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写作本身是一种需要经常变通的技艺。整个写作过程是建立在有组织的写作方式的基础上,虽然它们在使写作的学习过程变得易懂这一点上很重要,但却没有人能真正和明确地确定如何写作。如果问你,什么是写作风格?也许你的脑中会浮现出像“dynamic, ” “climactic, ” “vivid, ”和 “organic”的这些单词,它们都可以用来描述写作风格。”Wow, his writing is so abrupt and shocking!” 但是,writing style本身是什么?什么是writing style?
留学生要知道写作本身是一种需要经常变通的技艺
写作风格的定义
writing style是表达思想和消息的方式。通常情况下,他体现在使用怎样的书面的语言来表达特定的目的。例如一本教科书会使用严肃和严厉的语气编写,因为他讨论的是事实和证据,很少或根本不需要猜测。
主流Essay写作类型
虽然说写作的风格可以有许多,但传统的 writing styles概念将其归结为四个主要类型。Descriptive、Expository、Persuasive、Narrative 每种writing style都有一个特定的目的、语气和内容。归根结底,它是基于正在研究的材料类型。
Descriptive
这种类型的writing style 旨在对某一场景进行生动的描述。着重强调场景的细节,以及它们在环境中的摆放方式,它们共同创造了一个让读者沉浸其中的世界。在虚构的文学作品中,可以找到使用描述性写作风格的常见例子。
下面是宇宙恐怖作家H.P. Lovecraft的《The Color Out of Space》第一段的摘录。
West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut. There are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight. On the gentler slopes there are farms, ancient and rocky, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old New England secrets in the lee of great ledges; but these are all vacant now, the wide chimneys crumbling and the shingled sides bulging perilously beneath low gambrel roofs.
仔细思考Lovecraft如何以生动的景物描写开始他的故事,描述了看似很多却又不太多的环境。这段摘录和整个故事线并没有太大的关系。但是它能够使读者沉浸在Lovecraft创造的世界中。优秀的描述性写作需要足够详细,让读者能够身临其境。
Expository
如果是关于事实、概念和理论的解释,说明性writing style是最理想的选择。这种风格主要是为了解释一个特定的主题或课题,其背后不包含任何的方向和意图。这种风格主要运用于教科书,特别是数学和科学这一类的书籍。
下面是麻省理工学院 “Introduction to Psychology “开放式课件PDF版本的摘录:
Unless the researcher has a specific reason to believe that generalization will not hold, it is appropriate to assume that a result found in one population (even if that population is college students) will generalize to other populations. Because the investigator can never demonstrate that the research results generalize to all populations, it is not expected that the researcher will attempt to do so. Rather, the burden of proof rests on those who claim that a result will not generalize.
这里的writing style非常的严格和严谨。没有在任何地方添加观点、情感、猜想或作者的个人插话。这里只有具体的事实和解释。
Persuasive
顾名思义,说服性的writing style是用来说服读者接受一个特定的主张。通常情况下,说服性写作包含一些观点和证据,用于加强作者的立场。
Persuasive essay代写肯所用到的肯定就是说服性的writing style。然而,这种风格并不仅仅局限于这些。其他只要包含试图说服读者去做某事的内容的文章,都可以被视为说服性写作。
推荐信就是这样一个例子。
It is with great pleasure that we offer our words of praise about Lance’s excellence during his time in our company. Adding Lance to your roster will greatly benefit your company in the long run. Thanks to his remarkable skills in finance, our stocks increased tremendously. He also conducted meetings that ended fruitfully and in great benefit to quarterly income. Lance also improved management relations with the general employee population, raising the overall effectiveness of the team by astronomical amounts. Lance is an invaluable member of any team. And so, with enthusiasm, we formally recommend him to be inducted into your prestigious company.
在上面的例子中,CEO认为Lance如果能够进入他的公司将会对公司提供巨大的价值。之后,他提供了支持性的主张和证据,证明了他在前一家公司的能力,这将证实他的论点,最后说到Lance对任何团队都是无价的。
Narrative
当作者试图讲述一个故事时,就会使用这种writing style。其他风格的写作重点通常放在在已经发生的事实上,而叙事写作风格是在则是在于动态的描述,它描述在故事设定的时间范围内发生的事实和行动。因此,故事中被广泛使用的现在进行时,除非作者的文体选择另有规定。
在短篇小说、小说和其他叙事性散文或诗歌中都可以找到使用叙事性写作风格的例子。
下面是著名诗人Edgar Allan Poe的短篇小说《The Tell-Tale Heart》的节选。
I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out: “Who’s there?”
I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; –just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.
虽然Poe在这里使用的是过去式,但他能够通过主角和老人来体现故事的过程。这里以连续的方式描述了有关场景展开的事实,可以说,这是一个从事件a到事件B的故事。
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