Unit5 ModernTimes:ArgumentationWritingDefinition
Inanargumentativeessay,thewriter’spurposeistopersuade
peopleintobelievingsomethingorintonotbelievingsomething,
toconvinceotherpeople,toprovethecorrectnessofacertainp
ointofviewortorepudiateanotherpointofview.Speechesexpl
aininggovernmentpoliciesorsupportingcertainideas,newspaper
ormagazineeditorialsandcomments,articlesonpolitical,mora
lortheoreticalproblems,inshort,allarticlestryingtoreaso
nthingsout,areargumentativewritings.Inwritingapieceofa
rgumentationyoushouldfirsthaveawell-definedtheme,orapro
position.Ofteninthefirstsentenceorthefirstparagraphyou
shouldmakeclearwhatyouareinfavoroforwhatyouareagains
t.Ashortarticleshouldhaveonlyonetheme.Anythingirrelevan
tshouldbedoneawaywith.Sometimesinyourintroductoryparagr
aphyoucanputforwardaquestion,youanswerthequestioninth
ebodyofyourargument,andtheninyourconclusionyouputyour
fingeronthecentralideaofyouressay.?????????Introduc
tion:generalstatementabouttopicwriter’sposition
whatthewriterisgoingtosayBody:1stpointin1stparagrap
htopic+support2ndpointin2ndparagraph
topic+supportConclusion:summaryconclusionrecommendati
on(optional:ifaskedforadvice,suggestion)Howtochooseand
limitatopic?1)Chooseatopicthatinterestsyouandaboutwhi
chyoueitherhavesomeknowledgeorcanacquireitwithoutmuch
trouble.2)Chooseatopicthatissmallenoughtohandleinthe
usualessayof200to350words3)Chooseatopicthatwillbein
terestingtoyourreaders.Anelaboratedescriptionofyourdog,
whilefascinatingtoyou,mightnotholdyourreaders’interest.
4)Trytoavoidtopicsthathavebeenwrittentodeathunlessyou
havesomethingfreshandnewtoday.Otherwise,youwillboreyo
urreaders.Characteristicsofagoodargumentation★adebatabl
epoint★sufficientevidence★Goodlogic★Clearlogic★Go
oduseoftheotherthreetypesofwriting★Anhonestand
friendlyattitudeAdebatablepointDefinition:somethingwhich
canbeviewedfrommorethanoneangleandisthereforeopentod
isputeEg.1.MercyKillingshouldnotbeadvocatedinChina.2
.Teachersshoulddependonthegovernmenttoimprovetheirlivin
gstandard.PracticeArethefollowingpointsdebatable?1.Chine
sedoctorsuseacupunctureanesthesiatoperformcertainoperatio
n.2.BaJinismyfavoriteauthor.3.Noisepollutionisharmfu
ltopeople’shealth.Reference1.Merestatementsoffacts2.s
tatementsofpersonalpreference3.viewpointsthataregenerally
acceptedorcanbeeasilyverified.Sufficientevidencecommonk
nowledge;specificexamples;hardevidence,Facts;opinionsar
eexpertandauthoritative;statistics;quotationsfromauthorit
ies.GoodlogicTherearegenerallytwowaysofreasoning:Indu
ctivereasoning—fromspecificexamplestoageneralstatement.D
eductivereasoning---fromageneralstatementtoaspecificconcl
usion.ClearlogicFromtheleasttothemostimportant.Fromt
hemostfamiliartotheleastfamiliarFromtheeasiesttoaccept
orcomprehendtothemostdifficult.ClassroomPracticeReadth
efollowingpassageandoutlineitinthespaceprovided.Writeo
utthetopicsentencesfortheseparagraphsandsummarizeinafe
wwordsthesupportingmaterialthatfitsundereachtopicsenten
ce:Theworldofbusinessisoneareainwhichtechnologyisisol
atingus.Manypeoplenowworkaloneathome.Withaccesstoala
rgecentralcomputer,employeessuchassecretaries,insuranceag
ents,andaccountantsdotheirjobsatdisplayterminalsintheir
ownhomes.Theynolongeractuallyhavetoseethepeopletheya
redealingwith.Inaddition,employeesareoftenpaidinanimpe
rsonalway.Workers’salariesareautomaticallycreditedtotheir
bankaccounts,eliminatingtheneedforpaychecks.Finally,pers
onalbankingisbecomingadetachedprocess.Customersinteractw
ithmachinesratherthanpeopletodeposittowithdrawmoneyfrom
theiraccounts.Evensomebankloansareapprovedorrejected,n
otinaninterviewwithaloanofficer,butthroughadisplayon
acomputerscreen.Firsttopicsentence:
Support:1.
__2._
____3.___
__a.____
b.____2)
Anotherareathattechnologyischangingisentertainment.Music
,forinstance,wasonceagroupexperienced.Peoplelistenedto
musicinconcerthallsoratsmallsocialgatherings.Formanype
oplenow,however,musicisasolitaryexperience.Walkingalong
thestreetorsittingintheirlivingrooms,theywearheadphones
tobuildawallofmusicaroundthem.Movieentertainmentischa
nging,too.Moviesusedtobesocialevents.Now,fewerpeoplear
egoingouttoseeamovie.Manymorearechoosingtowaitfora
filmtoappearoncabletelevision.Insteadofbeinginvolvedwit
hthelaughter,applause,orhissesoftheaudience,viewerswatc
hmoviesintheisolationoftheirownlivingrooms.Secondtopic
sentence:____________________
________Support:1.__________________
2.______3)Educat
ionisathirdimportantareainwhichtechnologyisseparatingu
sfromothers.Fromelementaryschoolstocolleges,studentsspen
dmoreandmoretimesittingbythemselvesinfrontofcomputers.
Thecomputersgivethemfeedback,whileteachersspendmoretime
tendingthecomputersandlesstimeinteractingwiththeirfrien
ds,brothersandsisters,andparents.Last,alienationisoccurr
ingasaresultofanotherhigh-techinvention,videotapes.Peopl
earebuyingvideocassettetapesonsubjectssuchascooking,rea
lestateinvestment,speaking,andspeed-reading.Theythenpract
icetheirskillsathomeratherthanbytakinggroupclassesinw
hicharichhumaninteractioncanoccur.Thirdtopicsentence:
Support:1._________________
__2.
__3.
___TipsforWriting:Tomakeyouressayclearerandmo
recoherent,youneedstrategiesasfollows:Transitionalwords:
first,next,after,before,meanwhile,immediately,finally,furt
her,furthermore,inaddition,inthefirstplace,last…Clearsi
gnalsforexamples:aninstance,onetime,forexample…Repetitio
nsofkeywordsandphrases.Carefulpronounusesothatpronouns
referclearlytothenounsorpronounstheyaresubstitutesfor.
Parallelismtoshowideasorinformationofsimilarimportance.
Howtostart1).Contrastmethod2).Phenomenamethod3)Viewpoi
ntmethod4)Citationmethod5)QuestionmethodHowtowritethe
body1)Topicsentencetopicsentenceshowsthewriter’sattitude
,opinion,purpose,etc.Agoodtopicsentenceshouldbetheonly
themeoftheparagraph,clearlyandcorrectlyexpressed.2).Ext
endingsentencesExtendingsentencesareusedtodescribe,explai
norarguecenteringonthetopicsentence.Theyarethemainbod
yoftheextendingpartofthetopicsentence.3)Conclusionsen
tenceConclusionsentenceisasentenceusedtosummarizethewho
leparagraph,whichisalsoaconnectinglinkbetweentheprecedi
ngandthefollowing.Howtoend1).ConclusionTheconclusion
sentencestructureisusedtoshowthethemeofthearticleafter
thepreviousdiscussionandanalysis,suchas:Inconclusion,it
ismoreimportant…2)ConsequenceIt’susedtorevealwhatwoul
dprobablyhappeniftheproblemunderdiscussionfailstobesol
vedorifnoeffortismadetosolveit,suchas:Obviously,ifw
ecan’tchangethesituation,thereiseverychangethat…willbe
putindanger.3)EvocationIt’susedtocallfortimelyaction
orattentiontoacertainissue,suchas:Itmightbetimetota
ketheadviceof…andtoputgreatemphasisontheimprovementof
….4).SuggestionIt’susedtogivesuggestionsashowtosolvet
heproblemattheendofthearticle,suchas:Itissuggestedth
atgreateffortsshouldbemade.Debate-HigherFinesforCelebs?
Therichandfamouswillsoonhaveamuchhardertimegettingar
oundtheone-childpolicy.TheNationalPopulationandFamilyPla
nningCommissionplanstointroduceheavypenaltiesforrichorc
elebritycoupleswhohavemorethanonechild.Arecentstudyhas
shownthatmanyrichandfamouspeoplehaveasecondillegalchi
ld,andthat10percenthaveathird.Themeasuresincludeheavy
fines,publicdisgracing(puttingtheirnamesona“shamelist”)
andbanningthemfromgettinghonorsandawards.Thegovernment
isworkingwithindustryandcommercegroupsonthepolicy.Offic
ialscite“celebrityeffect”andtheimportanceofpromotingsoci
alequalityareasonsfortheproposedrule.Celebritieshaveas
pecialinfluenceonsocietyandshouldhavegreaterresponsibilit
y,thereasoninggoes.Theirfameandwealthalsoallowthemtog
etawaywithmuchmorethanordinarypeople,hencethesteeperfi
nes.Butdoesthislineofreasoningreallyholdwater?Dothene
wrulesmakeanysenseatall?Yes---Withfame,wealthandsocial
influencecomesgreaterresponsibility.Harsherfinesandpublic
disgracewouldteachcelebritiesalesson.It’ssimplemathemat
ics.Supposeapoorfarmermakes2,000yuanayear,andgetsfine
d4,000yuanforhavingasecondchild.That’stwoyears’income.
Ifarockstarmaking2millionayearcommitsthesameoffense,
inallfairness,heshouldbefined4million.Celebritiesneed
tobepunishedharderthanordinarypeopleforviolatingthelaw.
Ordinaryfolklookuptotherichandfamous.Consciouslyornot
,manylearnfromthem.Ifcelebritieshaveasmanychildrenast
heywant,somepeoplemaythinkthat’stherightthingtodo,and
followsuit.Iffinesalonecan’tkeepsomepeoplefromhavingo
nlyonechild,itmeanstheregulationisnoteffective.Thenew
ruleisabigimprovement.Totherichandfamous,honorsandawa
rdsmeanalot.Withthenewpolicy,they’llatleastthinktwice
beforetheydecidedtohaveasecondchild.No---Ifit’ssocial
equalityandharmonythatwewant,thenewrulescertainlydon’t
giveusthat.Ifafarmerinthecountrysidecanpaya4,000yuan
fine,orwhatevertheamount,forasecondchild,whycan’tamoviestarorabillionaire?Equalitymeanspeoplegetthesamepunishmentforthesamewrong.Theproposedmeasuresareridiculous.Iftheawardsandhonorscelebritiesgetarenotgivenbythegovernment,whatrightdoesthegovernmenthavetotakethemaway?It’snotrichforthegovernmenttooverstepitsboundsandgointoplaceswhereitdoesn’tbelong.Therulesandfinesmakesenseonlyintheory.Ifthegovernmentcan’teventrackhowmuchtaxescelebritiespayordon’tplay,howcanitpossiblyfindouthowmanychildrentheyhave?Afterall,theycantravelandownhomesanywhereintheworld!Moreover,howrichisrichandhowfamousisfamous?Howwillthegovernmentdecide? |
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