SYLLABUS. II Semester

Transcription

1 SYLLABUS Class B.A. (HONS.) MASS COMMUNICATION II Semester Subject WRITING FOR MASS MEDIA UNIT-I UNIT-II UNIT-III UNIT-IV UNIT-V Introduction to Writing Historical background Elements of language Fundamentals of Writing Characteristics of good Writing Lucidity & Directness Credibility & Objectivity Forms of Writing& Essay, Poetry, Feature, Articles, Novels. Structure of Writing: Content selection, Focus, Conclusion, Presentation, Introduction, Body, and Conclusion Writing Style Translation Art in Writing Art Symbols Situations Aesthetics Sense Data use & handling Preparing Glossary & Index Bibliography 1

2 UNIT-I INTRODUCTION It is said that Leonardo da Vinci before ever lifting his brush saw all his paintings in the damp stains on his walls. Herman Melville stared at Mount Grey lock every day until one day it turned into devilish great white whale Moby Dick. In our young imaginative years we look up at the clouds and see old women, fairy, houses, alligators, and dinosaurs rather than constellations. According to biologists, man can no longer be defined as different from other animals by virtue of speech or tool making. But we are absolutely unique in our dazzling ability to make metaphors. Creativity is the art of living metaphorically. HISTORY OF WRITING The first writing - Writing has its origins in the strip of fertile land stretching from the Nile up into the area often referred to as the Fertile Crescent. This name was given, in the early 20th century, to the inverted U-shape of territory that stretches up the east Mediterranean coast and then curves east through northern Syria and down the Euphrates and the Tigris to the Persian Gulf. The first known writing derives from the lower reaches of the two greatest rivers in this extended region, the Nile and the Tigris. So the two civilizations separately responsible for this totally transforming human development are the Egyptian and the Sumerian (in what is now Iraq). It has been conventional to give priority, by a short margin, to Sumer dating the Sumerian script to about 3100 BC and the Egyptian version a century or so later. However, in 1988 a German archaeologist, Günter Dreyer, unearths at Abydos, on the Nile in central Egypt, small bone and ivory tablets recording in early hieroglyphic form the items delivered to a temple mainly linen and oil. These fragments have been carbon-dated to between 3300 and 3200 BC. Meanwhile the dating of the earliest cuneiform tablets from Sumeria has been pushed further back, also to around 3200 BC. So any claim to priority by either side is at present too speculative to carry conviction. Evolution of a script - Most early writing systems begin with small images used as words, literally depicting the thing in question. But pictograms of this kind are limited. Some physical objects are too difficult to depict. And many words are concepts rather than objects. There are several ways in which early writing evolves beyond the pictorial stage. One is by combining pictures to suggest a concept. Another is by a form of pun, in which a pictorial version of one object is modified to suggest another quite different object which sounds the same when spoken. An example of both developments could begin with a simple symbol representing a roof - a shallow inverted V. This would be a valid character to mean 'house'. If one places under this roof a similar symbol for a woman, the resulting character could well stand for some such idea as 'home' or 'family'. (In fact, in Chinese, a woman under a roof is one of the characters which can be used to mean 'peace'). This is a conceptual character. The punning kind might put under the same roof a sloping symbol representing the bank of a river. The combined character, roof and bank, would then stand for a financial institution - the type of 'house' which is a 'bank'. Cuneiform in Mesopotamia: from 3100 BC - In about 3200 BC temple officials in Sumer develop a reliable and lasting method of keeping track of the animals and other goods which are the temple's wealth. On lumps of wet clay the scribes draw a simpified picture of the item in question. They then make a similar mark in the clay for the number counted and recorded. When allowed to bake hard in the sun, the clay tablet becomes a permanent document. Significantly the chief official of many Sumerian temples is known by a word, sangu, which seems to 2

3 mean 'accountant'. But however non-literary the purpose, these practical jottings in Sumer are the first steps in writing. As writing develops, a standardized method of doing it begins to emerge. This is essential to the very purpose of writing, making it capable of carrying a message over unlimited distances of space or time. Doing so depends on the second scribe, in a faraway place or the distant future, being able to read what the first scribe has written In Mesopotamia clay remains the most common writing surface, and the standard writing implement becomes the end of a sharply cut reed. These two ingredients define this early human script. Characters are formed from the wedge-shaped marks which the reed makes when pressed into the damp clay, so the style of writing becomes known as cuneiform (from the Latincuneus, meaning wedge). Hieroglyphs and papyrus in Egypt: from 3000 BC- The second civilization to develop writing, shortly after the Sumerians, is Egypt. The Egyptian characters are much more directly pictorial in kind than the Sumerian, but the system of suggesting objects and concepts is similar. The Egyptian characters are called hieroglyphs by the Greeks in about 500 BC, because by that time this form of writing is reserved for holy texts;hieros andglypho mean 'sacred' and 'engrave' in Greek. Because of the importance of hieroglyphic inscriptions in temples and tombs, much of the creation of these beautiful characters is by painters, sculptors in relief and craftsmen modelling in plaster. But with the introduction of papyrus, the Egyptian script is also the business of scribes. The seals of the Indus valley: from 2500 BC- As in the other great early civilizations, the bureaucrats of the Indus valley have the benefit of writing to help them in their administration. The Indus script, which has not yet been deciphered, is known from thousands of seals, carved in steatite or soapstone. Usually the centre of each seal is occupied by a realistic depiction of an animal, with above it a short line of formal symbols. The lack of longer inscriptions or texts suggests that this script is probably limited to trading and accountancy purposes, with the signs establishing quantities and ownership of a commodity. Chinese characters: from 1600 BC - The last of the early civilizations to develop writing is China, in about 1600 BC. But China outdoes the others in devising a system which has evolved, as a working script, from that day to this. Chinese characters are profoundly ill-suited to such labor-saving innovations as printing, typewriting or word-processing. Yet they have survived. They have even provided the script for an entirely different language, Japanese. The Non-phonetic Chinese script has been a crucial binding agent in China's vast empire. Officials from far-flung places, often unable to speak each other's language, have been able to communicate fluently in writing. Phonetics and the alphabet: from the 15th century BC- The most significant development in the history of writing, since the first development of a script in about 3200 BC, is the move from a pictographic or syllabic system (characteristic of Sumerian, ancient Egyptian and Chinese) to a phonetic one, based on recording the spoken sound of a word. This change has one enormous potential. It can liberate writing from the status of an arcane skill, requiring years of study to learn large numbers of characters. It makes possible the ideal of a literate community. The first tentative steps in this direction are taken in the second millennium BC in the trading communities of Phoenicia. Phoenician is a Semitic language and the new approach to writing is adopted by the various Semitic groups in Phoenicia and Palestine. Versions of it are used, for example, for Aramaic and Hebrew. Only the consonants are written, leaving the vowels to be 3

4 understood by the reader (as is still the case today with a widespread Semitic language, Arabic). The contribution of the Greeks, adapting the Phoenician system of writing in the 8th century BC, is to add vowels. For some they use the names of existing Phoenician letters (alpha for example). For others entirely new signs are added. The result is a Greek alphabet of twenty-four letters. The alphabet takes its name from the first two letters in the Phoenician system, alphaand beta, borrowed and adapted by the Greeks. The Romans in their turn deveolop the Greek alphabet to form letters suitable for the writing of Latin. It is in the Roman form - and through the Roman empire - that the alphabet spreads through Europe, and eventually through much of the world, as a standard system of writing. With a system as simple as this, and with portable writing materials such aspapyrus,wooden tablets or leaves written correspondence becomes a familiar part of everyday life. The Arabic script: from the 5th century BC - A stele, or inscribed column, is set up at Tema in northwest Arabia. Dating from the 5th century BC, its inscription is the earliest known example of the writing which evolves a millennium later into the Arabic script. The script is developed from the 1st century BC by the Nabataeans, a people speaking a Semitic language whose stronghold atpetra, on a main caravan route, brings them prosperity and the need for records. Writing is not much needed by thenomads of Arabia, but when it becomes urgently required for the Qur'an(to record accurately the words of God in the 7th century AD), the Nabataean example is to hand. ThroughIslam and the spread of Arabic, it becomes one of the world's standard scripts. The first American script: 2nd c. BC - 3rd c. AD- Of the various early civilizations of central America, the Maya make the greatest use of writing. In their ceremonial centres they set up numerous columns, or stelae, engraved with hieroglyphs. But they are not the inventors of writing in America. Credit for this should possibly go back as far as the Olmecs. Certainly there is some evidence that they are the first in the region to devise acalendar, in which writing of some sort is almost essential. The Zapotecs, preceding the Maya, have left the earliest surviving inscriptions, dating from about the 2nd century BC. The first Mayan stele to be securely dated is erected at Tikal in the equivalent of the year AD 292. The Mayan script is hieroglyphic with some phonetic elements. Its interpretation has been a long struggle, going back to the 16th century, and even today only about 80% of thehieroglyphs are understood. They reveal that the script is used almost exclusively for two purposes: the recording of calculations connected with the calendar and astronomy; and the listing of rulers, their dynasties and their conquests. Thus the priests and the palace officials of early America succeed in preserving writing for their own privileged purposes. In doing so they deny their societies the liberating magic of literacy. Ulfilas and his alphabet: AD c Ulfilas is the first man known to have undertaken an extraordinarily difficult intellectual task - writing down, from scratch, a language which is as yet purely oral. He even devises a new alphabet to capture accurately the sounds of spoken Gothic, using a total of twenty-seven letters adapted from examples in the Greek and Roman alphabets. God's work is Ulfilas' purpose. He needs the alphabet for his translation of the Bible from Greek into the language of the Goths. It is not known how much he completes, but large sections of the Gospels and the Epistles survive in his version - dating from several years before Jerome begins work on his Latin text. 4

5 The achievement of Ulfilas is repeated in the 9th century by two missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, who adapt their own Greek alphabet for the purposes of writing down a previously oral Slavonic language. Cyril and Methodius: 9th century AD - Cyril and his elder brother Methodius already have a distinguished reputation as theologians and linguists when the Byzantine emperor sends them as missionaries, in 863, to the Slavs of Moravia. The brothers are Greek but they know the Slavonic language spoken in their native region of Salonika. In Moravia they conduct church services in Slavonic. Naturally they wish to write down this liturgy, together with their own Slavonic translation of parts of the Bible. But there is no Slavonic script. Like Ulfilas before them with Gothic, the brothers need to devise a new alphabet for their purpose. Cyril and Methodius base their new letters loosely on Greek examples. The Slavonic alphabet is known today as cyrillic after the more forceful of the brothers - though in its surviving form it is probably devised by Cyril's followers inbulgaria rather than the saint himself (whose original invention is more likely to be the now extinct glagolitic alphabet). Nevertheless the remarkable fact is that cyrillic remains the script of all the Slav regions which adopt the Greek Orthodox faith - including Serbia, Bulgaria and above all Russia. From handwriting to print: 7th - 15th century - It is a striking fact that the letters which we take for granted today, in printed books, derive for the most part from handwriting in the last centuries of the Roman empire. Indeed the script in fragments of Latin messages, written by members of the Roman garrison athadrian's Wall in about100, is visibly related to the letters taught in western European languages in the 20th century. When Christian monks in western Europe write out their holy texts, they do so in Latin onparchment - in the relatively new form of the codex. The script they use is that of the Roman empire, but there are many regional variations. Manuscripts written in Italy in the 7th to 8th centuryare entirely in capital letters, giving a neat and intensely formal look. But Celtic monks in Ireland, who are among the most prolific of scribes at this time, prefer a more workaday script (the everyday hand of the Roman legionaries at Hadrian's Wall must have survived in many outlying regions as the normal style of handwriting). A very early surviving example is the so-called Cathach ofst Columba(cathachmeaning 'battler', because this book of psalms is believed to have been carried into battle as a sacred talisman). The Cathach of St Columba, dating perhaps from the early 7th century and possibly written by the saint himself, also exemplifies one profoundly influential innovation of the Irish monks. To emphasize the beginning of an important passage, the scribes write its first letter much larger than the rest of the text and in a grander style. Slightly embarrassed by the difference in scale, they tend to reduce each succeeding letter by a little until reaching the small scale of the ordinary text. Here, already, is the distinction between capitals and lower case (or in manuscript terms, majuscule and minuscule) which is later a standard feature of the western European script. The early Christian manuscripts influence the later standards of calligraphy and of print in two widely separated stages. At the court of Charlemagne, in the 8th century, the existing manuscript traditions are deliberately tidied up into one official style of exquisite clarity. This becomes cluttered again during the later Middle Ages, until calligraphers of the Renaissance, in the 15th century, rediscover the earlier style. From them, still within the spirit of the Renaissance, it is adopted by the early printers - and thus enshrined for succeeding centuries. 5

6 The Carolingian script: 8th century In 780 the emperorcharlemagnemeets Alcuin, a distinguished scholar from York, and invites him to direct his palace school ataachen. Twelve months or more later, in October 781, Charlemagne commissions from a scribe, by the name of Godesalc, a manuscript of the gospels. Godesalc completes his magnificent book for the emperor in April 783. The Godesalc Evangelistary, as it is now called, is the first book in which the script known as Carolingian minuscule appears. The text uses conventional capitals, but the dedication is in these lower-case letters. It is probably not too fanciful to see the influence of Alcuin, recently arrived at court, in Godesalc's experiment with this new script. Over the next two decades Alcuin rigorously researches and refines a new calligraphy for Charlemagne's new empire. Just as Charlemagne sees himself as a Roman emperor, so Alcuin goes back to Rome for his inspiration. With a passion and a thoroughness which prefigures the scholars of the Renaissance, he copies the letters carved on Roman monuments or written in surviving manuscripts and selects from them to establish a pure classical style - with the addition of theminuscule letters of monastic tradition. The results are superb. Carolingian manuscripts (produced in large numbers in a monastery at Tours, of which Alcuin becomes abbot in 796) are among the most clear and legible documents in the history of writing. Black-letter style: 11th - 15th century - In the later Middle Ages, the clarity of the Carolingian script becomes lost. A much darker and denser style evolves in northern Europe from the 11th century. It is known as 'black letter', because of the almost oppressive weight of dark ink on each densely packed page. This medieval style derives partly from an aesthetic impulse (there is drama in dark pen strokes and in the angular ends left by a broad nib), but it is above all a matter of economy. Parchment is expensive. Books are much in demand, particularly with the growth of universities. If the letters in a word and the words in a sentence are squashed more closely together, less pages are used and the book is cheaper. The black-letter style is the convention in German manuscripts when printing is developed there in the 1450s. It therefore becomes the type face used for the earliest European printed books, such asgutenberg's Bible. Angular letters of this kind remain the normal convention in German books until the early 20th century. But within the first century of printing there is a reaction in Italy against this heavy style. Italian humanistsof the Renaissance associate it with all that they consider dark and barbarous about the Middle Ages. Like medieval architecture, it is given the dismissive name of Gothic. Roman and italic: 15th century - Italian scholars of the 14th and 15th century, followers of Petrarch in their reverence for classical culture, search through libraries for ancient texts. Copying out their discoveries, they aspire also to an authentic script. They find their models in beautifully written manuscripts which they take to be Roman but which are in fact Carolingian. The error is a fortunate one. The script devised for Charlemagne's monastic workshops in the 8th century is a model of clarity and elegance. It is adapted for practical use, in slightly different ways, by two Florentine friends - Poggio Bracciolini and Niccolò Niccoli. Bracciolini, employed as secretary at the papal court in Rome from 1403, uses the ancient script for important documents. To the rounded lower-case letters of the the Carolingian script he adds straightedged capital letters which he copies from Roman monuments. By contrast his friend Niccoli adapts the Carolingian script to the faster requirements of everyday 6

7 writing. To this end he finds it more convenient to slope the letters a little (the result of holding the pen at a more comfortable angle), and to allow some of them to join up. Joining up is not in itself new. In several forms of medieval hand-writing the letters flow together to become what is known as a 'cursive' hand. Printers in Venice later in the century, attempting to reflect the classical spirit of humanism, turn to the scripts of Bracciolini and Niccoli. The rounded but upright style of Bracciolini is first used by the French printer Nicolas Jenson shortly after his arrival in the city in This type face is given the name roman, reflecting its ancient origins. In 1501 another great Venetian printer, Aldus Manutius, needs a contrasting and smaller type for a 'pocket edition' of Virgil. He turns to the script of Niccoli, in everyday use by fashionable Italians, and calls it accordingly italic. Roman and italic eventually become a standard part of every printer's repertoire. Copperplate: from the 16th century - For purposes of handwriting a version of the italic script eventually becomes the norm in most western societies. The reason is partly accidental. Flowing letters are easily engraved, as can be seen in the captions of anyengraving. The natural movement of the burin through the metal is in elegant curves, ending in elongated points. A nib, filled with ink, can easily make the same flowing marks on paper. As writing becomes a necessary accomplishment for the middle classes, a new profession is created - that of the writing master. The writing master needs examples for his pupils to copy. The engraverprovides these, as separate sheets or as plates bound into manuals, and the manuals soon have the effect of standardizing handwriting. The conventional form becomes known as copper-plate - imitating the letters which the engraver has cut in his copper plate. Many such manuals are published, starting with theessemplare('examples') of Gianfrancesco Cresci, a Vatican writer, in The most successful collection of copper-plate examples is theuniversal Penmanof George Bickham, first published in 1733 and still in use as a teaching aid in Britain in the early part of the 20th century. The talking leaves of the Cherokee: The magic of writing is encapsulated in an achievement of thecherokee Indians of north America. In the early 19th century, recognizing the advantage that writing brings to the white Americans, they resolve to acquire the same benefit for their own people. They analyze the spoken sounds of the Cherokee language and decide that it consists of eighty-six identifiable syllables. A symbol is selected for each syllable - by adapting letters in the English alphabet, and perhaps also by borrowing from fragments of Greek and Hebrew in the books distributed by missionaries. Traditionally this exacting task has been said to be the work of Sequoyah (the illiterate son of a British trader and a Cherokee woman), helped only by his daughter. More recently it has been suggested that others invented the system and that Sequoyah's main contribution was in popularizing it. Whatever the precise detail, the achievement is an even more striking example of what Ulfilasdid for the Goths in the 4th century. Written Cherokee, described as 'talking leaves', becomes accepted with a rapidity which testifies both to the magic of writing and to the persuasive powers of Sequoyah. The system is completed in The first issue of the Cherokee Phoenix, written in the syllables, is dated 21 February CREATIVE WRITING The creative spark within an individual, leading to creative endeavours stems from a basic, yet strong, feeling of dissatisfaction with the usual process and activities. Some may not feel dissatisfied at all with the way things are. And, those who do feel discontented may react or respond in one of the following ways: 7

8 Simply complaining or feeling frustrated without doing anything about the existing state of things. - Trying to change the state of affairs by creating something new in a new way or even attempting to mould the public opinion or attitude by writing about the state of affairs in an original style with a skillful use of words and expressions. Definition: Creative writing is the process of inventing or rather presenting your thoughts in an appealing way. The writer thinks critically and reshapes something known into something that is different and original. Each piece of writing has a purpose and is targeted at an audience. It is organized cohesively with a clear beginning, middle and an end. Attention is paid to choice of apt vocabulary, figurative use of language and style. The following can be taken as key points for understanding of writing creatively: 1. The Beginning: Creative writing takes its first breath when the writer asks, "What can I create out of a particular feeling, image, experience, or memory?" 2. The Purpose: It carries out a writer's compelling desire to imagine, invent, explore, or share. Writing satisfies the creative soul. It often takes on a life of its own; the writer merely follows along. 3. The Form: Any form using a writer's imagination is suitable for creative development of some element of fiction. Some of the most common types of creative writing are poetry, essays, charactersketches, short-fiction, anecdotes, play-scripts, songs, parodies, reminiscences, historical fiction etc. 4. The Audience: A specific audience may not be known in the beginning, and each situation is different. However, if the finished piece has a universal meaning, the story will speak to a wide range of readers and may have varied meaning for various people. 5. The Style: A writer's style comes from an array of choices that result in the sole ownership of the finished product. The key to attaining a unique style is focused control. The writer lays out a viewpoint and if it appeals to the readers, it influences them. CREATIVE PROCESS 1) Breathe the fresh air and think. 2) Allow your thoughts to float. 3) The journey of your thought will find the seeds to plant your story. 4) Revisit your ideas for topics and scan through the entries in your Portfolio that focus on your experiences. 5) Mind map a simple plan that contains a few characters, a basic setting and a problem that will be resolved. 6) Give life to your plan and write your first draft. 7) Take time to revise the basic frame of story. 8) Evaluate character development, conflict in plot, exciting twist and turns. 9) And Voila! You have a creative output! 8

9 ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE 1. Phonology - (fuh-nol-uh-jee) (n.) the sound system of a language Pronunciation. Ex - Z,S,th,Dh, 2. Morphology - (mawr-fol-uh-jee) (n.) the study of the structure of words Morphology is the study of word structure. Though it appears on the surface that English words are irregular and idiosyncratic go vs. went, foot vs. feet there is a limited set of processes that allow speakers to create new words. First, some preliminaries. All languages have words and morphemes. Words can be freely moved around in a sentence. For example, cats is a word: I like cats. Cats, I like. (Hamsters, I don t.) Cats is a complex word, made up of two morphemes; a morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning or function within a language. The two morphemes are the root cat and s, which means plural. s is a bound morpheme, meaning that it must attach to something else and cannot be freely moved around; I can t just say -s in response to the question Do you have one cat or more than one? Free morphemes, on the other hand, can stand alone as words. English often allows multiple bound morphemes within a single word by a process called affixation. Affixation is the addition of prefixes, suffixes, and infixes to a root morpheme Bound morphemes that follow the root are suffixes (things like ful, -ly, -ness in words like hopeful, quickly, or weirdness), while morphemes that precede the root are prefixes (for example, mis- as in misunderstand). So, in a word like mistrustful we have a two bound morphemes, the prefix mis- and the suffix -ful, surrounding the root, trust: mis-trust-ful Or in a word like friendliness, we have a root followed by two suffixes: friend-li-ness 3. Syntax - (sin-taks) (n.) the study of the structure of sentences : In linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek σύνταξις "coordination" from σύν syn, "together," and τάξις táxis, "an ordering") is "the study of the principles and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages." 4. Semantics -(si-man-tiks) (n.) the study of meaning in language 5. Pragmatics - (prag-mat-iks) (n.), the appropriate use of language in different contexts ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING PLOT OR STRUCTURE: It is a true that 'all art is an order'. The creative artist seeks to capture the world in a certain form, so that it could make some sense. Thus there has to be a formal structure to the writing subject. You will wish to write an arrangement of characters interacting with incidents/ situations for greater effectiveness. However, your skill lies in making it appear that it is no conscious arrangement, no plan, and no 'plot'. You need to have a well thought-out design or scheme, so that the story is neither dull, nor meaningless. Whatever the story, theme, or purpose may be, creative writers try to infuse meaning into the story. Creative writers always try to make their stories interesting and try to make it lively. ATMOSPHERE: It is the context in which write-ups are written. Atmosphere is also referred to as settings. Writers use atmosphere or settings to attract and engage readers in their stories or write-ups. Most writers try to create a world or realm in which the readers can loose them selves. This setting could be realistic of imaginary. Many writers, particularly in short stories or novels, try to mix reality and imaginary. This mix of facts and fantasies makes write ups more credible and reading more believable. Atmosphere is an important element of writing. It creates moods. It creates physical as well 9

10 as psychological settings. It helps in creating the texture of the settings in which the writer sets the characters, locale, etc. CHARACTERS: Characters are another important element of writing. Most writing involves people. And people form the characters in stories and write-ups. Also most writing is about human conditions. Human characters in various settings form the backbone of most writing. Also readers mostly identify and like to read about fellow human beings. FUNDAMENTALS/ ESSENTIALS OF WRITING 1.USING SIMPLE LANGUAGE: Simplicity, it is said, is the hardest thing to achieve in writing. Most good writers have this art. But this is more of a craft or skill. Practice helps us achieve simplicity. And simplicity is the best way to achieve clarity, coherency, and comprehension. 2.USING SIMPLE WORDS: Some people use complex, high-sounding, and bombastic words in their writing. This is usually done to impress the readers. In reality such complex words have the opposite effect. 3.USING SIMPLE SENTENCES: It is easier to write many simple sentences than one complex or compound sentence. So why not write simple sentences? Long winding sentences only distract the reader. 4.ECONOMIZING ON WORDS: Most writers use too many words in their drafts. A careful editor deletes these at the time of editing. (This sentence itself can be written in simpler way A careful editor edits this out). There is no substitute for simple, straightforward prose. You should not try to use one word more than is necessary. 5.AVOIDING JARGONS: Each profession has a technical language of its own. This is called jargon. You may be using certain abbreviations or names in your schools, sports field or in an office. Scientists do so in their labs. These are jargons. Only the select group understands them. As a writer, you should not use them. You should rather explain the jargon if you have to use it. Your aim should be to make your message clear to the people who have no direct relationship to such groups. Your writings should not cut people off from receiving your ideas by a language that they cannot understand. 6.AVOIDING ADJECTIVES: Adjectives and adverbs are often superfluous. You should build up your sentences around nouns and verbs. Usage of adjectives often weakens your message. We would suggest that you write two simple sentences than use an adjective, which more often is unnecessary if you descriptions are clear and vivid. 7.INTRODUCING CONTINUITY OF FLOW: While introducing a new idea or piece of information, do not do so without tying it to other parts of a story, springing up with sudden thoughts jolts a reader and like a sudden jerk on a smooth road, he is thrown off balance. Connect any new information in a story to information already introduced. You have to develop a mental discipline and read your copy with discerning eyes. 8.BEING SPECIFIC: Brevity is the soul of wit. Just as you try to avoid someone who talks too much, so do readers about writing, which have too many superfluous or high sounding words or pilings of phrases or long- winding, and sentences that have run out of thoughts. Eliminate all that which you have said once. Have to have accuracy and clarity. But never try to sacrifice these for the sake of brevity. 9.AVOIDING REPETITIONS AND REDUNDANCIES: Both these traits show lack of discipline on the part of the writer. Sometimes facts need to be repeated but that e is not the case very often. Cut out 10

11 unnecessary words: Avoid adjectives and adverbs. As you write, such words often creep in. Be alert to weed these words out. Quite often you write really, actually, very, in fact and similar others. UNIT-II CREATIVE WRITING CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD, EFFECTIVE WRITING A common misconception among bloggers and writers alike is that good writing can only be achieved with years of experience, which is far from the truth. If you even think about starting a blog, you immediately realize that blogs consist primarily of writing new content and further promoting that content through other forms of writing, advertisements, and copy. While you do need basic education to begin, very few bloggers have a Ph.D. in English or grammar as they probably wouldn t be working as an independent blogger, with the large risk involved. There is one set of core elements that you need to achieve whenever you write. As long as you strive for this, you won t fail in your pursuit to create the blog that others desire to read everyday. 1. You make a clear point. Don t let your readers have to ask themselves what your point is. Are you trying to market a product or simply review a product that you enjoyed, for example. On many blogs, the entire focus is oblique it is difficult to define the overall focus of the website. 2. A common mistake is length. Good writing is never too long, never too short. It is concise, not elaborating on too many separate areas. This is particularly true when trying to get points across. Readers become easily distracted if you focus on one point (especially in list-type posts), leading them to avoid the rest of the post for that one block. 3. There is information to back up your point. No one is able to store the world s information in their head. It s a simple fact. You need to link to sources within your content, include images, diagrams, and other forms of media to draw in the readers. Words don t cut it every time. 4. Time is the best solution for the quality dilemma. Just because you want to create more shouldn t mean that the quality of your writing has to take a dive, too. Would people that aren t a part of your field be able to understand, even if you leave out something crucial? If your answer was no, that means that you ll need to spend more time adding references, details, or elaborate on the finer details. 5. The writing is logical. Understand that some people don t want to read through the entire post. Few people do, especially as the content length increases. Although words are words, a paragraph blurred together with no spaces between any sentences or words is just a long word. People won t read it. Although this is an extreme example, be sure that you have set up a post structure that allows readers to quickly scan the main points (bold, heading text, etc). 6. Good grammar, English, and spelling. Just because you can t accomplish these two to three main areas of good writing doesn t mean that you have failed as a writer. Simply improve on these, and readers will thank you. 7. Readers become engaged. With the focused point and effective writing style that you have developed (remember, it takes time), readers will become engaged in what you have to say. Writing the content is one part, but you ll also need to bring the complete package to your readers in order to truly accomplish this. Feel what your readers might be going through in order to truly connect with them. 8. Rules are broken all over the place. Writing like everyone else is easy. Writing as yourself; creating, developing, and mastering a style is the hard part. Similarity is the greatest enemy for writers once you become unique, there is little to stop you from reaching great heights. 9. Influence. One powerful word, one powerful point. Set the stage for what may lead to success, even if you don t have confidence in yourself. Good writing challenges the reader to think about what they have done in their life and how they can prepare for a reoccurrence of the event or situation in the future. Captivating your readers and evaluating their needs can help you accomplish the influence factor. 10. Finally, and one of most important of all, is that great writers and the posts that they create are from their heart, not just created to profit or for gains. Text is one of the most powerful mediums out there. When you read text, you can get a good idea of how the writer feels about what they are writing about, even though no clear evidence is given. Readers can draw conclusions that you aren t 11

12 writing your best copy due to the fact that you are tired and exhausted from writing. This is something that can t happen as long as you run your blog. Good writing does more than just these ten main characteristics it inspires, informs, and involves your readers. When you harness your full potential, you will be able to accomplish this with less work than you think. It will take quite a few revisions, modifications, and testing before you get it right, but it will happen. The now-famous authors born during the past century didn t start writing with any advanced education just the skills and knowledge that they had when they decided to pursue writing novels or other forms of literature. They didn t become instant sensations, they didn t lead lives that were extravagant, and their ideas were often challenged during the time that they were alive. But there was something that set apart their work from the millions of other aspiring authors they brought their entire package to the table, taking enormous risks simply to pursue their passion. LUCIDITY 1. Easily understood; intelligible. 2. Mentally sound; sane or rational. 3. Translucent or transparent. Lucidity is basically clarity of thoughts in sense of creative writing. So that we consider the word Clarity or Clearness in the place of lucidity to understand the importance of LUCIDITY i.e. Clarity in writing. Why does it matter if your writing is clear or not? Surely, anyone with half a brain can make out what you re trying to say! Well, when what you re saying is not very important to you or to your reader, you don t need to write with much care. But when your message is important enough to make you want to get it across clearly, and when it s important to the reader that he or she understand it fully, clarity is obviously essential. Importance calls for understanding on the recipient s part; achievement of the understanding that both writer and reader want is possible only in the presence of clarity. If this sounds really obvious to you it is. Just think, though, of how much garbled nonsense pours into the world every day, in every form of speech. Here are some suggestions to help you keep your important writing clear in order to accomplish your desired impact, whether you re writing for publication, for a client, for a speech, or just for yourself: 1. Be very clear about what it is you want to convey. 2. Have a good understanding of who you want to convey it to Focus on that audience (and no other), and get some accurate idea of how to introduce your subject to that audience so they will willingly read your writing or listen to you. 3. Decide on an approach to your reader or audience (such as: formal, informal, academic, poetic, journalistic, adversarial, persuasive, explanatory, satirical, ironic, dramatic, familiar, casual, buddybuddy, and so on) and match your writing style to that approach; avoid mixing approaches and styles. 4. Plan out the presentation of your ideas from a beginning that is (a) acceptable to your audience, (b) encourages their interest, and (c) helps them track with you while they read on. 5. In your designing, clearly envision the end result or objective or product of your writing, and build up to it connectedly and as strongly as you can, and put it in place like an anchor for the whole piece. If you ll be wanting the readers to take some action, then prepare the ground for asking or directing them to take it in such a way as to leave them in no doubt about what you are asking them to do. And build up the flow of your piece so that as many as possible will be minded to agree with your request or direction. 6. When your design and objective are clear to you, start writing. As you write, envision a reader s response to what you are writing; see if you can pick up any questions the reader might have, or some 12

13 element of your persuasion that might make an un-smooth progression of thought for the reader as he or she follows you along. 7. Although I ve emphasized writing according to prepared design and plan, I also advise that as you start writing, you be alert for the possibility that your writing might just decide to go off in a direction you hadn t envisioned. In some circumstances, such as personal writing, essays, op-ed pieces, term papers, short stories, or novels, and others, this writing can be far more authentic and interesting than the design would ever be. To succeed in this way of writing, you must (a) keep sight of your original objective or you must restate it as soon as you can, and (b) avoid violating any contractual or other agreements with another for the piece you are writing 8. Whichever way you do it, employ words whose meanings and uses you clearly understand. If you have any question about what a word means or how to use it correctly, look it up in the dictionary before including it. Choose words that are themselves clear. When you find yourself writing words like awesome, unbelievable, great, cool, and so on, recognize that you re introducing distracting fuzz into your flow and cut it out. Look for the words that clearly convey what you want the reader to grasp. If fuzz is part of your design, though, keep it in. 9. There is no substitute for correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Some people will not be offended by errors in these but they may misdirect themselves away from your message because, for example, the placing of one comma can completely change the meaning of a sentence. A person who is familiar with grammar, spelling, and punctuation might reject your message (even though your message is valid and valuable) if he or she considers that your errors undermine trust in your judgment. 10. Use words and expressions that your audience is familiar with; if you need or want to use a term, abbreviation, or phrase outside of their presumed vocabulary, use it -- but give a helpful definition in parenthesis. 11. Design your paragraphs and sentences for greatest impact as your actual writing builds up to the climax and completion of your message and request for action. Here are some techniques to help you increase impact: * In your sentences, try to use the passive mood as little as possible. * See if you can put the important idea of the sentence at or near its end. * Vary your sentence lengths and do not be afraid of the occasional long sentence. It is quite all right to have people think about what they re reading. * Ideally, you build up your paragraph so that it s most important point comes out in its last sentence; sometimes it s better to put the point in the first sentence. In the latter case, be sure that you end the paragraph with one of your strongest arguments for that point, and put it in a strong sentence. * Review your paragraph for smoothness by reading it out loud, listening for any awkward sounds or rhythms, and for any jumps in your logic, any excess verbiage, and possibly for a more inspiring phrase. 12. If you come to the point of not seeing clearly where you should go next in writing your build-up to your climax, take a break. When you come back, read your piece from the beginning. If you don t see clearly where you go next, read over your outline and your notes. Should the way forward still not be clear, examine your last paragraph or two to see if one of them is a little too condensed and needs to be fleshed out, perhaps even fleshed out into two separate paragraphs. 13. When you re all done, put the piece away for at least a day. After the break, read it, mark all the errors you see and the improvements you think of as you read, look to mercilessly slash everything that is not closely relevant, note any questions that come up for you -- but don t make any major revisions yet. Once through the first time, consider the questions and notes you made, and determine how much substantial editing you will do, and do it. Write your new draft. Put the piece away for at least a day; share your manuscript with a friend who will give you an objective pair of eyes and ears and perhaps very helpful comments. Review your piece yet again. 14. Publish! Or deliver! Or read your speech! Observe how it goes down. Note how you can do better next time, and take all your lessons from the experience to heart. Use them! 13

14 DIRECTNESS The challenge to directness comes from two fronts: WORDINESS and VAGUENESS. A wordy writer uses more words than are necessary to convey his meaning; a vague writer fails to convey her meaning as sharply and clearly as she might. Our objective in writing is to convey our meaning as directly and as economically as possible, without sacrificing clarity and completeness. This document focuses on WORDINESS, i.e., on how to spot and eliminate wordiness. 1. Nominals Nominals are nouns that have been created by adding suffixes to verbs: ESTABLISHMENT, COMPLETION, DELIVERANCE and so on. While there is nothing wrong with those words, using unnecessary nominals tends to make writing ponderous and slow moving. That is, VERBS (words which convey action) have been transformed into NOUNS (words which point to objects). Learn to spot nominals suffixes, which include -MENT, -TION, -ENCE, -ITY, -IZE, and -NESS. e.g., Strict ENFORCEMENT of the speed limit by the police will cause a REDUCTION in traffic fatalities. / If the police strictly enforced the speed limit, traffic fatalities will be reduced. 2. Weak Verbs Vague, weak verbs such as ALLOW, HAVE, GIVE, MAKE, PROVIDE, and TAKE occur in combination with nominals as replacements for the stronger, more energetic verbs that have been changed into nouns. Another weak verb form, the PASSIVE-VOICE verb, also lengthens sentences and reduces vigor because it focuses on THINGS BEING DONE rather than on DOING THINGS. Consequently, a statement in the passive-voice requires a prepositional phrase to identify the AGENT or the DOER. Your writing will become less wordy if you chose specific, concrete, active-voice verbs. e.g,, At the next meeting, the city council WILL TAKE the fire fighters' request for a raise under consideration. / At the next meeting, the city council will consider the fire-fighters' request for a raise. A decision WAS REACHED by the council members to amend the zoning laws. / The council members decided to amend the zoning laws. 3. Roundabout constructions Indirect and circuitous wording annoys readers, i.e., it detracts from quick, clear understanding of your meaning. Words like ANGLE, ASPECT, FACTOR and SITUATION, and phrases like AS IN THE CASE OF, IN THE LINE OF, IN THE FIELD OF are usually obstacles to directness. e.g., Another aspect of the situation that needs to be examined is the matter of advertizing. / We should also examine advertizing. 4. Unnecessary phrases and clauses Wordiness often results from using clauses when phrases will do, or phrases when single words will do. Where appropriate, try reducing clauses to participial or appositive phrases or to single-word compound modifiers. e.g., The conclusions THAT THE COMMITTEE OF STUDENTS reached are summarized in the newspaper OF THE COLLEGE THAT WAS TODAY. / The conclusions REACHED BY THE STUDENT COMMITTEE are summarized in TODAY'S COLLEGE NEWSPAPER. 5. Redundancy Expressions like I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES and AUDIBLE TO YOU EARS are redundant, i.e., they express the same idea twice. Redundancies don't clarify or emphasize; they sound stupid, especially with words that are already absolute and cannot logically be qualified further: UNIQUE, PERFECT, DEAD, for example. e.g., ADVANCE FORWARD / advance; COMPLETELY ELIMINATE / eliminate; REFER BACK / refer; REPEAT AGAIN / repeat; CIRCLE AROUND / circle; CLOSE PROXIMITY / close; FEW IN NUMBER / few; PAST HISTORY / history, past. 6. Awkward repetition / Marking Code W-4 The repetition of important words can lend emphasis and coherence to your writing, hut careless repetition is awkward and wordy. e.g., The investigation revealed that the AVERAGE TEACHERS TEACHING industrial arts in Alberta have an AVERAGE working and TEACHING experience of five years. / The investigation revealed that industrial arts teachers of Alberta have on average five years' experience 14

15 CREDIBILTY Any writer who is looking to build a successful career must gain an authority within the writing/publishing industry. Credibility assures customers that a writer is an established and respected professional. If you are searching for ways to gain credibility as a writer, consider the following steps: 1. Write all the time if you want to be respected in the field. The best way to become a credible writer is to be a better writer, and the best way to improve your writing is to write everyday. Use whatever mediums are available to you, the Internet, local newspapers and magazines. 2. Improve your writing skills by enhancing your writing knowledge. A credible writer is someone who knows as much about writing as possible. Understanding the technicalities, writing rules and styles is imperative in this industry. For this reason, you should take writing classes and workshops in various areas of writing, and specifically in your own genre of writing, as well as attend conventions and conferences. 3. Being associated with an already credible writer is useful. Have an established writer provide some additional content for your site. Once you build your own reputation, ask that credible writer if you can submit an article. If you are a skilled writer, you will be invited to write for other blogs. Write for as many as you can and expand your readership. This in turn will build your writing integrity and reputation. 4. Create a blog so that you can promote your writing skills. If you write a blog that is focused on the art of writing, then you will build credibility with every entry. Potential clients will read your work. A blog is better than a resume because it demonstrates your skill of writing. Just make sure that every entry you write is edited. Just like a blog can build your credibility as a great writer, it can damage it with a single typo. 5. Use social media to get your name recognized. There are so many opportunities to get your name out there. Sign up with twitter and Facebook and other social media sites to offer useful writing tips or update your readers about your professional schedule or calendar. If you are a published author, you can use these forums to entice readers and get them exciting news about upcoming books or conferences you will be attending. Post as much as you can online, and on printed media. 6. Provide your best work to all your clients. Word of mouth can make or break your credibility as a writer. If you do a great job, then you might be asked to do more work for the same client and referred on to others. Therefore, only take work that you know you can do, and do well; always write you own content and create and meet realistic deadlines. 7. Do not let writing takes over your life; instead allow it to be part of what you do in your life OBJECTIVITY Objectivity means that when covering hard news, reporters don t convey their own feelings, biases or prejudices in their stories. They accomplish this by writing stories using a language that is neutral and avoids characterizing people or institutions in ways good or bad. But for the beginning reporter accustomed to writing personal essays or journal entries, it can be hard to keep one s own feelings out of one s stories. One trap beginning reporters fall into is the frequent use of adjectives. Adjectives can easily convey one s feelings about a subject, subconsciously or otherwise. Objectivity - This means that the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make, rather than you. This is related to the basic nature of academic study and academic writing, in particular. Nobody really wants to know what you "think" or "believe". They want to know what you have studied and learned and how this has led you to your various conclusions. The thoughts and beliefs should be based on your lectures, reading, discussion and research and it is important to make this clear. 1. Compare these two paragraphs: The question of what constitutes "language proficiency" and the nature of its cross-lingual dimensions is also at the core of many hotly debated issues in the areas of bilingual education and second language pedagogy and testing. Researchers have suggested ways of making second language teaching and testing more "communicative" (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Oller, 1979b) on the grounds that a 15

16 communicative approach better reflects the nature of language proficiency than one which emphasizes the acquisition of discrete language skills. We don't really know what language proficiency is but many people have talked about it for a long time. Some researchers have tried to find ways for us to make teaching and testing more communicative because that is how language works. I think that language is something we use for communicating, not an object for us to study and we remember that when we teach and test it. Which is the most objective? 2. In general, avoid words like "I", "me", "myself". A reader will normally assume that any idea not referenced is your own. It is therefore unnecessary to make this explicit. Don't write:" In my opinion, this a very interesting study." Write: "This is a very interesting study." Avoid "you" to refer to the reader or people in general. Don't write: "You can easily forget how different life was 50 years ago." Write: "It is easy to forget how difficult life was 50 years ago." 3. Examples Clearly this was far less true of France than... This is where the disagreements and controversies begin... The data indicates that... This is not a view shared by everyone; Jones, for example, claims that......very few people would claim... It is worthwhile at this stage to consider... Of course, more concrete evidence is needed before... Several possibilities emerge... A common solution is. FORMS OF WRITING 1. FEATURE WRITING Features are not meant to deliver the news firsthand. They do contain elements of news, but their main function is to humanize, to add color, to educate, to entertain, to illuminate. They often recap major news that was reported in a previous news cycle. Features often: Profile people who make the news Explain events that move or shape the news Analyze what is happening in the world, nation or community Teach an audience how to do something Suggest better ways to live Examine trends Entertain. TYPES OF FEATURES Personality profiles: A personality profile is written to bring an audience closer to a person in or out of the news. Interviews and observations, as well as creative writing, are used to paint a vivid picture of the person. The CBC s recent profile of Pierre Elliot Trudeau is a classic example of the genre and makes use of archival film footage, interviews, testimonials, and fair degree of editorializing by the voice-over commentary. Human interest stories: A human interest story is written to show a subject s oddity or its practical, emotional, or entertainment value. Trend stories: A trend story examines people, things or organizations that are having an impact on society. Trend stories are popular because people are excited to read or hear about the latest fads. In-depth stories: Through extensive research and interviews, in-depth stories provide a detailed account well beyond a basic news story or feature. 16

17 Backgrounders: A backgrounder--also called an analysis piec--adds meaning to current issues in the news by explaining them further. These articles bring an audience up-to-date, explaining how this country, this organization, this person happens to be where it is now. WRITING AND ORGANIZING FEATURE STORIES Feature writers seldom use the inverted-pyramid form. Instead, they may write a chronology that builds to a climax at the end, a narrative, a first-person article about one of their own experiences or a combination of these. Their stories are held together by a thread, and they often end where the lead started, with a single person or event. Here are the steps typically followed in organizing a feature story: Choose the theme. The theme is similar to the thesis of a scholarly paper and provides unity and coherence to the piece. It should not be too broad or too narrow. Several factors come into play when choosing a theme: Has the story been done before? Is the story of interest to the audience? Does the story have holding power (emotional appeal)? What makes the story worthy of being reported? The theme answers the question, "So what?" Write a lead that invites an audience into the story. A summary may not be the best lead for a feature. A lead block of one or two paragraphs often begins a feature. Rather than put the news elements of the story in the lead, the feature writer uses the first two or three paragraphs to set a mood, to arouse readers, to invite them inside. Then the news peg or the significance of the story is provided in the third or fourth paragraph, the nut graph. Because it explains the reason the story is being written, the nut graph--also called the "so what" graph--is a vital paragraph in every feature. The nut graph should be high in the story. Do not make readers wait until the 10th or 11th paragraph before telling them what the story is about. The body provides vital information while it educates, entertains, and emotionally ties an audience to the subject. The ending will wrap up the story and come back to the lead, often with a quotation or a surprising climax. Important components of the body of a feature story are background information, the thread of the story, transition, dialogue, and voice. Provide vital background information. If appropriate, a paragraph or two of background should be placed high in the story to bring the audience up to date. Write clear, concise sentences. Sprinkle direct quotations, observations and additional background throughout the story. Paragraphs can be written chronologically or in order of importance. Use a thread. Connect the beginning, body and conclusion of the story. Because a feature generally runs longer than a news story, it is effective to weave a thread throughout the story, which connects the lead to the body and to the conclusion. This thread can be a single person, an event or a thing, and it usually highlights the theme. Use transition.connect paragraphs with transitional words, paraphrases, and direct quotations. Transition is particularly important in a long feature examining several people or events because it is the tool writers use to move subtly from one person or topic to the next. Transition keeps readers from being jarred by the writing. Use dialogue when possible. Feature writers, like fiction writers, often use dialogue to keep a story moving. Of course, feature writers cannot make up dialogue; they listen for it during the reporting process. Good dialogue is like good observation in a story; it gives readers strong mental images and keeps them attached to the writing and to the story s key players. Establish a voice. Another key element that holds a feature together is voice, the "signature" or personal style of each writer. Voice is the personality of the writer and can be used to inject colour, tone, and subtle emotional commentary into the story. Voice should be used subtly (unless you re able to make a fetish of it like Hunter S. Thompson!). The blatant intrusion of a distinctive voice into news writing has been called gonzo journalism--an irresponsible, if entertaining, trend in contemporary writing according to traditionalists. Conclude with a quotation or another part of the thread. A feature can trail off like a news story or it can be concluded with a climax. Often, a feature ends where the lead started, with a single person or event. 17

18 2. POEM Poems are made up of words that create images or pictures in our minds. They have been described as the best words in the best order, and there are many ways of writing poems.many poems sound like songs when you read them aloud. This is because poems have a regular rhythm and repeated lines, words or sounds. Poems have a particular appearance that tells you they are poems before you even read the words. Poems have shorter lines than most sorts of writing. The words of a poem may make short sentences or lists. Sometimes, poems may be shaped to represent a topic, or they might be scattered all over the page. There are no special topics for poems. They can be about mosquitoes, babies, the sea, supermarkets, friends, skateboards, mountains, anything at all. Poems can be conversations, statements, stories or descriptions. They can be serious or funny.they are written for many purposes: to describe something, to tell a story, to explain feelings, to make a message on a greeting card or to advertise products. Example: Upon a nice mid-spring day, Let's take a look at Nature's way, Breathe the scent of nice fresh air, Feel the breeze within your hair. The grass will poke between your toes, Smell the flowers with your nose, FEATURES OF POEM Poems have meaning. Poems can describe an interesting place or person, tell a story or explain feelings. Poems have sounds. Poems sound different from other types of writing. Poems may have rhyming words, a regular rhythm like music, words with repeated sounds, or even words that sound like their meaning. Poems have images. Poems create pictures in our mind, called images. Images often refer to our sense of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. An image may describe something, or it may compare one thing to another. Images help you see something as if it is really there. Poems have lines. Poems have lines that may be long or short, and can be made up of whole sentences or sentence fragments. Some poems have lines arranged in stanzas. A stanza is a group of lines that are arranged in a definite pattern. In other poems, the lines make a picture or shape to illustrate the topic. Poems have patterns. Poems have patterns of letters, syllables and words. These patterns often help you to hear the rhythm of a poem. Some types of poems have patterns with a particular number of syllables in each line, and others have words repeated throughout the poem. POETRY STYLES Acrostic Style - where the first letter of each line spells a word, usually using the same words as in the title. An example, 1. Using First Letter - Spelling out "candy"... Crunchy chewy Awesome Nice and sweet Delightful and delicious Yummy treat 2. Using the position - Spelling out "poem"... Pick up a pen Think of a topic 18

19 Be creative Use your imagination 3. Using Names - Spelling out "Marion"... Magnificent, a creature of wonder Alluring, so attractive Reliable, a buddy you can count on Interesting, truly fascinating Obliging, willing to accommodate Nice, a sweet soul Ballad Style- A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter, but most frequently deals with folk-lore or popular legends. Most ballads are suitable for singing and are generally written in ballad meter, last words of the second and fourth lines rhyming. Example Oh the ocean waves may roll, and the stormy winds may blow, While we poor sailors go skipping aloft And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below And the land lubbers lay down below. Blank Verse-unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. Example What is the boy now, who has lost his ball, What, what is he to do? I saw it go Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then Merrily over-there it is in the water! Cinquain- 5 lined un--rhyming poem ( )- 1 word on the top row, 2 on the second, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth and one on the last. Example Season Springtime bluebells Within forest spreading Such picturesque viewing delights Yearly Clerihew Style- is a comic verse consisting of two couplets and a specific rhyming scheme, usually aabb. The poem is about/deals with a person/character within the first rhyme. Example - Garfield (Clerihew) Garfield The Cat He Was Quite Fat. So Full Of Expressions, But Never Confessions Damante Style- is a seven-lined contrast poem set up in a diamond shape. Line 1: Noun or subject Line 2: Two Adjectives Line 3: Three -ing words Line 4: Four words about the subject Line 5: Three -ing words 19

20 Line 6: Two adjectives Line 7: Synonym/antonym for the subject Didactic Style- is a form of poetry intended for instruction, such as, for knowledge or to teach. Example : Old School When I was a kid wearing a lid Was something that most people did And everyone knew There were things you do or not do When wearing that hat on your head If you wished to be seen as well bred Never, never would you leave it on your dome When you were in somebody's home Englyn Milwr-Stanza of three, seven syllable lines turning around the same rhyme. Epitaph Style- is a brief poem inscribed on a tombstone praising a deceased person, usually with rhyming lines. Free Verse- is an irregular form of poetry in which the content free of traditional rules of versification, (freedom from fixed meter or rhyme). Haiku- is an un-rhymed Japanese verse consisting of three un-rhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5). Haiku is usually written in the present tense and focuses on nature (seasons). Heroic Couplet- lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc) Limerick Style- is a rhymed humorous, and or nonsense poem of five lines. With a rhyming scheme of: a-a-b-b-a Monody- is a poem in which one person laments another's death. Monorhyme- is a poem in which all the lines have the same end rhyme Ode- is a poem praising and glorifying a person, place or thing. Palindrome- a poem that reads the same forward or backward. sentence example: Mirrored images reflect images mirrored. Pantoum- Consists of a series of quatrains rhyming ABAB in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain; each quatrain introduces a new second rhyme as BCBC, CDCD. The first line of the series recurs as the last line of the closing quatrain, and third line of the poem recurs as the second line of the closing quatrain, rhyming ZAZA. The design is simple: Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 Line 4 Line 5 (repeat of line 2) Line 6 Line 7 (repeat of line 4) Line 8 Continue with as many stanzas as you wish, but the ending stanza then repeats the second and fourth lines of the previous stanza (as its first and third lines), and also repeats the third line of the first stanza, as its second line, and the first line of the first stanza as its fourth. So the first line of the poem is also the last. Last stanza: Line 2 of previous stanza Line 3 of first stanza Line 4 of previous stanza 20

21 Line 1 of first stanza Quatrain Style- is a poem consisting of four lines of verse with a specific rhyming scheme. A few examples of a quatrain rhyming scheme's are as follows: #1) abab #2) abba -- envelope rhyme #3) aabb #4) aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd -- chain rhyme Rictameter - it consist of 9 lines. The first and last lines are the same. An example by: amaiyaamir "Children" line 1: two syllables line 2: four syllables line 3: six syllables line 4: eight syllables line 5: ten syllables line 6: eight syllables line 7: six syllables line 8: four syllables line 9: two syllables same as first Sestina Style- is a poem consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The six words that end each of the lines of the first stanza are repeated in a different order at the end of lines in each of the subsequent five stanzas. The particular pattern is given below. (This kind of recurrent pattern is "lexical repetition".) Pattern: End words of lines in first sestet End words of lines in secondsestet End words of lines in third sestet End words of lines in fourth sestet End words of lines in fifth sestet End words of lines in sixth sestet. (6 2)(1 4)(5 3) - Middle and end words of lines in tercet. Shape Poetry or Concrete Poetry -Shape is one of the main things that separates prose and poetry. Poetry can take on many formats, but one of the most inventive forms is for the poem to take on the shape of its subject. So if the subject of your poem is a tree, then the poem's lines would be written so that the poem appears to take on the shape of a tree. Sonnet- 14 lined poem in iambic pentameter that usually deals with love, religion or some other serious concern. The Italian sonnet rhyme scheme is (abbaabba-cdecde-aa or abbaabba-cdccdc-aa). The English (Shakespearian) has 3 quatrains w/ a concluding couplet. Tongue Twister-are made up of lines that are hard to say fast. In other words, the poem ties your tongue into knots. 3.ESSAY Essays are brief, non-fiction compositions that describe, clarify, argue, or analyze a subject. Students might encounter essay assignments in any school subject and at any level of school, from a personal experience "vacation" essay in middle school to a complex analysis of a scientific process in graduate school. Components of an essay include an introduction, thesis statement, body, and conclusion. 21

22 ESSAY STRUCTURE Proper essay structure is critical for the success of a paper. It allows you to align your thoughts and ideas logically, making them readable and easy to understand for your reader. Basic essay logic starts out with the introduction of the essay s main idea and then explains it further in the body paragraphs and ends the essay by summing everything up in the last paragraph - the conclusion (see the scheme on the left). To better understand why essay structure is so important, try to imagine an essay that starts out with body paragraphs, followed with a thesis and a conclusion. Such essay would be impossible to read because of its faulty logic. Let s take a closer look at each of the components. Introduction - The introduction is the main component within the structure of your essay. This part contains the main thought of the essay and states the purpose of your writing. The introduction typically consists of a thesis statement (also called a topic sentence ) and a few more sentences that explain or expand the main statement. The topic sentence together with these few sentences are collectively referred to as the introduction. Body - The two or three paragraphs that follow the introduction are called the body of the essay. They are called so because they make up the body, or the main bulk of the paper. This part of the essay usually contains research data and information that supports your thesis. The purpose of every paragraph within the body of your essay should be to support your thesis. Using Paragraphs - Each paragraph should contain one main idea and should provide supporting details for your topic and thesis. The topic (introductory) sentence of each paragraph should support the main idea. Paragraph Size - Even though there are no hard and fast rules regarding paragraph length, a general rule of thumb prescribes that a paragraph should not be neither too long (over 8 sentences) nor too short (under 2 sentences). Paragraph size varies depending on the essay style: for example the average paragraph length in business writing is generally 4-5 sentences, while the average paragraph length in academic writing is around 8-10 sentences. Academic writing tends to be longer because the author has 22

23 to state a point, back it up with research data, and come to a conclusion. Such kind of writing usually requires a greater amount of writing. Review Your Writing - Reviewing your writing or the post-writing phase takes place when you are done writing your paper. It s always a good idea to put your essay aside for a couple of hours and then come back to it later. It is important to read through each paragraph to make sure your ideas make sense and convey your points clearly. Also, be sure that you have not strayed away from your main point. Each paragraph should be relevant to your thesis. If you have found that any of your body paragraphs strays from your thesis, a rewrite or omission may be necessary. Conclusion - The final part in your essay structure is the conclusion. It summarizes the points made in the introduction and the body paragraphs of your paper. The core function of the conclusion is not only to summarize ideas stated in the introduction and the body, but to show how they relate to the thesis. A good technique is to use logical connections like: as we can see, therefore, naturally, summing up etc. Such connecting phrases help you to tie the points made previously with the actual text of the conclusion that you are writing. Once again, a conclusion should review your thesis and give a summary of your main ideas. Depending on your instructor s requirements, your conclusion can range from one paragraph to a page in length. Admission Essay -Essays are used to learn more about your reasons for applying to the course, university or company and your ability to benefit from and contribute to it. Your answers will let you state your case more fully than other sections of the application, and provide the evaluator with better insight about you and how you differ from the other applicants. In marginal cases, the essays are used to decide whether an applicant will be selected. The purpose of the admissions essay is to convey a sense of your unique character to the admissions committee. The essay also demonstrates your writing skills as well as your ability to organize your thoughts coherently. Argumentative Essay -The function of an argumentative essay is to show that your assertion (opinion, theory, hypothesis) about some phenomenon or phenomena is correct or more truthful than others'. The art of argumentation is not an easy skill to acquire. Many people might think that if one simply has an opinion, one can argue it successfully, and these folks are always surprised when others don't agree with them because their logic seems so correct. Argumentative writing is the act of forming reasons, making inductions, drawing conclusions, and applying them to the case in discussion; the operation of inferring propositions, not known or admitted as true, from facts or principles known, admitted, or proved to be true. It clearly explains the process of your reasoning from the known or assumed to the unknown. Without doing this you do not have an argument, you have only an assertion, an essay that is just your unsubstantiated opinion. Cause and Effect Essay - Cause and effect essays are concerned with why things happen (causes) and what happens as a result (effects). Cause and effect is a common method of organizing and discussing ideas. Classification Essay - In a classification essay, a writer organizes, or sorts, things into categories. Comparison Essay - To write a comparison or contrast essay that is easy to follow, first decide what the similarities or differences are by writing lists on scrap paper. Which are more significant, the similarities or the differences? Plan to discuss the less significant first, followed by the more significant. It is much easier to discuss ONLY the similarities or ONLY the differences, but you can also do both. Then for organizing your essay, choose one of the plans described below whichever best fits your list. Finally, and this is important, what main point (thesis) might you make in the essay about the two people/things being compared? Do not begin writing until you have a point that the similarities or differences you want to use help to prove. Your point should help shape the rest of what you say: For 23

24 example, if you see that one of your similarities or differences is unrelated to the point, throw it out and think of one that is related. Or revise your point. Be sure this main point is clearly and prominently expressed somewhere in the essay. Critical Essay - The word "critical" has positive as well as negative meanings. You can write a critical essay that agrees entirely with the reading. The word "critical" describes your attitude when you read the article. This attitude is best described as "detached evaluation," meaning that you weigh the coherence of the reading, the completeness of its data, and so on, before you accept or reject it. Deductive Essay - Deductive essays are an important factor in evaluating the knowledge level of students in many courses. Deductive reasoning is based on the concept that given as set of circumstances or clues (premises), one can draw a reasonable assumption as to the state of the situation. More simply, a person can solve a puzzle or identify a person if given enough information. Definition Essay - A definition essay is writing that explains what a term means. Some terms have definite, concrete meanings, such as glass, book, or tree. Terms such as honesty, honor, or love are abstract and depend more on a person's point of view. Exploratory Essay - The concept of an exploratory essay is that you start without an end in mind. You don't necessarily know how you feel about a subject or what you want to say about the subject, you allow the research and your own direction to determine the outcome. This is writing to learn rather than writing to prove what you know. The exploratory essay builds on the inquiry essay by having you look at and contribute to a range of arguments rather than just one at a time. Whereas the inquiry essay introduced you to a debate by looking at one argument a time, the exploratory essay asks you to widen your vision to the whole conversation. Expository Essay - The purpose of an expository essay is to present, completely and fairly, other people's views or to report about an event or a situation. Expository writing, or exposition, presents a subject in detail, apart from criticism, argument, or development; i.e., the writer elucidates a subject by analyzing it. Such writing is discourse designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand. Exposition usually proceeds by the orderly analysis of parts and the use of familiar illustrations or analogies. Informal Essay - The informal essay is written mainly for enjoyment. This is not to say that it cannot be informative or persuasive; however, it is less a formal statement than a relaxed expression of opinion, observation, humor or pleasure. A good informal essay has a relaxed style but retains a strong structure, though that structure may be less rigid than in a formal paper. Narrative Essay - As a mode of expository writing, the narrative approach, more than any other, offers writers a chance to think and write about themselves. We all have experiences lodged in our memories, which are worthy of sharing with readers. Yet sometimes they are so fused with other memories that a lot of the time spent in writing narrative is in the prewriting stage. Personal Essay - The overall application package will represent who "you" are to people whom you will most likely not know personally. The written expression of your qualities as an applicant will often be a very important way for committee members to get to know why you are an acceptable candidate for their program. Thus, it is essential to take great care in preparing this part of your application. Because graduate schools make important selection decisions that are partly based on what you say in this essay, the writing of it can be an intimidating prospect. 24

25 Persuasive Essay - Persuasive writing, also known as the argument essay, utilizes logic and reason to show that one idea is more legitimate than another idea. It attempts to persuade a reader to adopt a certain point of view or to take a particular action. The argument must always use sound reasoning and solid evidence by stating facts, giving logical reasons, using examples, and quoting experts. Research Essay - Take care in selecting your thesis. This is really a type of persuasive essay, but you don't want to be stuck either just repeating someone else's opinion, or citing all the same sources. Try to come up with an original thesis or take an aspect of someone's thesis and develop it. You can also take a thesis and "transplant" it into different circumstances. For example, use tools of modern economics to argue about the role of medieval guilds in the development of early European settlements. Or take a study done on children in France and try to show it is/isn't applicable to elderly Florida residents. An original thesis is the best start you can make to get a high grade in a research essay. Scholarship Essay - Scholarship essays vary dramatically in subject. However, most of them require a recounting of personal experience. These tips will be more helpful for writing personal essays, like for the National Merit Scholarship, than for writing academic essays. 4. ARTICLE Whether it's for a magazine, newspaper writing an amazing article is within your grasp. Here are a few basic steps to take to craft an interesting, informative article. 1. Get to know your audience. Decide who you need to write for before proceeding with planning or writing an article. Writing for an academic audience vs. writing for pre-teens is very different and you will need to plan accordingly. 2. Identify the needs of your readership. What do your readers need to know? How does your own knowledge match up against the information they need? This will be the easiest way for you to find a topic to write about. 3.Be unique. If you are writing an article about something that other people are also writing about, try to be unique in how you approach the material. You should add to the conversation, not exist alongside it. This will draw your readers in and keep them coming back for more. Write about your topic in a way that no one has ever written about it before. You can take a different tone, a more visual approach, or any number of other methods of altering the material. Bring new ideas to the topic. Make suggestions or offer information that other people don t have. This will give people a reason to read your work over others. 4.Be passionate. You should care about the topic you choose to write about, or even write on something you yourself are good at. Your enthusiasm will show in your writing and it will be much more engaging for your readers. You may even be able to make them care about something they did not care about previously, like current events or historical concepts. 5.Learn the basics. Get the general explanation of whatever you are trying to write about. This will give you a basic framework for what to look for as you research. You can use a website like Wikipedia, read newspaper articles or a book, or talk to someone knowledgeable on the subject. It will depend what you are writing about. 6.Find reliable sources. Now that you know what to look for, research your topic. You can use the internet, a library, conduct interviews, watch documentaries, or whatever you feel is appropriate to teach you everything you need to know about your topic. 7.Get different types of material. During your research, look for material that isn t text. This can be used or altered to add to your article. You can look for data to make your own charts or templates, take 25

26 photographs to match your text, or anything else which you feel might help your readers understand the information better and make them care about the topic as much as you do. 8.Decide your length. Does this article have a word count? Do you need to fill a certain number of pages? Consider what type of content you re writing about and how much space that can fill, as well as how much needs to be written in order to cover the topic adequately, before proceeding with writing your article. 9.Outline your article. Before you begin formal writing, you will want to outline your article. This outline, which will break down which information goes where, will serve as a guide and help you see where more information may be needed. 10.Pay attention to style, structure and voice. You will want to write with a style, structure, and voice which makes sense for the type of article you are writing. Evaluate your audience to determine what the best method would be to present your information to them. 11.Edit your work. Before you submit your work, you will want to do some editing and revision. If time allows, wait for a day or two before editing. This will allow the information to filter out of your brain, so that you will be less likely to read the text with what you intended to write rather that what you actually wrote (skipping words, writing the wrong word, etc.). Reading aloud can also help with this. 12.Make it better. Add to the amazing text you ve written with videos, pictures, charts, and any other visual or audio material which you found or made in the course of your research. This will make your information more engaging and easier to understand. 13.Respect the rights of other writers. If you are using information from an external source, be sure to cite the source at the bottom of the article. Depending on the license of the content, you may or may not need to cite the external source. However, it's always better (and certainly more polite) to ask for permission if you are unsure. 14. Submit your work. When you ve finished, submit your work in the appropriate manner. 15. Ignore the trolls. People like to get angry about other people s opinions. It s just a part of life. The internet has made this even easier and far more vicious and common. If your article is submitted online, you may find that people post negative comments about what you have said. Even with journal articles, you will have colleagues disagree with you and use very complex language to essentially call you schoolyard names. The healthiest practice with trolls is to ignore them. You can t please everybody. NOVEL A novel is a long narrative that is normally in prose, which describes fictionalcharacters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. While Ian Watt in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel came into being in the early 18th century, the genre has also been described as having "a continuous history of about two thousand years", with historical roots in Classical Greece and Rome, medieval, early modern romance, and in the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era; the first part of Don Quixote was published in TYPES OF NOVELS - COMMERCIAL FICTION Commercial fiction is divided into many genres, or categories. This kind of classification helps readers find the types of novels they like to read.each genre also has its own traditions. If you're interested in 26

27 writing in a particular genre, it's important to read a lot of books in that genre in order to learn more about it and understand what readers will expect.some major genres: Mysteries - A mystery is about a crime, usually a murder, and the process of discovering who committed it. The hero(ine) is usually a detective or an amateur doing detective work. Science fiction - Science fiction is fiction that imagines possible alternatives to reality. It is reality + "What-if." For example: What if the world ended? What if there were life on other planets? The imaginary part of science fiction is based on known scientific facts. For example, if there is time travel in a science fiction book, it would be done with technology, not by waving a magic wand. Fantasy - Like science fiction, fantasy is about imaginary worlds. But the imaginary part of fantasy novels usually involves magic, where the imaginary part of science fiction involves science or technology. Westerns - Westerns normally take place in the Western U.S. (although sometimes in other locations), most often during the 19th century. Common elements include cowboys, ranchers, the difficulties of frontier life, frontier justice, and conflicts between natives and settlers. Horror - Horror fiction gets its name because it is focused on creating emotions of terror and dread in the reader. Horror fiction often accomplish this through the use of scary supernatural elements or gore, but, according to the Horror Writers Association, these elements are not required. Thrillers - Like horror, a thriller gets its name because of the feeling it creates in the reader. Thrillers are designed to make the reader's pulse race, to keep him or her turning pages. Often thrillers are about a crime that is going to be committed or a disaster that is going to happen... if the hero(ine) doesn't prevent it. Romance - Romance fiction is about love and passion. Normally, the focus is on two characters who fall in love but have problems or obstacles keeping them apart, and there is a happy ending. Historical - Historical novels are set in a past time period, normally at least fifty years before they were written. They combine a made-up story with realistic details of that time period. TYPES OF NOVELS - LITERARY FICTION Literary fiction is generally lumped all together in bookstores as "General Fiction" or "Literature." Because the first priority of literary authors is creating works of art, while selling books is only a second consideration, literary authors are less likely to think in terms of writing a specific genre or category of novel and following the customs of that genre. Some literary authors today write in a realistic way about the daily lives of ordinary people, what is known as contemporary realism. Some choose to introduce an element of magic or a spirit world in an otherwise realistic story, what is known asmagical realism. Others create works of art that incorporate the traditions of commercial fiction genres such as mysteries and science fiction. A number of literary authors also innovate with non-traditional approaches to story-telling, such as breaking up the order of events in the story, offering several alternative endings, or treating the reader as a character in the book. In this type of novel, the main point often isn't just the story itself, but also the way the story is told. ELEMENTS OF NOVEL 1. Plot : Plot is what happens in a work of fiction, and the order that it happens in. For a work of fiction to be worth reading, something has to happen by the end. You have to take the reader to from Point A to Point B. This journey might be: A change in the character (for example, the character matures or overcomes a challenge). A change in the situation (for example, zombies take over the town). A change in the readers' understanding (for example, in the beginning, readers think the protagonist was falsely accused of murder, and at the end, readers understand that he is guilty). Your novel's plot is the roadmap you will take from Point A to Point B. 27

28 2. Setting: Setting is where your novel takes place. Your setting might be a room, a forest, a battlefield, a spaceship...setting can: Create atmosphere for your fiction, help your reader imagine the scenes. Convey information about a character. For example, if your character's life is in chaos, you could express this by showing her in her messy home. Provide plot opportunities. For example, if your setting is a Florida swamp, and you put a hungry alligator in your character's path, then something interesting is likely to happen. 3. Point of View: Narrative point of view is the perspective from which you tell a work of fiction. From what angle do the readers see the action? Another way to think of point of view: If your novel were a movie, the point of view would be the location of the camera. Your narrator is the voice that's telling the story. A first-person narrator tells the story using the words "I" and "me," as if he/she were actually there. A third-person narrator tells the story from the outside and doesn't use the word "I" and "me" to describe the story's events because he or she isn't a participant. Instead, this type of narrator describes the characters as "he/him" or "she/her," etc. 4. Dialogue Dialogue is your characters' conversation presented directly on the page. If I tell you that Marcia asked John out, that's not dialogue. Dialogue is when I show it to you in Marcia's exact words. Example: "Want to go to a movie?" Marcia asked John. Different fiction writers have different approaches for getting started. Here are some of your options: 1) Start with a character. Invent a character.think of something your character desperately wants. Then invent obstacles or problems that will get in the way of the character's achieving his or her heart's desire. Show the character trying to overcome these problems, and you've got yourself a plot. 2) Start with a problem. This might be anything from a disease to a career crisis to a difficult motherin-law who decides to move in. Then invent a character who might have this problem and who would react in an interesting way. Put it all together, and you've got the beginning of a plot. 3) Start with a setting. Is there a particular place that you can write about vividly? Maybe your neighborhood, the city where you grew up, a creepy house on the corner, a woods where you go camping? Great, now you have a setting for your novel. Next, you need characters and some kind of problem or conflict that you can turn into a plot. What kind of problems do people have in your particular setting? Snakes, crime, forest fires, pollution? What kind of person is likely to react to your setting in an interesting way? Maybe a small town girl who feels lost in the big city? A real estate developer who will immediately want to turn your nature preserve into condominiums... unless the locals can find a way to stop him? You have the beginnings of a novel. 4) Start with a concept. Some people think in abstractions. Maybe you want to write about "Creativity" or "Religion" or "The Corrupting Influence of Power." Great! Since you will be writing a novel and not a philosophy dissertation, your next step is to turn the abstract idea into a specific situation where your idea plays a central role. For example, if you want to write about "Religion," you could invent a character who has a crisis of faith after something terrible happens to his family. Come up with a concrete problem related to your abstraction, and invent a character that this problem will happen to. Your abstract idea will be the novel's theme, and the character's battle with the problem will be your plot. 28

29 HOW TO GENERATE CREATIVE WRITING IDEAS Keep a journal - Record your observations, things that happen to you and how they feel, stories you hear from your friends, curious events on the news, gossip, memories. Any of these can become the seed of a story, novel, or poem. And you can go back to your journal as you're writing to find the details and descriptions that will make your scenes seem real. Eavesdrop - I know it's rude... but only if you get caught. Listen to conversations on the bus, at the coffeehouse or the supermarket. You'll catch fragments of people's lives that you can use in your creative writing. Imagine what each person speaking is actually thinking. Imagine what happened to cause the conversation and what might happen next. People-watch - Writers tend to be interested in other people's lives. (This is a nice way of saying that writers are nosy.) So watch the couple at the restaurant table next to you and imagine their story. Is it a first date? Is one of them bored with the other one? Can you hear what they're talking about? How could you describe their appearance, their body language, their voices, and what do these details say about them? All of this is a gold mine of creative writing material. So put on your dark glasses and go sit in a crowded place. Pick a name from the phone book - Picture a woman named Gertrude. Now picture a woman named Jen, a woman named Shoshana. Chances are, each of these names inspired a very different mental image. Names call up a complex set of associations, and you can use them as the starting point for a fictional character. Then invent a problem for the character, and you have the beginning of a plot. What about a Shoshana trapped inside the body and life of a Gertrude, or vice-versa? Watch the news - In addition to your own life and the lives of people you know, the news is an endless source of creative writing ideas. Take a local news story and imagine the event from the point of view of one of the people who was involved. What would he or she have felt? Imagine the event as a scene -- what would have been the sights, sounds, smells, sensations? What would have happened next? 29

30 UNIT-III Structure of Writing: Content selection, Focus, Conclusion, Presentation, Introduction, Body, and Conclusion Writing Style, Translation STRUCTURE OF WRITING Developing a simple framework for your writing before you start can save considerable time and will prevent the text from meandering.you will often be able to use the titles of the main sections as headings and subheadings within the text since these help the reader to navigate through the piece. However, even if the section titles are not desired in the finished piece, they still help you as author to structure your writing to the desired framework There is no one set structure or framework that covers all possible forms of written communication, except perhaps that writing should start with an introduction and finish with a conclusion. There are however many examples of structures for different forms of writing available on the web and within study guides. Two examples of common structures for writing different types of communication are provided below. Many variations on these frameworks, as well as other frameworks for different purposes, exist but if you have been given a framework to follow you should use this instead. Whatever structure you choose for your writing, start by beginning to flesh-out, in note form, the section headings with the main points that you wish to include. EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURES:A WRITTEN REPORT Reports are always presented in sections and subsections since they contain a lot of information which needs to be organised in a way that makes sense to the reader. Sections are often numbered and long reports should include a title page and then a table of contents which lists the section headings and subheadings, preferably with page numbers. Example Structure: Title Page Contents Page List of Illustrations (optional) Acknowledgements (optional) Abstract/Summary/Executive Summary Introduction Background/Literature Review Research Methods/Methodology Findings/Analysis Conclusion Recommendations (optional; in some business situations, this section may be included at the beginning of the report) Further Research References/Bibliography Appendices 30

31 A PRESS RELEASE A press release is a written statement to the media and could be used by an organisation to generate a news story. Since journalists receive numerous press releases every day, the key aim is to capture their interest quickly and provide them with contact details so that they can follow up the story. Note that the headings and subheadings provided below should not be included within the press release but are provided to help you structure the text. Example Structure Statement For immediate release or Embargoed until (date and time) as appropriate Headline (a short, attention- grabbing summary of the story) Photo opportunity (optional) Body Copy: Paragraph 1 Lead Sentence: Summarise the story - who, what, where, when and why. All key information needs to be in this paragraph and it needs to continue the reader s interest from the headline. Paragraph 2: Include more details to flesh out the story that you outlined in the first paragraph Paragraph 3: Quotes from someone relevant to the story. Each quote should make one point. If you wish to include more than one point here, use quotes from different people. Paragraph 4: Any additional relevant information Contact Information Note for Editors (background information; whether you can offer interviews or additional pictures; any additional relevant information).developing a structure or framework for your writing will ensure that the most important points are covered at the appropriate point in the writing. A framework such as the Written Report Structure, above, will also allow you to break down the daunting task of writing a report into more manageable sections. For example, being asked to write a 10,000 word report is an intimidating prospect. However, if you decide to adopt this framework, you should then allocate an appropriate number of words to each section. Writing a 500 word introduction is much less daunting a task than writing a 10,000 word report. Adhering to your framework will also prevent you from writing too many words for one section and then having to delete these as you need those words for another section. Whatever structure you choose to use, you should constantly check that you are adhering to it: if you find that your structure does not work then revisit it and research to see whether another structure might be more appropriate. You should also check the flow of your text as paragraphs should flow from one to the next and you should conclude one subject area before introducing another. Hopping from one topic to another with no clear structure confuses the reader and demonstrates a lack of clarity. FOCUS More than just the main idea - Focus is the Feature of Effective Writing that answers the question So What? An effective piece of writing establishes a single focus and sustains that focus throughout the piece. Just as a photographer needs to focus on a particular subject to produce a clear picture, a writer needs to focus on a single topic or main idea in order to produce an effective piece of writing. But finding a focus means more than just knowing what to photograph or write about. Good photographers also think about what they want their photograph to communicate. This affects their decisions about how to frame their subject in the shot, and whether to zoom in for a closeup or zoom out for a wide angle shot. Similarly, writers must think about what their topic should communicate. For a newspaper reporter, for example, finding a focus for a story means finding an angle, a perspective from which to tell the story. Focus, therefore, involves more than just knowing what your story is about, but understanding why you are writing it in the first place. Without a clear focus, writers stories, reports, and essays degenerate into lists of loosely related events or facts with no central idea to hold them together, leaving the reader to ask So what? By establishing a clear focus before they start to write, writers can craft their writing into a 31

32 coherent, unified whole. Finding a focus helps writers find the significance in their stories, the message that they want to convey to their audience, their reason for writing. Establishing a clear focus also helps readers understand the point of the piece of writing. Readers don t want to read a mishmosh of unrelated ideas; they read to learn something new, to be surprised, to gain a new insight on an old idea, to view something from a new perspective or angle. Focus is also the critical feature that drives all the other features. Focus determines what choices the writer makes about everything from organizational structure to elaborative details to word choice, sentence length, and punctuation. At the same time, effective writers take advantage of the appropriate supporting features to strengthen the focus of their writing. Finding focus: before writing and during revision - A critical factor in establishing a focus is setting a goal. Studies by writing researchers show that goal-setting is an important element of planning for mature adult writers (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987; Hayes and Flower, 1980). Bereiter and Scardamalia found that immature writers engaged in little goal-directed planning before they wrote. Instead, most of their planning occurred on the fly while they were writing, using a what next? strategy to write the next sentence. Rather than viewing their text as a whole, immature writers focused on localized, surface-level revisions that did little to improve the quality of the text. Bereiter and Scardamalia characterized this immature writing process as a linear knowledge-telling process. For mature writers, however, planning and revising were goal-directed, recursive activities that occurred at a global level throughout the writing process. As a result, for mature writers, writing becomes a knowledge-transforming process that not only improves the quality of their writing, but also moves them toward greater understanding of their topic. The time for writers to think about focus, therefore, is before they begin to write, during the prewriting phase of the writing process. Critical to establishing a focus is knowing your audience. Who will read the piece of writing, and why? What will readers know or expect when they sit down to read? Author Katie Wood Ray suggests that writers not only need to know what they are going to write about; they also need to be able to envision a range of possible roles, audiences, and forms for their writing. This ability to envision multiple possibilities requires exposure to a wide range of genres by a wide range of authors. Writers can also use expressive writing, such as journal writing, personal experience narratives, and other forms of exploratory writing, to explore and experiment with different perspectives that will help them find their focus. Strategies such as RAFTS (Role, Audience, Form, Task, Strong verb) can help writers find their focus before they begin writing. Guiding questions for focus - Although it is important for writers to think about focus before they begin writing, focus can also be strengthened through thoughtful revision. Writers and teachers can use these guiding questions during revision conferences to strengthen the focus of their writing. 1. What is the most important point in your piece? 2. Does the piece stay focused on the most important topic or the main event? 3. Are there any ideas or events in your story that do not strengthen the main focus? CONCLUSION Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. While the body is often easier to write, it needs a frame around it. An introduction and conclusion frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas for the reader. Just as your introduction acts as a bridge that transports your readers from their own lives into the place of your analysis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. Such a conclusion will help them see why all your analysis and information should matter to them after they put the paper down. Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion allows you to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper, to summarize your thoughts, to demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and to propel your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to end on a positive note. 32

33 Your conclusion can go beyond the confines of the assignment. The conclusion pushes beyond the boundaries of the prompt and allows you to consider broader issues, make new connections, and elaborate on the significance of your findings. Your conclusion should make your readers glad they read your paper. Your conclusion gives your reader something to take away that will help them see things differently or appreciate your topic in personally relevant ways. It can suggest broader implications that will not only interest your reader, but also enrich your reader s life in some way. It is your gift to the reader. STRATEGIES FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE CONCLUSION Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction. Synthesize, don t summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper s main points, but don t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together. Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper. Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your reader s thought process and help her to apply your info and ideas to her own life or to see the broader implications. Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole WHAT TO AVOID? Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as in conclusion, in summary, or in closing. Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing. Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion. Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion. Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive changes. Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of an analytical paper. Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the paper The conclusion (ending or closing) of your writing is what wraps it all up for the reader. Stop writing when you have said it all, but the conclusion should tie up all loose ends. Do not leave the reader hanging. Leave him/her with something to think about. Do not insult the reader by telling him/her what you have written about. Also, do not use the lead as the conclusion; you can restate what you wrote in the lead, but do not just repeat it. NEVER end with "...and it was all a dream." That has been overdone. Below are some ideas on how to write a good conclusion. Remember that not every type of lead will work for every writer or for every piece of writing. You'll have to experiment. Be sure to have a least three sentences in your conclusion, whatever type it may be. TYPES OF CONCLUSION Summative summarize- You summarize your points if it is an argumentative, or you summarize your information if it is an informative essay. If it is persuasive essay, you do the same as an argumentative. Evaluative evaluate- You evaluate the points in the essay - you draw conclusions from the essay. Most essays don't want you to do this form because you are not supposed to enter any new information into the essay by the conclusion. However, it can make for a very informative conclusion. Conclusions like this you generally see in information and non-fiction texts. Reiteration reiterate - This is the most common form of conclusion; one simply re-states the argument and adds a "cling-on" at the end to make your reader better understand your points. This 33

34 conclusion is absolutely unnecessary if you made your point well in an essay, as the person reading should not need clarification of your points. STYLE A WRITER S STYLE IS WHAT SETS HIS OR HER WRITING APART and makes it unique. Style is the way writing is dressed up (or down) to fit the specific context, purpose, or audience. Word choice, sentence fluency, and the writer s voice all contribute to the style of a piece of writing. How a writer chooses words and structures sentences to achieve a certain effect is also an element of style. When Thomas Paine wrote These are the times that try men s souls, he arranged his words to convey a sense of urgency and desperation. Had he written These are bad times, it s likely he wouldn t have made such an impact! Style is usually considered to be the province of literary writers. Novelists such as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner and poets such as Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are well known for their distinctive literary styles. But journalists, scientists, historians, and mathematicians also have distinctive styles, and they need to know how to vary their styles to fit different audiences. For example, the firstperson narrative style of a popular magazine like National Geographic is quite different from the objective, third-person expository style of a research journal likescientific American, even though both are written for informational purposes. TRANSLATION Translation is a creative processing of language that can be applied to a wide variety of fields. Translation has elements of both fine art and exact science. By choosing the right words in the target language, a good translation expresses the nuances behind the choice of words in the source language without alteration. The translator must go beyond the appearance and find the precise meaning and true intent of the document to be translated. Ultimately, the message loses if the translation process is not of a high standard. The Essentials of Translation: Translation is essentially a decision-making process that requires a combination of language ability, subject-specific knowledge, perception, and research skills. Every two languages have certain linguistic gaps between them, which can make translation a very difficult process. These gaps include "false friends", terms which are the same in two languages yet have different connotations or meanings. Translators have to be aware of such pitfalls, in order to be able to produce a satisfactory target text. Quality of Translation: The quality of a translation depends primarily on: - The quality of the source document. A translator who is given a poorly written document to translate may provide an equally poor translation. - The translator's knowledge of the specific subject. - The source language and target language proficiency of the translator - The perception and interpretation skills of the translator - The quality checks of the translation The translator plays a vital role in the process. He assumes a large part of the responsibility for the final result of the translation. A formal qualification is not necessarily a guarantee of a good translator. A genuine interest for the language is essential and cannot be taught. There are many other norms which decide the quality of the translation. A translation can be considered high quality if it satisfies the following criteria: - The essence and context of the original text remains in the translated version. - The content of the source text has been delivered completely and correctly in the target language. - The contents have been adapted to suit the linguistic, cultural and statutory conditions. A reader should 34

35 not notice that the manual is a translated one. - The translation is comprehensive, without orthographic and grammatical errors. - There is no ambiguity with respect to terminology. - It is consistent with previous and parallel translation projects. - The translation is delivered on time. - The translated document serves the purpose just as well as the source language document. These are the essentials that play a vital in judging the success of a translation project

36 UNIT-IV Art in Writing Art Symbols Situations Aesthetics Sense The Art of Writing Writing as an art is ideally an open-ended medium of expression intended either as a more lasting form of communication, a lingering personal interaction, or as a succinct means to convey ideas and feelings to others, now and in the future. As an art form, it requires motivation (a reason to actually go to the trouble), a facility with words (wordsmithing, i.e. the brush strokes of writing), a dash of creativity, and just enough attribution (and/or plagiarism) to add spice and to suggest to the reader that the author actually reads the works of other authors! Extremely valuable to the new writer is the inclusion of a particular attitude whenever the writer shows the end result to others. If the truth be known, a hint of arrogance is often a critical personality characteristic of a writer, as well as a devil-may-care attitude and/or any of several additional selected forms of both functional and dysfunctional personalities The best writing often occurs only when the not writing is more trouble than the writing. Whether it's a matter of alleviating an internal pressure to blow off steam or simply some striving need to communicate one's thoughts in a visual form, the motivational aspect of writing becomes a minor obstacle while the emotional content becomes the flavor of the piece and the icing on the cake. In fact, an author's emotional state is often transparent in the writing regardless of the actual words and how they are strung together. The state-of-mood of the author often comes through loud and clear. But writing is more than just blowing off steam; it is also a means of designing one's future, of Creating Reality in a very personal manner. It is an affirmation, in the sense used by Evan Hodkins where he has defined an affirmation as an appointment with one's future self. In the same fashion, writers often see great simplifications and insightful visions of what might be in a more perfect world -- something which they actually create in the form of a written description. As Kurt Vonnegut has noted: "Artists are people who say, I can't fix my country or my state or my city, or even my marriage. But by golly, I cam make this square of canvas, this eight-and-a-half-by-eleven piece of paper, or this lump of clay, or these twelve bars of music, exactly what they ought to be. Motivation in writing is thus often a means of alleviating the frustration of seeing what others apparently don't see, solutions that are so simple if only others would open their eyes and see the blindingly obvious! [How's that for a strange juxtaposition of words?]. The writing is often to convince them of just this fact, and thus one writes it all down in a cunning and convincing fashion, presenting ideas which solve the world's problems and require only that someone gives up their Neanderthal thinking in order to understand.\ Structurally, writing consists of the basic skills of arranging words and thoughts in a semi-permanent form for the benefit of others....a daunting blend of perfectionism and a terror of failing in his quest, as he liked to phrase it, a hundred thousand words in a cunning order'. [Douglas Adams] Writing can always be therapy, vanity, and/or egotistical in the extreme. As an art form, writing is constrained -- the so-called curse of the Kali Yuga -- by a set of symbols upon whose consistency there has been reached a consensus. For practical reasons, these symbols must be recognizable and easily formed. Various languages may use the same set of symbols or rely instead on a distinctively different set. Ideally -- from the viewpoint of modern typing, word processing, and the like -- it is better to have a limited number of such alphabetical symbols. This is true in most alphabets such as Greek or Hebrew, but ancient Egyptian and Chinese use a much larger set of symbols -- therefore making them difficult to computerize. 36

37 Too many accent marks can also doom a language to non-business usage, if only because the typist must continually retrace the typing in order to insert additional marks on the page. In fact most languages which have traditionally used accent marks in profusion have begun to evolve to a simpler version. Writing is no longer -- at least in the mainstream -- a form of artistic handwriting. Each language has its own very intriguing characteristics -- including the power of its alphabet. The Hebrew language, for example, uses only consonants. Inasmuch as vowels are the stuff of emotions: aaaaaaa..., eeeeee..., ooooooo..., iiiiiiii..., uuuuuu... [sounds vaguely erotic], one might wonder if there is a lack of emotion in the Hebrew language. This actually makes a modicum of sense in that law is often thought of as one of the greater gifts of the Jewish heritage. Furthermore, it is law which seldom if ever endorses emotion as a principle or valid argument -- notwithstanding the fact that emotion is often manipulated covertly and inappropriately in courtrooms. Wordsmithing may be thought of as the exercise in grouping the alphabetic symbols of a language or culture in such a manner as to convey specific meaning. Such specification thus limits the impact of the symbols, which in and of themselves may contain greater nuances and levels of meaning than however many words. A picture (symbol), for example, is often worth a thousand words. Symbolism is in fact the more fundamental means of communication, while writing has the desirable -- and also the undesirable ability -- to limit and/or constrict symbols so as to obtain precise meanings, meanings which can be easily predicted. Such predictability is essentially due to the fear of the unknown, as in the comfort factor of adhering to the letter of the law -- or the letter of the words. Attempts to reduce the fear factor are done by eliminating ambiguity and vagueness. Such limitations are often desirable -- but must be recognized as unnecessarily limiting in many cases. Wordsmithing requires a facility with vocabulary, an understanding of the consensus meaning of words, the use of context, a hint of precision in sentence formulation, and the ability to use a variety of literary aspects, including, for example, the use of synonyms and metaphors and other devices or writing styles. And, Finally Three critical ingredients of good writing are: content, organization, and style. ART SYMBOLS / SYMBOLISM The thing about symbolism is that everything can be a symbol. Think of a symbol as anything that has a What is Symbolism? - A symbol is an object, or even an animal, that represents an abstract value or entity. Traditionally, the dove is a symbol of peace, the eagle a symbol of power (hence, national power), and the lamb a symbol of innocence. Landmarks can come to symbolise a city for example, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the symbol of Sydney, Australia. Symbols can be extremely potent, taking on a life of their own. What is a flag? It s a piece of rag on a stick. Nevertheless, we stand and salute it, and treat it reverently (don t dare burn it!), because it represents the nation and people; in times of war it, soldiers are prepared to die to keep that flag fluttering on the battle field. Symbolism in Literature - The symbols that make their way into novels don t have to be traditional, well-recognised ones. Like allusions, they can be obvious or very subtle. Symbolism may be obvious or more subtle or hidden so that the reader must really think and study the work to grasp the author's true meaning. When an item is mentioned rather regularly throughout a novel, especially a personal item belonging to one of the principal characters, the reader must ask what it might symbolise. 37

38 Incorporating Symbolic Meaning in Creative Writing- Why Authors Use Symbolism -Many authors embed subtle images into their work to make it deeper, richer, more meaningful and colorful. Writers may also use symbolism to allude to a mood or feeling without coming out and stating that particular emotion. For example, a writer might use the symbol of a lily to represent purity or a ray of sunshine to represent hope. Examples of Common Literary Symbols lily purity sunshine hope cross salvation heart love grim reaper death phoenix rebirth The Value of Symbolism for Writers - When crafting a novel, the novelist takes the initial bright idea and draws up a one-sentence plot statement. From that, the writer can draw out an underlying theme (such as jealousy or crime doesn t pay) which will then underpin the plot and subplots and create a sense of unity for the story. By assigning symbols for certain human qualities, and incorporating allusions to classical works that reflect the theme, the writer can enhance the theme and further weave elements of the story together. TYPES OF SYMBOLISM IN WRITING Religious Symbolism - Religious symbolism is the use of text, images, procedures, or actual physical objects to represent an idea or belief. The most common example is the use of objects to symbolize the faith itself, as in the use of a cross to represent Christianity, or the Star of David to represent Judaism. There are many more symbols used in religion. For example, in Christianity the sacraments (holy communion, baptism, ordination and marriage) are symbols of spiritual change in the participants. In communion, the bread and wine are symbolic of the body and shed blood of Jesus, which are themselves also symbolic of the salvation of the recipient. Other Christian symbols include the dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), and the sacrificial lamb (symbolic of Christ's sacrifice). Mathematical Symbolism Symbols used in mathematics can represent numbers, operations, sets, or many other things. This is perhaps the simplest kind of symbolism. Some common mathematical symbols include + for the operation of addition, or pi for the transcendental number , and a host of others. You can see a list of the most widely used ones here. Political Symbolism 38

39 Political symbolism is often used to represent a political standpoint. It can take the form of banners, acronyms, pictures, flags, mottos, and many other things. For example, the Canadian flag contains a maple leaf, which has long been a symbol of things Canadian. The two bars represent both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans which bound the country on either side, and the two founding cultures, English and French. The mid-20th century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols. These included the swastika, the eagle, the iron cross, and the dual lightning bolts (the symbol of the SS) pictured at the left. It should be obvious from these two examples that symbols can also evoke strong emotions, be they feelings of patriotism, as in the case of a flag, or anger, hatred and fear in the case of Nazi symbolism. Colour Symbolism - Simple colours can also be symbolic, depending on your location, or the context in which they are used. Red, white and blue are symbolic of all things American. Green has come to represent anything which is environmentally friendly. Colours can represent different things depending on where you live. For example, in Asian countries, red symbolizes happiness, marriage, and prosperity; in some countries the colour of mourning is white. Architectural Symbolism The design of some buildings is meant to be symbolic. The building in the picture at the right is the Canadian War Museum. The front of the building represents the bow of ship, symbolizing our navies and the role they played in wartime.the windows on the this roof are also symbolism, albeit in a more subtle form; they spell out, in Morse Code, the English and French phrases "Lest we forget" and "N'oublionsjamais". Advertising Symbolism Just as in any media, symbolism is used extensively in advertising. A good example, with which you are certainly familiar, is the use of actors dressed in white lab coats who are discussing the merits of a product in a laboratory setting. These symbols of the medical profession are meant to imply that the product has been approved by and has the support of doctors or medical scientists. EXAMPLES : A chain can symbolize the coming together of two things. A ladder can represent the relationship between heaven and earth or ascension. A mirror can denote the sun but when it is broken, it can represent an unhappy union or a separation. Roses stand for romance. Violets represent shyness. Lilies stand for beauty and temptation. Chrysanthemums represent perfection. Black is used to represent death or evil. White stands for life and purity. Red can symbolize blood, passion, danger, or immoral character. Purple is a royal color. 39

40 Yellow stands for violence or decay. Blue represents peacefulness and calm Garden: nature ordered to serve human needs (paradis is a Persian word for garden) Wilderness: nature hostile to human needs River: life, often seen as ending in death as the river ends in the sea Sea: chaos, death, source of life Flower: youth, sexuality; red flowers symbolize death of young men Pastoral animals: ordered human society Predatory animals: evil; threats to human order Fire: light, life or hell and lust Sky: heaven, fate or necessity Bridge: link between worlds, between life and death WRITING SITUATIONS Understanding Writing Situations - (Courtesy : Colorado State Writing Guides) Many of us think of writing as a solitary activity -- something done when we're alone in a quiet place. Yet most of our writing, like other forms of communication -- telephone conversations, classroom discussions, meetings, and presentations -- is an intensely social activity. In this guide, you can learn more about the situations in which writers and readers find themselves and the physical, social, cultural, and historical contexts that shape them. Reading and Writing as Social Acts - Writing is hard work, and it's usually done in a quiet place, away from others. It might seem odd to hear it called a "social act." However, most experienced writers and writing teachers call it just that. If you think about it carefully, you'll realize that, with a few exceptions (diaries, travel journals, and grocery lists among them), most writing activities are intensely social. Even relatively simple writing activities, such as taking a telephone message, sending , or writing a personal letter, involve conveying a message to another person as clearly as possible. The writer of a two-word telephone message, for instance, ought to consider whether the person reading the message will understand that "call Gail" means call Gail Garcia and not Gail Evans or Gail Chen. More complex writing activities, such as writing a business proposal or a progress report, require writers to think much more carefully about how their readers will react to what they've written. A memo to a manager outlining reasons why a promotion and a raise are good ideas is clearly shaped by a writer's concerns about his or her readers. Even decisions made by writers of poems, short stories, novels, and plays are affected by what readers know and how they are likely to react. In much the same way, readers are engaged in a social act. Knowing that you wrote a particular phone message, they will contemplate what you most likely meant by the words "call Gail." A manager, reading a memo requesting a promotion and a raise, will take into account his or her perceptions of the writer and what the writer most likely meant by a phrase such as "or else." Similarly, readers of documents ranging from marketing plans to lyric poems to personal letters will read between the lines of those documents based on their knowledge (or the lack thereof) of the writer. Their interpretation of a document, as a result, will be based at least to some degree on something other than the words themselves. Reading and Writing as Conversation In some ways, writers' and readers' interactions with each other are like conversations at a party. You've 40

41 probably wandered around a party, listening in briefly on conversations until you find one you want to join. What you hear in a conversation is filtered through your interests and experiences. And what you say is shaped by a particular purpose (to entertain or inform someone, to ask a question, or perhaps to interest someone in getting together with you at a later time). If you're like most people, you try to avoid repeating things that have already been said and you try to stay on the subject. To do this, you listen to a conversation before adding to it. This is one of the ways in which writing is most like a conversation. Just as you do at a party, you want to listen (or read) long enough to you know what's been said, what people are discussing at the moment, and what they might welcome as a relevant contribution. In other words, you want to be accountable to what's been going on before you add to the conversation. In addition, members of a conversation typically try to create responses that offer something of value to their readers -- something new or interesting, something that helps move the conversation forward. Your decisions about what you might add to a conversation will be based not only on what you've listened to -- or, in the case of writing, what you've read -- but also on your understanding of the needs, interests, values, and beliefs of other members of the conversation. For these reasons, the relationships between readers and writers can become quite complex. Just as writers compose documents for a wide range of purposes, readers read for a variety of reasons. The degree to which writers can accomplish their purposes depends in large part on the extent to which their document can influence readers to behave or think in certain ways. The degree to which readers find a document useful depends on the extent to which it is consistent with their interests and needs. The document, as a result, becomes the key point of contact between readers and writers - who might live in different times, be separated by thousands of miles, and/or bring radically different experiences to their writing and reading of the document. Accountability in Writing Accountability is a key concept in writing, and particularly so in academic writing and research writing. It would be embarrassing to repeat what someone had just said before you joined a conversation. It would be even more embarrassing to be accused of stealing someone's ideas because you hadn't bothered to read what they'd written about an issue. Knowing what's been written about an issue - being an accountable member of a conversation - is the first step toward becoming an effective writer. Contributing Something of Value Contributing something of value to a conversation is centrally important in most writing projects. Simply changing the dates on last year's product marketing plan isn't likely to get you a promotion, nor is it likely that summarizing the current state of debate on an environmental policy issue will elicit more than yawns from people who have been closely following the issue. Just as you'll be ignored or even shut down if you make an irrelevant comment at a party, your writing will be ignored if it fails to offer something of value to your readers. Considering Your Readers Considering your readers involves attempting to understand what they bring to the conversation -- their knowledge of the issue, their needs and interests, and their values and beliefs. If you are writing a feature article about an Olympic slalom racer for Ski magazine, for example, you'll annoy your readers if you spend a lot of time defining the terms cap skis and sidecut instead of talking about training techniques and race strategies. On the other hand, if you're writing for Parade magazine, a national publication included in many Sunday newspapers, many of your readers (who will be much less familiar with skiing and ski technology than the readers of Ski magazine) are likely to be annoyed if you fail to define those terms. 41

42 Similarly, providing a detailed history of the Internet will win you little favor from readers of a technical manual for Web server software, but will be of great value to readers of a book covering the development of the World Wide Web. In a written conversation, you'll have much more time to consider how your readers will react to what you write. As you draft your contribution, consider not only how well it will match your readers' knowledge, but also their needs, interests, values, and beliefs. Consider as well their reasons -- or purposes -- for reading what you'll write. A Social Model of Writing - Models are useful tools for discussing complex concepts. The model discussed in this guide considers the relationships among writers, readers, and texts. Although it can't fully predict the complexities of a specific writing situation, they can help writers understand the general principles that shape those situations. This model is based on three observations. First, a text may serve as the only point of contact between a reader and writer, particularly when writers are separated by time and distance. Second, texts cannot pass "meaning" transparently and perfectly from writer to reader. Writers seldom write exactly what they mean and readers seldom interpret a writer's words exactly as the writer intended. Third, the factors that affect the attempts of writers and readers to share an understanding of a text include not only their respective purposes, influences, and understanding of each other, but also the physical, social, cultural, and historical contexts in which reading and writing take place. Writing as a Social Act: Graphic Model ASTHETICS It is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and taste, with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature." More specific aesthetic theory, often with practical implications, relating to a particular branch of the arts is divided into areas of aesthetics such as art theory, literary theory, film theory and music theory. An example from art theory is aesthetic theory as a set of principles underlying the work of a particular artist or artistic movement: such as the Cubist aesthetic.aesthetic language is beautiful, artistic & carefully crafted with a poetic rhythm & flow. 42