Writing Skill
Brainstorm for Topics and Supporting Details(全方位思考主题和论证细节)
Brainstorming, just as the word itself suggests, means a process of thinking of ideas, facts, examples, arguments, etc. Just write at random whatever comes to your mind. For example, with a title “My life at Lanzhou University”, you may have the following brainstorm:
1. having classes almost every day
2. playing football with my classmates every evening
3. having to study very hard to pass examinations
4. a lot of time spent learning English
5. sometimes feeling lonely; every student seems to be independent
6. sometimes going dancing in the dance hall of Lanzhou University
7. many of my classmates do part-time jobs; I plan to find one, too
8. sleeping too much, planning to do physical exercises in the morning
These eight sentences don’t focus on one topic. If we include all the sentences in one paragraph, we will break the rule “only one topic in one paragraph”. Our next work is: Identify the sentences that revolve around the same topic.
We find that sentence 1、2、3、4 and 6 are related to the topic “My Life Is Both Busy and Colorful”. But the rest of the sentences have little to do with the topic, so we discard them. We may write the paragraph as follows:
My life at Lanzhou University is both busy and colorful. I have classes almost every day. English class is the most difficult to follow, so I spend more time learning English. I will be busier when examinations approach. But I have lots of time to relaxation, too. I play football with my classmates every evening, and go dancing with my best friends on the weekends.