Formal Writing

How Formal? Very formal writing is serious, objective, uses sophisticated vocabulary, complex sentence structures and avoids the use of the pronouns I or you. Semi-formal writing will be more relaxed in the above features. For this task, you should aim to use a style which is formal enough for publication.

Varieties of Formal Writing Persuasive/argumentative essay Discursive essay (discuss both sides of an issue) Editorial Academic essays e.g. Literature Essays Newspaper articles Business letters Official documents Reports

Formal Language Style No abbreviations: e.g., i.e. etc, & No contractions e.g. don’t, doesn’t No informal words e.g. kids, guys, awesome, lol, Correct grammar, sentence structure, punctuation Formal tone Educated, precise vocabulary Sentence structure variety

Formal Structure = Paragraph breaks clearly seen Introduction, body, conclusion Use of connectives within paragraphs Use of connectives, transitions between paragraphs Logical order to points made

Does It Have To Be Boring? Effective formal writing should be both informative and interesting to read. How? Write in a lively, direct way with vivid word choices and clear, precise language Try for originality in your ideas about your topic, a fresh way of looking at an issue, a new perspective, a new solution Add touches of humour if the topic allows it. Satire or irony often work well.

Intro Paragraph Catch attention with first sentence Set the scene, give some brief background on the topic Define or explain any terms if needed Make your opinion/position on the topic clear Outline the scope (3 points)

Is Tauranga A Great Place for Teenagers? Tauranga is one of the sunniest places in New Zealand. But teenagers need more than sunshine to thrive. While it is certainly true that this city of approximately 100,000 inhabitants has a beautiful environment and a mild climate, it is more suited to retired people than young people looking for challenge and excitement. Between the ages of 12 and 18, young people need a variety of affordable entertainment, a safe social environment and the certainty of good employment or further education opportunities. Tauranga does not offer enough of these key requirements.

Body Topic sentence, with connective if appropriate Expand/explain this point further Give supporting evidence such as statistics, quotations, anecdotes, reasons to prove/support the point Emphasize the point made

e.g. Body In addition, teenagers need to be more cyber safety-conscious. Many young people put far too much personal information on their social media pages. This can include birthdates, contact information and addresses. Some go as far as including explicit photos of themselves and accept online invitations to meet up with strangers. These behaviours all show how ignorant of the cyber dangers young people can be.

Body with counter argument If you want to argue against an opposing point you can do this in a separate paragraph which begins with something like: Some people argue that kiwis can fly because they have wings. However, this is not a convincing argument because … OR you can put this kind of ‘rebuttal’ inside one of your other paragraphs using the same sort of contrast pairs.

e.g. Counter Arguments Despite all the advantages of mobile phones, some people are not convinced. Firstly, they worry that mobile phones can cause brain cancer. They also point to RSI injuries caused by too much texting. However, these worries are unfounded. The cancer risk has not been conclusively proven and most phone users know how to control their text use.

Conclusion Paragraphs Make it clear you are concluding by using a signal word/phrase e.g. In summary, Thus .. OR Look back to your Intro paragraph and reword your opinion statement used in that paragraph: e.g. There are good reasons why alcohol taxes should be raised.

Conclusion Tips Conclusions explain what you have proven and how you have proven it. Avoid just repeating exactly what you have said: reword the three key points slightly You could state which you consider to be the most important /compelling point of the three Don’t introduce new points Finish on a forceful and interesting note.

e.g. It is obvious, then, that schools should expel misbehaving students. This action reduces teacher stress and removes dangerous influences from the school. Most importantly, with the disruptive students gone, classrooms will be more productive. Students who want to learn, will be able to do so in peace. Pick out the techniques used above