Providence University

College of Management

Describing andPredicting

Wu-Lin Chen (wlchen@pu.edu.tw)

Department of Computer Science and Information Management

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 2

Description

• A description serves to introduce a writer’s view of something.

• A description may also tell the characteristics or distinctive features of an object.

• The nature of something can be explained by describing it.

• To describe something, you simply have to tell your audience about it.

• You simply tell how your subject appears to the senses.• Many experienced writers find description one of the

most challenging expressive modes.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 3

Using English To Describe

• Physical description– It is a flaming ball of extremely hot gases.

• Shape: ball• Physical composition: hot, flaming gases

– The surface temperature is about 11,000° F, hot enough to turn every solid to vapor, but relatively cool compared to the intense heat at the center.

• Surface temperature: 11,000 ° F, hot enough to turn every solid to vapor, cool compared to center

– Located about 93 million miles from the earth …• Position or location: 93 million miles from earth

– …the sum has a diameter that is approximately equal to 109 of our earths lined up like a row of beach balls, and that is about 330,000 times the mass of the earth.

• Diameter: 109 x earth’s diameter• Mass: 330,000 x earth’s mass

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 4

Using English To Describe

• Functional description– The sun is the original source of nearly all our

energy.• Importance: source of our energy

• Chemical description– It is mostly made of hydrogen, although it also

contains nearly every other kind of atom that exists on the earth.

• Chemical composition: mostly hydrogen + nearly all other known atoms

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 5

Sentence Patterns

• The present simple tense is used most frequently when describing.

• The most commonly used verbs are to be and to have.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 6

Sentence Patterns:Describing Characteristics

The Nile RiverMount EverestThe Dead SeaThe pipe

is4,145 miles8,848 meters11 miles3 centimeters

long.high.wide.thick.

The NileThe sunThe Grand CanyonLeadAn elephant

has a

lengthsurface temperaturedepthspecific gravitylife span

of

4,145 miles.11,000° F.5,500 feet.11.3.about 75 years.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 7

Sentence Patterns:Describing Characteristics

lengthcolortextureorbitsshape

is/are

the Neiliodinesandplanetsearth

PlutoGlassZinc and cadmiumBlue starsCopper salts

is/are

relativelysomewhatratherextremelyslightly

small.brittle and transparent.reactive and silvery.hot.blue in aqueous solutions.

The of

4,145 miles.purplish black.rough and granular.elliptical.spherical.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 8

Writing Skills

• To write a good description, you have to do more than string adjectives together.

• Rules for descriptive writing:– Be specific– Focus on a particular aspect of what you are

attempting to describe– Compare the object being described to

something vivid (optional)

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 9

Writing Skills: Be Specific

• When writing description, avoid vague words like big, impressive, beautiful, overwhelming, bad, and awesome.

• Instead, use more precise words.– Rachel is “beautiful.”

• Give the details so that your audience can “see”

– “Rachel’s radiant blonde hair backlit by the winter sun”

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 10

Writing Skills: Be Specific

• Be more specific by “translating” the adjectives into the five senses:– sight– hearing– smell– touch– taste

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 11

Writing Skills: Be Specific

• An “impressive sight”– a “drawn and weary, ashen-faced old man”

• An “impressive sound”– “the mellow strings of the Vienna Philharmonic

Orchestra”• An “impressive smell”

– “the cranberry vapors of my mother’s breakfast cake”• An “impressive texture”

– “the smooth, cold marble of the altar.”• An “impressive taste”

– “the salt-edged bite of the sea”

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 12

Writing Skills: Focus On

• For example: If you are describing a person, do not just randomly list his or her various characteristics.

• Pick one characteristic (good humor, weariness, awkwardness) and use specific details to develop that characteristic.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 13

Writing Skills: Comparison

• If comparisons go on for too long, focus can easily be lost.

• Keep your comparisons short and pointed.– Example: The soldiers just stood there like

bowling pins.– Example: The whaler’s rocklike captain

refused to abandon the hunt.– Example: Checkerboard rice fields covered

the valley.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 14

Predicting

• The goal of all scientific investigation is to predict the future.

• Assumptions are usually made before predicting.

• No prediction of the future behavior of nature is 100 percent certain.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 15

Using English to Predict

• A prediction is claim that something will happen.– EX: At any giving time, the side of the earth

facing the sun will have daylight, and the side turned away from the sun will have night.

• A probable prediction– EX: If you light a match on an airplane, no

wind will blow it out.• This prediction will come true if certain conditions

are met.)

conditionprediction

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 16

Using English to Predict

• A hypothetical prediction– EX: If you traveled around the earth on these

two dates, you would find the days and nights equal every place you went.

• This prediction will also come true if certain conditions are met. But, since the conditions are unlikely to occur – you are unlikely to travel around the world on these days – the prediction is hypothetical. It may or may not come true.)

condition

prediction

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 17

Using English to Predict

• An impossible prediction– EX: If the earth had been flat, the post could

not have cast a shadow at noon.• This condition is impossible – obviously the earth is

not flat. Therefore, the prediction cannot be fulfilled.)

condition

prediction

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 18

Sentence Pattern

• Prediction– active: There {will be} an eclipse tomorrow.– passive: The eclipse {will be hidden} by the

clouds.

• Probable prediction– active: If it rains, we {will get wet.}– passive: If the eclipse is hidden, the photos

{will be ruined.}

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 19

Sentence Pattern

• Hypothetical prediction– active: If I studied, I would (could or might)

pass.– passive: If the eclipse were hidden, the

photos would (could or might) be ruined.

• Impossible prediction– active: If I had studied, I would (could or

might) have passed.– passive: If it had been hidden, the photos

would (could or might) have been ruined.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 20

Sentence Pattern

• The future tense with will is used for predictions that are likely to occur. The modal would, could, or might are used for hypothetical or impossible predictions.

• With if clauses, the subjunctive form were is used instead of was (for example, If I were rich…).

• Any prediction that is based on a past condition cannot be fulfilled.– EX: If the war had ended a year earlier, many lives would have

been saved.• Since the war did not end earlier, the prediction cannot come true.

Nevertheless, the relationship expressed in the sentence is true.

Technical Writing S03 Providence University 21

Writing Skills

• Use modal auxiliaries properly to express your attitude towards the prediction.

• Transition words for predicting– a few years from now– eventually– in the future– gradually– later– after a while– before long– one day