Prentice Hall Guide Chapter Three

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Prentice Hall Guide Chapter Three

• Observation and Description
• Steve Wood
• TCCC

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Introduction

• The word describe comes from the Latin
  describere, which means to copy.
• Thus, when you describe something, you are, in
  effect, making a copy of that thing using the
  medium of language.

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Description is one of the most common tasks in
writing, but it is one of the most difficult to
do well.
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Topics of Discussion

• Six Techniques for Effective Observations
• Collecting Techniques
• Shaping Techniques
• Drafting Techniques
• Revising Techniques

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Six Techniques for Effective Observations

• Utilize as many of the senses as possible
• Use comparisons
• Describe what is not there
• Write from a distinct point of view
• Note changes in the subject
• Focus on a dominant idea

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Collecting Techniques

• Use sketching to gather and sort details
• Use double entry notes, dividing your details
  into Vivid and Significant OR Objective and
  Subjective

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Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle

• One of the most important and controversial
  scientific principles of the 20th century was the
  Uncertainty principle postulated by Werner
  Heisenberg in 1927.

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Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle

• It is impossible to know with absolute accuracy
  both the speed and the position of a subatomic
  particle. Or, in other words
• The act of observing a phenomenon affects the
  phenomenon.

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So, when collecting ideas for an observation,
remember that it is impossible to separate
completely the observer from that which is being
observed.
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Shaping Observations
There are four basic patterns commonly used for
descriptions.

• Chronological Pattern
• Spatial Pattern
• Classification Pattern
• Compare/contrast Pattern

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Shaping - Chronological Pattern

• Introduction
• Descriptive details organized by time
• Conclusion

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Shaping - Spatial Pattern

• Introduction
• Descriptive details organized by movement in
  space
• Conclusion

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Shaping - Classification Pattern

• Introduction
• Organized categories of items by Ruling principle
• Conclusion

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Shaping - Classification Pattern

• The ruling principle is the quality or
  characteristic used to divide the group into
  categories.
• The most important decision a writer makes with a
  classification essay is the selection of a ruling
  principle that is
• Clear
• Comprehensive
• Illuminating

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Compare/Contrast has three possible organizations.

• Comparison and contrast descriptions are very
  common in academic writing because they represent
  a deeper order of thinking than superficial
  descriptions. They represent synthesizing
  information (putting together different ideas to
  form new ones).

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Shaping 1 - Block Pattern

• Introduction
• Description of Item A
• Description of Item B
• Conclusion

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Shaping 2 - Sim-Dif Pattern

• Introduction
• Similarities of Item A and Item B
• Differences of Item A and Item B
• Conclusion

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Shaping 3 - Point X Point Pattern

• Introduction
• Point of Comparison 1
• Point of Comparison 2
• Point of Comparison 3
• Conclusion

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Drafting Techniques

• Often, a good description also includes a
  definition.
• There are four basic ways to define something
• Classification definition the technique found
  in dictionaries, a classification definition
  gives the group to which a particular item
  belongs and then gives the characteristics that
  make it special. For example, a soap opera is a
  type of TV (Group) that has a large cast of
  characters involved in episodic plots often
  involving romance and that is typically broadcast
  on weekday afternoons (special characteristics).

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Drafting Techniques

• Synonym definition synonym definitions give
  other words that have similar meanings. For
  example, soap operas are also called melodramas
  daytime dramas, or the stories.
• Negation definition it is also possible to
  define something by explaining what it is not.
• Operational definition going back to
  Aristotles notion of final causes, it is a
  common technique to define something in terms of
  what it does.

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Drafting Techniques

• The rhetorical devices of similes and metaphors
  are also useful in writing descriptions.
• Both involves comparing two unlike items in order
  to make a point or points about one.

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Drafting Techniques

• A simile is a comparison of two things using the
  word like or the word as.
• A metaphor is a comparison that uses a form of
  the verb to be.
• Simile My love is like a red, red rose.
• Metaphor My love is a red, red rose.

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Revising Techniques

• Your textbook has a nice checklist for revising
  observations.