不知不觉，来学校(Keele University)已经半个月时间了，距离新学期开学却还有一段时间。尽管之前担心花额外的钱来提前读一个月的语言课程会否物非所值，但从这十几天的课程来看，还是十分有帮助的。在国外不管读undergraduate，还是postgraduate，论文(essay)是检验一个人学习水平高低的重要考核项。许多科目例如Strategy、Marketing等结业时通常没有考试，就以论文评分。因此如果能够掌握写论文的技巧，那么学习也就事半功倍了。而这个月的语言课程主要就是帮助我们这些学生(大部分来自中国)掌握两项学习技能：如何写好论文；如何进行小组讨论。
写好论文的第一步：充分理解题目意思，明白导师到底让你“论”什么，才能确定你的论点。其实我们从小学开始学写议论文时老师就是这么教的，换成英文同样如此。关于如何理解分析问题，现将教材部分摘录如下：
The components of a question
Most essay titles or examination questions contain the following components:
1. Subject matter or topic. What, in the most general terms, is the question about?
2. Aspect or focus. This is the angle or point of view on the subject matter. What aspect of the subject matter is the question about?
3. Instruction or comment. This refers to the instruction word or phrase. These instructions tell the student exactly what to do.
Some questions also contain the following components:
4. Restriction or expansion of the subject matter. This is the detailed limitation of the topic. What, in specific terms, is the question about?
5. Viewpoint. This refers to the requirement, in the question, that the writer writes from a point of view dictated by the setter of the question.
Analysing the question
To analyse the title, it is useful to follow the following steps:
1. Identify the topic.
2. If the topic has a restriction or expansion, identify it.
3. Search for the aspect. This is the angle or point of view on the subject matter. Often, the aspect is a phrase ending in 'of', e.g. 'the importance of', 'the contribution of'. Be sure you are clear about how the aspect relates to the subject matter. It can be an example of it, a stage in its sequence, the cause or effect, one of the solutions to it as a problem etc.
4. Identify the instruction (which often comes at the beginning) and decide what it means and what it requires you to do.
5. Check whether there is a viewpoint and if so, if it the same as your own.
'Analysing the question'第4条是非常关键的，因为常常一个简单的词或词组就能够清晰告诉你需要做什么，这一类的词主要以动词为主，包括：account for, analyse, compare, consider, contrast, criticise, define, describe, discuss, elucidate, evaluate/assess, explain, explore, illustrate, justify, prove/disprove, state, summarise/outline, trace, 'To what extent is X true? (means true or/and not true)'。还有很多，不一一列举。在分析题目时我们必须找到这些关键词，正确理解它的意思。
对于一篇论文来说，开头(Introductions)与结尾(Conclusions)是非常重要的(其实也不仅仅论文如此)。以下是这两部分各自的要点：
Introductions:
1. Introduces reader to the subject
2. Explains/Defines key terms in questions
3. Provides an objective thesis
4. Offers brief details of different parts of the main body of the essay
5. Presents ideas relevant to the form of discourse
6. Demonstrates effective and appropriate vocabulary choices
7. Demonstrates understanding of both simple and complex grammatical structures
8. (If applicable) Acknowledges sources
写introduction时最重要的是记得，因为这是学术性论文，因此很有必要在introduction中写上evidence及你的 plan。evidence即你将对哪一方面进行研究；plan则是你计划通过什么样的方式，例如网上问卷／街头调查，来提供支撑你论文的数据。前段时间的练习中我这一部分做得不太好。
Conclusions:
1. Provides a deduction based on what has been covered in the body of the essay
2. Presents ideas relevant to the form of discourse
3. Demonstrates effective and appropriate vocabulary choices
4. Demonstrates understanding of both simple and complex grammatical structures
5. Avoids introducing new information
6. Provides selective summary of major points
7. Avoids unsupported generalisations
写conclusion最容易出现的问题是把它写成了summary。虽然conclusion要求与introduction呼应，同时也要与文章中其它段落要点有联系，但最重要的是一定要给出一个研究的结论(结果)。
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