Learn to Write
Chapter Ⅲ: composition
Lecture One: forms of composition
Difference between speech and writing
Sentence
Speech
Writing
(e.g. Unit 2) Nhomakorabea(e.g. Unit 3)
Forms of composition
2. Description（描写文）: depicting people, objects, or scenery
Focus on what’s described Order to describe (center around the typical
This was serious business. Part of the family income depended on the sale of apples and papayas. Anyway, my uncle gave us orders to fix the pens, and then he left for market.
The birds are singing delightfully, flying from tree to tree. The little chicks hurry around with their mother hen looking for food.
The sun begins to warm the earth. Farmers begin to work hard in the fields, but my cousin is riding on his brown, furry water buffalo. He is playing his flute cheerfully.
Forms of composition
3. Exposition（说明文): to expose, or to present and explain information, ideas and opinions
Point to convey Supporting details (facts): order of time, space,
One day down on the farm, something funny happened. My cousin and I got into big trouble with his dad. It all had to do with pigs.
It was one of those hot, peaceful days. We were harvesting fruit to sell. The pig pens were near the orchard. The pigs were always allowed to eat the window falls under the tree. But this time, when harvest was over, they escaped and got into the baskets.
The cool evening is quiet and peaceful on the farm. The crickets chirp secret messages back and forth. The frogs croak deeply. The beauty of nature and these mysterious sounds gently lull me to sleep every night on the farm.
tenses for past events) Clearly state time, place, people, event, cause
and result. Emphasize on the theme, leaving out
unnecessary details.
Example: Life on a Farm (Narration)
My cousin was a know-it-all. He had to boss his job, so we put the pigs back in, patched up the big holes, and went swimming.
The trouble began when my uncle got home. The pigs had been squeezing through the small holes. So, my cousin and I were really in hot water.
Shorter, incomplete, Longer, repetition, pause Complete,
Complex structures
Vocabulary Nonsensical words Longer, formal (eh, aha, etc.), less formal
Forms of composition
characteristics and features) Diction (vividness)
Example: Life on a Farm (Description)
The still morning calm is broken by the rooster’s crow. Shortly after that all the creatures on the farm are hungrily awake.
1. Narration（叙述文）: writing about events, actions, or incidents
In chronological order The first person or the third person Event: beginning, development and ending (past