Library Resources for Writing

To use the library efficiently, you must under­stand something of the different kinds of resources it has and the kinds of help available to enable you to find the information you need. Many libraries provide guided tours as well as printed information about their resources and the location of different kinds of books. There is always a reference librarian whose special assignment is to help you. Never hesitate to ask for help if you are confused.

Libraries, as a rule, have three principal kinds of holdings: a general col­lection of books; a collection of reference works; and a collection of periodicals, bulletins, and pamphlets.

General collection of books. The general collection includes most of the books in the library - all those that are available for general circulation. These books are kept in stacks, which are closed to everyone except librarians and persons holding special permits. If you want to borrow a book from such a library, you must first present a call slip bearing the call number of the book you want, the name of its author, and its title. This information can be obtained from the card catalogue.

Reference books. Reference books include encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, directories, handbooks, yearbooks, atlases, and guides. Most libraries place these books on open shelves in the main reading room and do not allow their removal from the room.

Periodicals, bulletins, pamphlets. A periodical is a publication that appears at regular (periodic) intervals. Bulletins and pamphlets may or may not be periodicals, depending on whether they are issued as parts of a series of publications or as separate, single publications. They are usually kept in the stacks with the main collection of books. Recent issues of magazines and newspapers are usually kept in the open shelves of the reading room. Older issues are bound in volumes and shelved in the stacks.

Acknowledging the Sources while Writing Papers. Most people who write papers, reports and other non-fictional works depend partly on other sources. It is both common courtesy and good practice to acknowledge these sources. This is usually done by using footnotes. They have three main uses:

A. To give the source of your information and quotations.

B. To provide additional information or explanatory comments that would disrupt the flow of material in the main text if included in the body of the paper.

C. To give additional evidence or illustration in support of your assertion.

Generally every statement, fact, or concept used in a paper that is not the writer's own should be acknowledged, either in a footnote or within the body of the paper.

Effective Sentences

A sentence may be perfectly clear and grammatically correct without being effective. Most effective sentences not only communicate simple facts and ideas, they bring together a number of facts and ideas in ways that show the relationship among them. Such sentences enable the writer to knit into the basic subject-verb-object pattern of a sentence the modifiers that give interest and full meaning to ideas. And the skillful use of such sentences together, in carefully thought out sequence, allows us to express our meaning more exactly.

Most effective sentences bring together two or more ideas that they relate to one another by coordination or subordination. Broadly, coordination expresses equality: two things that are coordinate have roughly the same importance, the same rank, and the same value. Subordination expresses some sort of inequality: when one thing is subordinate, or dependent, upon another, it is in some way of lesser importance or rank or value.

Grammatically, words and groups of words joined by and, but, or, and other coordinating words are said to be coordinate. Groups of words and whole sentences that have the same construction are also coordinate. When we put our ideas in coordinate constructions, we indicate that they are roughly equal in weight and meaning. Modifying words, phrases, and clauses are gramma­tically subordinate. Though they are frequently vital to the full meaning of a sentence, we indicate by subordinating them that they are less important to our meaning than other parts of the sentence. Effective sentences depend heavily upon the careful arrangement of both coordination and subordination, for these are the means by which we knit together major and miner ideas into clear and coherent units.

In many sentences, determining which ideas to place in a main clause and which to subordinate depends entirely on context. There is no way of determining, aside from context, which of the versions is the better sentence.

But in many sentences, the logic of normal expectation gets broken. The main ideas or more important ones are subordinated to lesser ideas. Such sentences are said to have 'upside-down' subordination and can't be considered effective. In constructing sentences avoid excessive subordination too. Unessential details in your sentences make your reader lose sight of the points you are trying to make.

Effectiveness can also be achieved with relatively simple modifications of word order. Remember, however, that word order is closely associated with meaning and emphasis and that shifts in order will lend slightly different shades of meaning to the whole sentence. The decision about what, if any, variation to use in a particular context must depend upon the total meaning you wish to express and upon the relation of the individual sentence to the sentences that stand before and after. The principal ways of varying sentences are outlined below.

1. Possibilities of varying the beginnings of sentences.

It is common knowledge that more than half the sentences in most good English writing begin with the Subject.

Possible variants:

(1) Begin your sentence with a Prepositional Phrase.

(2) Begin your sentence with a Verbal Phrase.

(3) Begin your sentence with 'there'.

(4) Begin your sentence with a Subordinate Clause.

(5) Begin your sentence with a Coordinating Conjunction.

A sentence beginning with a coordinating conjunction usually depends for meaning on the preceding sentence.

2. Possibilities of varying the normal subject-verb-object pattern of sentences.

The subject-verb-object pattern of the English sentence is so strongly established that shifts in its order are likely to produce heavy emphasis. They must therefore be used with caution.

(1) Subject-Verb pattern. Verb-Subject pattern.

(2) Subject-Verb-Object pattern. Object-Subject-Verb pattern.

(3) Subject-Verb-Complement pattern. Complement-Subject-Verb pattern.

3. Possibilities of varying the usual declarative statements by using more effective organization of material in your composition – question-and-answer pat­tern or a series of interrogative or imperative sentences.

There are other ways of making sentences effective. Here are some of them:

1. Place important words at the beginning or at the end of the sentence. Generally, the most emphatic place in a sentence is its ending; the next most emphatic, its beginning; the least emphatic, its middle.

Phrases such as in my opinion, by and large, for the most part, and the like often weaken emphasis when they come at the beginning or end of a sentence. Often the sentence will be stronger if they are simply omitted. If these phrases are necessary for accuracy, it is usually better to place them inside the sentence.

2. Arrange items in a series in order of importance.

When words or ideas are in a series, they should be arranged in order of increasing importance. Thus if you say: She is young, wealthy, and intelligent, you suggest to a reader that you value intelligence most highly. The meaning for your reader will be different if you say: She is intelligent, young, and wealthy.

3. Prefer the active voice to the passive voice.

The passive voice has its uses, and when you need it, you should of course use it. But the active is almost always more direct, more forceful, and more economical. Always prefer it to the passive unless you have good reason not to.

Paragraphing

Very often our Grammar books give the following definition of a sentence: "A group of words so arranged as to express a complete thought is called a sentence". But the definition is true only in a grammatical sense. Take any isolated sentence from any book, and you cannot fail to see how incomplete it is as it stands. There is the proper number of words, the subject and the predicate - all the grammatical rules have been attended to - yet we feel that in many cases we cannot be quite sure about the real meaning. It can be gathered more fully after reading some more sentences proceeding or going after the sentence in question. When several sentences have been so grouped as to make up a whole thought pattern and together form a more or less independent part of a longer composition, they are called a paragraph.

Each paragraph bears the same relation to an article or a chapter that the sentence does to the paragraph. Almost each paragraph has only a modified independence. For its full meaning it depends upon the other paragraphs in the book. If this is not so, it is not a paragraph but a little essay or story by itself.

The paragraph generally contains one leading idea around which supporting details are organized. Thus, conventional paragraphs consist of two parts: The leading idea (or thesis) which is usually contained in a sentence called the topic or key sentence, and supporting details which revolve around this hub idea by means of some other sentences that repeat, explain, contrast or justify the idea.

The structural patterns of paragraphs largely vary. The topic (key) sentence can be located in different parts of the paragraph - at the beginning or in the middle, or at the end of it.

If the key sentence comes at the beginning of the paragraph with all other sentences continuing and developing its idea, we deal with a deductive pattern of the paragraph.

An opposite case with the generalizing (key) sentence coming at the bottom of the paragraph is called an inductive pattern.

Sometimes the key thought in the paragraph occupies a medial position. Such a logical structure is called a pivotal (or inductive-deductive) pattern.

Very often we find another structural pattern which is formed by two key sentences framing the paragraph. One of these initiates the key idea, the other restates it as a generalized conclusion, or renders it in other words. Such a paragraph is called a framed paragraph or a deductive-inductive pattern.

But there are paragraphs that are devoid of any key sentences and consequently all the sentences that go to make up a paragraph like this are of equal semantic value. The main thought underlying the paragraph cannot be bor­rowed 'ready-made' from the text.

Next comes the question whether paragraphs should be long or short. Paragraphing while writing is individual. The author may be guided by various motives. But the leading principle is always logic. A change of thought (or topic) often signals the beginning of a fresh paragraph.

If we are dealing with events rapidly taking place we must have shorter paragraphs. In ordinary descriptive or argumentative work they ought to be longer. Within limits the modern tendency to shorten paragraphs is to be encouraged. But the danger is that short paragraphs are often made by the simple process of cutting up a long paragraph into bits of the required length. The resulting groups of sentences are no longer paragraphs in any respect but appearance. In consequence of this mechanical shortening of paragraphs some books have a jerky style that interferes with the flow of thought of the reader.

As to the arrangement of sentences in a paragraph, no hard and fast rules can be laid down. It is generally more effective to begin and end the paragraph with shorter sentences, while the middle is occupied with those of more complicated construction. The short opening sentences, as a rule, introduce vividly the key idea of the paragraph, the longer sentences unfold it, and the short closing sentences gather up and clinch what has gone before.

But the paragraphs and the sentences in them are not, of course, quite so clear-cut as that. Any single piece of writing varies in length according to the requirements of each case, exactly as do paragraphs and sentences.

Paraphrasing

When we take a passage, examine it carefully so as to grasp its meaning, and then try to express that meaning in another form, we are said to paraphrase the passage. The exercise demands a careful examination of the passage to be paraphrased. We must guard against some common errors in paraphrasing. The first of these is the belief that every word of the original must be changed. Not infrequently we meet words or phrases that defy paraphrasing as they stand. We must not take the word, or the phrase, or even the sentence, as a unit of paraphrasing, but the whole passage. This enables us so to change the whole structure as to preserve the complete meaning, while avoiding literal renderings of individual phrases. When finished, a paraphrase should read like a bit of original composition. It must express the meaning of the original, but it must do this without sacrificing its claim to be good ordinary idiomatic English. This is a case where the method of testing by time is especially useful. A paraphrase should always be judged by the effect it produces as English, when read after time has been allowed for the original to pass from the memory.

There is one great advantage connected with the practice of paraphrasing. It enforces the widening of the student’s vocabulary. We all fall into ruts in our use of words. If we write a letter or an essay we are at liberty to choose our own words, and we naturally fall back upon those we are familiar with. In this way our stock of available words tends to remain fixed. In paraphrasing, the very fact that a certain number of words and phrases are already used, sets us seeking for others. Further, since the ideas expressed are not our own, it is probable that our familiar words do not fit them so well as they do our own familiar thoughts, so that again we are forced to call in words from our reading vocabulary, and in many cases these are added to our permanent writing vocabulary.

 

 

WRITTEN FORMS

2.1. Précis-writing

In paraphrasing you have to re-cast a given passage in your own words. In writing a précis, or summary, you go further, for you have to strip a given passage down to its leading ideas and to re-cast it in the smallest number of words possible. Précis-writing is an extremely useful ability. It is frequently used for official purposes, when a summary of letters or documents must be prepared for an official who has no time to read the originals; but there are many other occasions when it is useful to be able to express a number of ideas in the smallest possible space, and practice in précis-writing will help you to form a clear concise style.

In condensing ten pages of print into two or three, it is clear that much must be omitted. The art of précis-writing lies in making the right omission, and in skillfully combining what is left. The omissions depend on the type of précis you are writing. The informative précis preserves the greater part of the material contained in the original. The indicative précis, characterized by maximum semantic compression, requires greater condensing and omissions. The précis based on one informational source is called a monographic précis. The précis founded on two or more pieces of writing which are discussing one topic (theme) is called a review précis.

Before you try to summarize a passage, read it carefully to discover the author's purpose and point of view. To facilitate further work, the paragraphs of the passage are numbered. After that the text is gone over again and its key fragments are underlined right in the original or copied out from the text. These are words, phrases or sentences that in the best way characterize the author's central ideas (themes) discussed in the passage. Be also on the lookout for the author's own compact summaries, either at the beginning or end of a passage or at points of transition. Each group of fragments belonging to a certain paragraph is marked out by the number of the corresponding paragraph. Then arrange your key fragments into a kind of plan. Think it over and begin organizing your précis. Keep the logical order in which the author's ideas have been presented in the original, but avoid following the exact wording too closely. Omit illustrations, quotations, and repetitions used for the sake of emphasis. Figures of speech should also be omitted or curtailed considerably. Bind sentences together by such link words as hence, while, therefore, as, thus, etc. Add no com­ment of your own to the original.

In other words, while writing a précis you must state the essential ideas contained in the text in the smallest number of sentences and produce a new piece of prose many times smaller, organizationally and stylistically correct, and devoid of any element of your interpretation or critical appreciation.

To learn the art of précis-writing you should:

1. Carefully read the story and fix in your mind all the things mentioned in it. Then read the story carefully again.

2. Note down the logical division of the text into several parts.

3. Consider the parts of the text to find out what micro topics it is dedicat­ed to.

4. Write the micro topics down in the form of a plan.

5. Find the words, phrases or sentences in the text, which in the best way characterize the indicated micro topics.

6. Begin organizing your précis. Keep the logical order in which the ideas have been presented in the text. Omit the quotation and all details that have no direct bearing on the indicated issues. Be simple, concise and direct.

7. Read your précis and appreciate its length and quality.

 

Synopsis-making

A synopsis (annotation) is the shortest account of the main content and conclusions of the original text. In fact, it is enumeration of the main thematic points of the original paper which is made up of words and phrases borrowed from the text and your own wording of them into a very small number of sentences.

One of the main purposes of synopsis-writing is to enable the reader to form a quick opinion as to whether the paper is worth your while to begin detailed reading or not.

When writing a synopsis, you may adhere to the following plan:

1. The theme of the document.

2. The main key problems (thematic points) discussed in it.

3. The conclusion at which the author arrives. In contrast to précis-writing, the manner of presenting the materialinsynopsis is very concise and it tends to be critical. When abstracting the contents, the synopsis writer appreciates the material from his own point of view. He uses as a rule a wide range of the so-called clichés, which are also marked for their appraising character (an important problem, an interesting conclusion, original ideas, etc). The use of clichés is a distinguishing feature of synopsis-writing. The most useful of the clichés can be roughly divided into three groups:

1) those introducing the leading theme of the original paper:

The text deals with...

The article is devoted to...

The chapter is about..., etc.

2) those drawing the reader's attention to the major points of the contents:

The author emphasizes the idea of...

The author points out that...

The paper elaborates.

Attention is drawn to the fact that...

The study treats the question of...

In the opinion of the author it is...

The main finding of the chapter is that...

Especially revealing is the author's analysis of...

Of special interest is his argument that... etc.

3) those forming a conclusion to which the reader's attention is drawn:

The author comes to the conclusion that...

The author draws the following conclusion...

The author concludes by saying that...

The basic approach of the author is that...

Underlined is the conclusion that..., etc.