Sunday, June 30, 2019

Anyone for an Essay?: So now you can write a convincing piece ofwriting ...

So now you can write a convincing piece of writing – be it essay, exam, blogpost or comment.

Do not be afraid to scroll down and see how this blog works.
There really is quite enough on it already to provide real diversity.

Most people just stick to one boring old way of commenting.
Lots of this:
“Well you would say that wouldn't you. You are a Fascist pig!” (ad hominem)
or
“Have you read Robert Rattlesnake on the subject of Brexit? Until you do, you ought to shut up.” (Appeal to Authority).

Very few people use the boring start – except in exams. Why not give it a whirl?
And very few people use the nice approach. Try it! It can transform an entire conversation if you set out to be nice. Use one of the suggestions below to start your paragraphs too.

Here are a couple of nice quotations to help you on your way:

Writing in 1711, Joseph Addison stated that “Zeal...is a great ease to the malicious man., by making him believe he does God service while he is gratifying the bent of a perverse revengeful temper. For this reason we find that most massacres and devastations which have taken place in the world have taken their rise from a furious pretended zeal.”

and

“Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone.” - Paul of Tarsus.

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Anyone for an Essay?: Repeat the arguments.This is the nice, safe, borin...

Anyone for an Essay?:

Repeat the arguments.

This is the nice, safe, boring way to finish.

This technique works really well in exams where the examiner simply wants an answer to a definite question. Just repeat each of the three paragraphs (or perhaps four?) of your answer – one at a time.

Question: What were the causes of the First World War?

Your finish:

There were therefore three causes of the First World War. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered. Then there was the impulsive order by the Kaiser to mobilize. Finally there was the general attitude of the Europeans that the war would be over by Christmas.

Question: How do you start up your own business?
Today we have heard how starting your own business can be fun. We have heard how to draw up a simple business plan. And we have learned that pivoting makes a huge difference.

Here is how one of the greatest orators of all time used this trick.

On November 19, 1863, Edward Everett, the chief speaker at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication, spoke for about an hour. The President rose to his feet and everyone's heart sank – another hour's speechifying!

This is how President Lincoln started:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

And this is how he finished, just a few minutes later:

...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Used well, summarising what you have written and repeating the first sentences of your piece will make a nicely rounded essay. Like throwing a boomerang, the words fly away and then gently return to your hand as you finish to a very appreciative audience.

And this technique works very well in exams.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Anyone for an Essay?: Ending a blogpost, a speech, an essay.As Max Beer...

Anyone for an Essay?:

Ending a blogpost, a speech, an essay.

As Max Beerbohm never said: “Public speaking is like making love. It has to end in a climax!”

You can end a speech with a toast: “Let us raise our glasses to Mr and Mrs...”

Or at a funeral:

“Let us rest assured that our long suffering mother is enjoying, at this very moment, her heavenly reward in the presence of God and His angels whom she so earnestly served for her entire life.”

Play on those emotions!

If you want people to feel pity, then ask how people can possibly sleep at night, knowing that babies are starving in Africa? What about the homeless man, recently released from prison for a crime he did not commit, a man who is even now sleeping rough on the streets of London?

Or indignation: “When my own children grow up, I want to live in a world where Polar Bears can walk freely among the icebergs. I want to live in a world where cars do not pollute the streets. Where babies do not cough up the fumes from diesel exhausts!”

Or you can end with sheer anger.

Everyone believes in equality. Everyone believes in fair play. And every single person wants to rob the rich and pretend we are poor! So appeal to that.
Here is the proudly Socialist Canary ending a piece on Private education:
This follows a clip which shows two men being ejected when they have jumped the queue for a ride on a roller coaster.

“But why should Brits treat the private education system any differently to the person above? They’re both unfair queue jumpers, are they not?And if there’s one thing British people should be good at, it’s queuing fairly.”

Peroration

The end is called the peroration. That means it is the time for decision. You have got the audience to listen and pay attention throughout the speech, the article, the blogpost, the comment. Now is the time for them to take action, to react and, we hope to leave a comment.
Just like you are going to now!

Anyone for an Essay?: What's next?Finishing your blog post, your essa...

Anyone for an Essay?:
I welcome all comments. And I would like very much to know how I can help with this excellent website.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

What's next?

Finishing your blog post, your essay, your speech, your comment.
So far, on this blog, you can find out how to start a piece of writing on your blogpost, your speech, your essay or your comment. You can also find out how to start off your paragraphs and some helpful hints on what to put into those paragraphs.

Now it is time to talk about how to finish your work off nicely.

The happy finish:

Look at this remark from Dr Richard North:

A little while ago, I wrote a piece which referred to the "naming of parts", stressing the importance of clarity and precision in the use of words, remarking that sloppy use of vocabulary leads to confusion and muddle.

But it isn't just the avoidance of confusion and muddle that is at stake. Clarity and precision also goes to credibility. I used for my example the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) rifle and one can imagine the reception which might be given to a self-proclaimed expert on the rifle who referred to the magazine as, say, "the bullet container".

You have to show that you know what you are talking about, that your remarks are reliable and true and that you know what you are talking about.
Keep smiling as you write.
Be cheerful. Everyone likes that.
And ending with a question is often a good idea too.

Here are some nice endings for you:

This one is from Muslim Girl website:

Overall, there’s a long list of anime and a variety of genres to pick from. I recommend finding the genre that will be mesmerizing to you. It’s okay if anime isn’t for you, but, as I mentioned earlier, if you ever loved watching “Pokemon” or “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” then anime might spark an interest you never even realized was there.

Author’s note: many of these shows can be watched on YouTube or Crunchyroll. - Muslim Girl

A nice, short end – the best of all!

In this time of Islamophobia and racism, Love From A to Z delivers the unapologetic heroine we need. And S.K. Ali is just the writer to provide it.

And here is a good longer one:

Chris Saltmarsh, co-founder of campaign group Labour for a Green New Deal, commented: “The questions of climate justice and green jobs will define our politics in the years to come, so it is great to see that Labour is appointing a frontbench role to engage with popular movements to build socialist and democratic solutions.
“We hope the leadership also listen to the popular movement within the party calling for a Green New Deal, which would be the best means of guaranteeing green jobs and genuine climate justice. We look forward to meeting Danielle Rowley to discuss how to take this proposal forward.”

If you leave the blogpost, comment, speech with a nice taste in your mouth, then you are much more likely to have a nice day putting what you have heard into practice.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

What is going on here?

To write an essay, a speech, a post, you have got to have three things.

The first is a start.
The second is the body composed of a number of paragraphs.
The third is the end.

This helpful (I trust) blog has already shown you how to start and how to write good, trenchant paragraphs.

Now we come on the all important bit: how to stop writing or talking!

Read on over the next few days to find out…

Here is a list of ways to start your paragraphs:

Just click and read. Most people just have a couple of tricks up their sleeve and they fall back on them all the time. If you use these you will have a vast number of ways of attacking your question, of putting your thoughts out therefor a wider public.
Please don't use them all at once. Treat them like alcohol - one G&T is nice. Ten different cocktails is different…

Please notice that you can click on each suggestion for a fuller explanation of the idea. I would like to thank the great Aristotle for inspiring this idea in his Rhetoric. He was the personal teacher and coach, of course, of Alexander the Great.

How do you start your post, comment, tweet, speech?

Here are seven different approaches. Why not try a different one for a change?

Attack the question, position the blame, go for the jugular from the start.
Help the reader/audience with some timely advice.
Explain succinctly what you are going to say.
Start with a story.
Explain exactly what the opposition are on about.
Tell a joke.
What do the audience want from you? Meet their need.

Scroll down for the articles on each of the above - in that order.

Most people use their favourite couple of arguments all the time. And they have their favourite ways of starting off too. And we don't realise we are doing it.

It's summer!

Change into something fresh for a change!

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Your Audience

Let's start with that essay shall we?

The Examiner is your audience. Maybe in college it is your lecturer. In school, perhaps your teacher.

So what does she/he want from you?

50 pages of copy from that website? Half a reluctant page of guesswork?

Probably not…

She/He wants to see that you have understood the question and that you can answer it simply and backed up with facts.

Do it and watch your marks soar!

For speeches:

Aristotle says that the audience are “morally weak”. They would much rather be reading something more interesting, listening to someone better, going shopping on e bay...
So think about what they want.

What really interests them? What affects their lives? Their pleasures? What do they find strange and unusual?
“How much tax do you pay at the moment?”
“Does school really have to be compulsory after, say, 14?”
“Yesterday I watched someone die.”
And after the first shock, you have to keep the audience on their toes. Keep their attention.
Tony Blair was a good orator. He used the chummy “Yer know”. Funny speakers like to remind people “to keep up at the back.”

Boring speakers say, “Now I am coming on to the interesting bit...”
But words like “Actually...”, “This is not always the case...”, “You might not know this but...”
-all useful.

Boris Johnson, a superb communicator, always treats his interviewer like a slightly backward old friend. He deliberately stumbles over his words as he thinks. Then he darts in with a rapier flourish.

So always keep the audience – at weddings, at funerals, when commenting, when tweeting (?) - in mind. Especially in examinations...Just answer the question. Nothing else. That is what the examiner (your audience) wants.

Sales people and Advertisers:

You need a quick attention grabbing moment. "Wow!" Or suddenly produce the product. Or both. If you want a good sentence to start off, look here.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Keep 'em laughing.

Boris Johnson thought it was hilariously funny to say that he didn't care what women wore – even if they dressed up in a burka that made them look like a letter box.
Jo Brand made her remark about exchanging throwing a milk shake for something much more harmful.
The people in France, who published the hilariously funny cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed (SAWS) in Charlie Hebdo, soon regretted their joke too.
Nowadays when serious and utterly humourless people rule over us, the best way to make a joke is to shut it.
Here are some ancient jokes which you might like:
In a feminist conference in Cambridge, a male Don appeared and politely asked if there was anyone present who could sew on a button.
A farmer friend of mine told me this story:

He has an elderly father who went to see the doctor about a very swollen leg. He was given a prescription. After a week, he went back to the doctor's as he had been asked to do.“Ah”, said the doctor, “I can see the pills I gave you have done a lot of good.”

Silence.

“He weren't taking the boogers!”

You see, nowadays even that is enough to get you kicked out of any professional organisation.

So the judgement must be:
Never start your essay with a joke. And that goes for speeches, comments and indeed tweets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEAvb8k7EnY

How can I write a good essay?

LANGUAGE

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Anyone for an Essay?: So now you can write a convincing piece ofwriting ...

So now you can write a convincing piece of writing – be it essay, exam, blogpost or comment.

Here are a couple of nice quotations to help you on your way:

Saturday, June 29, 2019