Properties of a Well-Written Text PDF

**READING AND WRITING SKILLS** **MODULE 2** **LESSON 1** **Properties of a Well-Written Text** **WHAT I NEED TO KNOW / INTRODUCTION** **After going through this lesson, you are expected to:** **1. organize ideas using proper transitional devices;** **2. construct a coherent and cohesive parag...

**READING AND WRITING SKILLS** **MODULE 2** **LESSON 1** **Properties of a Well-Written Text** **WHAT I NEED TO KNOW / INTRODUCTION** **After going through this lesson, you are expected to:** **1. organize ideas using proper transitional devices;** **2. construct a coherent and cohesive paragraph;** **3. determine the essence of proper language use in written texts; and** **4. use proper mechanics in writing such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph development.** **WHAT IS IT? / DEVELOPMENT** **ORGANIZATION** **Arranging our thoughts to deliver a purposeful message is essential in all forms of communication.** **A well-organized piece of writing is not only clear but also logical and aesthetic. Existence of organizational markers and coherent flow of ideas are typically the focus in evaluation of writing (Dayagbil 2016, 63-64).** **In writing a story or an essay, it is necessary for students like you to identify the sequence of events from the beginning to the end because a strong organization comprises proper paragraphing and logical order of presentation of ideas.** **COHERENCE AND COHESION** **One of the most important elements in writing is the form or structure. Without a solid structure in place, the content you have gathered would fall apart. After sequencing the events in your paragraph -- a group of related sentences that leads to a single topic or idea, it is time to get on to unifying your writing.** **Coherence and cohesion are two basic features that facilitate textual continuity.** **Basically, coherence refers to the rhetorical aspects of your writing, which include developing and supporting your argument (e.g. thesis statement development), synthesizing and integrating readings, organizing and clarifying ideas. Coherence means the connection and organization of ideas in a text to create unity.** **To achieve coherence, every good paragraph must have UNITY or oneness of idea. Sentences in a paragraph are unified and directed by a topic sentence.** **On the other hand, cohesion in writing means unifying ideas by binding words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, thus, show relationships and smooth "text flow". While coherence focuses on the overall (macro) structure of the essay, cohesion is more specific. It pays attention to links between words and sentences.** **To achieve good cohesion, you need to know how to use cohesive devices, certain words or phrases that serve the purpose of connecting two statements, usually by referring back to what you have previously written or said.** **Here is a chart of the transitional devices (also called conjunctive adverbs or adverbial conjunctions) accompanied with a simplified definition of function.** --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **addition** **again, also, and, and then, equally important, finally, first, further,** **furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, moreover, next,** **second, still, too** ------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **comparison** **also, in the same way, likewise, similarly** **concession** **granted, naturally, of course** **contrast** **although, yet, at the same time, but at the same time, despite that,** **even so, even though. for all that, however, in contrast, is spite of,** **instead, nevertheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other**\ **hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though** **emphasis** **certainly, indeed, in fact, of course** **example/**\ **after all, as an illustration, even, for example, for instance, for** **conclusion, indeed, in fact, in other words, in short, it is true,** **namely, specifically, that is, to illustrate, thus, truly** **illustration** **summary** **all in all, altogether, as has been said, finally, in brief, in conclusion,** **in other words, in particular, in short, in simpler terms, in summary,** **on the whole, that is, therefore, to summarize** --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **LANGUAGE USE** **Writing is a rigorous activity. No matter how good and substantial the content of a document is, if it is not carefully written as to how you, as the writer, would like to present it to your readers, your purpose will not be served wisely. Hence, you have to bear in mind that aside from considering the organization of your ideas and the coherence and cohesion of your sentences and paragraphs, you also have to regard the style, tone, and clarity of your writing.** **On this note, you are responsible to choose the appropriate language to be used and to regard the objective of the writing, the context in which it was written and the target audience in mind.** **There are five major issues with appropriate language that should be considered in an effective and well-written text, as identified by (Purdue Online Writing Lab 2020):** **First, the formality of the language one uses should depend on how formal the situation is and how the writer and the reader are related to one another.** **Second, jargons or specialized language used by groups of individuals in the same field, should only be used if the target readers belong to the same group.** **Third, slangs and idioms should be avoided. Slangs are words, phrases, or expressions that do not literally mean what they express (like "frenemy" to describe someone who is both a friend and an enemy) while idioms or expressions whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual word it contains (like "to kill two birds at one stone", which means to get two things done with a single action.** **Fourth, euphemisms or words that veil the truth shall also be avoided. Examples of which are "virtually challenged" for someone who is short; "passed away" instead of died, and other deceitful language.** **Fifth, avoid using any biased language including those associated with any racial, ethnic, group, or gender.** **Hence, an effective language can be characterized as:** - **Concrete and specific, not vague, and abstract** - **Concise, not verbose** - **Precise and clear, not obscure** - **Constructive, not destructive** - **Appropriately formal, not slang** **MECHANICS** **Generally, mechanics is essential in all types of writing because it describes the technical aspects of writing. It also serves as a road sign to guide learners like you on how to use words appropriately in terms of conventions such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and others.** **In spelling, always make sure that you are consistently using one (1) standard.** **Punctuation is the act of using a system of symbols (e.g., comma, period, quotation marks, question marks, etc.).** **Capitalization is the act of writing the letters in uppercase. Some words that need capitalization include proper nouns, proper adjectives, days of the week, months of the year, course titles, kinship names followed by personal names, content words in a title, historical period, events and documents, etc.**