我等你英文英语作文范文-10 Ways to Develop Expository Writing Skills With The

2021年1月19日发(作者：carrera)
英语作文范文


10 Ways to Develop Expository Writing
Skills With The New York Times







10 Ways to Develop Expository Writing Skills With The
New
York
Times




Have
you
been
knocking
your
head
against the proverbial wall trying to teach
–
or learn
–

expository
writing
skills?
New
York
Times models can
help
writers
learn
how
to
write
an
expository
essay
that
is
compelling, convincing and authoritative as well as engaging
to
read
–
not
to
mention
authentic.
Try
a
fresh
approach
with
these 10 tips.





1. Ditch the five-paragraph essay and embrace
authentic essay structure. New York Times news and feature
articles
are
excellent
models
for
structure,
including
transitions and organization. Look at the guide to forms of
Times news coverage to get started, and then deconstruct some
articles to get a feel for how they are organized.

Classic
news
stories
like
this
one
about
conflicts
over
rebuilding ground zero and this one on how the case of the
Russian
spies
is
being
resolved
are
written
in
the
“
inverted
pyramid
”
format,
starting
with
the
most
important
information
–
the first paragraph or two answers the questions
“
Who?
”

“
What?
”

“
Where?
”

“
When?
”
Why?
”
and
“
How?
”

–
and
proceeding
with
the
most
important
details,
filling
in
the
less
important information as the article proceeds. This can be a
useful structure for, say, newspaper articles based on the
events
in
a
play
or
novel,
or
relatively
short
research
reports.

Feature
stories pull
the
reader in
with
an
engaging
introduction and
develop from there to explain
a topic, issue
or trend. Examples of this structure: this
article on gauging
the national mood by tracking popular songs, blog posts and
the
like,
and
Rob
Walker
’
s
“
Consumed
”

column
on
the
blankets-with-sleeves fad.

A
sub-genre
of
the
feature,
the
personality
profile,
is
also a useful expository writing model, as we discuss in our
lesson on Dickens, which suggests using a profile of Bernie
Madoff as a model for writing a literary character profile,
and this lesson on the literature Nobelist Naguib Mahfouz.

To take the idea of using newspaper story structures
further,
try
this
lesson
on
comparing
classic
storylines
with
news reports.





2. Two traditional essay writing bugaboos are
introductions
and
conclusions
(or
“
ledes
”
and
“
kickers
”
).
The
Times
is
full
of
creative
ways
to
open
and
end
a
narrative,
and these can help developing writers learn to avoid clich
é
d
openings
and
repetitive
endings.
Here
are
some
of
the
approaches Times
writers take to begin and
end their
stories,
together with examples of each one:

Narrative
lede:
Telling
a
story
that
illustrates
or
encapsulates the issue
at hand, like this story about the
dangers
associated
with
riding
in
a
taxi
when
the
cabby
is
using
a phone, this one about fans paying homage to Michael Jackson
and Natalie Angier
’
s science piece on squirrels
Descriptive lede: Describing an element that is key to
the story, like this description of
a high-end coffee
machine
in a feature on the topic of fancy coffee makers
Question lede: posing a rhetorical question that leads
directly into the rest of the essay, like this article about
popular baby names
Frame: Bringing the essay full circle by starting and
ending with elements of the same story, like this article on
Cuban doctors unable to practice in the U.S.
Quote
kicker:
Ending
with
a
quote
that
sums
up
the
essence of the essay, like this one on raising chickens
Future
action
kicker:
Ending
with
a
look
toward
what
may
or will happen in the future, as in this article on fake art
in Vietnam
Looking
for
more
inspiration?
Read
John
Noble
Wilford
’
s
retrospective
article
about
covering
the
1969
moon
landing,
focusing
on
the
section
“
Moonfall
Eve,
”
in
which
he
recounts
trying to figure out how to start his article. The upshot:
Simple is often best.





3.
Informing
and
explaining
–
how
things
work
or how to do something
–
is part of journalism
’
s bread and
butter. Good Times models for information/explanation essays
include
articles
on
how
dark
energy
works,
why
and
how
Twitter
can
be
useful,
how
to
make
a
souffl
é
and
how
to
avoid
heatstroke.
To find more examples, good starting places are the recipes
in the Dining section, the Science and Health sections, and
many
Technology
section
features,
including
posts
on
Gadgetwise and Pogue
’
s Posts.

One specific type of explanation essay is analysis
–

an
examination
of
why
and
how
an
issue
is
significant.
If
you
’
re looking for good models, The Times runs many pieces under
the rubric
“
news analysis,
”
such as this article on the
significance
of
steroid
use
in
baseball
and
this
one
on
President
Obama
’
s
remarks
on
the
arrest
of
Henry
Louis
Gates.
Read these, or other articles marked
“
news analysis,
”
and
then try writing your own analysis of an event
–
perhaps
something that happened at school, or perhaps something that
happened in a piece of literature or in history.





4.
In
addition
to
information
and
explanation,
there are a few other key expository patterns. Here are the
most common ones, together with a Times models of each one,
each paired with a related (PDF) handout: