Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Hess Education

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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“But in science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man whom the idea first occurs.”

-Sir Francis Darwin

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

Approach writing as a continuous iterative process.

Re-viewing

Drafting

Structuring

Generating Ideas

Focusing

Evaluating

White & Arndt (1991)

Process Writing

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Your Parameters

Constraints(external) Choices(internal)Audience Topic (?)Format StructureMechanics DepthPolitics Language

Illustration

Adapted from Hua-Kuang Liu, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and Engineering Communication”

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Common Problems

1. Articles [1-19]2. Pronoun references [1-1]3. Plurals [1-1]4. Verb/Noun agreement [8-45. Verb tense [4-1] [5-3] [1-1]6. Modifier with modified [5-1] [1-1] [1-2][1-6][2-1]

[8-5][10-]7. Split infinitive [9-3][9-3][9-4]8. Dangling participle [4-2]9. Word Choice

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

1. Tell them what you are going to tell

2. Tell them

3. Tell them what you told

Beginning MiddleEnd

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

Know your audience and write from the reader’s perspective.

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

• Special difficulties in Technical Writing– Complex subjects– Complicated insider’s language

• Compensate for these

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

• Generate a large body of ideas to define the scope of your project

• Define your Basic Research Question

• Focus on a one-sentence Thesis Statement answering the Question

• Find a Hook

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

• Numbers Rule– of 3:

• For powerful sets, or• To make the middle item the winner

– of 2: for contrasts– of 5: >5 is often too much

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Sentence Hints

• Focus on the main idea

• Combine choppy sentences

• Simplify sentences

• Use a variety of sentences

• Use a variety of sentence openings

• Use parallelism

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Word Choice Hints

• Do not omit needed words• Eliminate redundant words• Place modifiers with their subject• Keep verbs consistent in tense and the active

voice• Use the active voice (replace “be” verbs)• Use appropriate language• Use exact language• Keep your voice consistent (I, we, etc.)

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

• The rule of three revisited: Editing

• Write Rest Rewrite

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

• Polishing or editing, like writing, is a continuous iterative process

• BUT

• Unless you have enough written there is not enough to polish!– Write first– Polish later

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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ESL Hint

1. Good writing varies by culture, in addition to varying by audience, discipline and purpose, i.e. direct or indirect, personal or impersonal, plain or embellished, etc.

2. Vague is bad in English technical writing.Some, however, intentionally write vaguely, attempting

to demonstrate their greater wisdom with seductive phrases and illusory allusions rather than speaking in diamorphous linear constructions thereby befuddling those readers lacking a clear personal sense of rectitude.

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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ESL Hint

In English writers are expected to cite all sources. This includes as much detail as is available.

For instance, the page number if available.

[Make it easy for the reader to check!}

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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ESL Hint

• Chinese allows the omission of the subject or the verb.

• English almost always requires you to state the subject and verb. – Expect in commands ( Be quiet!)– When the subject is impLiud or– In some special exceptions

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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ESL Hint

• English spelling differs slightly from country to country.• The primary difference is American or British• Choose one system and stick with it.

– Color Colour– Theater Theatre– Judgment Judgement– Defense Defence– Analyze Analyse

• Hppt://www.english.uiuc.edu/cwa/wworkshop/• Hppt:/www.owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/

index.html#effective

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Selecting Wining Topics

• Ask the field (journals)

• Ask the experts (professor)

• Ask the next stars (colleagues)

• Ask What?1. Research Question

2. Thesis Statement

3. Idea Set

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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From Idea Set to Research Question

• It IS-- a Question– Narrow– Challenging – Grounded

• What you want to Answer

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Thesis Statement

• This is the sentence stating the main point.– A generalization, not a fact– Limited, not too broad– Focused, not too vague

• Essentially the Title of your work

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Thesis Hooks

• Startling statistic or fact

• Vivid example

• Description

• Quotation

• Question

• Analogy

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Topic Sentence

• Is the Thesis Statement for the paragraph.

• Is usually at the start

• Signals the next step in the argument– Suggests the next topic– Helps the transition

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Structure-Paragraphs

1. Focus the Main Point-Topic Sentence• Usually first• Sometimes after a transition• Occasionally at the end

2. Develop the main point- too short is often too little

3. Organize the paragraph• Methods include: examples, description, process,

comparison, contrast, definition, cause and effect, classification and division, etc.

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Structure-Paragraphs cont’d

4. Make the Paragraph Coherent• Link-ideas• Repeat key words• Use parallel structure (parallelism)• Be consistent• Provide Transitions (handout)

5. Adjust Paragraph Length

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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The Final Product

• Editing/Poilshing– Sentence– Paragraph– Global

• Using editing codes

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Your Parameters

Constraints(external) Choices(internal)Audience Topic (?)Format StructureMechanics DepthPolitics Language

Illustration

Adapted from Hua-Kuang Liu, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and Engineering Communication”

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Writing Hint

Approach writing as a continuous iterative process.

Re-viewing

Drafting

Structuring

Generating Ideas

Focusing

Evaluating

White & Arndt (1991)

Process Writing

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Common Problems

1. Articles2. Pronoun references3. Plurals 4. Verb/Noun agreement5. Verb tense6. Modifier with modified7. Split infinitive8. Dangling participle9. Word Choice10. Possessive

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Rules I:Figures/Table/Graphs

Purpose1. Extends the argument

2. Simplifies complex

3. Allows visual comparison

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Rules II:Figures/Table/Graphs

Location1. Requires a mention in the text.

2. As close to the mention as possible.

3. After the mention

4. Reasonable location

5. Esthetically pleasing [looks good]

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Rules III:Figures/Table/Graphs

Naming1. Titled

2. Spelled out

3. Sequentially numbered, followed by (period)

4. Centered, bolded, (below)

5. Same font size and type as text

Fall 2004 A Hess-NTU Cooperative Program

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Rules IV:Figures/Table/Graphs

Content1. Labeled

2. Abbreviations explained in1. Text

2. Legend

3. Label

3. Readable

4. Consistent

5. No unlabeled data breaks