ِ ‫بِ ۡس ِم ٱهَّلل ِ ٱلر َّۡح ٰ َم ِن ٱلر‬

‫َّح ِيم‬
All praise is due to Alloh SWT, the Almighty, Creator of the Universe, and may the
peace and blessings of Alloh be upon our leader, the Messenger of Alloh, Muhammad saw,
and upon all his family and his companions. May Alloh be merciful upon you, my Muslim
brother and sister.
On this nice occasion I would like to begin the first course of lectures by giving you an
introduction to Writing IV. It consists of the learning aim, the scope of the study, the general
knowledge about planning and writing the whole composition, and the bibliography.

INTRODUCTION TO WRITING IV

As we know, writing is one of the skills that should be acquired by students in

learning a language. Writing is a learned activity which means that everyone can learn how
to write. The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned as a
set of practices in formal instructional settings. Writing skills must be learned and practiced
through experience. Writing skills that students need at university level to write an effective
academic assignment include the ability to spell, to construct sentences, to punctuate
rationally, to organize information, to develop an argument, and to divide writing into
logical paragraphs.
Writing may be the most complex process that the students are expected to learn.
Therefore, to write well, students must develop the following set of skills:
 Basic writing skills/ mechanics of writing
These include spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure.
 Text generation
It involves translating one’s thoughts into language, what might be thought of as the
“content” of writing. Text generation includes word choice (vocabulary), elaboration of
detail, and clarity of expression.
 Writing processes
This involves planning, revising, and editing one’s work. These processes are extremely
important to success in writing.
 Writing knowledge 
It includes an understanding of discourse and genre, for example, understanding that an
exposition is organized differently from a narrative text. Another example of writing
knowledge includes writing for an audience, that is, the writer’s understanding of the
need to convey meaning clearly and appropriately to the people who will be reading a
particular piece of writing.
Learning to write well is challenging to most students, but students with reading
difficulties often have particular difficulty with writing. Underlying weaknesses that affect
reading, such as limited vocabulary knowledge, lack of understanding of text structure, poor
phonemic awareness, typically affect writing as well. In addition, poor readers usually do
not read widely, which deprives them of useful models for writing. Thus, the students’
writing development tends to parallel their development as readers.
Learning Aim and Scope of the Study
The course of lectures on Writing IV aims at giving rhetorical knowledge and
developing competencies in writing on various topics argumentatively and objectively based
on the thought and observation or sensory impression of the objects or topics of writing.
The subject matters focus on developing the students’ capability of expressing various ideas
logically and clearly in the form of effective sentences and variety of sentences, and
developing an opinion or argument in the form an opinion essay of several paragraphs
having unity and coherence. The students are expected to acquire writing skills in English
using appropriate writing principles. The assessments of the students’ works will be based
on the class participation, assignments, the mid-term test, and the end of term test.
The scope of the study comprises the following subject matters:
1. Introduction to Writing IV: It introduces the students to the learning aim, scope of the
study, and the general planning and writing the whole composition;
2. Variety of Sentences: It develops the ability to apply methods of making variety of
sentences;
3. Wordiness and Conciseness: This subject develops the capability of applying methods of
altering wordy sentences into concise ones;
4. Unity and Subordination: In this subject students are supposed to be able to determine
the positions of the most important ideas and lesser ideas in the sentence structure;
5. Coherence and Point of View: Students are supposed to have the capability of ordering
related parts of the sentence to maintain logical and clear relationship;
6. The Structure of an Opinion Essay: It is necessary for students to recognize the structure
of an opinion essay;
7. Organizing and Relating Ideas in Writing a Composition: In this subject, students are
supposed to be able to organize and to relate ideas in writing a composition;
8. Writing an Opinion Essay of More than One Paragraph: It provides the practice of
developing an opinion or argument into a composition of more than one paragraph;
9. Composing an Opinion Essay Based on Visual Information: It enables students to apply
the steps in the process of writing based on pictures or images;
10. Composing Based on an Interview: It develops the students’ ability to convert an
interview about debating issues into an essay.
Planning and Writing the Whole Composition
The four units of composition, in an ascending order, are the word, the sentence, the
paragraph, and the whole composition. Words make up the sentence, sentences make up the
paragraph, and paragraphs make up the whole composition.
A paragraph is usually a series of sentences developing one topic. A composition is
usually a series of paragraphs developing several topics which are closely related. Just as a
unified paragraph has a stated or implied topic to which each sentence contributes, a unified
composition has a central idea to which each paragraph contributes. Therefore, many of the
techniques used to write paragraphs (developing a central idea, arranging supporting
details logically and effectively, making appropriate transitions) are applicable to the
composition as a whole.
You should choose an appropriate subject and limit it properly. Be sure to select a
topic that will enable you to say something interesting about what you know well. Limit the
topic you choose so that you can develop it adequately and specifically. A subject is
appropriate if it appeals to you, or if you can develop an interest in it as you work on it, and
if it is acceptable to the intended reader. A subject is limited if you know enough about it or
can learn enough in a reasonable period, and if the topic is not too broad to treat in the time
or space at your command.
Before making a decision regarding the specific topic, you should consider your
purpose in writing the composition. Each of the purposes you might select corresponds to
one of the four main types of writing as they are conventionally classified in rhetoric:
exposition or explanation (to inform), description, argument (persuasion), and narration.
Exposition is the most common kind of non-fiction writing and the kind most frequently
written by college students. Argument is similar to exposition but written with the intention
of convincing rather than simply explaining. In narration, events are presented in a time
sequence, and in description a sensory impression of an object or feeling is conveyed. In fact,
few compositions are a single form of discourse. Most are mixtures in which one form
predominates.
After deciding on your purpose, you will find it helpful to set down, in a single
sentence, the central or controlling idea for your composition. This thesis statement helps to
limit the subject and especially helps determine the items to be included in the outline.
You should develop a working plan or an outline before writing a composition.
Although a formal outline may not be required for every composition you write, learning to
make and use a good outline is important to inexperienced writers because it is a working
plan that can make the actual writing of a composition easier.
Once you have checked your outline to make sure that it covers the subject and is
logically arranged, you are ready to write the composition.

Bibliography
Blanchard, Karen Lourie and Root, Christine Baker. Ready to Write : A First Composition Text.
Longman.
Hodges, John C. and Whitten, Mary E.. Harbrace College Handbook. Harcourt, brace & World,
Inc., 1962.
Hornby A. S., Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Oxford University
Press, 1974.
Thomson A.J. and Martinet A.V., A Practical English Grammar, Oxford University Press, 1969.
Wishon, George E. and Burks, Julia M.. Let’s Write English. New York, Litton Educational
Publishing Inc., 1980.
Withrow, Jean. Effective Writing. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1987.

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