Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Композиция английской письменной речи. Учебное пособие.pdf
assess the condition of a patient before and after a new medicine is given, an
insurance agent point out the features of two insurance policies to highlight the
advantages of one.
Selecting Items for Comparison
Any items you compare must share some common ground. For example,
you could compare two golfers on driving ability, putting ability, and sand play,
or two cars on appearance, gas mileage, and warranty; but you can't
meaningfully compare a golfer with a car, any more than you could compare
guacamole with Guadalajara or chicken with charcoal. There's simply no basis
for comparison. Any valid comparison, on the other hand, presents many
possibilities. Suppose you head the record and tape department of a large store
and have two excellent salespeople working for you. The manager of the store
asks you to prepare a one- or two-page report that compares their qualifications
for managing the record department in a new branch store. Assessing their
abilities becomes the guiding purpose that motivates and controls the writing.
On the spot you can rule out points such as eye color, hair style, and religion,
which have no bearing on job performance. Instead, you must decide what
managerial traits the job will require and the extent to which each candidate
possesses them.
Exercise. Imagine you want to compare two good restaurants in order to
recommend one of them. List the points of similarity and difference that you
might discuss. Differences should predominate because you will base your
decision on them.
Developing a Comparison
Successful comparisons rest upon ample, well-chosen details that show
just how the items under consideration are alike and different. Such support
helps the reader grasp your meaning. Read the following two student paragraphs
and note how the concrete details convey the striking differences between south
and north 14th Street:
On 14th Street running south from P Street are opulent department stores,
such as Woodward and Lothrop and Julius Garfinkle, and small but expensive
clothing stores with richly dressed mannequins in the windows. Modern
skyscraping office buildings harbor banks and travel bureaus on the ground
floors and insurance companies and corporation headquarters in the upper
stories. Dotting the concrete scape are high-priced movie theaters, gourmet
restaurants, multilevel parking garages, bookstores, and candy-novelty-gift
shops, all catering to the prosperous population of the city. This section of
14th Street is relatively clean: the city maintenance crews must clean up after
91
only a nine-to-five populace and the Saturday crowds of shoppers. The
pervading mood of the area is one of bustling wealth during the day and, in
the night, calm.
Crossing P Street toward the north, one notes a gradual but disturbing
change in the scenery of 14th Street. Two architectural features assault the eyes
and automatically register as tokens of trouble: the floodlights that leave no
alley or doorway in shadows and the riot screens that cage in the store
windows. The buildings are old, condemned, decaying monoliths, each
occupying an entire city block. Liquor stores, drugstores, dusty television repair
shops, seedy pornographic bookstores that display photographs of naked bodies
with the genital areas blacked out by strips of tape, discount stores smelling
perpetually of stale chocolate and cold popcorn, and cluttered pawnshopsbusinesses such as these occupy the street level. Each is separated from the
adjoining stores by a littered entranceway that leads up a decaying wooden
stairway to the next two floors. All the buildings are three stories tall; all have
most of their windows broken and blocked with boards or newspapers; and all
reek of liquor, urine, and unidentifiable rot. And so the general atmosphere of
this end of 14th Street is one of poverty and decay.
Student Unknown
Vivid details depict with stark clarity the economic differences between
the two cultures.
Organizing a Comparison
You can use either of two basic patterns to organize a comparison paper:
block or alternating. The paper may deal with similarities, differences, or some
combination of them.
The Block Pattern. The block pattern first presents all of the points of
comparison for one item and then all of the points of comparison for the other.
Here is the comparison of the two salespeople, Pat and Mike, outlined according
to the block pattern.
I. Introduction: mentions similarities in sales skills and effort but
recommends Pat for promotion.
II. Specific points about Mike
A. Leadership qualities
B. Knowledge of ordering and accounting procedures
C. Musical knowledge
III. Specific points about Pat
A. Leadership qualities
B. Knowledge of ordering and accounting procedures
C. Musical knowledge
92
IV. Conclusion: reasserts that Pat should be promoted
The block pattern works best with short papers or ones that include only a
few points of comparison. The reader can easily remember all the points in the
first block while reading the second.
The Alternating Pattern The alternating pattern presents a point about
one item, then follows immediately with a corresponding point about the other.
Organized in this way, the Pat-and-Mike paper would look like this:
I. Introduction: mentions similarities in sales skills and effort but
recommends Pat for promotion.
II. Leadership qualities
A. Mike's qualities
B. Pat's qualities
III. Knowledge of ordering and accounting procedures
A. Mike's knowledge
B. Pat's knowledge
IV. Musical knowledge
A. Mike's knowledge
B. Pat's knowledge
V. Conclusion: reasserts that Pat should be promoted
For longer papers that include many points of comparison, use the
alternating method. Discussing each point in one place highlights similarities
and differences; your reader doesn't have to pause and reread in order to grasp
them. The alternating plan also works well for short papers.
Once you select your pattern, arrange your points of comparison in an
appropriate order. Take up closely related points one after the other. Depending
on your purpose, you might work from similarities to differences or the reverse.
Often, a good writing strategy is to move from the least significant to the most
significant point so that you conclude with punch.
Using Analogy
An analogy, a special type of comparison, calls attention to one or more
similarities underlying two different kinds of items that seem to have nothing in
common. While some analogies stand alone, most clarify concepts in other
kinds of writing. Whatever their role, they follow the same organizational
pattern as ordinary comparisons.
An analogy often explains something unfamiliar by likening it to
something familiar. Here is an example:
The atmosphere of Earth acts like any window in serving two very
important functions. It lets light in, and it permits us to look out. It also serves as
a shield to keep out dangerous or uncomfortable things. A normal glazed
window lets us keep our houses warm by keeping out cold air, and it prevents
93
rain, dirt, and unwelcome insects and animals from coming in.... Earth's
atmospheric window also helps to keep our planet at a comfortable temperature
by holding back radiated heat and protecting us from dangerous levels of
ultraviolet light.
Lester del Ray, The Mysterious Sky
Conversely, an analogy sometimes highlights the unfamiliar in order to
help illuminate the familiar. The following paragraph discusses the qualities and
obligations of an unfamiliar person, the mountain guide, to shed light on a
familiar practice – teaching:
The mountain guide, like the true teacher, has a quiet authority. He or she
engenders trust and confidence so that one is willing to join the endeavor. The
guide accepts his leadership role, yet recognizes that success (measured by the
heights that are scaled) depends upon the close cooperation and active
participation of each member of the group. He has crossed the terrain before
and is familiar with the landmarks, but each trip is new and generates its own
anxiety and excitement. Essential skills must be mastered; if they are lacking,
disaster looms. The situation demands keen focus and rapt attention: slackness,
misjudgment, or laziness can abort the venture.
Nancy K. Hill, Scaling the Heights: The Teacher as Mountaineer
When you develop an analogy, keep these points in mind:
1. Your readers must be well acquainted with the familiar item. If they
aren't, the point is lost.
2. The items must indeed have significant similarities. You could develop
a meaningful analogy between a kidney and a filter or between cancer and
anarchy but not between a fiddle and a flapjack or a laser and limburger cheese.
3. The analogy must truly illuminate. Overly obvious analogies, such as
one comparing a battle to an argument, offer few or no revealing insights.
4. Overextended analogies can tax the reader's endurance. A multipage
analogy between a heart and a pump would likely overwhelm the reader with all
its talk of valves, hoses, pressures, and pumping.
Planning and Drafting the Comparison
Don't write merely to fulfill an assignment; if you do, your paper will
likely ramble aimlessly and fail to deliver a specific message. Instead, build your
paper around a clear sense of purpose. Do you want to show the superiority of
one product or method over another? Do you want to show how sitcoms today
differ from those twenty years ago? Purpose governs the details you choose and
the organization you follow.
94
Whether you select your own topic or write on an assigned one, answer
these questions:
What purpose will my comparison serve?
Who will be my audience and why will they want to read the essay?
What points of similarity or difference will I discuss?
Next, brainstorm each point in turn, recording appropriate supporting
details. When you finish, stand back and ask these questions:
Do all the details relate to my purpose?
Do any new details come to mind?
In what order should I organize the details?
When you decide upon an order, copy the points of comparison and the
details, arranged in the order you will follow.
Use the introduction to identify your topic and arouse the reader's interest.
If you intend to establish the superiority of one item over the other, you might
call attention to your position. If you're comparing something unfamiliar with
something familiar, you might explain the importance of understanding the
unfamiliar item.
Organize the body of your paper according to whichever pattern – block
or alternating – suits its length and the number of points you're planning to take
up. If you explain something familiar by comparing it with something
unfamiliar, start with the familiar item. If you try to show the superiority of one
item over another, proceed from the less to the more desirable one. Note that
both of the Pat-and-Mike outlines put Mike ahead of Pat, the superior candidate.
Write whatever kind of conclusion will round off your discussion
effectively. Many comparison papers end with a recommendation or a
prediction. A paper comparing two brands of stereo receivers might recommend
purchasing one of them. A paper comparing a familiar sport, such as football,
with an unfamiliar one, such as rugby, might predict the future popularity of the
latter. Unless you've written a lengthy paper, don't summarize the likenesses and
differences you've presented. If you've done a proper writing job, your reader
already has them clearly in mind.
Revising the Comparison
Revise your paper in light of the questions that follow:
1. Have I accomplished my purpose, whether to choose between
alternatives or acquaint the reader with something unfamiliar? For something
unfamiliar, have I shown clearly just how it is like and unlike the familiar item?
2. Have I consistently written with my audience in mind?
3. Have I considered all points of similarity and difference that relate to
my purpose? Have I included appropriate supporting details? Are my comparisons
arranged effectively?
95
Exercise. Write a comparison essay on one of the topics below or another
that your teacher approves. determine the points you will discuss and how you
will develop and arrange them. Emphasize similarities, differences, or both.
1. Two advertisements
2. Parents versus teachers as educators
3. Something natural and something artificial
4. A novel and movie that tell the same story
5. Two teachers
6. A television family and your family
7. Two cities
8. Suburban home life and apartment life
9. The working conditions on two jobs
96
9. CAUSE AND EFFECT
Cause and effect, like the two sides of a coin, are inseparably linked and
together make up causation. Cause probes the reasons why actions, events,
attitudes, and conditions exist. Effect examines their consequences. Causation is
important to us because it can explain historical events, natural happenings, and
the actions and attitudes of individuals and groups. It can help us anticipate the
consequences of personal actions, natural phenomena, or governmental policies.
Everyone asks and answers questions of causation. Scott wonders why
Sue really broke off their relationship, and Jennifer speculates on the
consequences of changing her major. People wonder why child abuse and
homelessness are on the rise, and millions worry about the effects of corporate
cost cutting and rising crime rates.
Inevitably, therefore, you will need to write papers and reports that
employ causation. Your instructors might ask you to write on topics such as the
causes of the American Revolution, the consequences of white-collar crime, the
reasons why so many couples are divorcing, or the effects of different fertilizers
on plant growth. An employer may want a report on why a certain product
malfunctions, what might happen if a community redesigns its traffic pattern, or
how a school closing might affect business.
Patterns in Casual Analysis
Several organizational patterns are possible for a causal analysis.
Sometimes, a single cause produces several effects. For instance, poor language
skills prevent college students from keeping up with required reading, taking
adequate notes, and writing competent papers and essay exams. To explore such
a single cause-multiple effect relationship, construct an outline similar to the one
following:
I. Introduction: identifies cause
II. Body
A. Effect number 1
B. Effect number 2
С. Effect number 3
III. Conclusion
Alternatively, you might discuss the cause after the effects are presented.
97
On the other hand, several causes may join forces to produce one effect.
Zinc production in the United States, for example, has decreased over the last
few years because it can be produced more cheaply abroad than it can here, it is
being replaced on cars by plastics and lighter metals, and it cannot be recycled.
Here's how you might organize a typical multiple cause-single effect paper.
I. Introduction: identifies effect
II. Body
A. Cause number 1
B. Cause number 2
C. Cause number 3
III. Conclusion
Sometimes discussion of the effect follows the presentation of causes.
At times a set of events forms a causal chain, with each event the effect of
the preceding one and the cause of the following one. For example, a student
sleeps late and so misses breakfast and ends up hungry and distracted, which in
turn results in a poor performance on an exam. Interrupting the chain at any
point halts the sequence. Such chains can be likened to a row of upright
dominoes that fall one after the other when the first one is pushed. Belief in a
domino theory, which held that if one nation in Southeast Asia fell to the
communists all would, one after the other, helped bring about U.S. entry into the
Vietnam War. Causal chains can also help explain how devices function and
some social changes proceed. The following outline typifies the arrangement of
a paper explaining a causal chain:
I. Introduction
II. Body
A. Cause
B. Effect
C. Cause
D. Effect
III. Conclusion
Papers of this kind resemble process analyses, but process is concerned
with how the events occur, cause and effect with why.
In many situations the sequence of causes and effects is too complex to fit
the image of a chain. Suppose you are driving to a movie on a rainy night. You
approach an intersection screened by bushes and, because you have the right-ofway, start across. Suddenly a car with unlit headlights looms directly in your
path. You hit the brakes but skid on the slippery pavement and crash into the
other car, crumpling its left fender and damaging your own bumper. Later, as
you think about the episode, you begin to sense its complexities.
Obviously, the immediate cause of the accident was the other driver's
failure to heed the stop sign. But other causes also played roles: the bushes and
98
unlit headlights that kept you from seeing the other car sooner; the starts and
stops, speedups and slowdowns that brought the two cars to the intersection at
the same time; the wet pavement you skidded on; and the movie that brought
you out in the first place.
You also realize that the effects of the accident go beyond the fender and
bumper damage. After the accident, a police officer ticketed the other driver. As
a result of the delay, you missed the movie. Further, the accident unnerved you
so badly that you couldn't attend classes the next day and therefore missed an
important writing assignment. Because of a bad driving record, the other driver
lost his license for sixty days. Clearly, the effects of this accident rival the
causes in complexity.
Here's how you might organize a multiple cause-multiple effect essay:
I. Introduction
II. Body
A. Cause number 1
B. Cause number 2
C. Cause number 3
D. Effect number 1
E. Effect number 2
F. Effect number 3
III. Conclusion
In some situations, however, you might first present the effects, then turn
to the causes.
Exercise. Read the following selection and then arrange the events in a
causal chain.
Although some folk societies still exist today, similar human groups
began the slow process of evolving into more complex societies many millennia
ago, through settlement in villages and through advances in technology and
organizational structure. This gave rise to the second level of organization:
civilized preindustrial, or “feudal,” society. Here there is a surplus of food
because of the selective cultivation of grains – and also because of the practice
of animal husbandry. The food surplus permits both the specialization of labor
and the kind of class structure that can, for instance, provide the leadership and
command the manpower to develop and maintain extensive irrigation systems
(which in turn makes possible further increases in the food supply)....
Gideon Sjoberg, The Origin and Development of Cities
Exercise. Trace the possible effects of the following occurrences:
1. You pick out a salad at the cafeteria and sit down to eat. Suddenly you
notice a large green worm on one of the lettuce leaves.
99
2. As you leave your composition classroom, you trip and break your arm.
3. Your boss has warned you not to be late to work again. You are driving
to work with ten minutes to spare when you get a flat tire.
Reasoning Errors in Casual Analysis
Ignoring Multiple Causes. An effect rarely stems from a single cause.
The person who believes that permissive parents have caused the present
upsurge of venereal disease or the one who blames television violence for the
climbing numbers of emotionally disturbed children oversimplifies the
situation. Permissiveness and violence perhaps did contribute to these
conditions. Without much doubt, however, numerous other factors also
played important parts.
Mistaking Chronology for Causation. Don't assume that just because
one event followed another the first necessarily caused the second. This kind
of faulty thinking feeds many popular superstitions. Horace walks under a
ladder, later stubs his toe, and thinks that his path caused his pain. Sue breaks
a mirror just before Al breaks their engagement; then she blames the cracked
mirror. Many people once believed that the election of Herbert Hoover as
President in 1928 brought on the Great Depression in 1929. Today some
people believe that the testing of atomic weapons has altered our weather
patterns. Don't misunderstand: one event may cause the next; but before you
go on record with your conclusion, make sure that you're not dealing with
mere chronology.
Confusing Causes with Effects. Young children sometimes declare that
the moving trees make the wind blow. Similarly, some adults may think that
Pam and Paul married because they fell in love, when in reality economic
necessity mandated the vows, and love came later. Scan your evidence carefully
in order to avoid such faulty assertions.
Exercise. Which of the following statements point toward papers that will
focus on causes? Which point toward papers focusing on effects? Explain your
answers.
1. Most of the problems that plague newly married couples are the direct
outgrowth of timidity and pride.
2. The Marshall Plan was designed to aid the economic recovery of
Europe after World War II.
3. The smoke from burning poison ivy can bring on a skin rash and lung
irritation.
4. Popularity in high school stems largely from good looks, a pleasing
personality, participation in school activities, the right friends, and frequent
dates.
100