WRITING IN THE

DISCIPLINE
Shane Carmie C. Sapera
Senior High School Teacher/College Instructor
Knowledge of Writing
Technology Ability
FOUR BASIC
SKILLS OF AN
Organization Strong ACADEMIC
Skills Detective and WRITER
People Skills
Important “END PRODUCTS” of
Writing in the Discipline
[Link] Report
This provides useful
information about a
complete program of
work, for reference and
permanent record.
2. Contract
This is a formal
agreement between two
or more persons;
organization or parties
to do something on
mutually agreed terms.
 3. Feasibility Report
This represents facts and
information intended to
make the reader realize
that the proposed project
or plan is financially,
economically, and
technically, significant as
well as beneficial.
4. Business Letter
This is a written communication or
message used to transact business, which
cannot be conveniently conducted orally.
5. Brochure
This is a pamphlet or
printed information
material given to a
customer in order to
convince or persuade him
to act on the company's
services, ideas or products
offered.
6. Abstract

This is a summarized
form of resume of a
long piece of writing.
7. Instructional Manual
This contains directions for work
procedure or policies, or for the use of
technical equipment or appliances.
Instruction relies on clear, specific,
complete directions presented in
sequential order. Directions of complicated
step-by-step procedures should be
accompanied by graphic illustration.
8. Proposal
This contains suggestions for actions,
usually involving change or performance. It
may be to solve problem, suggest a new
project site, revise a policy or initiate a
researcher report project or terminate a
project.
9. Progress Report
This contains an
account of what has
been accomplished on
a project over a
specific time and what
may be expected in
the next period.
10. Policy
A plan of action adopted
or preserved by an
individual, government,
party, business, and
industry or it may be a
document containing a
contract of insurance.
 11. Article for a Technical Journal

A technical paper which will be

published in a journal. It contains an abstract,
an introduction, discussion and summarizing,
concluding sentence or paragraph.
12. Monograph
This is a thorough
textbook treatment
which requires full
illustration and
documentation.
13. Memorandum
This is an important form of
written communication
circulated within the
company and its branches
which is used to
disseminate a message or
information.
14. Graphic Aids
This refers to all pictures, graphs,
diagrams and other materials used in
illustrating important details in a report.
15. Specification
This contains detailed
information about
performance courses,
materials for
construction, theory of
operations, sample
calculations, table and
operating data and
information.
16. Printed Action Memo
This prepared form
requires only a check
mark in an appropriate
square to indicate its
message.
17. Survey Report
This is a thorough study of
any subject. Some subjects
of surveys are potential
markets for products, labor
policies, market
punctuation, public
opinions and community
resources.
18. Trip Report
An account of a business or professional
trip. It records specific and significant places,
events, conversations and people met. It
attempts to answer where, when, what, why,
and how. It may have a recommendation
section.
18. Trip Report
19. Laboratory Report
A record of procedures and results of
laboratory test. It describes the scope of the
project, the equipment utilized, the procedures
used, the results of test, and a conclusion and
recommendation.
20. Technical Paper
A research paper written for a
professional journal or magazine. Technical
papers usually describe a theory or new
development. They resemble technical
reports in most respects. The main
difference lies on the fact that the audience
for a technical paper is wider and more
diverse.
Patterns of Organization
in Writing
 It is defining, or of 1.
making something definite, DEFINITION
distinct, or clear.
 When you need more than a simple
definition to explain an idea, use an extended
definition, which explores several qualities of
the item being defined. How an extended DEFINITION
definition is developed depends on your
by
audience and on the complexity of the subject.
Readers familiar with a topic might be able to extended
handle a long, complex definition, whereas definition
readers less familiar with a topic might require
simpler language and more basic information.
 EXAMPLE:
Form, which is the shape of landscape DEFINITION
features, can best be represented both by
small-scale features, such as trees and by
shrubs, and by large-scale elements, such extended
as mountains and mountain ranges. definition
An analogy can help the
reader understand an DEFINITION
unfamiliar term by showing
by analogy
its similarities with a more
familiar term.
 EXAMPLE: How to Read a Book
A book is like a single house. It is a mansion of
many rooms on different levels, of different sizes and
shapes, with different outlooks, rooms with different
functions to perform. These rooms are independent, in DEFINITION
part. Each has its own structure and interior decoration.
But they are not absolutely independent and by analogy
[Link] are connected by doors and arches, by
corridors and stairways. Because they are connected,
the partial function which each performs contributes its
share to the usefulness of the whole house.
 EXAMPLE:
The dampened wave form, the smoothing
out or flattening of the pressure wave form on the
oscilloscope, is usually caused by an obstruction DEFINITION
that prevents blood pressure from being freely
transmitted to the monitor. The obstruction may by cause
be a small clot or bit of fibrin at the catheter tip.
More likely, the catheter tip has become
positioned against the artery wall and is
preventing the blood from flowing freely.
 EXAMPLE:
Home Economics is an
educational field that deals with human
development, personal and family DEFINITION
finance, housing and interior design, by
food science and preparation, nutrition
components
and wellness, textiles and apparel, and
consumer issues.
 Under certain circumstances, the meaning of a
term can be clarified and made easier to remember
by an exploration of its origin. Medical terms,
because of their sometimes-unfamiliar Greek and DEFINITION
Latin roots, benefit especially from an explanation of
this type. Tracing the derivation of a word also can by
be useful when you want to explain why a word has exploration
favorable or unfavorable associations, particularly if
your goal is to influence your reader’s attitude of origin
toward an idea or activity.
 In some cases, it is useful to
point out what something is not to
clarify what it is. A negative definition NEGATIVE
is effective only when the reader is DEFINITION
familiar with the item with which the
defined item is contrasted. If you say,
“x is not y,” your readers must
understand the meaning of y for the
explanation to make sense.
 EXAMPLE:
A hydraulic crane is not like a lattice boom
crane [a friction machine] in one very important
way. In most cases, the safe lifting capacity of a
NEGATIVE
lattice boom crane is based on the weight needed to
tip the machine. Therefore, operators of friction DEFINITION
machines sometimes depend on signs that the
machine might tip to warn them of impending
danger. This practice is very dangerous with a
hydraulic crane.
—Operator’s Manual (Model W-180), Harnischfeger
Corporation
 General and specific
methods of development 2. GENERAL-
organize information either TO-SPECIFIC
from general points to specific
or vice
details or from specific details
versa
to a general conclusion.
This method can use one of
two ordering strategies—
decreasing order, which is 3.
often best for written ORDER OF
documents, and increasing IMPORTANCE
order, which is especially
effective for oral presentations.
 The sequential, or step-by-step,
method of development is
4.
especially effective for explaining a
process or describing a mechanism SEQUENTIAL
in operation. It is also the logical
method for writing instructions.
 It arranges the events under
discussion in sequential order,
5.
emphasizing time as it begins with
the first event and continues CHRONOLOGICAL

chronologically to the last.

Chronological order is typically used
in narration.
 The cause-and-effect method of
development is a common strategy to
explain why something happened or why 6.
you think something will happen. The
goal of the cause-and-effect method of CAUSE-AND-
development is to make as plausible as EFFECT
possible the relationship between a
situation and either its cause or its effect.
Problem and Solution is a pattern
of organization where information
7.
in a passage is expressed as a
dilemma or concerning issue (a PROBLEM
problem) and something that was, AND
can be, or should be done to SOLUTION
remedy this issue (solution or
attempted solution).
 As a method of development,
comparison points out similarities and
differences between the elements of 8.
your subject. The comparison method COMPARE
of development can help readers in an
AND
audience understand a difficult or an
unfamiliar subject by relating it to a CONTRAST
simpler or more familiar one.
 A spatial pattern of organization
arranges information according to how
things fit together in physical space; 9.
i.e., where one thing exists in relation to DESCRIPTIVE/
another. This pattern works well when a
SPATIAL
writer wishes to create a mental picture of
something which has various parts
distinguished by physical location.
SENTENCES
 WHAT IS A SENTENCE?

A sentence is a set of words that is complete

in itself, typically containing a subject and
predicate, conveying a statement, question,
exclamation, or command, and consisting of a
main clause and sometimes one or more
subordinate clauses.
 WHAT IS SUBJECT?

The subject of a sentence is a noun or

pronoun (and its modifiers) about which the
predicate of the sentence makes a statement.
Although a subject may appear anywhere in a
sentence, it most often appears at the
beginning.
 WHAT IS A COMPOUND SUBJECT?

A compound subject has two or more

substantives (nouns or noun equivalents) as the
subject of one verb.
o Example: The doctor and the nurse agree on a
treatment plan.
 WHAT IS PREDICATE?

The predicate is the part of a sentence

that makes an assertion about the subject and
completes the thought of the sentence.
 TYPES OF PREDICATE
• Simple predicate: is the verb and any
helping verbs (has piloted).

● Complete predicate: is the verb and any modifiers,

objects, or complements (has piloted the corporate jet).
● Compound predicate consists of two or more verbs
with the same subject. (The company tried but did not
succeed in that field.)
 SUBJECT OR PREDICATE

1. The ball is round.

2. After he has eaten, the young Filipino
doctor slept.
3. The wheels of the bus go round and
round.
 SUBJECT OR PREDICATE

4. The election promotes democracy and

allows people to choose.
5. Over the lazy dog, the fox and the hyena
jumped.
TYPES OF SENTENCES
According to Intention
According to Structure
According to Stylistic Use
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO INTENTION
DECLARATIVE conveys information or
makes a factual
INTERROGATIVE statement.

IMPERATIVE

EXCLAMATIVE
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO INTENTION
DECLARATIVE

INTERROGATIVE asks a direct question.

IMPERATIVE

EXCLAMATIVE
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO INTENTION
DECLARATIVE

INTERROGATIVE

IMPERATIVE issues a command,

order or request.
EXCLAMATIVE
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO INTENTION
DECLARATIVE

INTERROGATIVE

IMPERATIVE

EXCLAMATIVE is an emphatic expression

of feeling, fact, or opinion.
DECLARATIVE, INTERROGATIVE,
IMPERATIVE OR EXCLAMATIVE

[Link] you please be my other half?

2.I am your other half.
3.I am your other half, aren’t I?
[Link].
[Link]!
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE

A simple sentence consists of one

independent clause. At its most basic, a
simple sentence contains only a subject and
a predicate.
 EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE SENTENCE

1. The power failed.

2. Dogs bark.

3. Joe waited for the train.

 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE
A compound sentence consists of two or more
independent clauses connected by a comma and a
coordinating conjunction, by a semicolon, or by a
semicolon and a conjunctive adverb.
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND SENTENCE

1. Drilling is the only way to collect samples of the

layers of sediment below the ocean floor, but it is

not the only way to gather information about these

strata.
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND SENTENCE

2. The chemical composition of seawater bears

little resemblance to that of river water; the
various elements are present in entirely
different proportions.
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND SENTENCE

3. It was 500 miles to the site; therefore, we

made arrangements to fly.

 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE

A complex sentence contains one

independent clause and at least one dependent

clause that expresses a subordinate idea.

EXAMPLES OF COMPLEX SENTENCE
1. The generator will shut off automatically if the
temperature rises above a specified point.
2. Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus
station before noon, I did not see them at the
station.
3. While he waited at the train station, Joe realized that
the train was late.
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE

A compound-complex sentence consists

of two or more independent clauses plus at

least one dependent clause.

 EXAMPLES OF
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE

1. Productivity is central to controlling inflation;

when productivity rises, employers can raise

wages without raising prices.

 EXAMPLES OF
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE

2. Though Mitchell prefers watching

romantic films, he rented the latest spy

thriller, and he enjoyed it very much.

 EXAMPLES OF
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE

3. Laura forgot her friend's birthday, so she

sent her a card when she finally

remembered.
TYPES OF INDEPEN- DEPEN- OTHER NOTES:
SENTEN- DENT DENT
CES CLAUSE CLAUSE
Simple 1 NO Subject and Verb/Predicate
Compound 2 or more NO Markers:
-comma and coordinator
-semi-colon
-semi-colon& conjunctive adverb
Complex 1 At least 1 Markers:
(so one or -subordinators
more)
Compound- 2 or more At least 1 Markers:
Complex (so one or -(same with COMPOUND)
more) -AND subordinators
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STYLISTIC USE

A loose sentence makes its major point at the

beginning and then adds subordinate phrases and
clauses that develop or modify that major point. A
loose sentence could end at one or more points
before it does end
 EXAMPLES OF
LOOSE SENTENCE
1. It went up, a great ball of fire about a mile in
diameter, an elemental force freed from its bonds, after
being chained for billions of years.

[Link] women moved through the street as winged

messengers, twirling around each other in slow motion,
peeking inside homes and watching the easy sleep of
men and women.
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STYLISTIC USE

A periodic sentence delays its main

ideas until the end by presenting subordinate

ideas or modifiers first.

 EXAMPLES OF
PERIODIC SENTENCE
1. During the last century, due to the need for
conformity, the attitude of the American citizen toward
automation underwent a profound change.

2. “Sunbathing, swimming, playing sports under a

sunny sky, without having in my thoughts any bad
occurrence, I enjoyed a perfect relaxation.”
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STYLISTIC USE

A minor sentence is an incomplete

sentence that makes sense in its context
because the missing element is clearly
implied by the preceding sentence.
 EXAMPLES OF
MINOR SENTENCE
1. In view of these facts, is the service
contract useful? Or economical?

2. She looked as carefully as she could,

but found nothing. Absolutely nothing.
 TYPES OF SENTENCES
ACCORDING TO STYLISTIC USE

A balanced sentence is essentially a

parallelism, two sentences, two thoughts and
one idea but sometimes it is more specifically
a sentence that has at least two clauses
which are similar in length and word order.
 EXAMPLES OF
BALANCED SENTENCE
1. George is fat and large in body; Lennie is
thin and small in body.

2. White chickens lay white eggs, and brown

chickens lay brown eggs; so if white cows give
white milk, do brown cows give chocolate milk?
Loose? Periodic? Minor? Or Balanced?

1. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

2. A storm is coming because of the lightning, thunder
and calm in the air.
3. The government of the people, by the people, for
the people, shall not perish from the earth.
4. I needed help. Fast!
5. Despite the blinding snow, the freezing
temperatures, and the heightened threat of attack
from polar bears, the team continued.
 TIPS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE
REQUIREMENTS OF A SENTENCE
A sentence must start with a capital letter.
A sentence must end with a period, a question
mark, or an exclamation point.
A sentence must have a subject.
A sentence must have a verb.
 TIPS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE
REQUIREMENTS OF A SENTENCE
A sentence usually conforms to subject-verb-object word
order.
A sentence must express an idea that can stand on its own.
Use uncomplicated sentences to state complex ideas.
Avoid loading sentences with several thoughts carelessly
tacked together.
The structure of the sentence helps readers grasp the
similarity of its components
 SENTENCE FAULTS
Faulty Subordination Comma Splice
Missing Subject(s) Dangling Modifier
Rambling Sentences Garbled Sentences
Faulty Logic Mixed Construction
Run-on Sentences
 FAULTY SUBORDINATION

Faulty subordination occurs when a

grammatically subordinate element contains
the main idea of the sentence or when a
subordinate element is so long or detailed
that it obscures the main idea.
 FAULTY SUBORDINATION

FAULTY :Because the noise level in the assembly area on a typical shift
is as loud as a smoke detector’s alarm ten feet away, employees often
develop hearing problems.

IMPROVED: Employees in the assembly area often develop hearing

problems because the noise level on a typical shift is as loud as a
smoke detector’s alarm ten feet away.
FAULTY SUBORDINATION
 MISSING SUBJECTS

Missing subjects occur when writers

inappropriately assume a subject that they
do not state in the clause.
 MISSING SUBJECTS

INCOMPLETE : Your application program can request to

end the session after the next command.
[Your application program can request who or what to
end the session?]

COMPLETE :Your application program can request the host

program to end the session after the next command.
 MISSING SUBJECTS

INCOMPLETE : Fumbling in her purse, the

keys could not be found.

COMPLETE : Fumbling in her purse, she could

not find the keys.
 RAMBLING SENTENCES

Rambling sentences contain more information

than the reader can comfortably absorb. The
obvious remedy for a rambling sentence is to
divide it into two or more sentences.
 RAMBLING SENTENCES
RAMBLING :The payment to which a subcontractor is entitled
should be made promptly in order that in the event of a
subsequent contractual dispute we, as general contractors,
may not be held in default of our contract by virtue of
nonpayment.

DIRECT : Pay subcontractors promptly. Then if a contractual

dispute occurs, we cannot be held in default of our contract
because of nonpayment.
 FAULTY LOGIC

Faulty logic results when a predicate

makes an illogical assertion about its
subject.
 FAULTY LOGIC

1. Mr. Wilson’s job is a sales

representative.

2. Jim’s height is six feet tall

 COMMA SPLICE

A comma splice is a grammatical error in

which two independent clauses are joined
by only a comma.
INCORRECT: It was 500 miles to the facility, we
arranged to fly.
HOW TO CORRECT COMMA SPLICE?
1. Substitute a semicolon, a semicolon and a conjunctive
adverb, or a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
o It was 500 miles to the facility; we arranged to fly.
o It was 500 miles to the facility; therefore, we arranged to
fly.
o It was 500 miles to the facility, so we arranged to fly.
HOW TO CORRECT COMMA SPLICE?

2. Create two sentences.

o It was 500 miles to the facility. We arranged to fly.
3. Subordinate one clause to the other.
o Because it was 500 miles to the facility, we arranged to
fly.
o We arranged to fly because it was 500 miles to the
facility.
 DANGLING MODIFIERS
Phrases that do not
clearly and logically refer to
the correct noun or pronoun
are called dangling
modifiers.
 DANGLING MODIFIERS

INCORRECT: Fumbling in her purse, the

keys could not be found by her

CORRECT: Fumbling in her purse, she could not

find the keys.
 DANGLING MODIFIERS

INCORRECT: While driving to work, a car accident was

witnessed by Jane on the highway.

CORRECT: While driving to work, Jane witnessed a

car accident on the highway.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES

A run-on sentence, sometimes

called a fused sentence, is two or more
sentences without punctuation to
separate them.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES
Run-on sentences can be corrected, as shown in the
following examples, by:
(1) making two sentences,
(2) joining the two clauses with a semicolon
(3) joining the two clauses with a comma and a
coordinating conjunction, or
(4) subordinating one clause to the other.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES

The client suggested several solutions some are impractical.

1. The client suggested several solutions. Some are

impractical.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES

The client suggested several solutions some are impractical.

2. The client suggested several solutions; some are

impractical.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES

The client suggested several solutions some are impractical.

3. The client suggested several solutions, but some are

impractical.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES

The client suggested several solutions some are impractical.

4. The client suggested several solutions although some are

impractical.
4. The client suggested several solutions ; however, some
are impractical.
 GARBLED SENTENCES
It is one that is so tangled with structural and
grammatical problems that it cannot be repaired.
Garbled sentences often
result from an attempt to
squeeze too many ideas into
one sentence.