the problem/issue?
- Whom might it affect (stakeholders)?
- What happens if we don't do anything?
- What are the costs of solving the problem/issue?
It may also be useful to ask critical questions of your own research and conclusions:
- Who/what is influencing our determination of the seriousness of this problem/issue?
- How/why are these sources/beliefs influencing our determination?
Policy
- Should action be taken?
- Who should be involved in helping to solve the problem/address the issue?
- What should be done about this problem?
- What needs to happen to solve this problem/address this issue?
It may also be useful to ask critical questions of your own research and conclusions:
- Who/what is influencing our determination of what to do about this problem/issue?
- How/why are these sources/beliefs influencing our determination?
Note: Related to stasis theory are the six journalistic questions (1) Who? (2) What? (3) Where? (4) When? (5) Why? (6) How? Lawyers also move through a similar knowledge building process known as IRAC: (1) Issue; (2) Rules; (3) Application; (4) Conclusion.
Achieving Stasis
Achieving stasis means that parties involved in a dialogue about a given issue have reached consensus on (or agreed upon) the information and conclusions in one or more of the stases. In ancient Rome, if legal disputants could not agree with the presented information in one of the stases, the argument would stop (arrest) and plaintiffs would attempt to agree (achieve stasis or find common ground) within the disputed information. For an example of how team members can work toward stasis, refer to the Stasis Theory for Teamwork page.
It is also important to achieve stasis with the issue you are investigating. Put another way, if you are trying to solve the parking problem on your campus, it will not do anyone any good to suggest that students stop smoking. The solution has nothing to do with (does not achieve stasis with) the issue at hand.
Outline 大纲
- Developing an Outline
- Reverse Outlining
Four Main Components for Effective Outlines
Ideally, you should follow the four suggestions presented here to create an effective outline. When creating a topic outline, follow these two rules for capitalization: For first-level heads, present the information using all upper-case letters; and for secondary and tertiary items, use upper and lower-case letters. The examples are taken from the Sample Outline handout.
Parallelism—How do I accomplish this?
Each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure. If the first heading is a verb, the second heading should be a verb. Example:
- CHOOSE DESIRED COLLEGES
- PREPARE APPLICATION
("Choose" and "Prepare" are both verbs. The present tense of the verb is usually the preferred form for an outline.)
Coordination—How do I accomplish this?
All the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same significance as the information contained in Heading 2. The same goes for the subheadings (which should be less significant than the headings). Example:
VISIT AND EVALUATE COLLEGE CAMPUSES
-
VISIT AND EVALUATE COLLEGE WEBSITES
- Note important statistics
- Look for interesting classes
(Campus and websites visits are equally significant. They are part of the main tasks you would need to do. Finding statistics and classes found on college websites are parts of the process involved in carrying out the main heading topics.)
Subordination—How do I accomplish this?
The information in the headings should be more general, while the information in the subheadings should be more specific. Example:
- DESCRIBE AN INFLUENTIAL PERSON IN YOUR LIFE
- Favorite high school teacher
- Grandparent
(A favorite teacher and grandparent are specific examples from the generalized category of influential people in your life.)
Division—How do I accomplish this?
Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts. Example:
-
COMPILE RÉSUMÉ
- List relevant coursework
- List work experience
- List volunteer experience
(The heading "Compile Résumé" is divided into 3 parts.)
Technically, there is no limit to the number of subdivisions for your headings; however, if you seem to have a lot, it may be useful to see if some of the parts can be combined.
Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work (阅读神器，逆向提炼大纲)
Some assignments ask you to read and analyze complex information. In these cases, reverse outlining can help you distill the main ideas into short, clear statements. You may also use reverse outlining to revise your own work. Reverse outlining follows a two-step, repeatable process:
-
In the left-hand margin, write down the topic of each paragraph. Try to use as few words as possible.
When reading, these notes should work as quick references for future study or in-class discussion.
When revising your own work, these notes should tell you if each paragraph is focused and clear.
-
In the right-hand margin, write down how the paragraph topic advances the overall argument of the text. Again, be brief.
When reading, these notes allow you to follow the logic of the essay, making it easier for you to analyze or discuss later.
When revising your own work, these notes should tell you if each paragraph fits in the overall organization of your paper. You may also notice that paragraphs should be shifted after completing this step.
Be brief, particularly when rereading your own work. If you can't complete each step in 5-10 words, the paragraph may need to be altered. You should be able to summarize the topic and the manner of support quickly; if you can't, revise the paragraph until you can.
This exercise can be expanded into an actual outline by rewriting/typing your notes, but writing in the margin might be sufficient.