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LET’S WRITE

Writing is a process that will lead us to a product

Writing is a form of communication of ideas, feelings, beliefs, opinions, facts and information. The process involves: negotiation, discovery and voices articulation.

The purposes of writing:

1. General writing purposes To inform To persuade To express yourself To entertain

2. Specific writing purposesHaving a specific purpose:

Assists you at every stage of the process Helps you to: a. define audience

b. select the details, language and approach.c. avoid going off in directions that won’t interest them.

Points to be considered when writing:

This course will approach the following types of writing: Argument, Description and Narration.

PLANNING AND DRAFTING YOUR PAPER

understanding the assignment zeroing on in a topic gathering information organizing information developing a thesis statement writing the first draft

WHAT

TO WHOM

HOW

WHEN

WHY

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4 common writing process

Understanding the assignment Some instructors specify the topic, give you several topics to choose from, offer you a

free choice, dictate (or not) the length and format. be sure you understand the assignments before you go any further consider the project yours

Zeroing on a topicSubject = a broad discussion areaTopic = one small segment of a subjectIt you choose your own topic: pick one narrow enough (to develop it properly within the limitations) choose a familiar topic or one you can learn enough (time available)

Gathering informationOnce you have a topic, you'll need things to say about it. supporting material (facts, ideas, examples, observations, sensory impressions,

memories) strategies (brainstorming., reading, talking to others) the more support you gather, the easier it will be for you to write a draft time spent gathering information is never wasted

Organizing information your topic determines the approach you take

Ex narrating a personal experience - trace events in the order they occurred, describing a process - report the procedure step by step

strategies: formal outline, flexible notes

Developing a thesis statementThesis statement = the main idea (usually in one sentence)

reasons: it points you in a specific direction: it helps you stay on track and out of tempting byways; it tells the reader what to expect

Features: it focuses on just one central point or issue: it tailors the scope of the issue to the length of the paper: it provides an accurate forecast of what's to come: it is precise. often previewing the organization of the paper

Writing the first draft Stack your thesis statement, flexible notes, and written plan in front of you. Skip every other line (double-space) and leave wide margins. Write quickly; capture the drift of your thoughts. Concentrate on content and organization. Get your main points and supporting details on paper in the right sequence. Don't spend time correcting grammatical or punctuation errors, improve your language,

or making the writing flow smoothly. Take breaks at logical dividing points, for example when you finish discussing a key

point. Before you start to write again, scan what you’ve written.

ARGUMENT

CharacteristicsA paper grounded on logical, structural evidence, that attempts to convince the reader

to accept an opinion take some action or do something. Successful arguments rest on a firm foundation of solid, logical support.

May include emotions because it can play an important part in swaying reader opinion.

Possible appeals

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1. The rational appeal: Reasons are the key point you’ll use to defend your conclusions; To convince readers, your reasons must be substantiated by evidence.

1. establish truths (historical, scientific, geographical fact)2. opinions of authorities3. statistical findings4. personal experience (reinforces other kinds of evidence)5. induction (moves from separate bits of evidence to a general

observation)

2. The emotional appeal: although effective arguments relies mainly on reason, an emotional appeal

can be a powerful reinforcement

3. The ethical appeal: before logic can do its work, the audience must be willing to consider the

argument. If a writer’s tone offends the audience, perhaps by being arrogant or mean-spirited, the reasoning will fail to penetrate.

If the writer comes across as pleasant, fair-minded, and decent, gaining the reader’s support is much easier.

DESCRIPTION

CharacteristicsEffective description creates sharply etched word pictures of objects, people, scenes, events or situations.Sensory impressions – reflecting sight, sound taste, smell, and touch – form backbone of descriptive writing.

Main features to reflect upon:

PurposeSelection of detailsSensory impressionsArrangement of details

NARRATION

CharacteristicsReal events (i.e., history, biographies, stories), orImaginary events (i.e., short stories, novels)

Main features to reflect upon:Purpose: a narrative makes a point or has a purpose which always shapes the writing.Action: plays a central role in any narrative. Other kinds of writing only suggest action, leaving readers to imagine it for themselves. Narrations suggest a great deal of action: it does not present the action – narration creates and re-creates it.Conflict: events are always shaped by conflicts that need to be resolved. For this reason, conflict and resolution are crucial to narrative because they motivate and often structure the action.

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Key events: indicate the action development and lead the reader from the beginning to the end of the story.Point of view: it may be expressed by the 1st person (the participants tell what happened) or by the 3rd person (the story teller stays completely out of the action).Dialogue: animates many narratives, by keeping the action alive, and helping draw the reader into the story.

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LET’S READ

Reading techniques

1. Skimming / Scanning Skimming consists of reading a text very quickly in order to have a general idea

of what it is about. Scanning, on the other hand, consists of reading a text very carefully in order to

look for details, absorb new words and expressions and fully understand the text.

2. SQ3R (Survey – Question – Read – Recite – Review) Survey means to glance over the title, headings, and subheadings. This process

will give a general idea of what the text is about. Question means to take each title, heading and subheading and turn each one of

them into a question. Read implies in reading the text keeping in mind the questions you formulated in

step 2. Recite means to say to yourself (or write down) the answers to the questions you

formulated in step 2. Review means to go back over the process. Reread the headings and

subheadings and the questions you have formed from them; reread or say to yourself your answers to these questions.

3. Academic reading Academic reading implies in a text more formal and scientific. For this reason, it is

easier to be read by Portuguese speakers. Due the advent of the Industrial Revolution new words had to be created in order to describe new techniques, products, machines etc. These new words were created from Latin and Greek. Apart from that, word elements (parts of words that carry meaning) were also incorporated to English. When you know the meaning of a particular word element, you can make an intelligent guess as to the meaning of the word that contains the element. Therefore, you will be able to continue reading without having to stop to look up in your dictionary all the words you don’t know. In the table bellow you can check some of the word elements that will help you when reading a text.

Ab- Not -ist A person who-al Adjective suffix -logy Study of

analystA person who studies the part of

-logical About the study of

anthropo Human -logist A person who studies-ated Possessing Magni- Large

bio Life morphic Having the shape ofcourse Behavior Non- Not

dict Say, tell Physio Natureexistent Having being Post- After

-fy To make Pre- Beforeiatrist Doctor psycho Mind

In- Not (sometimes = in) sophistic WiseInter- Between therapy treatment

More tips (needless to say that these rules have exceptions!!!!):

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o Rule #1: for words in Portuguese that end in –DADE (like cidade), take –DADE out and add –TY. So, cidade becomes city.

o Rule #2: for words that end in –ÇÃO, take out –ÇÃO and add –TION. So, the word nação becomes nation.

o Rule #3: for words that end in –MENTE, take out –MENTE and add –LY. So, the word naturalmente becomes naturally.

o Rule #4: for words that end in –ÊNCIA, take out –ÊNCIA and add –ENCE. So, the word essência becomes essence.

o Rule #5: for words that end in –AL, do not change anything. So, the word natural will remain natural.

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Text 1 – Practice the Skimming / Scanning exercise

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Text 2 – Practice the SQ3R technique

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Text 3 – Practice the Academic Reading technique

350 BC - by Aristotle METAPHYSICS - Book I

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ALL men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight. For not only with a view to action, but even when we are not going to do anything, we prefer seeing (one might say) to everything else. The reason is that this, most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light many differences between things. By nature animals are born with the faculty of sensation, and from sensation memory is produced in some of them, though not in others. And therefore the former are more intelligent and apt at learning than those which cannot remember; those which are incapable of hearing sounds are intelligent though they cannot be taught, e.g. the bee, and any other race of animals that may be like it; and those which besides memory have this sense of hearing can be taught. The animals other than man live by appearances and memories, and have but little of connected experience; but the human race lives also by art and reasonings. Now from memory experience is produced in men; for the several memories of the same thing produce finally the capacity for a single experience. And experience seems pretty much like science and art, but really science and art come to men through experience; for 'experience made art', as Polus says, 'but inexperience luck.' Now art arises when from many notions gained by experience one universal judgement about a class of objects is produced. For to have a judgement that when Callias was ill of this disease this did him good, and similarly in the case of Socrates and in many individual cases, is a matter of experience; but to judge that it has done good to all persons of a certain constitution, marked off in one class, when they were ill of this disease, e.g. to phlegmatic or bilious

people when burning with fevers-this is a matter of art. With a view to action experience seems in no respect inferior to art, and men of experience succeed even better than those who have theory without experience. (The reason is that experience is knowledge of individuals, art of universals, and actions and productions are all concerned with the individual; for the physician does not cure man, except in an incidental way, but Callias or Socrates or some other called by some such individual name, who happens to be a man. If, then, a man has the theory without the experience, and recognizes the universal but does not know the individual included in this, he will often fail to cure; for it is the individual that is to be cured.) But yet we think that knowledge and understanding belong to art rather than to experience, and we suppose artists to be wiser than men of experience (which implies that Wisdom depends in all cases rather on knowledge); and this because the former know the cause, but the latter do not. For men of experience know that the thing is so, but do not know why, while the others know the 'why' and the cause. Hence we think also that the masterworkers in each craft are more honourable and know in a truer sense and are wiser than the manual workers, because they know the causes of the things that are done (we think the manual workers are like certain lifeless things which act indeed, but act without knowing what they do, as fire burns,-but while the lifeless things perform each of their functions by a natural tendency, the labourers perform them through habit); thus we view them as being wiser not in virtue of being able to act, but of having the theory for themselves and knowing the causes. And in general it is a sign of the man who knows and of the man who does not know, that the former can teach, and therefore we think art more

truly knowledge than experience is; for artists can teach, and men of mere experience cannot. Again, we do not regard any of the senses as Wisdom; yet surely these give the most authoritative knowledge of particulars. But they do not tell us the 'why' of anything-e.g. why fire is hot; they only say that it is hot. At first he who invented any art whatever that went beyond the common perceptions of man was naturally admired by men, not only because there was something useful in the inventions, but because he was thought wise and superior to the rest. But as more arts were invented, and some were directed to the necessities of life, others to recreation, the inventors of the latter were naturally always regarded as wiser than the inventors of the former, because their branches of knowledge did not aim at utility. Hence when all such inventions were already established, the sciences which do not aim at giving pleasure or at the necessities of life were discovered, and first in the places where men first began to have leisure. This is why the mathematical arts were founded in Egypt; for there the priestly caste was allowed to be at leisure. We have said in the Ethics what the difference is between art and science and the other kindred faculties; but the point of our present discussion is this, that all men suppose what is called Wisdom to deal with the first causes and the principles of things; so that, as has been said before, the man of experience is thought to be wiser than the possessors of any sense-perception whatever, the artist wiser than the men of experience, the masterworker than the mechanic, and the theoretical kinds of knowledge to be more of the nature of Wisdom than the productive. Clearly then Wisdom is knowledge about certain principles and causes.

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Let´s Talk

Introduction

This course stands for years of research o reduced forms. It´s an updated, easy – to – use material that teaches the most common forms needed to understand natural spoken English. It presents each reduced form contextualized in practical examples.Reduced forms are the pronunciation changes that occur in natural speech because of the environment or context in which a word or sound is found. The amount reduction depends on how fast the word or sound is spoken.

EXAMPLE:

Slow speech fast speech faster speechWant to want *ta *wanna

We are going to focus on faster speech, according to research this kind of speech is the most common in natural spoken English.To remind the students that the reduced forms are not to be used in written English an asterisk (*) is used with every reduced form.

MOST COMMOM REDUCED FORMS

YOUR / YOU´RE = *YERYou’re a great student. * Yer a great student.How is your family? How is *yer family?

YOURS = *YERSMy job pays really well but yours is interesting. My job pays really well but *yers is interesting.

FOR = *FERI’m looking for a new car. I’m looking *fer a new car.

OF = *AWhat about a cup of tea? What about a cup *a tea?

YOU = *YAHow do you use the internet? Well, first, you find your internet software on your computer screen. How do *ya use the internet? Well, first, *ya find *yer internet software on *yer computer screen.

ING ENDINGS= *IN´I am looking for a pair of jeans like yours. I’m *lookin´ *fer a pair *a jeans like * yers.

WHAT DO YOU/WHAT ARE YOU = *WHADDAYAWhat are you doing this weekend? *Whaddaya *doin´ this weekend?What do we need? Whadda we need?What do they want? Whadda they want?

WANT TO = WANNAWhat do you want to do? *Whaddaya *wanna do?

GOING TO + VERB = * GONNA

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I’m going to love you for the rest of my life. I’m *gonna love *ya *fer the rest *a my life.

CAN = *KINCAN´T = *KANTCan´t you just wait a minute? *Kant *ya just wait a minute?Yes, I can. Yes, I *kin.

GET = *GITCan you get me some apple juice? *Kin *ya *git me some apple juice?

TO = *TAI´m going to the mall. I´m *goin´*ta the mall.

TO AFTER A VOWEL SOUND = *DAI want to go to Spain. I *wanna go *da Spain.

GOT TO = *GOTTAHAVE TO = *HAFTAHAS TO = *HASTAI´ve got to find one.I´ve *gotta find one.I have to study. I *hafta study.It has to be taken care of. It *hasta be taken care of.

USED TO = * USETASUPPOSED TO = * SUPPOSTAI used to cook on Sundays. I *useta cook on Sundays.What do you mean,men aren´t supposed to cook? *Whaddaya mean,mem aren´t *supposta cook?

HE = *´EHIS = *´ISHIM = *´IMHER = *´ERTHEM = *´EMI want them to get it as soon as possible. I want *´em *ta *git it as soon as possible.I sent him the package last month. I sent *´im the package last month.

AND = *´n´I´ll need your name and a credit card number to hold that car. I´ll need *yer name ´n´a credit card number *ta hold that car.

OR = *ERDo you want a chocolate or a lemon birthday cake? Do *ya want a chocolate *er a lemon birthday cake?

DON´T NO = DONNOIf you don´t know what to do, you have to talk to somebody. If *ya *donno what *ta do, *ya *hafta talk *ta somebody.

T + YOU = *CHAT + YOUR/YOU´RE = *CHERCan´t you find an apartment? *Kant *cha find an apartment?Tell me what are you looking for. Tell me what *cher *lookin´for.

D + YOU = *JAD + YOUR = *JERCould come here ? Could * ja come here ?

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Did your car break? Did *jer car break?

WH QUESTION + HAVE = *´AVE + HAS = *´AS + HAD = *´ADWhat have you done? What *´ave *ya done?Where has your sister been? Where *´as *yer sister been?When had she become a doctor? When *´ad she become a doctor?

SUBJECT + HAVE = *´AVE HAS = *´AS HAD = *´AD HAVEN´T = *´AVEN´T HASN´T = *´ASN´T HADN´T = *´AND´TI have to stay home today. I *’ave *ta stay home today.I hadn’t planned for that. I *’and’t planned *fer that.

SHOULD *SHOULDACOULD *COULDA WOULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE *WOULDA MUST *MUSTAMAY *MAYAMIGHT *MIGHTA SHOULDN´T *SHOULDNACOULDN´T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE *COULDNAWOULDN´T *WOULDNAYou could have gotten directions here. *Ya *coulda gotten directions here.We wouldn´t have missed the gas station if you hadn´t been talking too much. We *wouldna missed the gas station if *ya *´and´t been talkin´too much.

WHAT ARE YOU = *WHACHAWhat are you doing this afternoon? *Whacha *doin´this afternoon?

LET ME = LEMMEGIVE ME = GIMMEGive me some water. *Gimme some water.Let me guess. *Lemme guess.

ABOUT = *’BOUTBECAUSE = *´CAUSECOME ON = *C´MONI can´t because I have to finish the report. I *kant *´cause I *hafta finish the report.What are you talking about? *Whaddaya *talkin´ *´bout?Come on, let´s go. *C´mon, let´s go.

WE ALSO CAN DELETE THE FIRST ONE OR TWO WORDS OF THESE QUESTIONS ; Do you want some… *WANT SOME…Are you going to see… *GONNA SEE…Would you like to… *LIKE TO…Have you seen the… *SEEN THE…

In small groups, practice the following situations using reduced forms:

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a) Do you think a husband and wife should stay married forever if they have children?

b) What should people do when they’re lost? What do you usually do? Explain.c) What is an unusual job for a man/woman? How would you apply for this job?

Explain.d) How would you explain to an Immigration Officer the purpose of your trip?

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