发挥essay写作说服力的准则

发挥essay写作说服力的准则

 

不管是自己选择或教授指定，若要写作论说式学术essay，必须先做好心理准备。你必须说明个人意见，选定观点也很重要，结构与表达尤其攸关essay成败。本专栏介绍六大关键准则，让你写作essay时发挥说服力。 

When an argumentative academic paper is the task at hand, whether by choice or assignment, the writer must approach it with an appropriate mindset. Subjective values come into play. Point of view becomes important. Organization and presentation become even more critical to success. The elements of successful persuasive writing are explained in this series, “6 Essential Rules for Persuasive Writing.” Each of the rules will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.

 

Rule # 1 – Steel thyself

准则一：锻炼自我，迎接挑战

 

Unlike expository writing that explains something in great detail, persuasive writing postulates at length on a specific subject. It claims to be the last word on the subject, or the first defensible one. The goal of the writer and the purpose of his paper is not to inform another person’s mind; it is to change a person’s mind. However, a writer’s assertion of final authority can run up against a reader’s assertion to the contrary. Therefore, persuasive writers should expect push-back.

论说文不像说明文，说明文解释详细，论说文则以充份的篇幅讨论特定主题、发表有力的总结，或率先提出质疑。论说文的目的并非说明信息，而是改变他人的想法。然而，由于作者的最终主张可能与读者抵触，因此读者可能反弹。

 

If you are a shrinking violet, persuasive writing is not your garden. Persuasive writers do not mince words. They write using confident, charismatic phraseology that speaks with unqualified authority. Some readers are likely to respond in kind (even professors, who nonetheless should grade a paper on its merits rather than its conclusion) and a writer should not be intimidated by it. Rather, he should inoculate himself in advance by expecting scholarly disagreement.

如果你生性害羞，论说文就不是你表现的舞台。写论说文时不能吞吞吐吐，遣词用字应该充满自信与魅力，语调威严。若遇到读者以牙还牙（教授也可能如此，不过教授应该根据文章内容评分，不应只看结论），你不能就此退缩，应该事先调整心态，准备面对不同的学术意见。

 

The same high level of professionalism is demanded of every writer, whatever the purpose of his paper. Yet a paper that argues it represents prototypical thinking carries the extra burden of being potentially controversial. Its argumentation could ignite additional scholarly argumentation. Therefore, a persuasive writer should prepare his paper with meticulous care and also prepare himself against strong responses that seldom come to writers of straight-forward exposition.

无论写作何种学术文章，都应该展现同样的学术专业，然而一篇文章如果宣称自己的论证具有代表性，就额外多了争议性，其论证可能引发更多的学术论证。因此，写作论说文时，应特别仔细谨慎，并自我锻炼，以备面临直截了当的说明文不会引起的强烈反弹。

 

Rule # 2 – Believe

准则二：宣示信念

 

More so than some writing projects, persuasive papers must be grounded in conviction. That is, having academic interest in a subject is not sufficient commitment to a written argument, if convincing a reader is the goal. A persuasive writer must believe a thesis to be true, because some readers surely will not. Merely striking a supportive stance—posturing, in a word—is not persuasive, because insincerity inevitably leaks through to undermine any points being made.

相较于一般的文章，论说文更注重可信度。如果要写论说文说服读者，仅仅对主题抱持学术兴趣还不够；文章要有说服力，作者必须信奉自己的论点，因为有些读者必然有不同意见。只在立场上表示同意（也就是表态）无法叫人信服，因为言不由衷的态度往往会在文章中流露出来，削弱各种论点的力道。

 

So the required mindset is belief. You must openly believe what you are espousing in a persuasive paper. This is difficult for some writers, who have been taught the virtue of objectivity and academic distance in their expository writing. While emotional appeals are not appropriate, fervent factual espousal of a doctrine, policy, or finding is absolutely OK. Stridency can be a turnoff, but resolute testimony is not. Do not be of two minds about your subject.

所以态度上一定要充满信心，在写论说文时公开对拥护的论点表达信念。这对有些人来说并不容易，因为他们受过写说明文的训练，信奉客观与学术距离。尽管诉诸情感并不恰当，但根据事实，热切拥护一项主义、政策或发现，则无伤大雅。咄咄逼人让人退避三舍，但坚定的声明不会引起反感。你对主题的立场不能摇摆不定。

 

Having and expressing convictions in a paper should not be a stretch for a serious academic writer. After all, you are immersing yourself in academics precisely because you appreciate the power of the mind. Papers written to persuade bring all of that power to bear including the considerable energy unleashed by imagination and fresh thinking. Combined with courage, these intellectual assets are the tools for changing the world, one mind at a time. Believe you can.

对认真的学者来说，在文章中展现信心应该不难，毕竟你献身学术，正是因为你懂得心智的力量。论说文正是用来展现心智的力量，包括由想象力与崭新思维释放的强大能量。这些智慧如果能结合勇气，就能用来逐渐改变世界。要相信自己做得到。

 

Rule # 3 – Be rational, not emotional

准则三：保持理性，拒绝感性

 

Persuasive writing is neither art nor science, but it is a step beyond simple argument. Arguments typically are loud affairs with more heat than light generated on both sides. Persuasive writing eschews all that in favor of reason, logic, and concentrated communication. Nowhere in the formula is there resort to emotion. Fervor is acceptable, even passion, but the strong feelings are dispassionately structured in a way that culminates in, it is hoped, an indisputable conclusion.

撰写论说文既不是一门艺术，也不是一门科学，这种写作超越一般争论。争论通常很激烈，并且双方最后往往难有定论。论说文的撰写则避开这类激辩，代之以理性、逻辑，讨论紧扣主旨，写作模式也不诉诸情感。虽然可以接受热情、甚至是激情，但会冷静地组织、表达强烈的感受，以期归结出不容置疑的结论。

 

The persuasive writer is first of all a thinker. All academic writers draw upon intellect, of course, but to really persuade, a writer calls both upon raw knowledge and informed opinion. This comes together in something called reason. To be rational—that is, to ground an argument in reason—is to assert truths while defending against untruths. A persuasive academic paper introduces a premise with sound reasoning at the same time it anticipates and rebuts counterarguments. 

写作论说文前，应当要懂得思考。当然，所有的学术作家在写作时都需要运用自己的才识，但要真正具备说服力，就得同时利用原始知识以及基于可靠数据源所作出的见解。综合此两项因素即为理性。论证要合理，亦即以理性为基础来提出论点，作者就得拥护真理，同时抵御不实之言。学术文章要有说服力，必须根据合理的推论提出假设，同时也能预料到反对意见并作出反驳。

 

Before the writing, then, comes the thinking. There can be no holes in it. Writers who lightly survey an issue or perform slipshod research are guilty of hubris. Compelling words will not persuade unless grounded in rational evidence. Without such evidence, a paper lacks intellectual standing. It is a mere popular pamphlet, rather than a treatise. Persuasive writers challenge convention. If they want others to support them, they must rationally support themselves. 

因此写作前必须先思索文章可能的漏洞，若作者对议题调查不足或研究草率，就犯了傲慢的毛病。只有以合理的证据为基础，文字叙述才具有说服力。缺乏证据的文章在理智上会站不住脚，这样的文章仅仅是市井小册，而非专业论述。论说文的作者挑战常规，如果希望获得他人支持，自己的论点得先有理性支持。

 

Rule # 4 – Give proximate support to key points

准则四：尽力支持文章论点

 

Persuasion is not a function of volume. That is, he who speaks the loudest is not necessarily the most persuasive. While a loud would-be persuader commands attention, he does not usually command respect. Nor does his noise penetrate much beyond the ears to the heart and mind of those listening. In persuasive writing, the same principles apply: Success comes not in what you say, or how “loudly” or strenuously you say it; it comes in effectively supporting what you say.