English Writing I Part I. Manuscript Form © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

An Important Difference between Writing and Talking In everyday conversation, you make all kinds of points or assertions. You say, for example, “My boss is a hard person to work with,” “It’s not safe to walk in our neighborhood after dark,” or “Poor study habits keep getting me into trouble.” The points that you make concern personal matters as well as, at time, outside issues: “That trade will be a disaster for the team,” “Lots of TV commercials are degrading to women,” “Students are better off working for a year before at- tending college.” The people you are talking with do not always challenge you to give reasons for your state- ments. They may know why you feel as you do, or they may already agree with you, or they simply may not want to put you on the spot; and so they do not always ask why. But people who read what you write may not know you, agree with you, or feel in any way obliged to you. If you want to communicate effectively with readers, you must provide solid evidence for any point you make. An important difference, then, between writing and talking in this: In writing, any idea that you advance must be supported with specific reasons or details. Think of your readers as reasonable people. They will not take your views on faith, but they are willing to accept what you say as long as you support it. Therefore, remember to support with specific evidence any point that you make. Sample text 2 cm 1,5 cm © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

I. Text Arrangement  1. Write on every line.  2. Write on only one side at the paper.  3. Respect margins : 2 cm on the top, 1,5 cm at the left, the right and the bottom.  4. When there is not enough space, write a word on the next line or divide it.  5. Indent every paragraph: leave 5 letters. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

I. Text Arrangement  6. Paging with Arabic numerals in the upper right- hand corner.  7. No paging on the first page  8. Do not begin a line with a comma, a period, a semicolon, a colon, a question mark, an exclamation mark.,. : ; ? !  9. Do not end a line with the 1 st half of a pair of brackets, parentheses, or quotation marks. {} [] () “”  10. The hyphen at the end, not at the beginning - © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

Title  1. My First Visit to the Palace Museum  2. The People without a Country  3. Rules to Abide By  4. Dickens and David Copperfield  5. What Can the Artist Do on the World of Today?  6. What Reform Means to China  7. The Myth of a “Negro Literature”  8. The English-Speaking People in China © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

Arrangement Title  1. In the middle of the line.  2. Capitalization:  2.1. the first and last words.  2.2. Capitalize all the other keywords.  2.3. All words in compound words  3. Do not capitalize : 1. articles 2. conjunctions 3. prepositions 4. “to” in infinitives. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

Arrangement Punctuation in Titles  1. No period at the end..  2. Question mark in direct question. No question mark in indirect question. ?  3. Quotation marks with quotes or titles of articles. “ ”  4. Underline (italicize) names of books. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

II. Capital Letters  1. The alien said, “Take me to your leader.”  2. Last night I met my friend Bill.  3. Jiujiang University is the right place for education.  4. Today is Wednesday, the 25 th of January. It’s Christmas!  5. Nick installed a Nokia cell phone into his Ford Ranger.  6. We read the book “Robin Hood” for our English class.  7. Hilldale Dancers’ Club won many competitions. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

II. Capital Letters  1. The 1 st word in the sentence or direct quotation.  2. Names of persons and the word I.  3. Names of particular places.  4. Names of days of the week, months, and holidays.  5. Names of commercial products.  6. Titles of articles, books, magazines, newspapers, stories, poems, films, television shows, songs, papers that you write and the like (see “Capitalization” in “Titles”).  7. Names of companies, associations, unions, clubs, religious and political groups, and other organizations. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

III. Word Division  1. Divide a word into syllables (hand-book).  2. Never start a line with the hyphen.  3. One-syllable words are not divided (smart).  4. One-letter syllable is not left in a line (a-lone).  5. Two-letter syllable is not taken to the next line (hat-ed).  6. Avoid separating proper names(Jiu-jiang, Chi-na).  7. Hyphenated words at the hyphen (well-organized).  8. Do not mislead the reader (pea-cock).  9. Do not divide the last word on a page.  10. Prefix+base+suffix (un-divid-able).  11. Double consonants between the consonants (lad- der) © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

V. Handwriting  1. Easy for reading  2. Capital letters are bigger and higher  3. a – o  4. n – u  5. I – j  6. i - j  7. i, j, t  8. Space after punctuation symbols., ? ! : ;  9. Cross out  10. Add a word above the line with a clear sign  11. Choose one way of writing: loops or printing. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

Punctuation 1. The Period (.)  1. Every student should learn to use punctuation marks.  2. Learn punctuation marks  Students asked how the comma should be used.  3. Mr. Mrs. Ms. Dr. Ph.D. a.m. p.m. Bros.  4. “What do you mean?” “I mean… well, I mean nothing special.” © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

Punctuation 1. The Period (.)  1. The period (full stop) marks the end of a sentence.  2. Sentences marked with the period at the end: declarative, mildly imperative, indirect question.  3. Some abbreviations: Mr. Mrs. Ms. Dr. Ph.D. a.m.  4. Three spaced periods (the ellipsis mark): indicate the omission of one or more words or shoes a pause. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

The Comma (,) Six Main Uses of the Comma  1. There are book, pens, and pencils on the table.  2. Just in time, a student entered a classroom with a bell ringing.  3. Ben’s computer, which is a birthday gift from his wife, occupies all his spare time.  4. Sam closed all the windows, but the predicted thunderstorm never arrived.  5. “I am sorry,” said the officer. “You’ll have to wait.”  6. You are the best, Ann!  Dear Ann, Sincerely yours, $50,000 May 9, 2019 © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University

The Comma (,) Six Main Uses of the Comma  1. To separate items in a series.  2. To set of introductory material.  3. On both sides of words that interrupt the flow of thought in a sentence.  4. Between two complete thoughts connected by and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.  5. To set off a direct quotation from the rest of a sentence.  6. For certain everyday material. © Olga Predushchenko, Jiujiang University