Activity for Reading and Writing

SUMMARIES

A summary compresses essential information from a longer publication. Employees are sometimes asked to write summaries that condense technical reports, periodical articles, or books so that their staffs or superiors may grasp the main ideas quickly. Students are often asked to write summaries of articles, chapters, or books to sharpen their writing skills and to confirm their knowledge of reading assignments. A summary includes primary ideas, conclusions, and recommendations. It usually omits examples, illustrations, and references. Organized for readability, a summary often includes headings and bulleted or enumerated lists. It may include the reactions of the reader.

  

SUMMARY REPORT

TO:   Dr.  Rosario Battung FROM:    BC 2-5 DATE:       September 13, 2008 SUBJECT:    Analysis of the Novel   A Walk to Remember Greetings! In connection with your requirement in EN 110 (English Communication Skills P-1), here is the analysis of the novel A Walk to Remember. The Story Jamie Sullivan was the daughter of towns Baptist minister. Jamie was serious and conservative, she was far from cool as she could possibly be, and didn’t care. Jamie was not afraid of letting people know that her faith was most important part of her life, even if it would cost her some friends. Landon Carter was an aimless, reckless guy breezed through school on looks. He had no future, no plans, and no faith in himself. One day, Landon and Jamie participated in the Drama Club’s spring play. It happened to throw him close contact with Jamie. Landon found himself falling in love with this outwardly plain girl who had possessed passion for life. He never imagined it possible and it wasn’t easy. For her own reasons, Jamie did everything she could to run away from romance until it became impossible to deny. Jamie had cancer and she had no idea of how long she would live. The patience, the care, and the love of Landon…until the death of Jamie never changed. Characters.  Jamie Sullivan is the opposite from cool. She is serious, religious, conservative, and outwardly plain girl who possesses passion. She’s the daughter of a preacher, carries her Bible almost everywhere she goes, and volunteers to do stuff like tutoring kids every weekend. Landon Carter is an aimless, moody reckless guy who breezed through his school on looks and bravado. He had no plans, no future, and no faith in himself. He is also a bad boy who only needs the love of a good woman to realize his potential. Reverend Sullivan is Jamie’s father. He is hard but fair. A stern father, a town preacher who guards a tragic family secret. Cynthia Sullivan is Landon’s mother. She is a complex character herself, very conservative in some ways but still somewhat a hippie and a bohemian underneath. For all honest effort and love, she’s never really sure that she’s been raising Landon right, especially without a father figure. Dean is Landon’s friend. Belinda is Landon’s  former girlfriend. Setting.  The story happened in the coastal little town of Beaufort, North Carolina where the wind smells of pine and salt, where Landon Carter remembers his senior year at Beaufort High School and Jamie Sullivan, the girl who changed his life. Plot. Their principal caught a guy who used to make trouble. He asked help from Jamie who taught him about their play. Landon fell in love with Jamie. Jamie told him that she had leukemia. Jamie died and Landon totally changed. Strengths and Weaknesses The strength of the story lies on characters. The reader, young or old, can easily adapt in the story. They can easily relate in the story especially the teenage boys and girls. The story had two weaknesses. First the author did not tell how Jamie died of her illness. Second, It did not tell us what happened to the friends and his mother as well as Jamie’s father.

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Speech Choir - Earthkeeper

EARTHKEEPER

by: Gary Granada

You were meant to be free, as wild as the sea

Just like an eagle soaring high

Nesting on the trees that touch the sky

You have the right to this place like all human race.

You are no less than a child of the Maker

You're an earthkeeper of the land of your birth.

You were created to be a creator.

You're the life bearer of Mother Earth.

You're holding the key between you and me.

Life is the choice we need to make.

Peace is the way we must take

Where there is waiting and pain

To heal and sustain.

You were so called to be a namegiver.

You're a defender of the nameless and the weak.

You were so pieced to become a peacemaker.

To make or unmake hangs on you.

And for the sake of the futures

Of our sons and daughters,

In the name of all creatures,

Give survival a chance.

You are no less than the child of the Maker.

You're an earthkeeper of the land of your birth.

You were created to be a creator.

You're the life bearer of Mother Earth.

You're the defender of the nameless and the weak.

You were so pieced to become a peacemaker.

To make or unmake,

To do or undo hangs on you.

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Speech Choir - If I Were a Voice

If I Were a Voice 

by Charles Mackay

If I were a voice, a persuasive voice,

That could travel the wide world through,

I would fly on the beams of the morning light,

And speak to men with a gentle might,

And tell them to be true.

I’d fly, I’d fly, o’er land and sea,

Wherever a human heart might be,

Telling a tale, or singing a song,

In praise of the right – in blame of the wrong.

II.

If I were a voice, a consoling voice,

I’d fly on the wings of air,

The homes of Sorrow and Guilt I’d seek,

And calm and truthful words I’d speak

To save them from Despair.

I’d fly, I’d fly, o’er the crowded town,

And drop, like the happy sun-light, down

Into the hearts of suffering men,

And teach them to rejoice again.

III.

If I were a voice, a convincing voice,

I’d travel with the wind,

And whenever I saw the nations torn

By warfare, jealousy, or scorn,

If I were a voice, a convincing voice,

I ‘d travel with the wind,

And whenever I saw the nations torn

By warfare, jealousy, or scorn,

Or hatred of their kind,

I’d fly, I’d fly, on the thunder-crash,

And into their blinded bosoms flash;

And, all their evil thoughts subdued,

I’d teach them Christian Brotherhood.

IV.

If I were a voice, a pervading voice,

I’d seek the kings of Earth;

I’d find them alone on their beds at night

And whisper words that should guide them right

Lessons of priceless worth;

I’d fly more swift than the swiftest bird,

And tell them things they never heard

Truths which the ages for aye repeat

Unknown to the statesmen at their feet.

V.

If I were a voice, an immortal voice,

I’d speak in the people’s ear;

And whenever they shouted ‘Liberty,’

Without deserving to be free,

I’d make their error clear.

I’d fly, I’d fly, on the wings of day,

Rebuking wrong on my world-wide way,

And making all the Earth rejoice-

If I were a voice-an immortal voice.

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Final Activity in Business Report Writing

JUSTIFICATION REPORTS 

Justification reports are unsolicited; that is, the idea originates with the writer. They include information, analysis, and recommendations. The writer may wish to purchase equipment, change a procedure, or revise existing policy. Typically, the desired change will be obvious to the reader. Therefore, persuasion should not be a primary goal. Start directly with the proposal or problem. Follow this with some or all of the following topics: Present System, Proposed System, Advantages, Cost and Savings, Methods or Procedures, Conclusion and Discussion (Guffey, 1998). 

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Final Activity in ENGL 1013

Your study of the sentence and the paragraph now leads you to the study of the whole composition so that you can write such compositions as part of your schoolwork. The whole compositions may be a report, a reaction paper, a criticism or even a research or term paper. The purposes of the assignments vary, and you should be flexible in your approach to the assignment. First of all, you should know that a composition is any piece of no-fiction writing.

In the earlier chapters, you learned that the easiest and most logical way of structuring your paragraph is to have a topic sentence, support or development sentences, transition devices and, although not absolutely necessary, a concluding sentence. When you make the long composition, you need only to expand these elements so that instead of dealing with sentences, you deal with whole paragraphs. A simplistic way of explaining this would be to compare your topic sentence to the developmental or support paragraphs, the concluding sentences to the concluding paragraph. In between, you still have your transition devices which may be in the form of words, phrases, entire sentences, and even paragraphs.

In informal writing, you need not include a thesis statement in the introductory paragraph because your purpose will probably be to entertain, share, inspire, etc. In formal writing, like the research paper, the introductory paragraph should, for your won convenience, include a thesis statement.

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Activities for ENGL 0000

A.   The sentences below contain clues that will help you choose the appropriate meanings of the italicized words. On the space provided write the letter that corresponds with your choice.

_____1.       Clara is still furious about what you did. Mollify her latter.

a.     enrage

b.    appease

c.     see

_____2.   What the union leader proposes is just a palliative. We need a lasting solution to our problem.

a.     Temporary solution

b.    suggestion

c.     personal opinion

_____3.       Clarify what you mean. Your statement is ambiguous.

a.     unclear

b.    difficult

c.     short

_____4.       Running the country is a gargantuan task.

a.     very fulfilling

b.    very big

c.     very easy

_____5.       When Zeny left for the party, she was full of spirits. When she returned home, she was drained of her verve.

a.     money

b.    intelligence

c.     energy

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Activity For ENGL 2043 (Summer 2014)

FORMAL REPORTS


Formal reports typically have three characteristics: formal tone, traditional structure, and length. Formal reports serve a very important function. They provide management with vital data for decision making. Preparing to write formal reports begin with the definition of the project. Probably the most difficult part of this definition is limiting the scope of the report. Every project has limitations. Decide at the outset what constraints influence the range of your project and how you will achieve your purpose.

When you plan to write you are chiefly concerned with the following guidelines:

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ACTIVITIES FOR ENGL 2043 – BUS COMM & RPT WRTG

Dangling Modifiers


Modifiers are word or word groups that define or described other words. Since they cannot stand by themselves, they rely, for meaning, on the words they modify.

When modifiers do not logically define or describe anything in a sentence, or when they are unrelated to any word in a sentence, they are called dangling modifiers.

To avoid dangling modifiers you should see to it that your modifiers properly modify the words next to them.

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FINAL ACTIVITY IN TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING

A.   What report category and format is appropriate for each of the following situation?

1. Your supervisor asks you to read a long technical report and tell him or her the important points.
   
   

2. You want to tell management about an idea you have for improving a procedure that you think will increase productivity.

3. You just completed a telephone conversation with a union representative detailing your rights in a disagreement you had with your supervisor.

4. You are asked to record the proceedings of a meeting of your school’s student organization.

5. As Engineering Department Office Manager, you have been asked to describe your highly regarded computer system for another department.
   
   

6. As a police officer, you are writing a report of an arrest.

7. At a mail - order catalog company, your boss asks you to investigate ways to reduce the time that customers are kept waiting for service representatives to take their telephone orders. He wants your report to examine the problem and offer solutions.
   
   
   
   

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Activity 2: Technical Report Writing

I. Questions for Discussion

1. How is the process of writing a formal report similar to that of writing an informal report?

2. Distinguish between primary and secondary data. Which data are more likely to be useful in a technical report?   

3. Should every long, formal report have graphic aids? Explain.

4. What is the first step in writing a formal report?

5. Do formal reports generally rely more heavily on primary or secondary data?

6. List the parts of a formal report and discuss each.
   
   
   
   

II. Organizing

As a research consultant with Padilla Estates Inc., you  have been asked to find sales and distribution site in Cavite area for Brillantes Electrical Components, 3450 Anonas Avenue, Santa Mesa, Manila. Brillantes seeks suitable office space, including a reception area (where three office employees could work), one private office, and a conference/display area. Brillantes also wants 3000 square feet of heated warehouse space. It should be equipped with a sprinkler system and have 18-foot ceilings. If sales are successful, Brillantes may need an additional 2000 square feet of warehouse space in the future. Brillantes needs access to Ninoy Aquino International Airport; moreover, it must be close to trucking terminals and main thoroughfares in an area zoned for light industry. It also seeks an impressive-looking building with a modern executive image. Brillantes wants to lease for at least two years with possible renewal. It needs to make a decision within three weeks. If no space is available, it will delay until next year.

You have been assigned the task of researching this assignment and then writing a report that includes a recommendation for Brillantes based on your findings.

1. Who is the audience for this report? Should you include extensive background data explaining why the report is being written? Explain.

2. Would you rely on primary or secondary research? How would you gather data for this report?

3. What constraints will limit your research?

4. What visual aids would enhance this report?

5. On a separate sheet write a statement of purpose that could become part of the introduction to your report. Include Brillantes’ requirements.

6. You have narrowed the choices to five locations near NAIA. On a separate sheet make a table  from the following rough notes. Include a title and subtitle, and appropriate columnar headings.
   
   
   
   

1. The site of 3348 Aguinaldo Highway has a 1800 square feet  of office space and 3500 square feet of warehouse space with an option for additional space.      
   Cost:  P100,000 per month with a 1-year minimum lease.
   
   
   
   

2. A space  in the Cavite Light Industrial Park offers only 1000 square feet of office space but it has 6000 square feet of warehouse space. Cost: P90,000 per month with a minimum of 3-year lease.
   
   
   
   

3. A warehouse at 2280 Carmona Exit has 3000 square feet of warehouse space with an option to expand. It rents for P87,000 per month  with 1200 square feet for offices. Minimum 1-year lease.
   
   
   
   

4. 30 Bicomong Center offers 1000 square feet of the office space and 3500 square feet of warehouse space but cannot guarantee additional warehouse in the future. Cost: P150,000 per month, with 2-year lease.
   
   
   
   

5. A building at Tagaytay Ridge will lease for only P75,000 per month. It has a total of 3800 square feet, of which 800 square feet is office space. The rest is warehousing, 2-year lease. Additional warehouse space is available.
   
   
   
   
   
   

7. Compose a lead-in sentence that introduces the preceding table in your report.

8. What strategy would you follow in organizing this report.

Connecting with E-mail: Reporting on your report.  Send an E-mail message to your instructor summarizing your report topic, outlining your work plan, and showing your work schedule. Be concise but specific.

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DEVELOPMENTAL READING

1. Getting Familiar with the Author
This does not mean telling about the biography of the author. This means examining throughly his work. Finding not what made him write this work and what personality he has which can be detected from his work/creation.

2. Literary Type
Telling the literary type used in writing through the tone and emotion it has.

3. Objective
Examining the significance of the work. Does it aim to contradict,to protest, to convince, or to persuade?

4. Tone or Subject
Is it significant? Is it believable? Does it respond to the sensibility of the reader? Does it raise the curiosity of the reader?

5. Characters
Are the characters picture of the real people in the society they belong?
Are they characters who do/do not exist in the time they belong?
Are they characters who create, destroy, living or dying?

6. Setting
Giving emphasis in environment and time covered by the work based on how it is being witnessed by an individual caused by his status or by his relationship to self, to others, and to society.

7. Plot
Does the work discuss a very common issue?
Does it have any unfamiliar event?
Are there old events with new features angles, or foresight?
How are the events put together?
Is there unity in the series of events from beginning to end?
What message is given in the work as a whole?
Have you learned anything from it?

8. Thoghts/Ideas
A literary work gives and explains the common thoughts, accept and proves all the real situations and events. These thought can be denied, justified, renewed, or changed. Are these realities universal, natural, enviromental, controlling one’s life? It is important to examine the thoughts used in the work as basis for the description of the events.

9. Style Used in Writing
Does the author use a very effective language in writing?
Does it suit the level of the reader’s understanding?

10. Summary

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