Structure analysis and writingStructureanalysisMove from paragraphto essayStarting from this book, you are moving from paragraph writing to short essay writing. Precisely, students atthislevel will learnhowtowritea shortessay composed of3-5paragraphs,withnolessthan15o words.An essay hasthreemain parts:introduction,body,and conclusionIntroduction:The introductionpart introduces thetopicof an essayandusually contains a thesis statementAthesis statement is a complete sentence that presents your opinion,attitudeor position about the essaytopic. The way to introduce the topic should be as interesting as possible.You can start the introductionwith a dramatic incident,a famous quote,a thought-provoking question, or a general statement to interestorattractyourreader.Body: The body is the main part of an essay. It may consist of several paragraphs. Each body paragraphshouldaddressa specificpoint relatedtothethesis statement.You can develop ideas by wayof examples,cause and effect, comparison and contrast, classification, narration or description, and argumentation.(Manywritingmethodsfortheparagraph writingare introduced inBook1.)Conclusion: To write an effective conclusion, you can either restate the thesis statement using a differentstructure and vocabulary or briefly summarize the main ideas, added with your final thoughts andopinions such as a suggestion, a prediction, anda warning.Use transitional words atthebeginning oftheconclusion to signal that you're wrapping up the essay. The common ones are in conclusion, in summary.in short, ortosummarize.Now, let's start with a brief structure analysis of the text "An impressive English lesson"Brings out the topic and the thesis statement of the essay: Students unfairlybear the bulkof the criticismfor theirknowledge deficits in grammarandIntroductionvocabularybecausethereis a sensethattheyshouldknowbetter.(Paras.1-5)Claims that students shouldn'tbeblamed for their language deficitsthroughexamples,reasons,andthedemonstrationofhowgrammancanbeeffectivelytaught.(Paras.6-10)BodyEmphasizestheimportanceoflearninggrammarandvocabularyinafigurativeway:theroadmapandthecar.(Paras.11-13)Praiseshisson,ayoung student,who enjoyslearningEnglishgrammar,Conclusionwhich echoes the controlling idea in the thesis statement: Students areunfairlyblamed.(Paras.14-17)UNITI13Languageinmission
Structured writingRead the sample essay and see how the introduction, body, and conclusion are developedTopic:SampleessayLearning English grammarDuring mymiddleschool years, I was very allergicto Englishgrammar.However,thetwo incidentsIIntroduction:experiencedlaterchanged myviewaboutlearningThesis statement: Now I think it isEnglish. Now I think it is really fun to learn Englishreally fun to learn English grammar.grammar.Body:Example 1: Adding a comma couldIt occurred while I was absorbed in the mysteriousshowan entire difference in meaningworld of iPhone.My English teacher wrote twoExample2:Agrammarmistakesentencesontheblackboard:1)Thekingwouldwearcould make a world of difference innoclothes which makehim appeardifferentlyfrom others;2)Theking would wear no clothes, which makes himmeaning.appear differently from others.Glancing at the twoConclusion:sentences, I thought the teacher must have made aEnglish grammar is trulya mysteriousmistakebecausethesetwo sentences werethesame.world of art.Suddenly,the class burst into a loud laughter.Onlythen did I realize that adding a comma could show abig difference in meaning.Afterward, something interesting happened to meagain. At the beginning of my English class one day,theteacher returned our homework assignment.Tomy surprise, my teacher had crossed out -ly in thesentence"I studied English hardly","Isn't hardly anadverb?"I asked myself.Later, of course,I figuredout what was wrong:an over-generalization!I wasassuming everyadjectiveadded with-lystill maintainsthemeaning of that adjective.Not till then did I findoutthathardlyactuallymeant"almostnot",sowhatIhad writtenmadeaworldofdifferencefromwhatIwantedtosay.Inconclusion,whatIexperiencedenablesmetounderstand Englishgrammar istruly a mysteriousworld of art. How fun it is to learn English grammar!14New Horizon College English Third Edition
8Writeanessayofnolessthan 150wordsononeofthefollowingtopics.Onetopichasanoutlinethatyou canfollow.Topic:English grammar,a headacheto meIntroduction:Thesis statement:Englishgrammarisabigheadache to me.Body:Example:ThedifferencebetweenusedtoandbeusedtoConclusion:I'mallergictolearningEnglishgrammar.Moretopics:LearningEnglishthroughimitation/repetitionLearningEnglishwith/withoutgrammar15UNIT1Languageinmission
Translation9 Translate the following paragraph into10 Translate the following paragraph intoEnglish.ChineseNGUISTEnglish is known as a world language,布regularly used by many nations whoseEnglish is not their first language. Like otherAlanguages, English has changed greatly.The history of the English language can be-divided into three main periods: Old EnglishMiddle English and Modern English.TheEnglish language started with the invasionof Britain by three Germanic tribes duringthe Sth century AD, and they contributed中国书法（calligraphy）是一门独特的艺术，是世greatly to the formation of the English界上独一无二的艺术瑰宝。中国书法艺术的形成、language.During the medieval and early发展与汉文字的产生与演进存在着密不可分的关modern periods, the influence of English系。汉字在漫长的演变发展过程中，一方面起着spread throughout the British Isles, and from交流思想、继承文化的重要作用，另一方面它本the early 17th century its influence began to身又形成了一种独特的艺术。书法能够通过作品be felt throughout the world.The processes把书法家个人的生活感受、学识、修养、个性等of European exploration and colonization折射出来，所以，通常有“字如其人”的说法。for several centuries led to significant change中国书法不仅是中华民族的文化瑰宝，而且在世in English. Today, American English is界文化艺术宝库中独放异彩。particularly influential, due to the popularityof American cinema, television, music, tradeand technology, including the Internet.16New Horizon College EnglishThird Edition
SectionBReadingskills:ReadingforthekeyideasinsentencesAlthough a sentence may give a great deal of information, it usually offers just one keyidea.You should be able to find key ideas in sentences in orderto understand them moreclearly.You may ask thefollowing questions to get thekey ideas in different sentences:1Who or what is the sentence about?2What is theperson orobjectdoing or what is happening to theperson or object?What is the key idea and what are the minor details? Many words in a sentence8describe things about the subject of the sentencebut they merely adddetailsto it. If you ask when, what, where, or why, you will easily find the details of asentence,whichalsohelpsyoutoseethekeyidea.Here is one example from TextA:To him, I am a tedious oddity:a father he is obliged to listen toanda man absorbed in therules of grammar, which my son seems allergic to. (Para. 1)Key idea: What a father is like in the eyes of his son.Why is it the key idea of the sentence? First of all, the sentence is talking about the father,which answers the question of "who".Then we see all the details about the father as seenby his son: a tedious oddity, a father he has to listen to and a man absorbed in grammar.The whole sentence tells us how the son would portray his father.Of course, we cannot always easily decide which details are simply descriptive and which addmuch to the key idea. However, the starting point for determining thekey idea in a sentence istofindwhoorwhatthesentence isaboutand whattheperson orobject isdoing.ReadthefollowingsentencesfromTextBAs an adult, when he tried to inform peopleand writethekeyideaofeachsentence.about his new beliefs at a rally, he found thathe didn't have the adequate communicationExample:Later,he took the nameMalcolm Xskills he needed. (Para. 2)after joining an organization called theNation of Islam, a religious group thathad changed major practices and beliefsofmainstreamIslamtoapplymore2Hetold us of his amazementat how closelyspecifically to the condition of African-related the words seemed.How moist couldAmericanpeopleintheUnitedStatesinbe the root of moisture, and advisable andtheearly1960s. (Para.1)advisory had the same root word! (Para.5)Key idea: Malcolm changed his name after hejoined the Nation of Islam.Language in mission17UNIT1