Hess Education
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
1
Writing Skills
for
Theses and Articles
• Department of Computer Science & Information
Engineering, National Taiwan University
• http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~writing/
• Non-credit elective, Eligibility: 2nd year M.A.
students, 3rd year+ Ph.D. students
• Dr. William C. Vocke:
• Cell: 0937-061-456
• Email: [email protected]
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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IS
• This IS
– Hard Work
– English
– Skill (sports, instruments)
• This is NOT
–
–
–
–
–
Fall 2004
Conceptual
intimate
chinese
grammar
spelling
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Purpose
• To increase the quality of the English
writing skills focusing on
theses/dissertations and articles/papers
• As Microsoft demonstrates…
• “Young engineers who write with clarity
and make logical presentations tend to
become supervisors of other engineers
within 5 years of graduation”
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Goals
• You will have an effective, personal outline
for a research topic by the course’s end.
• More student papers will be accepted for
presentations or publication in English.
• English theses/dissertations will be more
polished upon submission to faculty.
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Format
• Each 3 hour class meeting is divided into thirds for a total of 12, 50minute sessions
– A homework assignment precedes each class meeting
• Each 50 minute session includes:
– Lecture, bulleted PowerPoint handouts
– Illustrations from
• Completed theses and papers
• Student homework assignments
– Activities: one of the following
•
•
•
•
Planning practice
Outlining practice
Writing practice
Editing practice
– Hints
• Writing hint of the session
• ESL hint of the session
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Useful Texts
[If available, these will be on reserve in the main library.]
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Alley, Michael. (2003). The Craft of Scientific Presentations. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Alley, Michael. (2000). The Craft of Editing: A Guide for Managers, Scientists, and Engineers.
New York: Springer-Verlag.
Alley, Michael. (1996). The Craft of Scientific Writing (3rd ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Booth, Vernon. (1993). Communicating in Science-Writing a Scientific Paper and Speaking at
Scientific Meetings (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(Dictionary (a Chinese/English version at your level, i.e., introductory, intermediate or advanced)
Grammar (one good one is: Swan, Michael. (1995). Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Paradis, James G. & Zimmerman, Muriel L. (1997). The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering
Communications. Boston: MIT Press.
Strunk, Jr., W. & White, E. B. (1979). Elements of Style (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn
& Bacon
Style and citation format from your target journal, convention or department.
Turabian, K. L. (1996). A Manual for Writers of Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (6th ed.).
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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Assessment
• Evaluation
Students develop a portfolio of materials that they have
written or edited. This shows their commitment and
provides a measure of their progress. A pass/fail grade
is given.
• Homework
–
–
–
–
–
Fall 2004
Due:
Monday before class.
Format: English Name, Chinese Name, Homework #___
Assignment
Email to: [email protected]
RE:
CS Homework #___
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6 28 3
7 14
1981
4 20+50+
1212
186
3 17 4
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Writing Hint
Approach writing as a
continuous iterative
process.
Structuring
Process Writing
Drafting
Re-viewing
Generating Ideas
Focusing
Evaluating
White & Arndt (1991)
Fall 2004
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“But in science the credit goes to the man
who convinces the world, not to the man
whom the idea first occurs.”
-Sir Francis Darwin
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ESL Hint
1. Good writing varies by culture, in addition to
varying by audience, discipline and purpose, i.e.
direct or indirect, personal or impersonal, plain
or embellished, etc.
2. Vague is bad in English technical writing.
Some, however, intentionally write vaguely, attempting
to demonstrate their greater wisdom with seductive
phrases and illusory allusions rather than speaking
in diamorphous linear constructions thereby
befuddling those readers lacking a clear personal
sense of rectitude.
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Assessing Theses
• Table of Contents
– This is the FINAL outline.
– It demonstrates the logic of the project.
• Examples
–1
–2
[Writing Hint]
–3
–4
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Writing Hint
1. Tell them what you are going to tell
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you told
Beginning
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Middle
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End
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Audience
Take a minute and write down why you think I may
be wearing this?
Good reasons?
Bad reasons?
Basic ruleDon’t let anything external get in the way of good
communication.
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Assessing Theses
• Abstract- [which looks best?]
– Strategies
•
•
•
•
Outline- What you did.
Outcome- Background & conclusion
Impact- Importance & conclusion
others
[
• Examples
[Editing Code]
–
–
–
–
Fall 2004
1
2
3
4
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Exercise 1
You have an abstract.
1) Make 3-8 editing marks on the original.
2) Re-write the original.
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Exercise 1 cont’d
• Partner with someone
1. Review the editing marks to see if you
understand them.
– What is the total number of marks that you
both agree are correct.
– Write it at the top of both papers.
2. Compare your rewritten version and
together write a new, third version.
3. Hand in the result
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Exercise 1 cont’t
Game production is constantly more complex, and
graphics systems are the most important part of modern
game software. Graphic systems have to cooperate
heavily with other components, since making a game
requires not only programming but also extensive
content, and most content is heavily graphic.
This thesis makes the production more effective. It
proposes the design and implementation of an objectoriented graphics engine, an engine that would be easy
to use and extend. Also offered are engine tools that
build a smooth graphics content pipeline and are suitable
for small production teams. The engine and tools mean
better games at less cost.
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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ESL Hint
In English writers are expected to cite all
sources. This includes as much detail as
is available.
For instance, the page number if available.
[Make it easy for the reader to check!}
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Day 2
• Review
– Assessing tables of contents
– Assessing Abstracts
• Today
–
–
–
–
–
–
Writing Exercise
Idea Generation
Research Questions
Writing a Thesis Statement
Formal Structure
Outlining
• [Editing Code]
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Writing Hint
Approach writing as a
continuous iterative
process.
Structuring
Process Writing
Drafting
Re-viewing
Generating Ideas
Focusing
Evaluating
White & Arndt (1991)
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Exercise 1 cont’t
Game production is constantly more complex, and
graphics systems are the most important part of modern
game software. Graphic systems have to cooperate
heavily with other components, since making a game
requires not only programming but also extensive
content, and most content is heavily graphic.
This thesis makes the production more effective. It
proposes the design and implementation of an objectoriented graphics engine, an engine that would be easy
to use and extend. Also offered are engine tools that
build a smooth graphics content pipeline and are suitable
for small production teams. The engine and tools mean
better games at less cost.
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
Program
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Exercise 1 cont’d
• Why these choices
– Strategy
– Research Question
– Thesis Statement
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Your Parameters
Constraints(external) Choices(internal)
Audience
Topic (?)
Format
Structure
Mechanics
Depth
Politics
Language
Illustration
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Lie, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication”
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Writing Hint
Know your audience and write from the
reader’s perspective.
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Audience
•
•
•
•
•
•
Who reads it?
Why will they read it?
How will they read it?
What do they know?
What is your relationship?
What do you want to happen?
– [normally for CSIE-inform and/or persuade but
can also entertain and call to action]
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Your Audience
Exercise 2
• List the likely audiences for your writing.
• Put the list in a rank order, most to least
important.
• Compare the list with your partner’s.
• Compare our joint list with another
group’s
• Help generate a class list.
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Writing Hint
• Special difficulties in Technical Writing
– Complex subjects
– Complicated insider’s language
• Compensate for these
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Your Parameters
Constraints(external) Choices(internal)
Audience
Topic (?)
Format
Structure
Mechanics
Depth
Politics
Language
Illustration
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Lie, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication”
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Generating a Topic: Techniques
• Brainstorming
– Alone
– Group (talking and listening)
•
•
•
•
•
Clustering
Asking questions
Freewriting
Annotating texts
Searching internet
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Class Contract!!
• An idea set or thesis statement is the
property of the creator, unless explicitly
released.
• DO NOT steal your colleagues ideas!
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Exercise 3
1) Using one of these techniques, generate
a research idea. 2 minutes
2) Get in groups of 4.
3) Briefly explain your idea to the group.1
minute
4) Have the group expand the idea.2
minutes
5) Repeat the process for each of the 4
people
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From Idea Set to
Research Question
• Narrow
• Challenging
• Grounded
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Thesis Statement
• This is the sentence stating the main point.
– A generalization, not a fact
– Limited, not too broad
– Focused, not too vague
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Identifying Questions & Theses
• 4 abstracts
• Write the Question and Thesis for each at
the bottom of the page.
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The next colored slides adapted from Hua-Kuang Lie, PowerPoint, for “Effective
Science and Engineering Communication.”
Creating Titles
The title is the single most important
part of any document.
It tells people what the document is.
If it is unclear, many people for whom you
wrote the document will never read it.
An example of a weak title:
Reducing the Hazards of Operations
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Creating Titles
Criteria for a strong title:
• identifies the field of study for the document
• separates the document from other documents
Weak:
Effects of Humidity on the growth of Avalanches
(Avalanches of slow or electrons?)
Revised title:
Effects of Humidity on the Growth of Electron
Avalanches in Electrical Gas Discharges
Fall 2004
A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Creating Titles
Weak:
Studies on the Electrodeposition of Lead on
Copper (Why?)
Improved
Effects of Rhodamine-B on the Electrodeposition of
Lead on Copper
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A Hess-NTU Cooperative
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Creating Titles
Weak:
Effects of Rhodamine-B and Saccharin on the
Electric Double Layer During Nickel
Electrodeposition on Platinum Studied by ACCyclic Voltammetry (Why?)
Improved
Use of AC-Cyclic Voltammetry to Study Organic
Agents in the Electrodeposition of Nickel on
Platinum
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Creating Titles
Big-word syndrome:
10 MW Solar Thermal Electric Central Receiver
Barstow Power Pilot Plant Transfer Fluid
Conversion Study (It overwhelms)
Improved:
Proposal to Use a New Heat Transfer Fluid in the
Solar One Power Plant (small words, rest stops;
‘proposal’, special situation)
Note: Solar One: the world’s largest solar power plant
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Creating Titles
Unfamiliar-word syndrome:
Use of an IR FPA in Determining the Temperature
Gradient of a Face (It puzzles)
Improved:
Determining Temperature Gradients With a
New Infrared Optical Device
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Day 3
• Review-culture & audience
• For each of the four abstracts
• Exercise 4:
Write Thesis Statement and Research
Question for each Abstract on the board.
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Thesis Hooks
•
•
•
•
•
•
Startling statistic or fact
Vivid example
Description
Quotation
Question
Analogy
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Writing Hint
• Generate a large body of ideas to define
the scope of your project
• Define your Basic Research Question
• Focus on a one-sentence Thesis
Statement answering the Question
• Find a Hook
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Exercise 5
1) Groups of 4
2) Take out the Idea Set you generated.
3) As a group, write a tentative Research
Question and a Thesis for each idea set.
4) Decide which you think is best
5) Have one member report that idea to the
class.
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Selecting Wining Topics
•
•
•
•
Ask the field (journals)
Ask the experts (professor)
Ask the next stars (colleagues)
Ask What?
1. Research Question
2. Thesis Statement
3. Idea Set
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ESL Hint
• Chinese allows the omission of the subject
or the verb. Expect in commands ( Be
quiet!), English always requires you to
state the subject and verb of the main
sentence.
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Your Parameters
Constraints(external) Choices(internal)
Audience
Topic (?)
Format
Structure
Mechanics
Depth
Politics
Language
Illustration
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Lie, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication”
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Fields in Computer Science
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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Writing Hint
1. Tell them what you are going to tell
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you told
Beginning
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Middle
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Formats in fields
• “Discourse Grammer”
• GSU Outline for Program Development
• Reports on your findings
–1
–2
–3
–4
– Etc.
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Structure
• Voice/Style
• Decide how you want to be heard
– Student
– Authority
– Raising a Question
– Humbly
– Proudly
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Structure
Formal Formats vs. Personal Structures
• Choices
– Ease
– Professionalism
– Inattention
– Acceptance
– Safety
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
Excitement
Creativity
Attention
Rejection
Risk
• Outcome- Gain
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Writing Hint
• Numbers Rule
– of 3:
• For powerful sets, or
• To make the middle item the winner
– of 2: for contrasts
– of 5: >5 is often too much
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Four C’s of Communication
•
•
•
•
ColorClarityCaratCut-
Precision & Coherence
Purity & Transparence
Substance & Importance
Organization, Structure,
Style, & Charisma
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Lie, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication
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Your Parameters
Constraints(external) Choices(internal)
Audience
Topic (?)
Format
Structure
Mechanics
Depth
Politics
Language
Illustration
Adapted from Hua-Kuang Lie, PowerPoint, for “Effective Science and
Engineering Communication”
Fall 2004
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Word Choice Hints
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Do not omit needed words
Eliminate redundant words
Place modifiers with their subject
Keep verbs consistent in tense and the active
voice
Use the active voice (replace “be” verbs)
Use appropriate language
Use exact language
Keep your voice consistent (I, we, etc.)
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Sentence Hints
•
•
•
•
•
•
Focus on the main idea
Combine choppy sentences
Simplify sentences
Use a variety of sentences
Use a variety of sentence openings
Use parallelism
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Exercise 6
• Here are some technical paragraphs from
your homework. [3 sets]
• Will the “author” please explain each
• Go over them in class and point out issues
• Identify topic sentence for each
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Topic Sentence
• Is the Thesis Statement for the paragraph.
• Is usually at the start
• Signals the next step in the argument
– Suggests the next topic
– Helps the transition
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Structure-Paragraphs
1. Focus the Main Point-Topic Sentence
•
•
•
Usually first
Sometimes after a transition
Occasionally at the end
2. Develop the main point- too short is often too
little
3. Organize the paragraph
•
•
Fall 2004
Methods include: examples, description, process,
comparison, contrast, definition, cause and effect,
classification and division, etc.
Order of importance; Least to greatest or invert?
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Structure-Paragraphs cont’d
4. Make the Paragraph Coherent
•
Signaling
•
•
•
•
•
Link-ideas
Repeat key words
Use parallel structure (parallelism)
Be consistent
Transitions
5. Adjust Paragraph Length
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Exercise 7
• Here are 5 paragraphs
• Read them and put them in order, 1-5,
best to worst
• Rewrite the worst
• Go over the paragraphs in class
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Summary
Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
•
•
•
•
•
Use a suitable design
Make the paragraph the unit of
composition
The active voice should be used
Put statements in a positive form
Use definite, specific, concrete language
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Strunk and White, cont’d
The Elements of Style
6. Omit needless excessive words
7. Avoid a succession of lose sentences
8. Use parallelism
9. Keep related words together
10. Keep to one tense
11. Place at the end the sentence’s
emphatic words
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Exercise 8
•
•
•
•
Here is your Homework 4
Ask your colleagues to help you with it
Ask the instructor
Decide on the best
• PERSONAL CONSULTATION TIME WITH
THE INSTRUCTOR tba
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ESL Hint
• English spelling differs slightly from country to country.
• The primary difference is American or British
• Choose one system and stick with it.
–
–
–
–
–
Color
Theater
Judgment
Defense
Analyze
Colour
Theatre
Judgement
Defence
Analyse
• Http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cwa/wworkshop/
• Http://www.owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/
index.html#effective
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Writing Hint
• The rule of three revisited: Editing
• Write
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Rest
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Rewrite
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The Final Product
• Editing/Poilshing
– Sentence
– Paragraph
– Global
• Using editing codes
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Writing Hint
• Polishing or editing, like writing, is a
continuous iterative process
• BUT
• Unless you have enough written there is
not enough to polish!
– Write first
– Polish later
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Formats
• Know your External Format requirements
• Fonts
– 10-12
– Only 1 or 2
– simple
– Serif (possibly sans serif for headings)
• Headings-usually ≤3 levels
• Use white space
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Graphics
• Audience
– Who is the reader?
– What does the reader know?
– Will a graphic extend the reader’s knowledge?
– Is my graphic appropriate?
– Is it complex enough for a graphic?
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Graphics cont’d
• Choice
– Photo- exactly as it is
– Diagram-can’t be seen in a photo
– Table-items that can be classified
– Line graph-trend or changes over time
– Column graph- compare
– Pie chart- items as part of a whole
– Flow chart- process
– Organization chart- relationships
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Graphics cont’d
• Placement
– Callout?
– Statement of Importance?
– Close to the first reference?
– Numbered sequentially and labeled?
– Acknowledged?
– Does it help the reader?
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Writing Hint
Approach writing as a
continuous iterative
process.
Structuring
Process Writing
Drafting
Re-viewing
Generating Ideas
Focusing
Evaluating
White & Arndt (1991)
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Presenting Wining Topics
•
•
•
•
Check the field (journals)
Check the experts (professor)
Preview with the next stars (colleagues)
Use a Guide, for instance:
Steve Mandel, Effective Presentation
Skills: A Practical Guide for Better
Speaking, 3rd ed., Menlo Park, CA: Crisp
Publications.
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