最棒的英文寫作教程(三)

文章的結構可以有好幾種。本課討論的是最常用的結構。請在下面選擇一個環節或在左邊選擇各種文章結構的例子和寫作策略。

一、規範結構法

規範結構是最常用的也是幾乎任何情況下都建議使用的結構。規範結構一般用於介紹主題和引言段的要點，在正文的每一段提供一個支持要點，在最後一段再重申文章的大意或得出結論。下面是申請者（例 1）寫她作為一個政治上積極分子的經歷所使用的一個規範結構的例子。

第一段（引言）
起始句："I am an activist with a commitment to fighting for progressive causes through legislation, policy, and grassroots organizing."
引進主題：雖然她積極參與了許多政治性活動，但她的主要興趣是主張性教育和保健。
說明意圖："In this statement I will explain how I gained expertise in this field through both academic and professional work from 1988 to the present."

第二段
轉折/主題句："At [Ivy League University] I began my commitment to reproductive health."
論點和證據：在學術上她專注於生殖問題的研究，這可從她的工作得到證實：她專攻婦女研究和法律問題，她研究了墮胎法案對國民保健制度的衝擊，她寫了關於從法律上處理濫用懷孕藥物的論文，等等。

第三段
轉折/主題句："While I was a student, I gained professional experience as a birth control counselor at the University health clinic."
論點和證據：她在課外活動中還作為顧問和計劃生育教育工作者積極參與生殖健康問題的研究。

第四段
轉折/主題句："When I moved to a small desert town in the Western United States, I volunteered for a democratic congressional campaign, where I briefed the candidate on abortion rights and sexuality issues in health care reform."
論點和證據：她的第一個工作經驗是作為計劃生育處公共事務主任參與了保健行動。

第五段
轉折/主題句："I quickly learned that this small town was far more conservative than my university's eastern college community."
論點和證據：她根據自己對當地右翼活動分子的研究發表了文章和專欄評論，對反對她的做法的觀點進行反擊。

第六段
轉折/主題句："When my State Senator asked me to manage his reelection campaign, I eagerly accepted since I knew he had worked hard in support of health care and civil rights."
論點和證據：她從創作有效的政治宣傳文件，管理志願者等工作得到寶貴的教訓。

第七段
轉折/主題句："I had hoped to work in the state capitol after the campaign, and I am now working for a state level health care advocacy organization which employs a lobbyist and coordinates grassroots strategy."
論點和證據：她通過研究法律法規、協助負責人等工作，在自己目前的職位上，繼續專注于保健和政治。

第八段（結論）
轉折/主題句："While I believe that I have developed both academic and professional expertise in reproductive health policy, health care reform, and political organizing, I would like to acquire the skills and power to make a bigger difference."
結束語：作者重申文章要點，並且和上法學院的動機以及畢業後的目標緊緊聯繫起來。

例1：Activist

注意：為了教學目的，該文發表時未加修改。
I am an activist with a commitment to fighting for progressive causes through legislation, policy, and grassroots organizing. While I have participated in many varied projects from editing a sexuality education curriculum to campaigning for gay rights as a local boardmember of [the statewide gay rights organization], I am most concerned with reproductive health issues. In this statement I will explain how I gained expertise in this field through both academic and professional work from 1988 to the present. Through this work I have acquired the intellectual foundation and the concrete experience to be an effective advocate for citizens' right to sexuality education and health care.At [school] I began my commitment to reproductive health. I earned the right to design my own major in women's studies and legal issues, for which I took courses in feminism and wrote on the developing legal precedent recognizing fetal rights. During my year at [school] I studied the impact the abortion pill RU 486 might have on the National Health Service, researched the evolving debate about the drug in the European press, and presented my findings at a Women's Studies Department seminar upon my return to the U.S. In my senior thesis on the legal treatment of pregnant substance abusers, I addressed the difficulties associated with prosecuting these women and proposed alternative approaches.
While I was a student, I gained professional experience as a birth control counselor at the University health clinic. I also worked as a Planned Parenthood educator, for which I edited a sexuality education curriculum and designed and taught community programs on contraception, AIDS, puberty, and sexual abuse prevention.
When I moved to a small desert town in the Western United States, I volunteered for a democratic congressional campaign, where I briefed the candidate on abortion rights and sexuality issues in health care reform. I met the executive director of the regional Planned Parenthood, and convinced her to hire me as the agency's first Director of Public Affairs. I coordinated grassroots lobbying efforts on pending legislation including the state's health care reform bill, clinic access bill, and anti-gay rights legislation. I quickly learned that this small town was far more conservative than my university's eastern college community. Many of Planned Parenthood's efforts to promote sexuality education were thwarted. I decided to discover who opposed the agency and what their tactics were. My research uncovered a network of local activists, some of whom had connections to state and
nation-wide Conservative organizations. I attended many meetings and followed public right-wing activity such as the campaign to teach creationism in our local schools. I published my findings in an op-ed piece for our local paper, and as a front page article for a west-coast human rights newsletter. I have enclosed copies of these publications for you. When my State Senator asked me to manage his reelection campaign, I eagerly accepted since I knew he had worked hard in support of health care and civil rights. The position also offered me greater professional responsibility. Even though we lost the election, the campaign was an invaluable lesson in creating an effective political message, managing hundreds of volunteers, working in coalition with other campaigns, designing advertising, and fundraising.
I had hoped to work in the state capitol after the campaign, and I am now working for a state level health care advocacy organization which employs a lobbyist and coordinates grassroots strategy. In my new position I am researching legislation, helping the director design lobbying strategies, and keeping affiliated organizations throughout the state informed about evolving policy and bills.
While I believe that I have developed both academic and professional expertise in reproductive health policy, health care reform, and political organizing, I would like to acquire the skills and power to make a bigger difference. Law school would provide me with the technical skills and professional influence to be more effective in confronting right-wing litigation and initiatives and in designing and advocating for progressive social policy. After law school, I envision working for a non-profit organization such as the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, or working in government drafting and analyzing reproductive health policy and legislation.

二、問題分析法

在寫個人聲明的文章時並不是人人都選擇傳統的規範結構。有些作者願意把文章的重點放在對某一個問題或論點的分析上，就象例2作者那樣。她写了关于拉丁美洲的发展的影响，更具体地说，是对工厂女?さ挠跋臁Ｗ⒁馑慕峁故侨绾瓮怀鏊须做到的几个最关键的方面：1）她把问题个性化；2）她明确地提出论点并用具体的实证支持其论点；3）她讨论了问题的两面；4）她说明自己如何在现实生活中积?卮俳梦侍獾慕饩觯?）（最重要的一点）她把对问题的分析和自己上法学院的动机联系起来。

第一段（引言）
起始句："After college I served for two and a half years in Honduras with the U.S. Peace Corps."
引進主題：她先介紹拉丁美洲的發展這個主題，進而聯繫自己在洪都拉斯的經歷使主題個性化。
說明重點："I found potential for changing some of the larger problems of development in a surprising arena, maquilardoras, or textile factories."

第二段
轉折/主題句："While in Honduras I talked to many women who worked in maquilardoras."
論點和證據：她提出自己的觀點，即工廠並不象學校教學中所描繪的那樣消極。她以自己在洪都拉斯所得到的第一手經驗為證據說明這個觀點。

第三段
轉折/主題句：”The factory jobs had other positive side effects.”
論點和證據: 她引證工人工資的提高和教育的改善為自己的論點提供更有力的證據。

第四段
轉折/主題句：”How to balance these positive factors with the often exploitative and abusive methods of the factory managers, or how to control the problems of rural-urban migration are questions I am still investigating.”
論點和證據: 她又從論點的其他方面進行檢驗，但最後又重申自己的立場。

第五段
轉折/主題句：”With the new U.S. policy focus on trade with Latin America and with more and more busiensses using labor abroad, labor conditions in maquiladoras will be a growing human rights issue.”
論點和證據: 她闡述了問題與未來的關係，提供了證據，說明自己已經採取了行動，要讓全國瞭解該問題並推動全國性的討論。

第六段（結論）
轉折/主題句：”A law degree would give me a tool to continue to work effectively and realistically on this and other issues that contribute to the well-being of people affected by U.S. policies and investments in Latin America.”
要點：她把自己參與該問題的研究和討論與上法學院的動機聯繫起來。

例2： Activist

注意：為了教學目的，該文發表時未加修改。
After college I served for two and a half years in Honduras with the U.S. Peace Corps. During my time there I worked on several development projects. My experiences left me with mixed feelings about development and what is realistically achievable. Projects often proved only thin band-aids against larger endemic problems. I found potential for changing some of the larger problems of development in a surprising arena, maquiladoras, or textile
factories.
While in Honduras, I talked to many women who worked in maquiladoras. Unlike what I had read in classes, these women were happy to have their jobs and suffered no health problems or abuse. They earned more money working in the factories in the cities than picking coffee in the mountains. Women could leave their homes and find work without having to depend on husbands or families to survive. The factory jobs had other positive side effects. I saw wealthy families driving to the countryside to find maids because all the city maids quit to work in the factories where they earned more. Wages for domestic workers had already risen and these families were trying to avoid paying an even higher salary. Also, factories required a sixth grade degree. This, if nothing else, could motivate an illiterate farmer to keep his daughters in school.
How to balance these positive factors with the often exploitative and abusive methods of the factory managers, or how to control the problems of rural-urban migration are questions I am still investigating. However, economic opportunities outside of the home, such as those in maquiladoras, could play a key role in changing traditional attitudes that prevent women from developing and using their full potential.
With the new U.S. policy focus on trade with Latin America and with more and more businesses using labor abroad, labor conditions in maquiladoras will be a growing human rights issue. At the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), I have been able to write letters to the USTR pushing for the continued review of the Generalized System of Preferences in Guatemala, to the President of El Salvador to encourage the enforcement of their labor codes, and lobbied for a labor petitioning amendment to the Caribbean Basin Trade Security Act.
A law degree would give me a tool to continue to work effectively and realistically on this and other issues that contribute to the well-being of people affected by U.S. policies and investments in Latin America.

三、比較與對比法

與利用直接經驗相反，有些申請者把他們自己的經驗和對研究生所要求的技能進行比較。在這種情況下，他們可以選擇“比較與對比”結構。例3這位元 申請人用了這一結構，他集中論述一本書對他的學習方法的影響。這一結構還可通過變化之前的你與現在的你的對比來說明你生活中的一個變化。

例3： Influence of Book

注意：為了教學目的，該文發表時未加修改。
"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book." (Thoreau) One evening, during Christmas vacation of my freshman year in college, when a formidable storm outside called for an evening of hot tea and heavy reading, I picked up a book that had been sitting on my desk for several weeks. On the cover, it read "Selections of the Essays: Montaigne." On the inside, only a few circled page numbers evidenced that the book had ever been used.
I was supposed to have read Montaigne that past quarter for Honors Humanities Core, but had, instead, done no more than to skim key pages highlighted in lecture-enough to earn myself a decent grade in the course. That was how I approached school then-with the goal of getting the highest possible grade with the least possible effort. Grades have always been, after all, very important to me. Having been unsure as to what I wanted to do in life, I figured that getting good grades would insure that once I decided on what I wanted, that that opportunity would still lie open for me. Such, then, was how I justified my attitude towards studying; it served the very practical goal of rendering myself "marketable."

This approach to academics is not original. My parents taught me that the only way I would get anywhere in life (in the States) was through education. United States immigrants, arriving in 1975 as refugees from Vietnam, our family was forced to leave all our belongings behind. We had to make a fresh start in a foreign country. My father's only asset was his mind-he had a college education. The first five years we were here, he worked at a sewage plant while studying on his own for the country's engineering exam. After passing the exam, he got a job as a civil engineer at the City of Anaheim. Six years later, he was promoted to a position above that of his own boss, then,-that of Water Engineering Manager. All along, what he taught my four siblings and I was that the best thing we could do for ourselves was to study hard. Education (along with hard work), he always said, serve as the key to succeeding and to earning people's respect in this country (which he did). I still believe him, but I have since learned that such practical ends are not the sole purpose of education.
I opened the book that evening, curious as to what I might have missed in my efforts to minimize the quarter's workload, and found more. I found myself in the middle of Montaigne's essay "On the Education of Children." Emerson once wrote that "within books, the good reader finds confidences, or asides, hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear. The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as if in a mind until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart." Such was my encounter with philosophy that evening. Montaigne's words did not claim some vacant chair inside my mind, as if at an auction, hoping to win its bid for my attention. They pounced on me, rather, drilled deep into my core, and dragged out gems I had long buried. "The first lessons in which we should steep [a student's] mind," I read, "must be those that regulate his behavior and his sense, that will teach him to know himself and to die well and to live well." Montaigne's words did not so much teach me anything new, as they reminded me of beliefs I had once held, of ideas I had previously known, but forgotten or discarded as childish and impractical.

That book, read numerous times since, served as a catalyst for both my personal and academic growth. Montaigne inspired me to stress the attainment of wisdom over the acquisition of knowledge. I used to study enough to gather the "facts" of a theory, my essays having been not much more than reports on those facts, perhaps, frosted over with a bit of commentary. I tasted ideas, chewed on them for as long as it took to take my tests, and then spit them out. They did not change me but for a brief grin at a pleasant idea or a wrinkling of the nose at a bitter one. I told myself that it would be a waste of time to try and fully absorb any of the material I was studying, much less form an opinion on it. I made a mistake, then, that I had promised myself years before never to make. I became so worried about preparing a living, that I forgot to make a life for myself. For while my grades were thriving, my mind was stagnating. I did not grow; I did not change.
I changed my major, then, from Social Science to Philosophy, so that I might "study myself more than any other subject," to make, as Montaigne said, "that. . . my metaphysics; that . . my physics." I wanted to learn not just for the grade, nor even for knowledge, itself-not just to impress strangers at a cocktail party or friends over coffee by being able to toss
out names of ancient philosophers, or current celebrities, and their theories. I wanted, instead, to savor what was in the world-to take from books and people their views, to sample them, digest them, to make some my own, to reject others, and to store some away for further consideration. I wanted to become something more-someone better-for what I had studied, or for whom I had met.
Looking back on these past years as a philosophy major, I am only a little embarrassed at not being able to recall the name of an certain author, or the term for a specific idea. By the time I graduate, I may actually have forgotten the majority of those "facts" learned throughout my college career. This, however, does not concern me too much. To succeed externally, to mechanically be able to repeat information, is one thing, but to be able to say that you have created something internally, that you have made something more of yourself, means so much more. As Matthew Arnold wrote, "Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and becoming." To be able to color my thoughts with others' ideas, and yet, blend them into a pattern that is mine alone: that, to me, is the ultimate end of education.

四、時間順序法

為自己的文章構建提綱的另一個方法是按事件發生的時間順序組織要點。例如，你可以以你的生活為主線，根據你成長的各個不同階段，從自己的童年開始，到中學，然後再到大學，等等。此法的優點是它 純粹是個人的，它有助於錄取委員會瞭解有關你的情況以及你是如何成熟的。缺點是用此法可能難於突出中心，而且文章不容易寫得長。你想要說明的要點可能在你敍述過程中陋掉。

例4的申請人在其文章中先用規範結構寫引言部分，然後再用時間順序法。

第一段（引言）
起始句："My background as an engineer and a Hispanic affords me a unique point of reference from which a constructive engagement in the intellectual, political, and social spheres at [ ] will be enhanced."

第二段
從出生開始："I was born in Brazil and lived in Mexico City starting at the age of two."

第三段
跳到大學："I pursued an education in engineering taking my Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1990…"

第四段
轉到研究生院："At Michigan, my outside interests gravitated toward politics."

第五段
接著寫第一份工作："After graduating from Michigan I worked as an engineer for General Electric Aircraft Engines for two and a half years."

第六段
接著是目前的工作："I left GE because I was dissatisfied with the opportunity for career growth…"

第七段
把我們帶到今天：“I was immediately given the duties normally associated with a first or second year associate at a large firm."

第八段（結論）
結尾句："I firmly believe my experiences in law, engineering, civic activity, and political activism will allow me to be a creative and contributing member
of the intellectual life at..."

例4： Career Switcher, Engineer

注意：為了教學目的，該文發表時未加修改。
My background as an engineer and a Hispanic affords me a unique point of reference from which a constructive engagement in the intellectual, political, and social spheres at [school] will be enhanced.
I was born in Brazil and lived in Mexico City starting at the age of two. When I was ten, my family moved to a small rural town in southwestern Michigan.
I am half Mexican and half German, born to parents whose families maintain close ties to Germany and Mexico. The rich mixture of cultures coupled with my own experiences living outside the US have allowed me to perceive the actions of the United States from a different perspective than that of many US citizens.
I pursued an education in engineering taking my Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from [school] in 1990 and my Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from [school], where I was a Merit Scholar Fellow, in 1991. I am proud that success at [school] was both academic and athletic. I maintained an above average GPA and participated in intercollegiate varsity water polo and swimming. Honored as captain of both teams, I also achieved a personal dream by earning All-America honors in my senior year.
At [school], my outside interests gravitated toward politics. My brother and sister were both heavily involved in the campus debates regarding political correctness, womens' issues, and race and class issues. My interest in the political and intellectual arena remains keen. I consider myself a principled and thoughtful advocate of progressive politics and, to the extent that time allows, I expect to be an active member of groups with similar political interests.
After graduating from [school] I worked as an engineer for General Electric Aircraft Engines for two and a half years. During this time,I completed a rigorous nine month in-house engineering curricu-lum (a joint program with Boston University) earning A's in both semesters. While at GE, I organized a voter registration drive that allowed 425 employees to register without having to leave work. This experience allowed me to work with senior executives of the Company and the Union while gaining an appreciation for the obstacles involved in getting both parties to work together, even for neutral goals.
I left GE because I was dissatisfied with the opportunity for career growth and a feeling that my efforts and those of my peers were neither recognized nor rewarded appropriately. My interest in social issues prompted me to explore a career in law.
Rather than apply directly to law school I obtained a job as a paralegal with a small corporate litigation firm in Manhattan. I wanted to experience law from the inside and the firm needed a turbine expert to act as a technical consultant during discovery, depositions, and arbitration.I was immediately given the duties normally associated with a first or second year associate at a large firm. I was responsible for conducting discovery, writing chronologies from the documents, writing lines of questioning for, and second-chairing at depositions. Additionally, my engineering background allowed me to facilitate communication between our client (an engineering company) and the firm. My experiences at the firm have convinced me that I have the ability to work successfully a lawyer.I firmly believe my experiences in law, engineering, civic activity, and political activism will allow me to be a creative and contributing member of the intellectual life at [school]. Thank you for your consideration.

五、敍述法

文章裏寫進一段生活經歷或故事是吸引和保持讀者興趣的一個普通而又有效的方法。如果你想使自己的文章集中圍繞生活中的某一個事件，這也是一個好的途徑。

把敍述法用於個人的聲明文章的寫作最通常的方法是以講故事開始你的文章，然後進入故事講述者的角色提出要點和得出結論。敍事內容可以跨越一生也可以是一段。不必完全象好萊塢演技風格那樣才能抓 住興趣。只要敍述得好，即使最簡短最簡單的事件也可能有意義。使得所寫的文章都有效的方法就是運用細節，描寫，而且要有高潮。