留学生在学习中,写作相当重要,不仅平常会有essay、report、paper等各式写作类型作业,不仅考试中写作占据重要比重,而且时不时还会遇到In-class Essay(随堂essay)。就是老师会给学生一个讨论题目,要求学生据此给出自己的观点,并且能够通过例证来支持自己的观点。但是,这篇文章要在1-2小时的课堂上完成。这种情况下,查资料,找范文,请帮写等方法都不能用了,只能靠平常的积累与临场发挥。
那么,这些In-class Essay应该如何写呢?下文给出一个范例。在社会学的课堂上,老师要求学生在10-15分钟的时间内写一下领导的产生的原因。通常认为:领导产生于社会的需要或者人群的需要。对于这种观点,老师要求学生各抒己见。而有一位学生同意这个观点,就给出了下面这一篇essay。
As is said in a famous old Chinese saying, “To lead means to direct, help, and achieve.”Actually,in the society, leaders are admired by others mainly because they organize ordinary people to achieve a common goal which is beneficial for the majority. In this aspect, I agree that leaders are elected because they can meet the demands placed on them, as is made evident from a series of historically famous events. In case if some leaders are not elected by people but are hereditary or obtain their positions from illegal ways, they will soon be punished and unseated out of their positions.
评价:
第一段要明确给出自己的观点。这个学生的第一段的第一句话试图引用某种名人名言,并不知道这句话的出处是哪里,但是有个引用就会让文章增色一分。在该引用之后,学生给出自己的解释,使得引用的部分不至于太突兀或者是导致误解。
之后,学生给出自己的观点,并且给出该观点的qualification,展现了思维的全面性。
No matter in the United States or in China, countless historical examples have already illustrated the generation of leaders out of people’s urgent demands. For example, in the eighteenth century, the burgeoning industry such as the shipbuilding industry in the northern part of the North America around New York had made American people unsatisfied with the unreasonable control over them by the British government. At that time, the calling for independence was growing ever stronger, thus making it necessary for the American people to fight against the Great Britain. In order to win this war, Americans extremely needed a leader, so Washington, with his strong aspiration for the independence of the North America and with his brave and optimistic attitude, was espoused to be the leader among American people. Clearly, Washington was not chosen because he was more handsome or smarter or richer than others, nor because he wanted to enjoy high social status and luxurious lifestyle. Actually, the leading position at that crucial time meant tons of heavy tasks for him to fulfill. He did his work, led to the establishment of the United States of America, and thus was respected by millions of people in this new country.
评价:
学生主要依赖举证的方式来支持自己的观点。第一个例证是美国的独立史。在例子描述的过程中,尽量使用的是客观的说明性文字。事实上,对于此处,美国的要求是:年级越低,越鼓励表达自己的观点,用特征化的语言。而年级越高,越需要用客观公正的陈述型语气来阐述事实、讲道理。
Actually,President Washington was not alone. In the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao was also the key leader taking up the super challenging demands of owning land. In the early twentieth century, China was struggling in sheer poverty due to continuous wars among the dyingTsing Dynasty and the newly emerging armies. As a result, people couldn’t reside in one place for long,crops failed, and tens of thousands of Chinese starved to die. Therefore, the main social problem targeted on agriculture. In particular, majority of Chinese people were in urgent need of their own land. Only in this way could they be guaranteed security. However, during the intermittent wars, different army generals raised different ideologies, but only Mao Zedong raised the slogan of “making the peasants own their own land.” Apparently, he hit the bull’s eye, targeting precisely on the very social problem and thus winning the majority of Chinese people’s support and respect. As a result, he became the leader of Chinese Red Army, and eventually beat all other competitors to reunite China and to establish a new country. These two examples are about different countries, diffferent cultures, different ideologies, and