[experience] 非英语母语学生如何写好文章 [复制链接]

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发表于 2003-5-24 15:10:56 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

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标  题: 非英语母语学生如何写好文章
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Writing Papers in the United States—A Guide for Foreign Students

by Peter Timmann

it is likely that as a student you have written many papers and essays in
your home country. You may feel confident about writing essays in English
because of your past writing experience. Perhaps your only concern is that
some weaknesses in grammar and vocabulary will cause problems between you
and your American instructors. Many foreign students in the United States
have thought this way and have been disappointed when their teachers
returned papers or compositions with critical comments on the content
rather than the form. The reason for the students' unpleasant surprise is
that paper writing in the United States generally follows certain rules and
conventions. This guide will help you attract a reader's attention, state
clearly what you want to achieve, structure your ideas effectively, keep
the reader's attention, and conclude your paper—all within a format
familiar to American readers.

This guide will not teach you much about grammar or style. If you need help
in those areas, you can contact your university's writing lab or writing
center, practice on PLATO or a similar computer program, consult native
speakers, study books, or take additional English courses.

I shall assume that you already adequately understand prewriting, the
process of finding a topic and generating and organizing ideas. Presumably
you have had to write papers that required some research. Should you need
assistance with any aspect of prewriting, you can talk to your instructor
or refer to the list of books at the end of this guide.

One last word. In any academic setting you are expected to indicate all of
your sources. You must never plagiarize, that is, use someone else's words
or ideas without acknowledging the source.

Topics, Thesis, and Introduction

While prewriting steps are the same in most cultures, the actual structure
of a paper in the United States may be quite different from the papers you
have written in your home country. Put very simply, American instructors
will expect you to write papers following this format: state the point you
wish to make (introduction and thesis); prove your point (body of the
paper); and sum up what you have written (conclusion).

Foreign students (as well as many Americans) are often not aware of the
crucial distinction between a topic and a thesis and, therefore, write
papers without a purpose. If, for example, an instructor asks students for
a paper on the general topic "Public Transportation in the United States,"
students will frequently research the subject conscientiously but write
down only their findings. These students might give statistics and show
that most people travel by car, plane, and bus while only a few take the
train. Their papers deal with the topic by describing a situation without
facing issues and taking sides, leaving the reader without a sense of
direction.

A writer gives the reader a sense of direction by writing a thesis. This
thesis provides the specific, central idea of the paper. For example, for
the previous topic, the thesis, or focus, could be "The federal government
should stem the decline of passenger railroads by imposing additional taxes
on gasoline and plane fuel." In this example, the writer indicates to any
reader that this paper on public transportation has a specific message that
goes beyond just giving topical information. The writer now has a focus for
the essay and the reader knows that he or she will be confronted with a new
idea. A thesis, then, gives a specific focus to the topic and thus to the
whole paper. It signals to the audience that reading the paper will be
worth their time.

Usually, however, a paper will not start with the thesis. Rather, the
writer will build up to it. A new idea or perspective on a subject may not
arouse a reader's interest without some preparation. Therefore, the writer
must get the reader's interest before the reader has actually reached the
thesis. The introduction to a paper has two functions: it "hooks" the
reader and it builds toward the thesis. The transportation paper could, for
example, open with the following question: "Why do many more travelers in
Europe than in America prefer trains to cars and buses?" The attention of
the average American reader will probably be aroused more by that question
than by first discussing the invention of the wheel.

Most likely you would not still be reading this guide if it began, "Ever
since humanity learned to read and write, people have been faced with the
question of how to tackle a problem in writing." Such a general statement
is not interesting enough to hold the attention of the reader who cannot
afford to waste time. It is important to remember, then, that the
introduction to your paper must catch your reader's attention and lead up
to the thesis. The thesis, in turn, must reflect the writer's fresh
approach to the topic so that the reader feels sufficiently motivated and
curious to read the whole paper.

The Body of the Paper

After capturing the reader's initial interest with the introduction, the
writer is responsible for taking the reader through the paper, step by
step. In other words, the writer maps out a course for the reader. Even if
a paper has an interesting introduction and an original thesis, the writer
must not assume that the reader will agree with or follow the ideas
presented without questioning their logic and validity. The writer must
structure the sequence of ideas carefully and logically to avoid confusing
the reader. Each paragraph should deal with one central idea, introduced
early, preferably in a topic sentence, so the reader knows what to expect
in the paragraph. A reader will be able to follow an argument better if the
writer has developed the ideas logically and has provided transitions
between paragraphs.

Once the central idea of the paragraph is established, the writer should
make sure that the focus remains on that idea. American readers expect
writers not to stray from their point. The writer who deals with several
major ideas in one paragraph will definitely confuse readers. When starting
the previous paragraph, I was tempted to write that the focus of a
paragraph should be on one idea and that the central idea ought to be well
supported. While revising the paragraph, I realized that the question of
support requires its own paragraph. I had put two ideas from my outline
into a single paragraph. By following an outline closely, writers will
usually avoid the mistake of treating several ideas together, as additional
ideas are often afterthoughts that occur while the writer is writing a
draft. If the new ideas are valuable, the writer must change the structure
of the paper, providing proper paragraphs for each idea.

Should new ideas not deserve separate paragraphs, the writer may still be
able to use them, together with other evidence, to support the paragraph's
main idea. It is not enough to merely state one's idea. Ideas must be
supported to become forceful and convincing. If you were writing the paper
on public transportation and argued that trains are a safe mode of
transportation without showing evidence, a reader, thinking of some recent
train accident, might disagree and say that trains are unsafe. After
reading such an unsupported statement, the reader may no longer believe
anything you have written. Your statement would be much more convincing if
you backed it with statistics that prove the relative safety of rail
transport. Writing without support results in unconvincing papers. By
giving evidence, then, you make sure that you keep the reader with you
throughout your paper.

Other means of keeping your readers with you, of reminding them that you
are still following your initially set course, include transitions and
cues. Most readers find it difficult to follow a writer's train of thought
if not given the connections. I have already explained the importance of
logical structure, focusing on one idea, and supporting your ideas. If you
follow these hints, you will give your readers a lot of help in finding
their way through your paper. You will make it even easier for them if you
use an idea from your last paragraph as a transition to lead your readers
into the following paragraph. In this way, you will avoid creating the
impression of jumping from point to point.

Transitions are not only desirable between paragraphs, they are also
necessary between sentences within one paragraph. From your own reading you
probably know that one cannot keep all of the author's ideas in mind. The
reader's short-term memory will have to work less if the writer has placed
the important points of the sentences at the end. If you take a moment to
look over the last three sentences, you will find that the main points
appear toward the end, thus making it less of an effort for you to keep up
with my flow of ideas. And, if you review the last two paragraphs, you will
see how often I gave you cues, in this case, how often I reminded you of
the necessity to keep the reader with you throughout your paper.

The Conclusion

Have you ever read an article or a book and wondered at the end what it was
all about? Your readers will not have such reactions if you tell them in
the beginning what you want to do and if you help them see where they are
going while they are reading your ideas. My hints are mainly meant to
assist you in writing the most common college essays, expository papers
(essays in which you introduce and explain ideas), but you will also be
able to apply these hints to the three other main categories of writing
(descriptive, narrative, and argumentative) as well as to writing essay
examinations.

Let us assume your readers have followed your ideas to the end of the
paper. You will still need to signal to them that the paper is over.
Earlier in this guide I told you that paper writing in the United States
consists of three steps: say what you want to do, do it, say what you have
done. I have covered the first two and will now explain the third. In your
conclusion you must take up your thesis in such a way that the reader can
see how successfully and convincingly it has been treated. Just as it is
not enough to merely state the thesis in the opening paragraph without
preparation, it is insufficient to have only one concluding sentence. A
good conclusion will not only state what the writer has tried to show but
will also give the reader some additional information or ideas. Such
additional ideas can, for example, point out questions raised by the paper.
The purpose of new ideas at the end of the paper is to keep the readers
from putting the paper away without thinking about it. While the "hook" in
the opener makes the reader curious about the paper, a new idea in the
conclusion forces the reader into continued thought about the author's
ideas.

Please do not think that since you know how to attract a reader, how to
present your ideas effectively, and how to keep a reader's attention
throughout the paper, you can sit back and relax. Your newly acquired
skills can only be a beginning. You will certainly need to revise each
paper you write. Force yourself to do this even though you may not want to
look at your paper again once you have finished the draft. One rule of
thumb for your revisions should be to remember that a part of writing tends
to be "make-believe." That is, you have to pretend to be writing for an
audience, not just for your instructor. Learning to write well takes a long
time, and all good writers revise their work several times. You will be
able to learn much more about writing by reading articles and books more
consciously. Try to find out how other authors attract and maintain your
interest. I wish you success!l

The author is Referent, International Hochschulbeziehungen, Universitat
Hamburg, Moorweidenstr 18, 2 Hamburg 13, Federal Republic of Germany.

Books for Further Reading

Many companies have published handbooks on writing. In addition to these
two examples, you will find many more in college bookstores and libraries.

Hodges, John C., and Mary E. Whitten. Harbrace College Handbook. 10th ed.
Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.

Fowler, H. Ramsey, and Little, Brown editors. The Little, Brown Handbook.
3rd ed. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1986.

Gibaldi, Joseph, and Walter S. Achtert. MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America,
1984. This book describes the generally accepted format for writing in the
humanities. It contains a list of publications governing formats in other
fields, such as biology, chemistry, geology, linguistics, mathematics,
medicine, physics, and psychology.