PART ONE BASIC WRITING SKILLS 2
Ⅰ．COURSE OUTLINE 2
1.1 Goals 2
1.2 Course Requirements and Marks 2
1.3 Diagnostic Test 2
1.3.1 Pretest 2
1.3.2 Posttest 4
Ⅱ．Mechanics 5
2.1 Capitalization 5
2.2 Punctuation Marks 5
2.2.1 The Full Stop(.) 6
2.2.2 The Comma(,) 7
2.2.3 The Hypen(-) 8
2.2.4 The Semicolon(;) 12
2.2.5 The Colon(:) 12
2.2.6 The Dash(—) 14
2.2.7 The Quotation Marks(“”) 15
2.2.8 The Ellipsis(...) 16
2.2.9 The Apostrophe(’) 17
2.2.10 The Slash(/) 18
2.2.11 Brackets/Parenthesis[]/() 18
2.2.12 The Question Mark(?) 19
2.2.13 Exclamation Mark/Point(!) 20
2.3 Spelling 20
2.4 Paragraph Styles 23
2.5 Handwriting 24
Ⅲ．Word Choice 27
3.1 Levels of Usage 28
3.1.1 The Formal Usage 29
3.1.2 The Informal or Colloquial Usage 29
3.1.3 Vulgar or Slang Usage 29
3.2 Word Meanings 31
3.2.1 Denotation 31
3.2.2 Connotation 31
3.2.3 Contextual Meaning 31
3.2.4 Other Meanings 32
Ⅳ．Grammar 35
4.1 Sentence and its Parts 35
4.1.1 Subject 35
4.1.2 Predicate 36
4.1.3 Fragment 36
4.1.4 Requirements of Written Sentence 36
4.1.5 Kinds of Sentences 37
4.2 Subject-Verb Agreement 39
4.2.1 Rules on Subject-Verb Agreement 40
4.2.2 Exceptions to the Rules 41
4.3 Phrases and Clauses 43
4.3.1 Phrases 43
4.3.2 Clauses 44
4.4 Sentence Errors 44
PART TWO METHODS OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT 50
Ⅰ．Definition 50
1.1 Paragraph by Definition 50
1.2 Model One 51
1.3 Model Two 52
1.3.1 Informal definition 52
1.3.2 Formal definition 52
1.4 Model Three 52
1.5 Model Four 52
Ⅱ．Example 54
2.1 Paragraph by Example 54
2.2 Model One 54
2.3 Model Two 54
2.4 Model Three 55
2.5 Model Four 55
Ⅲ．Generalization 57
3.1 Paragraph by Generalizations and Specific Detail 57
3.2 Model 58
Ⅳ．Time 60
4.1 Paragraph by Time 60
4.2 Model One 60
4.3 Model Two 61
Ⅴ．Process 63
5.1 Paragraph Development by Process 63
5.2 Model One 63
5.3 Model Two 64
Ⅵ．Comparison and Contrast 65
6.1 Paragraph by Comparison and Contrast 65
6.2 Model One 66
6.3 Model Two 66
6.4 Model Three 66
Ⅶ．Cause and Effect 67
7.1 Paragraph by Cause and Effect 67
7.2 Model One 68
7.3 Model Two 68
7.4 Model Three 68
7.5 Model Four 69
Ⅷ．Space 70
8.1 Paragraph Development by Space 70
8.2 Model One 70
8.3 Model Two 71
8.4 Model Three 71
Ⅸ．Classification 73
9.1 Paragraph by Classification 73
9.2 Model One 73
9.3 Model Two 74
9.4 Model Three 74
Ⅹ．Enumeration 75
10.1 Paragraph by Enumeration 75
10.2 Model One 75
10.3 Model Two 75
Ⅺ．Multiple Reasons 77
11.1 Paragraph by Multiple Reasons 77
11.2 Model One 77
11.3 Model Two 77
11.4 Model Three 78
Ⅻ．Combined Methods 80
12.1 Paragraph by Combined Methods 80
12.2 Model One 80
PART THREE ESSAY WRITING 84
Ⅰ．The Writing Process 84
1.1 Prewriting 84
1.2 Outlining 84
1.3 First Draft Writing 84
1.4 Revising 84
1.5 Editing 85
1.6 Writing Final Copy 85
Ⅱ．Steps in Essay Writing 86
2.1 Identifying the Parts 86
2.1.1 Introduction 86
2.1.2 Body 87
2.1.3 Conclusion 88
2.2 Stages in Writing Essays 89
2.3 Qualities of an Effective Essay 90
2.4 Summarizing 91
2.4.1 Steps in Summarizing 91
2.4.2 Length of the Summary 92
Ⅲ．Essay Categories 94
3.1 Description 94
3.2 Narration 98
3.3 Exposition 101
3.4 Argumentation 104
Answer Keys 109
Works Cited 111