On Writing Essays

If you're thinking of going to university, and writing essays about ideas, then you should read https://www.timsquirrell.com/blog/how-to-write-undergraduate-essays .

No, really, read it and do the things he says.

Developing children's handwriting

It's useful to look at the strategies teachers use, and the terminology they employ, in helping children develop their handwriting skills. This government document gives an example guide.

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gateway-to-Writing-Developing-handwriting.pdf

Joos' Five Clocks

We looked today at Martin Joos' five-part system for analysing the register of a text, beyond just formal/informal, but instead classifying texts (or elements of texts, as we saw), along a five-position scale.


this article gives some further discussion of Joos' system., and lays out a helpful table of the five clocks against four features of texts. it includes some more examples and features that help identify the five clocks at work.


http://ww2.odu.edu/al/jpbroder/jpb_on_joos_1976.pdf

Simple, Compound, Complex and Minor sentences

Really clear explanation here, in the context of considering your own essay writing.


Missing is the fact that sentences can be compound and complex at the same time, or multiply compound and complex -- with many clauses coordinated or subordinated. It also disregards the 'minor sentence' -- that is, a word, phrase or fragment on its own, marked out as a sentence but with less than a full clause.




http://www2.ivcc.edu/rambo/eng1001/sentences.htm

Short TED Talks

You can search TED talks by length -- and the 0-6 minute talks are about the word count (600-750 words) that you're asked to produce for your Task 1 presentations.


Each talk has an interactive transcript, so you can see how the talk looks on the page (and click the transcript to hear how it sounds when delivered). You can also check the word count for a given speech. Around 5 minutes is approximately right -- but much depends on the pace of the speaker.


Loads of subjects covered here -- watch several! Pick up tips and good ideas on how to present!


https://www.ted.com/talks?duration=0-6&sort=newest

Classic Style in writing

This is probably the cleanest Intro to writing in 'classic style' that's out there.

The idea is that when you write, you imagine a scene of 'joint attention' -- where the reader is an equal to you, and 'sees' what you 'see' (even if this is abstract or linguistic); your job is to point out elements of interest and pass on context, motivations and observed details which your partner may not otherwise have noticed, or may not perhaps mark the significance of, in the expectation that they will understand and agree, but without the presumption of anything that's necessary for what you want to point out.

That's to say that classic style isn't patronising, but is explicit; it isn't ostentatiously technical and academic, but it is accurate; it isn't just stating the obvious, but it is thorough; it isn't handwaving and casual, but it is concise.

These qualities make it a good style for essays and exams. Caveats: in an exam, you should think with your pen, rather than plan silently in your head and then attempt to commit a perfect performance to paper of only the conclusions you're certain about. Tentative alternative readings are welcome and gain marks -- this is exploration and evaluation at work. Classic style aims for a polished and confident statement of the simple truth; and in English, often ambiguity is inescapable, and polishing is a task for coursework.

http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2011/06/24/op-ed-by-the-authors-of-clear-and-simple-as-the-truth/

Swales’ Three-Move Model for Introductions

For A2s working on the introduction to their research projects, this model is a sound general guide to the sorts of things you should cover.

http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~jbl00001/swales_cars_introductions_model.htm

10 Techniques for More Precise Writing

'Concise' is the better word for the headline. 10 useful techniques for cutting your word count -- this will come in handy when editing your research project.

10 Techniques for More Precise Writing
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-techniques-for-more-precise-writing/

Butterick’s Practical Typography

Outside our linguistic remit. But related, full of sound advice, and everything you'd need to know as a writer.

http://practicaltypography.com/index.html#toc

5 Uses of Infinitives

Useful to read.

5 Uses of Infinitives
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/5-uses-of-infinitives/

How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate

More detail than you would ever need about the typographical history of the number of times you should hit the spacebar after you've finished typing a sentence. 

How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate
http://theworldsgreatestbook.com/how-many-spaces-after-a-period/

Script Formats from the BBC

Hugely interesting and useful page from the BBC offering a range of standard script formats. You aren't expected to follow these styling formats when you submit coursework -- please don't, keep formatting very simple -- but you should be aware of the elements that a director, producer and performers will need to know about in order to make sense of your script.

When you submit a script for consideration later in your professional life, you will need to follow the formatting standards -- so you may well be interested in becoming familiar with them now!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/send-a-script/formatting-your-script

Monologue Archive

Great resource of monologues organised by gender and age. These are extracted from plays rather than standalone monologues, so use with some caution as style models -- some are from poems and from considerably older texts too. Still, you can get a good sense of the range of what's possible.

http://www.monologuearchive.com

Style guide: The Guardian

I might have linked to this before. I should have. You should read it, bookmark it, refer to it whenever you're unsure about usage.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide

Journalism glossary wiki | Journalism.co.uk

Deck, subhead, lede, standfirst? This glossary of journalism terms attempts to disentangle the knotty web of conflicting in-house jargon used in US and UK periodical publishing. It's probably safe to assume that whatever we use at A Level, you'll find yourself working at a place where they'll scoff and tell you the real word (that they happen to use).

http://www.journalism.co.uk/terms-definitions-dictionary-terminology-words/s54/

Picturing Metaphors for Reading

This one's a bit long, but it's a great example of an academic paper and uses Lakoff & Johnson's metaphor theory, which I know some A2s use for their research. 

It explores people's (drawn) metaphors for the process of reading, at home and at school; so it's telling about education as well as people's engagement with language.

The Believing Body
http://www.theillustratedprofessor.com/?p=3801

4 Punctuation Marks for Appositives

Okay; this is the sort of thing that gives grammarians a bad name. But if you want to be an effective writer, it's the sort of thing you should take an interest in. 

4 Punctuation Marks for Forming Appositive Phrases
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/4-punctuation-marks-for-forming-appositive-phrases/

Copywriting clichés

A copywriter writes advertisements and promotional materials. Here are a few of the cheaper tricks they may use.

No, it won't do. Ten signs a copywriter is on autopilot.
http://weallneedwords.com/andanotherthing/how-to/no-it-wont-do-ten-signs-a-copywriter-is-on-autopilot.html

I, You, He or She?

A very readable account of the choice of point of view in fiction, from the perspective of a writer who does the choosing.

I, You, He or She – Some Thoughts on Point of View
http://www.michaelpryor.com.au/articles/i-you-he-or-she-some-thoughts-on-point-of-view/

Editing is Critical

Yeah baby. And critical editing is what we learn to do at A Level. We learn the terminology and we practise.

Learning the Hard Way: Editing is Critical
http://www.writingforward.com/news-announcements/guest-posts/learning-the-hard-way-editing-is-critical