A few essential tips on writing:
1. choose ("The solar system") and limit your subject ("Pluto: a planet or what?");
2. list your ideas and order them (from the most general to the most specific);
3. write the first draft (the second, etc.; as many as necessary);
4. Introduction:
(A) opening statement: open up with an attention-getting statement;
(B) say what you will DO in your text: criticize, analyze, compare/contrast, discuss, etc.;
4. Conclusion:
(A) recap what you HAVE DONE: compared, contrasted, etc.;
(B) add a conclusion (a message, which can be drawn from what you wrote).
As far as verb tenses (present, past, future, etc.) and modals (can, may, should, etc.), keep this in mind:
1. stick to the present ("have"), followed by the present perfect ("have had");OR choose the past ("had"), followed by the past perfect ("had");
2. review the meaning of each modal:
(A) Mom, CAN (=permission) I go to the party?/ They CAN (= know how to) swim very well;
(B) Sir, MAY (= permission) I leave now?/ She MAY (= possibility) come tonight;
(C) You MUST (= obligation) leave at once. / He MUST (= inference) be 28; maybe 30;
(D) You SHOULD (=obligation) do as I tell you;
(E) How DARE (= be rude enough to) you say such a thing to my face?
(F) I MIGHT (= possibility) stay up all night because I have a paper to write.
The final step is "editing":
(A) use formal speech (avoid colloquialisms and slangs);
(B) correct grammar and spelling (if necessary);
(C) check your use of words (make changes to avoid repetition, ambiguity, etc.).
On second thoughts, I think you are referring to "MODES" (not MODALS), such as narration and description. Check Stone and Bell.
2007-02-17 00:08:31
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answer #1
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answered by Nice 5
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Sorry to tell you that the only way to solve your problem is to study examples of good writing and emulate them.
In "creative writing classes" the instructor often says, " Take Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea". Notice that the author uses :short sentences". Study how he takes an event and describes it as if you, the reader were right there watching it. Now you TRY the same thing."
Example :
Jason awoke with a start. The unfamiliar noise came from the street. Jason went to the window. He could see the vehicle below. It was an ambulance.
Writing this way avoids moist of your difficulties. When you get comfortable writing this way, you can begin using extensions which are called "subordinate clauses".
Of course a text book on writing is a must. It is a slow process for someone like yourself so take it in small steps.
Don't worry that some of your classmates can rattle away, paragraph after paragraph. That is their skill. You have others.
As a start, think of a situation you wish to write about. Close your eyes and try to see the scene. Now write down the first think you see, now the next, now the next.
Writing is merely "painting a word picture".
Don't expect to paint "The Mona Lisa" right away.
2007-02-16 22:15:58
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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