[轉貼] Essay 內文段寫作示範

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Essay 內文段寫作示範
Essay
了解essay的結構，接下來示範如何寫essay段的開頭、內容、及結尾。

A. 開頭(主題句)–作者對主題的看法

每段都要有一個「主題句」，將你的「論點」和「主題」的關係建立起來。主題句陳述作者對主題的立場或看法。

譬如，我想寫關於「抽煙」，重點擺在「抽煙與費用」的關係，看下面的主題句如何建立這兩者的關係：


Smoking can be an expensive habit.



這句中，主題是Smoking，「昂貴」(expensive) 是我的看法(論點)，有了主題句，讀者 (尤其是西方讀者) 就馬上可以意會到我這段的目的。(請注意，主題句的位置不是一定要在每段的第一句，但擺在第一句是一種不容易離題的寫法。)

B. 內容 – 解釋看法

如前面所提，作者必須提出適當的證據或作說明來支持自己的看法，因為，讀者想知道「作者為什麼這樣認為」。延續「抽煙」這個題目，我必須在這段裏「說清楚，講明白」為什麼抽煙是昂貴的嗜好。最常用的兩個方法：


a. 申論

方法一 (邏輯推論)：

Smoking is addicting, and as people become addicted, their spending on this habit is likely to increase.


或



Smoking can be an expensive habit because it is addicting. Addicted people tend to smoke more and, as a result, spend more on this habit.

(採用A = B, B = C, 則 A = C (主題句)的邏輯。其中，A - smoking, B - addiction, C–more spending = expensive)

方法二 (具體的解釋)：

Assuming the average price of a pack of cigarettes is 50 dollars, if people smoke a pack a day it will cost them 50 dollars a day, or 18,250 dollars a year. However, if they smoke two packs a day because of addiction, their annual smoking expenditures double, going up to a staggering amount of 36,500 dollars.

同樣用「煙癮」當理由，但運用數字的變化，突顯「昂貴」這個論點。


b. 舉例

Take my cousin Tony for example. He smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, which costs fifty dollars, so he spends some fifteen hundred dollars on the habit every month. But to his surprise, there is another unexpected expense to cover other than the price of cigarettes. Because smoking often gives out smoke offensive to nonsmokers, Tony has to clean his clothes, his furniture, and his car more often to get rid of the odor than if he does not smoke. So at the end of every month, he finds himself spending an additional couple of thousand dollars on cleaning alone.

「舉例」是另一個使你的論點具說服力的方法，運用實例，帶出費用，增加信服力。

C. 結尾 - 摘要本段重點

在充份解釋完我的論點，我作個總結：

For many smokers, 50 dollars a day for cigarettes may be a small token, but the compounding effect of addiction would easily double that amount and cost them hugely in a year’s time, making smoking a costly habit.
(以「煙癮」當理由的結尾)


或



As one can see, the price of cigarettes is not the only cost to smokers; the additional cleaning fee associated with smoking makes it an expensive habit to take on.
(以「不同費用」當理由的結尾)

這兩種結尾只說明一件事--抽煙是昂貴的，並未影射或強調「抽煙好或不好」，也沒有建議「癮君子要如何做」，因為這些都跟我的論點無關。

將以上各句串聯在一起，形成完整的一段如下：

範例1 -- 以「煙癮」當理由的寫法：

Smoking can be an expensive habit because of addiction. Addicted people tend to smoke more and, as a result, spend more on this habit. Assuming a pack of cigarettes costs 50 dollars, if people smoke a pack a day it will cost them 50 dollars a day, or 18,250 dollars a year. But if they smoke two packs a day—because of addiction, their yearly smoking expenses double easily, going up to a staggering amount of 36,500 dollars. For many smokers, 50 dollars a day for cigarettes may be a small token, but the compounding effect of addiction could easily double that amount and cost them hugely in a year’s time, making smoking a costly habit.


範例2 -- 以「不同費用」當理由的寫法：

Smoking can be an expensive habit. Take my cousin Tony for example. He smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, which costs fifty dollars, so he spends some fifteen hundred dollars on the habit every month. But to his surprise, there is another unexpected expense to cover as a result of this habit. Because smoking cigarettes often gives out smoke offensive to nonsmokers, Tony has to clean his clothes, his furniture, and his car more often to get rid of the odor than if he does not smoke. So at the end of every month, he finds himself spending an additional couple of thousand dollars at least on cleaning. As one can see, the price of cigarettes is not the only cost to smokers; the additional cleaning expense associated with smoking makes it an expensive habit to take on.



從以上寫作範例，很明顯essay寫法有別於中文，這就是為什麼不建議先寫中文，再翻成英文，兩者寫作結構的差異，不是文法、句型、或用字可以取代。

以後，會陸續和大家分享常出現的寫作問題，解釋造成的原因，並用例子來說明改善的方法。下列我整理出來幾個寫作技巧相關的議題，讓我知道你對哪一個較感興趣：

1、        什麼是論點、什麼不是論點、如何用次點補充說明
2、        如何避免「離題」以及論點在文章內反覆出現
3、        論點或次點的排序
4、        論點和次點緊密結合的秘訣
5、        如何讓你的表達通順流暢
6、        少用被動式寫法
7、        如何減少時態轉換的困擾
8、        如何避免冗長的表達