Paraphrasing and Synthesizing

Paraphrasing & Synthesizing

Introduction
Writing an academic essay, you will need two skills of incorporating ideas and information:
- Paraphrasing
- Synthesising

1.0 Paraphrasing

1.1 What are the differences among quoting,
paraphrasing, and summarizing?

- Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

- Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

- Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

1.2 A paraphrase is…
l Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.

l One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.

- A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.


1.3 Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

- it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.

- it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.

- the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

1.4 Six Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.

2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.

3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later
how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card,
write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your
paraphrase.

4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your
version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new
form.

5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology
you have borrowed exactly from the source.

6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that
you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material
into your paper.



1.5 Some Examples to compare:

The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).

An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

1.6 Exercises

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.



2. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

3. Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

2.0 Synthesizing

2.1 Key Features of a Synthesis:

- It accurately reports information from the sources using different phrases and sentences.

- It is organized in such a way that readers can immediately see where the information from the sources overlap;

- It makes sense of the sources and helps the reader understand them in greater depth.

2.2 Skills required in a synthesis

- Critical reading
- Paraphrasing
- Summarizing

2.3 Process Involved

a. Literature search
b. Formulating a thesis statement
c. Choosing a structure
d. Planning the paper
e. Drafting your paper
f. Documenting sources
g. Revising


Synthesis Strategies
A synthesis essay brings together several ideas from multiple, unique sources in order to create a new point of view, or angle of vision on a topic. This definition sounds very abstract, but the process is actually very straightforward and practical. Work out each of the strategies below. As you perform each one, your synthesis essay will come together little by little.

Read
Your first task in writing is to decide upon a topic. For this reason, reading what others have to say on a topic is a fundamental activity for writers. Study several writings that seem related somehow and determine what general topic is common to them. Read actively: active reading means [quest]ioning the text, taking notes, annotating passages, finding relationships between ideas. Shallow reading will result in a shallow essay, but active reading results in critical thinking and the invention of new ideas for considering the topic.

Observe
Look at the readings again. (Refer to Take This Fish and Look At It for an in-depth look at the process of observing). Look closely at the details that seem most important and relevant to the topic. Look at how each author addresses the topic and expresses a point of view that is unique yet universal. Skipping this strategy is like trying to do an addition problem without knowing what the numbers are; you cannot solve the problem without specific things to add up. Observing details will give you the raw material you need to expand and write substantively on your topic.

Collect

Decide which ideas, passages or quotes seem most relevant and significant to your topic. How do these ideas corroborate or disagree with your ideas on the topic? This strategy will help you select the ideas you want to include in your essay and reject those ideas which seem incidental or irrelevant to your topic. Whether you quote, summarize, or paraphrase an idea of passage, make sure you include an in-text parenthetical citation that refers you reader to a source on your works cited page.
Quote: taking words verbatim from a source
Summarize: giving a general idea of what a quote or passage says
Paraphrase: giving a specific interpretation of what a quote or passage means

Combine
By this time, you probably have a vague idea of what your thesis will be, but building and designing your essay may still be difficult. But this strategy is like sorting out loose change: separate the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, then count them up. Collect quotes that seem relevant to each other and create a rough outline with headings that suggest a thematic relationship.

Connect
What do the readings have in common? How is each reading unique? How do the readings speak to each other, create a new background from which to understand the topic? How do the readings speak to your own viewpoint on the topic? As the interconnections among these questions emerge, your thesis should take shape out of the answers. Remember, you and the readings create a kind of discussion panel, as if several individuals are engaged in collaborative discourse. Your essay will develop out of this connection.

Plan
Create an outline that forms a logical framework for presenting ideas to your audience. If you notice, this strategy should be used whenever you write an essay. But in the case of a synthesis essay, ideas can seem random, haphazard, chaotic, and impossible to make sense of. This is because you are trying to find a relationship among ideas that may not have been put together before now. If you find yourself struggling to write your essay, even after performing the first several strategies, organizing your ideas in an outline is the next logical step.

Appraise
What is significant about the readings in terms of current events or social conditions? In your judgment, how can your audience make use of this gathering of perspectives? What does this collection of ideas tell us about the present, past, or about the future? After putting these ideas together, where do we go from here? How will this new framework of ideas help us make or remake our world? The answers to these questions probably cannot be found in the readings themselves, but can only be answered by you. Fulfilling this strategy will give your essay purpose and help you refine your thesis.

Conclude
Your audience can also read, observe, collect, connect, and appraise texts, so simply rehashing the readings (summarizing) is not what synthesis is about. Be creative in showing your audience something they cannot find for themselves. This means that adding your worldview or perspective on the topic is an essential part of widening the horizon on your topic.

Writing an Argument

The building blocks for arguments are…
Propositions (statements)

Propositions
Is a statement or claim that is either true or false.
It has truth value.
With some investigation, one can determine the truth or falsity of each statement

Proposition
E.g An advanced form of life exists on the planet Mars.
Ponder…
"It's not a proposition. It's just his or her opinion."

Remember….
Opinions are PROPOSITIONS because they can either be true or false.
E.g Blue is my favorite colour.

However…
Opinions can be divided onto two types:
- mere opinions
- reasoned judgment

Mere opinions:
is a belief that is unsupported by reasons.
This is UNSUITABLE for arguments.

Reasoned Judgment:
A belief that is supported by reasons.
As such, this is the type of PROPOSITION used in arguments

Reasoned Judgment
Example:
1)We must resist all effort to allow the government to censor entertainment. 2)Freedom of speech and expressions are essential to a democratic form of government. 3)As soon as we allow some censorship, it won't be long before censorship will be used to silence the opinions critical of the government. 4) The next thing we know, we will have no more freedom than the Germans did under Hitler.

Evidence for Argument
Types of Evidence…
-Facts
-Statistics
-Expert Opinions
-Appeals to beliefs or needs

Facts

-Verifiable statements
E.g The Civil War ended in 1865

Statistics
-Facts express in numbers.
E.g Of those polled, 62% stated a preference for a flat tax.

Examples
-specific cases
E.g Besides broadening students’ knowledge,
required courses can also introduce students
to possible careers that they otherwise
would have known nothing about. Somewhat
reluctantly, I enrolled in a psychology course
to satisfy the social requirement. But what I
learned in the course about human behavior
has led me to consider becoming a clinical
psychologist instead of an engineer.

Expert Opinions
-are the judgment formed by authorities on the basis of their own examination of the facts.
E.g Despite the fact that affirmative action places some individuals at a disadvantage, it remains necessary to right the wrongs inflicted historically on whole groups of people. Howard Glickstein, a past director of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights, maintains that "it simply is not possible to achieve equality and fairness" unless the previous grounds for discrimination (such as sex, race, and national origin) are now used as the grounds for admission to schools and jobs (26).

Appeals to beliefs or needs

-statements that ask readers to accept an assertion in part because it states something they accept as true without evidence or because it coincides with their needs.

E.g Thus the chemistry laboratory is outdated in its equipment. In addition, its shabby, antiquated appearance shames the school, making it seem a second-rate institution. [Appeals to readers’ belief that their school is or should be first-rate].

Criteria for Weighing Arguments
Criteria for Weighing Arguments:
-Is it accurate: trustworthy, exact, undistorted?
-Is it relevant: authoritative, pertinent, current?
-Is it representative: true to context?
-Is it adequate: plentiful, specific?

Is it Accurate?
-Drawn from trustworthy sources,
-It is quoted exactly,
-It is presented with the original meaning undistorted.

Is it relevant?
-It comes from sources with authority on the subject.
-It relates directly to the point the writer is making.
-It is current.

Is it Representative?
-It reflects the full range of the sample from which it is said to be drawn.
-It does not over represent any element of the sample.

Is it Adequate?
-It is plentiful enough to support the writers’ assertions.
-It is specific enough to support the writers’ assertions.

Watching Language and Hearing Tone

Watching Language and Hearing Tone:
Tone
-Appealing to readers: Rational and emotional readers
-Biased language

Tone
- Tone is the expression of the writers’ attitude towards himself/herself towards the subject and toward the reader.

Tone
E.g Some women cite personal growth as a reason for pursuing careers while raising children. Of course, they are equally concerned with the personal growth of the children they relegate to "child-care specialists" while they work.

Note: Second sentence, the writer is being ironic, saying one thing while meaning another. The word ‘relegate’ and the quotation marks with ‘child-care specialists’ betray the writers’ belief that working mothers may selfishly neglect their children for their own needs.

Appealing to Readers
-Rational reader
-Emotional reader

Rational Appeal
E.g Advertising should show more physically challenged people. The millions of disabled Americans have considerable buying power, yet so far advertisers have made no attempt to tap that power. [Appeals to the logic of financial gain].

Emotional Appeal:
E.g Advertising should show more physically challenged people. By keeping the physically challenged out of the mainstream depicted in ads, advertisers encourage widespread prejudice against disability, prejudice that frightens and demeans those who hold it. [Appeals to the sense of fairness, open-mindedness].

Rational and Emotional Appeal
E.g Advertising should show more physically challenged people. The millions of disabled Americans have considerable buying power, yet so far advertisers have made no attempt to tap that power. Further, by keeping the physically challenged out of the mainstream depicted in ads, advertisers encourage widespread prejudice against disability, prejudice that frightens and demeans those who hold it.

Biased Language
-Sexist
Eg. Broad (woman)
Eg. Fag (homosexual)

-Racist
E.g Nigger (African-American)

Punctuation

Punctuation

Definition
Punctuation is the system of symbols that writers use to make their writing clear and to add emphasis, intonation, and pause to a work.

Two reasons…
a. To provide order and structure to an otherwise dark and disorganized stream of words.
b. To add style to their writing.

History
- Derived from the Latin word; Punctus, meaning “a point”.
-The first use of punctuation appears on the Moonbite Stone, dating from 850B.C.
- Invented by Aristophanes of Byzantium around 194B.C.

1.0 The Period

Definition

To represent a strong pause or break.
- physical pause; between sentences.
- pause in meaning; between the different letters in an abbreviation.

The Period (usage)
-With imperative and declarative clauses.
-With Requests and Questions.
-With abbreviations.

With Imperative and Declarative Sentences
-Pass the salt. (imperative)
-The postman always rings twice. (declarative)

Note:
Imperative Sentence: a sentence that makes a request or gives a command.
Declarative Sentence: a sentence that is used to make a statement of fact or possibility

With Requests and Questions
-Would you please turn your stereo down. (request)
-He wonders who she is. (indirect question)
-May I make a suggestion. (rhetorical question)
-Would you stop tapping your foot. (imperative sentence phrased as question)

With Abbreviations
-A.D. anno Domini (Latin for “in the year of our Lord”)
-Feb. February
-B.C. Before Christ
-Mr. Mister
-A.M. Ante meridiem (Latin for before noon)

2.0 Ellipses (…)

Definition
A series of periods that indicate words missing in a sentence.

Usage
-Three periods indicate words missing at the beginning of the quote or within the quote.

Example
“Unless we can surmount the crises…all the plans for the rebuilding of backward countries in other continents will all be put on the shelf, because war interrupts everything like that.” – Walter Lippman.

Usage
-Four Periods at the end of a quote where words are missing. This series of periods includes the period that ends the sentence.

Example
“Give me a dozen health infants…and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select….” –J.B. Watson

3.0 The Coma (,)

Definition
- The comma is a mark of separation.



Do’s
- Do use commas to set off nouns in direct address.
Example: Mr. Grennan, assume the push-up position.

Do’s
- If a conjunctive adverb begins the sentence, place a single comma after it.
Example: Consequently, the freighter sank just three miles from its home port.

Don’ts
- Do not place a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun.
Example: The brave young man rode into battle without fear.

Don’ts
- Do not place a comma before a coordinate conjunction that connects two subordinate clauses.
Example:

Because time is short, and because the matter is so urgent, we must act now. (incorrect)
Because time is short and because the matter is so urgent, we must act now. (correct)

5.0 The Semicolon (;)

Definition
- Indicates a stronger pause than the comma but a weaker pause than a period.

Usage
- With Compound Sentences
- With items in a series

With Compound Sentences
- The semicolon may separate main clauses in a compound sentence when no coordinate conjunction is used.

- The meanings of the two clauses should be closely related.
Example: I woke up; I got out of bed.

With Items in a Series
- May separate items when one or more of the items contain internal punctuation.
Example: The guest list includes Bill, my cousin; Susan, my best friend; and Arnold, my annoying brother.

6.0 The Apostrophe (‘)

Definition
- Is used to indicate plural and possessive forms of words
or
- To indicate missing letters and digits.

Possessive
- Dog – dog’s (singular)
- Geese – geese’s (plural)
- Boss – boss’s (singular)
- Jesus – Jesus’ (singular)
- Moses – Moses’ (singular)

Missing letters and digits
- Missing letters

Examples:
a. Old – ol’
b. Missing digits
c. 1981 – ‘81

7.0 Parentheses ()

Usage
- With explanation or commentary
Example: Jack acted surprised (as if he didn’t know) when Rachel told him that news.

Usage
- With numbers, letters, and symbols

Examples:
a. The price of this meal ($200.00) is outrageous.
b. We will use the ampersand (&) in place of the word and in the title.
c. I disagree with the 3rd item (c) on the agenda.

Usage
- With dividers and Subdividers
Example:

The rebels’ plan is to (1) take over the television station, (2) urge the citizens to revolution through hourly freedom broadcasts, and (3) topple the communist regime.

8.0 Brackets ([ ])

Usage
- With information inserted into quoted material
Example: The story read, “When it [the Crystal Park Hotel and Casino] opened last fall, it was a gambler’s dream.”

Usage
- With Parenthical Material within Parentheses
Example: He (the driver of the car [a Ferrari]) had the car going over one hundred miles per hour when he was stopped.

Tenses

1.0 The Present Simple Tense

1. Habitual/repeated actions and eternal truth. This use of the tense, covers, past, present and
future tense.
e.g He jogs four times a week.

2. Future actions that follow a time table. Use with a future time marker.
e.g They leave for Japan next week.

2.0 The Present Continuous Tense

1. Temporary action of short duration. The action has begun, is in progress and has not
finished.
e.g He is jogging in the park at the moment.

2. Temporary action of long duration. The action has begun, is in progress but will finish at
some point in the future.
e.g I am living in Kluang at the moment.

3. Temporary habit. Repeated actions over a given period of time.
e.g I am cutting his grass while he is away.

4. Unfortunate habit. A bad habit or reaction to one used with adverb always.
e.g I am always having to tell them off.

5. Future actions already arranged. Plans already made before time of speaking.
e.g I am changing jobs next month.


3.0 Simple past

1. Single, completed action in the past. Usually used with a time marker.
e.g I saw him yesterday.

2. A series of repeated actions in the past. Usually used with a time
marker.
E.g He often came to visit us when he was on leave.

3. A continuous action or state completed in the past. It has no effect on the present. Usually
used with a time marker.
e.g I lived in Singapore for nearly five years. (But I live in
Malaysia now.)

4.0 The Present Perfect Tense

1. An action completed in the past and the results of which are still obvious.
e.g I have dropped the best fruit bowl. (So, watch out for
broken glass).

2. An action completed at some time in the past which is still relevant now.
e.g I have seen that film. (so, I don’t want to see it again.)

3. A continuous action or state extending from past to present. It began in the past and is still
progressing.
e.g I have lived in Tapah since 1981. (And am still living
here.)

4. A series of repeated actions extending from past to present. And the actions are likely to
continue in the future.
e.g I have been to Ipoh many times.

5.0 The Past Perfect Tense

This tense is always used in conjunction with another verb in the simple past tense.
It cannot STAND ALONE in a sentence.

1. A continuous action or state extending from one point in the past to
another. It is ended by another action or event.
e.g He had been ill for a long time when he died.

2. A single action in the past preceding another past action.
e.g The thieves had escaped by the time the police arrived.

6.0 Future Simple or Indefinite

1. To indicate an intention, expectation or an event which is about to happen.
e.g I shall (will) do it tomorrow.

7.0 Future Continuous Tense

1. To indicate an action which will be taking place or happening at a
certain point in time in the future.
e.g He will be listening to the radio if it rains tonight.

Direct and Indirect Speech

Dear students,

I have found a fantastic website on Direct/Indirect Speech. Here's the link:
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.htm#Tense

Look through the website as it has systematically arranged it's notes to explain concepts for this topic. For those who have taken the hard copy of my lecture notes on Direct/Indirect Speech, please return it to me ASAP as i do not have a softcopy of it. Thank you.

Example of an Argument Essay

CENSORSHIP AND THE INTERNET
by Aaron Neill

<(INTRODUCTION>) Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two years you’ve no doubt heard about the Internet -- thousands of computers all over the world linked together with libraries of information and the ability to exchange messages with people all over the world. You can find almost anything you would want on the Internet -- books, essays, games, news, pictures etc -- placed there by other users. The information is loosely organized, and, once you are hooked up to the net through a computer, free for everyone. But this freedom has caused problems. Because there are no restrictions on what anyone can put on the Net, and a wide variety of people use it, some of it can be offensive to many people, sending rude or annoying messages, for example. <(INTRODUCTION)>

<(INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM)>But the biggest problem is with the areas that have been used to distribute pornographic computer images Anyone can load and display one of these pictures on his computer screen, and understandably many people have become concerned. These are not just a few pictures of unclothed women but also virtual databases of such things as child pornography, bondage and bestiality that any child with a computer can get to. <(INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM)>

<(THESIS STATEMENT)>Senator Exon from Nebraska has taken the lead in proposing legislation that would ban certain types of things from being placed on the Internet. Although at first it sounds like a good idea, I am opposed to government regulated censorship on the Internet. So that my intentions are not misunderstood, let me first state that I do not condone pornography. I believe pornography is not only degrading to women and offensive but also morally wrong. I understand and support what Senator Exon and others are trying to accomplish, but I think the proposed method is misguided. There are much better and easier methods available. <(THESIS STATEMENT)>

<(ARGUMENT 1)> One of the primary reasons why this legislation is a bad idea is because it will be difficult to enforce and therefore will raise the price of access to the Internet. <(ARGUMENT 1)> <(SUPPORTING DETAILS)> It is difficult to enforce any rules or standards on the Internet because no one owns or manages it. The Internet is essentially just many computers attached to each other and setup so that they can understand each other, and thus there is no one organization that operates it. Although people own the computers no one owns the connection. Individual service providers (who provide ordinary people with access to the network) will have to take responsibility for and monitor the files their users post on the net. This will be very time consuming and therefore expensive.

Perhaps many servers will give up altogether, not wanting to risk fines for illegal material that was put online through their server. There will be fewer organizations providing individual access and those that do will cost more. Of course this will limit the number of people who can benefit from the Internet. We shouldn’t allow the improper activities of one group to hurt everyone. <(SUPPORTING DETAILS)>

<(ARGUMENT 2)>For parents and schools who wish to protect their children from being exposed to such stuff it is comparatively easy to screen it out<(ARGUMENT 2)>. <(SUPPORTING DETAILS)>Most of the sexually explicit images are located in news groups with names like alt.sex or alt.erotica clearly indicating their purpose. Many companies are presently putting out software that can detect and deny access to areas on the Internet that are deemed inappropriate by the individuals who set up the program. Examples are Surfwatch and NetGaurdian by New View Inc. This "local censorship" at home and in institutions would be much cheaper and would not infringe on the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech. Even within current laws much can be done without resorting to new laws. Any of the pictures available in the news groups on the Internet were scanned into computer format from magazines like Playboy and Penthouse and uploaded in violation of copyright laws <(SUPPORTING DETAILS)> .

<(ARGUMENT 3)>The most effective way to combat pornography is for parents to teach their children good taste and decency so that they will dislike and avoid such things. Admittedly this is not easy but in the end society will be better off <(ARGUMENT 3)>. <(SUPPORTING DETAILS)>Censorship implies a certain attitude about mankind; that we cannot take care of ourselves. It comes down to the fact that individuals must take responsibility for their own lives and parents must take responsibility for their offspring and not depend on and become virtual slaves of institutions and in particular the government. This will build stronger character and better human beings. It’s the same principle that if parents don’t like what their children are watching on TV they must shut it off. I’m certainly not advocating pornography on television but I don’t think the Internet falls under the same category as television or books because it is much easier to screen out materials on a computer than on TV thanks to the programs I mentioned above <(SUPPORTING DETAILS)> .

<(CONCLUSION)> The Internet and its successor, the so-called "Information Super highway" is the best chance that we have of creating the "Global Village", bringing the world together without the traditional barriers of a nationality, race, economic status, etc. The knowledge and experience of mankind can be more easily collected and shared. We cannot afford in our troubled world to stifle or handicap such a blessing and government censorship, such as that proposed by Senator Exon, would do more harm than good <(CONCLUSION)>.


Argumentative Essay

The Controllers

Warning! Warning! Alarms go off inside your head. You?re at the mall walking around with one of your best buds looking at CDs, when all of a sudden you look up and see this drop dead gorgeous girl, whose looking at CDs in the next aisle. You grasp the CD case you were looking at firmly, and use the reflection quickly to make sure none of your pimples are ready to burst, and that your hair is fixed right. You glance down at you pants making sure they are set right on your shoes to make them look as cool as possible. Then you make sure that your shirt is straightened up. You take a breath and look up. She gives looks at you out of the corner of your eyes and you feel a skip in you chest. She looked at you! You automatically double checked with your eyes to make sure your zipper?s zipped and that she?s not laughing at you, but she?s really smiling at you. Wow, you think, she must really think I look cool!

That was only a brief glimpse into the complicated life of a teenage boy. A boy who reads magazines, wants a car, plays video games, and watches a lot of TV. Every morning he wakes up and picks out his clothes sometimes taking them off and putting on others that match better. His ultimate goal is to look as good and cool as possible, like those guys in the Gap commercials on TV, with their perfect smiles and their arm always around that really hot girl.

Why have we as males become more concerned about our looks and body? It seemed that only twenty years ago it was just the girls really worrying about their make up and nails. Even though we have not come so far as to put on make up and paint out nails weird colors to match our 300 dollar outfit to go to the mall, we have become more aware of looking cool and more attracting to the opposite sex. Yet it seems as if instead of looking to better out grades and get a good job to attract females we?ve started to look more and more at our looks then what we do and who we are.

What we teens don?t realize is that TV has a bigger impact on our daily life then we think it does. It?s become the government?s way of talking to us. It?s also a way of communication and entertainment. Since the 1940?s, when the television really became open to the public, the news and our favorite shows have shown us different parts of the world. It imposed new ideas and little by little, changed society. Because companies started to use the television to advertise and introduce new styles, society has started to desire to be those people on television.

When I was younger and watched more TV, I would usually watch cartoons about superheroes saving the world, like Captain Planet or the Ninja Turtles. A lot of times I would try to imitate their hairstyles to make myself more like them. Now we do the same thing with the serial comedies and action shows, though now we don?t admit that we want to imitate these people as openly.

Most of the men and guys on TV look good or have good bodies. They most likely wear the clothes that are in style. In the movies, these guys often get the girl or are the hero of the picture. As of late, in shows like Friends, The Read World, and Sex in the City, where the relationships are shallow and mostly based on looks, have become more and more popular. A lot of times the reasons that they dump a guy are because his penis is too small or he needs to lose fat around some areas.

Shows like these only make guys more self-conscious about their looks because they think that the girls expect us to be a rippling Arnold Schwarzenegger with a perfect body. A lot of times we also think they want us to look like the guys in the Abercrombie and Fitch ads, with their hands down their crotches and an arm holding a hot girl. What they?re really saying is, ?Hey guys! Look like me even though you probably won?t be able to. If you do though, you?ll get lots of hot girls like this one.? These pictures tend to have a lot of sexual content, and this puts a lot of pressure on having ?in? clothes and being cool.

Another source that has altered the male thinking is the magazine. Because girl magazines like Cosmopolitan encourages women use the power to choose and be ahead of the relationship, it also places stress on guys to look better for girls, and this stress in turn has made other magazines come into existence and feed off of the new male impulse to look better. I looked on the internet and found at allyoucanread.com their list of the top twenty men magazines. Three of them were aimed to help men look better and be fit. A majority of the others included magazines such as Maxim at number one and others that helps guys see the women on TV up close. They also contain ads that promote the idea of having muscles and being cool, which encourages a lot of guys to use steroids and lift weights.

These magazines are read by a majority of the male population in America, and anything that gets published in them is sent out to a couple million males. Their opinions become the public?s opinions. Personally, I was surprised to see so many health and fitness magazines. Both magazines and the television have had a big effect on why we as males are more concerned about our looks now, then fifty years ago. They control the need to look good around the world. The real struggle is to not let these materials conflict with what we really know. When you consider it in the long run, these things do not matter: popularity, money, and what you do. Focus more on what matters, like relationships that are not based on whether your hair looks good, or if your face is clear of acne.

Verb Consistency

Verb Consistency

Controlling Shifts in Verb Tense

Writing often involves telling stories. Sometimes we narrate a story as our main purpose in writing; sometimes we include brief anecdotes or hypothetical scenarios as illustrations or reference points in an essay. Even an essay that does not explicitly tell a story involves implied time frames for the actions discussed and states described. Changes in verb tense help readers understand the temporal relationships among various narrated events. But unnecessary or inconsistent shifts in tense can cause confusion. Generally, writers maintain one tense for the main discourse and indicate changes in time frame by changing tense relative to that primary tense, which is usually either simple past or simple present. Even apparently non-narrative writing should employ verb tenses consistently and clearly.

General guideline: Do not shift from one tense to another if the time frame for each action or state is the same.

Examples:
1. The ocean contains rich minerals that washed down from rivers and streams.

Contains is present tense, referring to a current state; washed down is past, but should be present (wash down) because the minerals are currently continuing to wash down.

Corrected: The ocean contains rich minerals that wash down from rivers and streams.

2. About noon the sky darkened, a breeze sprang up, and a low rumble announces the approaching storm.

Darkened and sprang up are past tense verbs; announces is present but should be past (announced) to maintain consistency within the time frame.

Corrected: About noon the sky darkened, a breeze sprang up, and a low rumble announced the approaching storm.

3. Yesterday we had walked to school but later rode the bus home.

Had walked is past perfect tense but should be past to maintain consisten
cy within the time frame (yesterday); rode is past, referring to an action completed before the current time frame.

Corrected: Yesterday we walked to school but later rode the bus home.

General guideline: Do shift tense to indicate a change in time frame from one action or state to another.

Examples:
1. The children love their new tree house, which they built themselves.

Love is present tense, referring to a current state (they still love it now;) built is past, referring to an action completed before the current time frame (they are not still building it.)

2. Before they even began deliberations, many jury members had reached a verdict.

Began is past tense, referring to an action completed before the current time frame; had reached is past perfect, referring to action from a time frame before that of another past event (the action of reaching was completed before the action of beginning.)

3. Workers are installing extra loudspeakers because the music in tonight's concert will need amplification.

Are installing is present progressive, referring to an ongoing action in the current time frame (the workers are still installing, and have not finished;) will need is future, referring to action expected to begin after the current time frame (the concert will start in the future, and that's when it will need amplification.)