interpreting writter point of view...

INTERPRETING WRITER’S POINTS OF VIEW, ATTITUDES OR INTENSION

ü  Trying to understand a text trough the writer’s perception, which is influence by his or her personal beliefs on an issue.

ü  The writer’s beliefs might be neutral (taking no side)

ü  The writer’s beliefs might be biased ( in favour of one side only)

TONE – refers to the writer’s use of words and writing styles to demonstrate his or her stand towards the issue in the text. You can determine the tone used in a text by:

·         Looking at word choice: words have positive, negative or even neutral association.

·         Analyzing the phrasing used to describe an event: is the author sarcastic? Does the writer lay out facts with no opinion?

·         Considering how you feel when you read the text: what emotions have been evoked in you? Do you feel angry, sad or happy?

Writers normally write for one of these 4 REASONS:

1)  To inform

2)  To instruct

3) To persuade

4) To entertain

argumentative essay...

Before Writing...

J  Brainstorm ideas on the subject.

J  Identify the main topics.

J  Use these topics as headings for organising your notes.

J  Decide which side you are on i.e. which arguments are most convincing. Make sure you choose the side that you can fully support.

J  Plan and write an outline for your essay noting down the information you will include in each paragraph.

Introductory Paragraph

Your introduction should:

ü  Introduce the topic with a general statement

ü  State why it is important

ü  State there is a difference of opinion about this topic

ü  Thesis statement must state what YOUR claim is and can include the  “parts” of the argument you are going to state.

Body Paragraphs

>        Arguments for:  The reasons “parts” of your thesis statement will be in your body paragraphs. 

>        Give clear arguments for your claim with support (examples, statistics, explanations, etc.)

>        Use transition words as you move from paragraph to paragraph (Firstly, secondly, furthermore, in addition, moreover, finally).

>        You can also use any of the transitions from the other essay types as long as they are appropriate for your argument. (You may want to compare/contrast things, give reasons/results, descriptions, definitions etc.)

Refutation Paragraph

v  This is also used to support your claim.

v  Use the counter arguments to show that your idea is the stronger one.

v  Do not focus only on the opposing ideas.

Useful words and phrases

could be claimed

It                      may be  asserted  that...   However,

might be  argued

Concluding paragraph

Your conclusion should:

• Restate the main claim
• Present one or two general sentences which accurately summarise your arguments which support the main premise
• Provide a general warning of the consequences of not following the premise that you put forward and/or a general statement of how the community will benefit from following that premise

PRESENTATION

Today we do the presentation about essay we had done used CURRENT EVENT as an introductory paragraph...

CURRENT EVENT

According to New Straits Times, the latest case was a dead baby girl found floating in a sewage tank behind a girls' college hostel in remote Kelantan two days ago. The decomposed body was found by a group of boys playing nearby. Two more abandoned baby cases were reported that day in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. This situation can be caused by many factors which surround us. Thus, baby dumping is caused by peer pressure, modern technology and lack of knowledge in individual self.

        

         Peer pressure is one of the factors that contribute to baby dumping. Drinking, smoking, have sex when a person is not ready and whatever it may be, sometimes others put the pressure on you to participate in something that you might not want to do it. This kind of pressure can cover everything from fashion through sex and dating. It needs to be made aware that peers can prove to have influence on each other. When your friends ask you something that you never do before this, you will make it as a challenge such as having a couple as well as having a sex. As a result, the victim will be pressured to do the baby dumping. Thus, one should not succumb to a peer pressure when it comes to doing the bad thing from the starting.

        

        Another cause of baby dumping in this country is due to modern technology. Nowadays, people have unlimited communication with each other due to the presence of numerous social networking. Examples of social networking are Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Messenger and many more. All of these social networks can bring negative impact to those people who misuse it. The negative impact of social networking is evident in online dating when the couple meets face-to-face for the first time. Commonly their personalities do not match their self-written descriptions. They use the wrong detail of personalities to trap people. After that, he would ask for a blind date after they managed to deceive the victim. It might be the person she would see is a bad person. Therefore, we should not easily believe the person we just know especially through internet.

         Besides, lack of knowledge in individual self also is one of the causes of baby dumping. The knowledge about sexual education has been implemented since in secondary school but some of them are not interested about it. They might be thought that they can manage their life in future. In addition, they are not thinking about negative impact that will occur in the future. For instance, when many young teenagers are doing the baby dumping, they are susceptible to side effects such as illness. Sometimes, most of them do not practise what they have learnt during the religious classes. Instead, they want to satisfy their desire. When a woman is pregnant out of wedlock, then they will take the easiest way that is baby dumping to settle the problem without thinking of religious law. Thus, every person should have general knowledge such as sexual education in order to reduce the growing incidence of abandoned babies.

       In a nutshell, peer pressure, modern technology and lack of knowledge in individual self are the causes of baby dumping. Isn’t it clear now that baby dumping is in a critical stage? Isn’t it time for the leaders of the world to stop being merely a ‘talking shop’ and actually take effective action to deal with baby dumping? Shouldn’t we, as normal citizens, stand up and be counted as well in dealing with this problem? Or are we just going to wait until baby dumping becomes the norm in our life before we actually do something?      

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT.

ARTICLE

—  There are only three articles in English: a, an and the.

—  There are two types of articles indefinite 'a' and 'an' or definite 'the'. You also need to know when not to use an article.

Indefinite articles - a and an (DETERMINERS)

—  A and an are the indefinite articles. They refer to something not specifically known to the person you are communicating with.

—  A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before:-

EXAMPLE FOR DETERMINERS

For example:

—  "I saw an elephant this morning."
"I ate a banana for lunch." A and an are also used when talking about your profession:-

For example:

—  "I am an English teacher."
"I am a builder."

Definite Article - the (DETERMINERS)

You use the when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing you are talking about.

                For example:

—  "The apple you ate was rotten."
"Did you lock the car?"

You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

                For example:

—  "She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."

We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.

                For example:

—  the North Pole, the equator .

We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

                For example:

—  the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel.

We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

                For example:

—  the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..

However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.

                For example:

—  "I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing."

—  "What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her."

The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc

NO ARTICLE

•       We usually use no article to talk about things in general:-

•       For example:

•       Inflation is rising.

•       People are worried about rising crime.

                 (People generally, so no article)

•       Do not use an article when talking about sports.

•       My son plays football.

•       Tennis is expensive.

Do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about  them generally.

For example:

•       Information is important to any organisation.

•       Coffee is bad for you.

•       Do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the words (state(s), kindom, republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic and union are nouns, so they need an article.

•       For example:

•       No article - Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England

•       Use the - the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish Republic

presentation by:

MAIZATUL, RASYIDAH, DIAN AND NUR HAZIRAH..

Subject-Verb Agreement

Agreement

—  Present tense verbs in English should agree with the subject of the sentence

—  Singular subjects use singular verbs

—  Jack robs liquor stores (s on the verb)

—  Plural subjects use plural verbs

—  Bonnie and Clyde rob banks (no s on the verb)

—  Most native speaker do this instinctively

—  More complex problems require you to learn a few rules

Identify the Subject

—  Ignore words that come between the subject and the verb

—  Reduce sentences to their simplest form

—  A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars

—  A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars

—  A good set of skis costs  hundreds of dollars

—  My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every Friday

—  My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every Friday

—  My boss, as well as her staff, leaves early every Friday

Compound Subjects using “And”

—  Most compound subjects joined by “and” are plural

—  Bert and Ernie is / are special friends

—  Bert and Ernie is / are special friends (plural verb)

—  Exception: If the words joined by “and” refer to a single thing, the subject is also singular

—  War and Peace is a very thick book (singular)

—  My friend and co-worker is waiting to see you (singular)

Compound Subjects using “Or”

—  When the subject is joined with “or” or “nor” the verb agrees with the words closest to the verb

—  Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control over the number of 8 o’clock classes

—  Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control over the number of 8 o’clock classes (plural verb)

—  Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies

—  Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies (singular verb)

—  Note: While the above example is correct, it is usually better to place the plural word closer to the verb

—  Either a membership or two credit cards are needed before you can rent movies (plural verb)

Indefinite Pronouns

—  Indefinite pronouns are singular

—  every, everyone, everybody, each, neither, either, none, one, no one

—  Every student has / have a unique student number

—  Every student has / have a unique student number

—  None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message

—  None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message

—  Ignore prepositional phrases coming between the subject and the verb

—  Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors

—  Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors

Collective Nouns

—  Words such as jury, committee, or herd will be singular when everyone in the group is acting together

—  The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused

—  The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused

—  Collective nouns will be plural when the members of the group are not acting together

—   The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused

—  The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused

Here, There, and It

—  When the sentence begins with Here or There, the subject follows the verb and controls whether the verb is plural

—  Here are my reasons for quitting (plural)

—  There is no need to pay me next week (singular)

—  It is always singular

—  It was the long hours that bothered me (singular)

—  RULES – When the sentences start with “THERE” and “HERE”, the subject will be always be placed after the verb

Words Ending in S

—  Words such as economics, AIDS, physics and news are singular

—  Economics is fun and exciting

—  The news is usually broadcast live

—  Words such as scissors, eyeglasses and pants that name things with two parts are plural

—  My glasses were broken when I did a face plant

ADJECTIVE

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually procedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

ADJECTIVE BEFORE NOUNS

Ø  Adjective describe a noun

Example: Mark went to an expensive restaurant for dinner. 

(Expensive is an adjective, restaurant is noun)

ADJECTIVE PAIRS

Ø  Adjectives ending in -ing, describe a situation or a thing

Example: Malaysia Fest attracted many tourists. The events were exciting.

Ø  Adjectives ending in-ed, describe how a person feels

Example: Sally was excited to receive so many presents on her birthday. 

COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

Ø  used when one noun is compared to another noun

Ø  can be form in 2 ways:

·         adding -er to an adjectives (older, younger, taller)

·         adding more in front of an adjectives

      (more expensive, more beautiful)

!! NOTE - DO NOT use -er and more together!!

Example: Erna's watch is more cheaper than mine.

               Erna's watch is cheaper than mine.

SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

Ø  used to compare three or more nouns

Ø  can be form in 2 ways :

·         adding -est to an adjectives 

      (longest, eldest, biggest) 

·         adding most in front of an adjectives 

      (most intelligent, most loving, most expensive )

!! NOTE - DO NOT use -est and most together!!

Example: Erna's watch is the most cheapest

               Erna's watch is the cheapest