Week Two

Dr. Stephen OgdenLIBS 7001

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Orwell-Ogden’s Rules for Immediate Written Accomplishment

Ogden: “If a word is not necessary for grammar or meaning, always cut it out”

Orwell (‘Politics & the English Language’):– (i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech

which you are used to seeing in print. – (ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.– (iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.– (iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.– (v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a

jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

– (vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Ladder of Critical Reading Right Way versus Wrong Way

1. Read2. Analyse (re-read with

notation)3. Describe4. Evaluate (compare)

Against examples &/or standards.

5. Judge

1. Read (or not!)

2. Judge (Praise or Damn)

Critical Reading: Critique & Evaluate

• Does the main point agree with your knowledge & experience? (not with just your opinion.)

• Does evidence support claims made?• Are the ideas reasonable? • Is there bias or bigotry? Is there a case of Kaus’

Rule of Journalism (“Always generalise wildly from personal experience.”)

• Is the essay in a dialectic with another work or social, political, or ideological voice?

Course Method• I will adhere very reliably and directly to:– the Course Outline– the Weekly Guide– the two Course Texts

• SSW + Course reader• This will allow you to:– very directly prepare for the weeks’ lecture– Very directly review the lecture material

• Lecture slides will:– Add enlightening material– Recast terms & concepts into practical, plain-language,

real-world form.

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Double-Aspect of the CourseThe course has two, complementary, sides.

1. How to Write Effectively2. How to Read Effectively

Knowing effective (sp) writing methods creates the ability to effectively read and analyse writing.

Knowing effective reading & analytical methods creates the ability to effectively write.

A Natural pairing: (a.) every written work has a writer; (b.) every writer wants an audience (even if it is himself)

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Aristotle (4th C. BC): Founder of Scientific Method

• Aristotle’s teacher Plato studied ‘why things are.’– Search for perfection

• Aristotle himself instead looked at how things are.1. “What is the purpose of

this?”2. “How does it operate

best?”• Pragmatic, not ‘Ideal’

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Aristotle’s Universal Relevance(Alexander the Great’s teacher)• The Physics• The Politics• The Ethics (x3)• The Mechanics• The Soul• The Universe• The Rhetoric• On Animals• On Logic• The Poetics• ‘That Book Filed Beside The Physics’ =

The Metaphysics.

• The Poetics: Literature is• that which pleases and sustains

interest of the audience. Has:• Mimesis: fundamental part of human

nature, from our desire to know. I.e. homo sapiens.

• Hamartia: injury committed unknowingly.

• Catharsis: reordering of the emotions.

• Peripateia: reversal of circumstance• Anagnorisis: recognition• The 3 Unities: Place, Time, Action

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Aristotle: writing is Techne—a science with order & rules.

Middle-Ages through to (British) present: Trivium– Grammar: how words work– Rhetoric: how to arrange words to get them to do

what you want.– Dialectic: how ideas are arranged in writing

• Thus, Good Writing is judged essentially by its EFFECTIVENESS

• Cf: With Quadrivium = ‘Seven Liberal Arts.’

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Aristotle: Teleology

• Aristotle kept focus on Telos: Gr.=Ends– Colloquial = ‘goals’, ‘designs’, ‘purpose’

• Aristotle: – What is the purpose of this writing or reading

project?

• Us:– [Formal]— What to I want to accomplish with this

writing or reading project?– [Informal]— What’s in it for me?

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Some General Purposes

1. To Inform: – some situations, to demonstrate your understanding (our

2-sided aspect)2. To Persuade:– Rhetoric

3. To Express Oneself:– Self expression includes display one’s mastery of subject– Impose one’s Will

4. To Entertain– A valuable aspect or component of many type of writing

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Some General Purposes, con’t

• The various purposes can be (often are) mixed.

• What are some types of writing purposes (types of writing) suitable to the various types?

• What are some sub-categories of each?– Is an apology “self-expression’?

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Specific Purposes

1. Define your audience – Know your audience exhaustively! – An Excellence point

2. Select salient details3. Choice of language & diction4. Correct approach:– How do I pitch this? What appeal do I use?

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Specific Purpose: Audience

• Remember: Job 1 is “Affect the reader”• So, purpose & audience are united• Writing is communication that lacks body

language & social cues.– Explains the popularity of Emoticons ;--)

• “Never write anything online you don’t want to see on the front page of the NYT.”

• So, develop an audience profile

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Specific Purpose: Audience, con’t

• Types of audience are often obvious, but can be subtle:– Real audience vs apparent audience

• A technical document may be to intimidate colleagues• A Press Release may be for Shareholders

– Institutional vs Conventional• the historical culture of the shop, office, department,

organisation may not be the same as fresh conventions or of sub-cultures (ethnic, old-school, club, etc.)

• Awareness of the available audiences is Power15

Audience: Develop a Profile

1. Education type and level2. Economic status (esp. outside North America)3. Ethnic, political, sexual, age, (other) profile• Why will this be read? (Reader’s position)• Attitudes, needs, expectations, prejudices• Expected (formal) vs Unexpected

(conceivable) responses• Knowledge level on the topic

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Audience Profile: “discourse community”

1. Education type and level2. Economic status (esp. outside North America)3. Ethnic, political, sexual, age, (other) profile

• Major concerns?• Cultural values?—includes expectations• Cultural conventions? Beyond just the reading itself.

– Salutation?– Reciprocities?

• Common works read?

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Levels of Diction

• Use common sense.• Err on the side of formality in any professional setting– Formal: ‘3rd Person’ — ’one’, no slang, OED, no

contractions (‘I am’), respectful.– Informal: contractions, some slang, light occasional

humour.– Mixed: only with familiarity & certain knowledge– Technical: a species of formal w. added jargon.– Colloquial or Slangy. Avoid. Always potential trouble.

• Again, purpose—audience combination

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Qualities of Good Writing• Fresh Thinking:

– easy to overdo– safety first: ‘least said soonest mended.’– add personal insights or perception

• Sense of Style:– even easier to overdo. – communicate rather than impress– clarity is the best style– Powerful and vivid word-choices are the most effective stylistic device.

OED.• Effective Organisation:

– The rhetorical structure always works.

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Ethical Writing

• Plagiarise here at your peril• Familiarise with BCIT policy• Same ‘out there’. ‘Cheating is self-defeating’.– Be accurate– Be clear– Be honest (esp. with self-representation)– Be fairly-intentioned– Be free of deliberate omission.

• Supressio veri and Suggestio falsi

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Strategies for Planning & Drafting

• Planners vs Explorers: nosce te ipsum!• Understand the task (purpose again.)– Get help: documents, examples, other people

• Laser in on a TOPIC: – Impossible to be too simple.– Use personal experience and interests– Freewrite: just write for five minutes. Pick out the best.– Brainstorm: list bullet-point ideas, words, sentences,

fragments, etc. • Then Cluster or Branch these.• Pick out the best.

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Strategies for Planning & Drafting:Ask Questions

• W.W.W.W.W.?• Narration: the backsto• Description• Illustration: famous cases• Process: how to use• Analysis: parts• Functional Analysis: usefulness

• Causal: history• Classification: the diff. kinds• Definition: formal• Argument: why use this?

Gather Information• Brainstorm• Read w. notation• Talk: email, phone, visitOrganise• Key points• Cicero rhetorical form• ‘Flexible notes’ system

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Strategies for Planning & Drafting:Ask Questions con’t

• Aristotle’s Four Causes:– Material cause: the physical

properties involved. – Formal cause: the aggregate

of underlying properties which amount to its unique identity.

– Efficient cause: the initial motion or action which began the event.

– Final cause: the event's function or purpose -- its end.

Playing Billiards. • Material cause is the solid construction

of the table, balls, &c.: if the cue ball were tissue and the black jello, the event (the potting of the black) would not take place. Formal cause is the rules of billiards, the shape of the table, cue, rack, and all the other contributing elements that shape and frame -- i.e. that form -- the event. Efficient cause is the mechanics behind the cue hitting the cue ball. Final cause is the reader winning the match and having his universal supremacy at billiards re-affirmed for posterity . Or something like that.

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Strategies for Planning & Drafting:Thesis Statement

• One or two sentences expressing main idea.• A general half & a specific half

– “The lack of qualified engineers retards economic recovery. Increased funding for BCIT is essential.”

• Topic + Question– T. Engineers & Economic recovery– Q. How to correct?

• Unity: can’t be too simple. Use a single point.• Tailored Scope: consider the length of the writing project• Your POV: be explict (to yourself) about your own attitude

• Thesis statement can be changed during review & revision

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Strategies for Planning & Drafting:First Draft

• Writers’ Block. Distractions. Slackness ;--)– Just get writing!

• Don’t write your first (thesis or introduction) or your last (conclusion) paragraphs….until later.

• Look for the arrangement (next week)• Make sure transitional terms & sentences exist– ‘But’, ‘Therefore’, ‘In addition’, ‘As I have said…’

• Keep a notes pages or (better) note cards.

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