The Subject

All good writing is based on a carefully chosen subject, whether it was chosen by the writer or assigned by someone else. To get potential and interesting things to write, relate the topic to life experiences and life lessons, or consider it using different aspects or approaches.

Topic: working while going to school

APPROACHES Tell a personal story Discuss the effects Explain how to do something EXAMPLES The story of a relative who managed to finish his college although he worked. The effects of going to college and working at the same time How to organize time and energy to fulfill office and school works.

Show contrasts

Contrast a person who goes to college while working to a person who either works only or goes to college only
Reveal what advantages someone gets in his career after finishing his college.

Show the advantage(s)

entertainment
main purposes for writing

Tells a story through narrative writing

Presents information developed in description, analysis, definition, etc

information

persuasion

tries to convince the reader to agree with the writers point of view on a topic.

Audience
A successful writer suits his writing to his readers. To do this, he should ask himself: What do the readers already know about the subject? What are their attitudes toward the subject? Will they be in agreement with the my point of view? Are they of similar age? Do they have a similar level of education? Do they have interests, tastes, or political points of view that agree? Getting the answers of these questions, the writer suits his diction and style so that the readers will be receptive to his ideas.

Voice
In general voice can be viewed as the revelation of two different attitudes: 1) The attitude toward the subject matter. For instances: a politician might write passionately about a subject. A comic writer could be humorous or sarcastic about a subject. A critic could reveal a lighthearted or judgmental attitude. 2) The attitude toward the audience, which ranges from very formal (such as the attitude of an expert submitting a research paper to an academic journal) to less formal (such as the attitude of a student writing a friendly e-mail to a classmate). Formal writing uses the third person (he, she, it, they, him, their, etc.) Less formal writing uses the second person (you, your)

Rewrite the following paragraph in to a more formal one by replacing the second person.
Your world is getting smaller, and the pace of change is quickening. When you graduate you will change jobs as many as ten times over the course of your career, often moving in completely new directions. You will probably end up in a career that is fairly unrelated to what you studied in college and find yourself working with colleagues from many different nations and cultures. You will succeed if you think broadly. You should take courses that will give you the greatest range of opportunity. Your world has become much more interdependent. Health, law, business, and many other fields all operate in a world of permeable borders. You need an international outlook to prevent the spread of disease, to reduce the flow of illicit drugs, or to resolve environmental challenges. If you understand other societies and cultures, you will have a wider base of knowledge and have better communication skills than those who do not.

Unity
In a piece of good writing, every sentence serves the central theme, with every detail directly related to the main idea. Unity guarantees that the reader has no trouble grasping the writers main point. To build unity, any sentence which does not contribute to the main idea should be dropped.

Coherence
Coherence refers to the organization of all parts of a writing so that one idea leads logically to the next. To create coherence, writers use three important techniques: 1) repetition of key words, 2) use of synonyms and pronouns to refer to key words, 3) careful choice of transitional expressions.

Example of the importance of Coherence

The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead people's bodies by making mummies of them. Mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. The skin, hair, teeth, fingernails and toenails, and facial features of the mummies were evident. It is possible to diagnose the disease they suffered in life, such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies. The process was remarkably effective. Sometimes apparent were the fatal afflictions of the dead people: a middle-aged king died from a blow on the head, and polio killed a child king. Mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead people's bodies by making mummies of them. In short, mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. And the process was remarkably effective. Indeed, mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. Their skin, hair, teeth, fingernails and toenails, and facial features are still evident. Their diseases in life, such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies, are still diagnosable. Even their fatal afflictions are still apparent: a middle-aged king died from a blow on the head; a child king died from polio. (Retrieved from: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm)

Reference
Scarry, Sandra & Scarry, John. 2011. The Writers Workplace with Readings: Building College Writing Skills (7th ed.) Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Coherence: Transitions Between Ideas. Retrieved on Thursday, September 15, 2011 from http://grammar .ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm