CHAPTER ONE

WRITING
1.1 What Is Writing?
Writing is psychology activity of the language user to put information in the
written text. A type of writing is an article published in a scientific journal
(Hefernan and Lincoln, 1986) and text book (Hiliday and Martin, 1993). Such a
writing is commonly about a certain topic in which the writer at first collect the
data, then elaborate the topic based on a certain idea in order to answer a question,
or to prove a statement, or describe an object, or expose a new truth of a certain
fact of an object, or convince the readers to believe or disbelieve a statement and
persuades those readers to take a certain course of action related to the believe or
disbelieve (Hefernan and Lincoln, 1986)
In addition to that, the type of writing is written by a college or university
student in answering an essay test item in mid or final semester test, or a formal
essay to report a library research assignment in a university, or a thesis written by a
student for the completion of an under graduate or master program, or dissertation
written by a doctor candidate in the completion of the program are considered as
the academic writing (Turabian, 1976). So writing is piece of a written text about a
topic in a writer in a context.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

1.2 What Is Good Writing?

You know it when you see it. It isnt that hard to tell whether a piece of
writing is good or bad. You just have to read it. But things get more challenging if
you have to explain why it's good. Even harder than that is analyzing the good
things a writer is doing so you can learn to use his or her techniques in your own
work. And teaching others how to use them is the hardest of all but that, of course,
is exactly what we need to be able to do.
Having simple phrases to describe the good things writers do makes learning
about those things easier. Good writing has:
1. Idea that is interesting and important. Ideas are the heart of the piece
what the writer is writing about and the information he or she chooses to
write about it.
2. Organization that is logical and effective. Organization refers to the order of
ideas and the way the writer moves from one idea to the next.
3. Voice that is individual and appropriate. Voice is how the writing feels to
someone when they read it. Is it formal or casual? Is it friendly and inviting
or reserved and standoffish? Voice is the expression of the writer's
personality through words.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

4. Word Choice that is specific and memorable. Good writing uses just the
right words to say just the right things.
5. Sentence Fluency that is smooth and expressive. Fluent sentences are easy to
understand and fun to read with expression.
6. Conventions those are correct and communicative. Conventions are the
ways we all agree to use punctuation, spelling, grammar, and other things
that make writing consistent and easy to read.
1.3 Steps to Write a Writing
First step. If you are writing about a topic you are not too familiar with
(especially if you are doing niche marketing), youll want to research your material
first.
Perform a Google search for your topic. If you find Wikipedia showing up,
open it in a new tab. Same for article directories or news sites. Find 3 5 different
articles about the topic youre about to write to give yourself a quick education
about the subject.
Second step. Pick 3 5 points from the tabs you opened up. These are going
to be what youre going to write about. Write them down.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Third step. Open your favorite Word processor. For example, you use
Microsoft Office.
There is 1 thing you should avoid doing at all cost: staring at the blank page!
Dont do it youll get lost in it! Instead, start firing away as soon as you see the
blinking thing. Just write something!
A good start would be to introduce what you are going to write about. Talk
about what the subject matter is, and why they should read the following article.
Fourth Step. Next, introduce your first point in a new paragraph. Write the
facts about it. Back it up with examples or statistical figures if you want. Repeat
that for your other points in a new paragraph (each) as well, depending on what
your target word count is.
Fifth Step. Finish off your article with a conclusion. Tell them what theyll
be able to do now that they are more knowledgeable about the topic and remind
them that they just read good info.
Sixth Step. Proof-read your article. If you are using Microsoft Word, its
built-in spell-checker is good enough to remove most mistakes.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Seventh Step. Use your article! Either make it public by posting it on article
directories, or post it on your blog. Use it as one of your newsletters. Include it as a
bonus article in your product. The options are limitless really!
While according to Rosidi (2009: 16), there are two steps that can be done
by a writer, the first is clustering. In this step, writer writes all of ideas in his or her
mind on the paper without seeing the truth. Writer just writes the key words and
links them in a topic. It can be done in short time.
The second is fast writing. In this step, writer just rewrites those words in
clustering. It is the authority of writer. The writer can star from any word that he or
she likes. In doing this, writer can writer in rough draft. The point is the idea is, go
forward.
After that, writer can share with his or her friends about the writing. Any
comments from friends can be accommodated, if necessary. The writer revises his
or her writing. And the last can be done is, publishing.
If your writing is published, it means you success. Many people can read
your writing. They will be educated, informed through your writing. You will be
proud on your writing.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

CHAPTER TWO
PARAGRAPH
2.1 What Is Paragraph?
Paragraph is a piece of a written text containing several sentences in a
context. According to Leggett (1998) a paragraph is a piece of writing consisting
of several sentences about a main topic and a central idea. According to Oshima
and Hogue (1981) a paragraph is a miniature of an essay. It means that it is a
smaller text than an essay, but both of them resemble to each other in their formal
features. Further they similarly state that a paragraph as a piece of text containing
several sentences and the miniature of an essay as a bigger text functions as the
unit of that essay and the length of that paragraph is relative, but this definition
implicitly indicates to a moderate or reasonable number of sentence that depend on
the necessity of the data to elaborate the main topic and the controlling idea in the
number of sentences. So, a paragraph is a piece of writing possessing several
sentences about a certain main topic and a certain controlling idea.
While according to Saragih (2005) paragraph consists of a topic sentence,
some supporting sentence and concluding sentences. Further, it is argued that the
topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph, which divides into two parts:
the main topic and the controlling idea. The supporting sentence elaborates the
topic sentence by specifying it with reference to examples, illustration, statistic and

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

quotation. The concluding sentence infers or deduces an idea by paraphrase,

summary and implication.
2.2 Units of Paragraph
The units of a paragraph are the sentences that can be divided into three
parts (Oshima and Hogue, 1981). The first is the introductory. It is called the topic
sentence. The function is to introduce one main topic and one controlling idea.
The second part is body. It contains several sentences. They function to
elaborate, or prove, or disprove, or define the topic sentence and they are called as
the supporting sentences. Each supporting sentence can have one or some subsupporting sentence(s). Each of them directly related to its supporting, but
indirectly related to the topic sentence. It functions to complete paragraph.
The last part of a paragraph is the ending. It also called concluding sentence.
It functions to complete paragraph. This sentence is formulated by restating the
topic sentence with the synonyms, or some related words. Another way to write the
concluding sentence is by summarizing the main points discussed in the body of
paragraph. So from the view point of reading as a process of thinking, a paragraph
is considered as a cohesive and coherent part of an essay focusing on a single
specific main topic and the controlling idea that can function as the beginning, or a
part of the middle, or ending of an essay (Turabian, 1976)

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

2.3 Paragraph Generic Structure

In genre theory of the paragraph deals with the culture in which the
paragraph is written as a text to convey a message from the writer to the readers.
According to Gerot and Wignel (1994: 190-216) the generic structure of a text
contains three components. First is stage. It is about social function of the text. It
deals with the interaction of the writer and the readers of the text. Concretely, it
can be defined that it is the specific purpose of the writer put into the text.
The second is the goal-indirect. Its about the generic (schematic) structure
of the paragraph. It accounts the question through what stages does it achieve the
goal? It means how the paragraph is structured in order the purpose of the writer
can reach the reader effectively. In other words, it is the way the units namely the
topic sentence, the supporting sentence, and the concluding sentence of the
paragraph are arranged. This also includes what information to put into each of the
unit of the paragraph. And the last is the purpose.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

CHAPTER THREE
TEXTS FUNCTION, GENERIC STRUCTURE, AND
LANGUAGE FEATURE

3.1 Narrative Text

Social function: To amuse or entertain the readers with actual or imaginary
experience in different ways. Narrative always deals with some problems which
lead to the climax and then turn into a solution to the problem.
Generic Structure:
1. Orientation (who was involved, when and where was it happened)
2. Complication (a problem arises and followed by other problems)
3. Resolution (provide solution to the problem)
Language features:

Use of noun phrases (a beautiful princess, a huge temple)

Use of adverbial phrases of time and place (in the garden, two days ago)

Use of simple past tense ( He walked away from the village)

Use of action verbs (walked, slept)

Use of adjectives phrases (long black hair)

Example

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

The Man and the Snake

Orientation

One day, a young man had a problem. He wanted to cross the

river, but he didnt have a boat, and he didnt know how to swim
either. He looked at the river. He couldnt walk across. The river was
too deep.

Complication

A snake saw the man and said, Good day, sir. You look sad.
Whats the problem?
The man didnt want to answer at first. He wanted to run away
because he knew some snakes are dangerous.
Dont worry, said the snake. I wont hurt you. Maybe I can
help you.
Help me? said the man. How can a snake help a man?
Tell me what is wrong, said the snake.
The man said quickly, I need to cross the river but I cant
swim and I dont have a boat.
I can help, said the snake. Hold on to me and I will swim
and take you across the river.
Hold on to you? You are going to bite me! said the man and
he started to walk away.
Stop! Im not going to hurt you. Dont worry.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Finally the man agreed. The man held on to the snake and they
both went into the water. In the middle of the river, the snake turned
around and bit the man.
The man cried, Why did you bite me? I believed you.
Resolution

The snake said, Why did you believe me? Im a snake. A

snake has to be a snake.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

3.2. Recount Text

Social function: To retell the readers what happened in the past through a sequence
of events.
Generic Structure:
1. Orientation ( who were involved, when and where was it happened)
2. Events ( tell what happened in a chronological order)
3. Re-orientation ( optional closure of events)
Language features:

Use of pronouns and nouns ( David, he, she)

Use of action verbs in past (went, studied)

Use of past tense

Focus on temporal sequence (at the beginning, in the end, finally, etc)

Example

My First Day at School

Orientation

My mother accompanied me to school on the first day. Other

parents accompanied their children as well. We all waited in front
of the school office.

Events

Soon a teacher came and led us to some classrooms. There we

were put into four separate classes. This was when some children
began to cry as the parents were not allowed into the classrooms. I

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

did not cry because I had been to kindergarten before. Actually my

mother went home soon after for she knew I would be all right.
It was an enjoyable time for me as I got to know my new
classmates. The teacher was very busy writing down our particulars
so we had plenty of time to ourselves.
Meantime some children continued to sob while their parents
looked in anxiously through the windows.
Soon recess came. Some of us headed for the tuck-shop while
the rest headed for their parents. I bought a drink with the money
my mother gave me. Getting to know my new friends had made me
thirsty.
After recess we went back to out classroom and my new
friends and I managed to coax two boys to stop crying. In fact, soon
we were laughing and playing together. Once in a while the teacher
had to tell us to keep quiet as we were making too much noise.
Still some parents looked in anxiously through the windows.
Reorientation

Finally the bell rang for us to go home. Some of us were very

relieved to be reunited with our parents. I too was glad to see my
mother waiting for me at the school gate. I had made many friends.
It had been a wonderful first day at school.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

3.4 Description Text

Social Function: To describe a particular person, place or thing.
Generic Structure:
1. Identification (identify phenomenon to be described)
2. Description (describe parts, qualities, characteristics)
Language features:

Focus on specific participants

Use of attributive and identifying processes
Frequent use classifiers in nominal groups.
Use of the Simple Present Tense

Example
My Classmates

Identification

We are a noisy lot that is what our teachers say about us. This is
largely due to Ah Keong. He is the noisiest of us all. His voice is like
that of a bull frog but volumes louder. It seems that he cannot talk
softly. Actually he does not talk, he shouts. Perhaps his living with his
family of ten children has something to do with it.

Description

In this noisy bunch lives a boy who hardly ever opens his mouth.
This is Padma, the boy who sits next to me. He is such a gentle and
soft creature that one would think that he is a sissy. This is not so. No
one dares call him one for he is a member of the school's Karate Club.
Then there is Doris, our class monitor. She sits right in front of
the teacher's table. She is such a model student that all the teachers
love her. We all love her for she does not boss us around. She has

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

given up doing that long ago. All she does is to make sure that the
teachers have sufficient chalk and that the classroom is clean.
Right at the back of the class sits our class sleepy-head. Mat
seems to need more sleep than others. He catches cat-naps in between
lessons. The astounding thing is that he can fall asleep almost
instantly. The moment the teacher leaves after a lesson, Mat's snores
start up and we know he is at it again. Remarkably he wakes up when
the next teacher arrives.
Every class has a clown. Our class has Jack, otherwise known as
"Jacko The Clown". He is always up to some prank or other, putting
tails on the boys' pants, frogs in the girls' desks and powdered chalk
on the teacher's chair. So when we hear a girl scream or see menteachers strolling around with chalk on the seat of their pants, we
know that Jacko has struck again.
The other classmates too have their own unique personalities.
Each contributes his or her part to our class. All in all we are a group
of young children who perhaps are a bit noisy at times, but on the
whole are well-behaved and pleasant to be with.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

3.5 Procedure Text

Social function: To help us do a task or make something. They can be a set of
instructions or directions.
Generic structure:
1. Goals (the final purpose of doing the instruction)
2. Steps (a set of instruction to achieve the final purpose)
Language features:

General participants (things/objects)

Use of simple present tense
Use of action verbs (turn, put)
Use of connectives (first, then, finally)

Example
How to Plant Roses
Goal

Mr. Ghani is one of the successful flower farmers in his village,

Harum Sari. It is a small village in northern part of Malang, East Java. He
plants so many beautiful flowers of different shapes and colors such as
jasmine, rose, tulip, sunflower, and many other kinds of orchids. His park
makes it as one of the largest park in Malang. It is also a place off
conducting research and experiment on agriculture especially flowers. Here
is one of simple lesson given by Mr. Ghandi for flower lovers on how to
plant roses easily.

Steps

Firstly, peel off a little part of an old branch of the rose plant.
Secondly, cover the peeled part with soil. Then wrap it with plastic paper.
After that water it regularly. Let it be for about four weeks. When there

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

comes out roots and a sprout in the wrapped part, cut it off the cover part.
Finally, plant it in the ground soon and it will grow bigger and bigger. A
nice rose will decorate your park or front yard of your house.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Additional Guide for a Writer

1. Tabel, bagan, atau gambar disertai judul dan bernomor (arab) ditulis di atasnya.
Catatan atau sumber tentang tabel, bagan, atau gambar dapat disertakan ditulis
di bawahnya.
2. Artikel pengolahan hasil penelitian disajikan dengan sistematika sebagai
berikut: (1) judul, (2) nama dan identitas peneliti (nama lembaga dan tempat),
(3) abstrak (dalam bahasa Indonesia dan Inggris), (4) kata kunci 3 hingga 7 kata,
(5) penda-huluan (tanpa subjudul) yang berisi: latar belakang, masalah, tujuan
dan manfaat, (6) metode penelitian, (7) hasil penelitian dan bahasan, (7)
simpulan dan saran, Rujukan, (8) daftar indeks.
3. Artikel yang bukan pengolahan hasil penelitian disajikan dengan sistematika sebagai berikut: (1) judul, (2) nama, nama lembaga, dan tempat penulis, (3)
abstrak (dalam bahasa Indonesia dan bahasa Inggris), (4) kata kunci 3 hingga 7
kata, (5) pendahuluan (tanpa subjudul) yang berisi: latar belakang, tujuan dan
manfaat, (6) bagian ini dan selanjutnya disajikan konsep-konsep teori (apabila
perlu disertai contoh-contoh penerapannya, (7) penutup, rujukan, (8) daftar
indeks.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

4. Rujukan kepustakaan ditulis dengan sistem nama akhir diikuti kurung pembuka,
tahun, titik dua tanpa direnggangkan dengan spasi 1 ditulis nomor halaman, lalu
diakhiri kurung penutup, misalnya:
Kartomihardjo (199:4) mengemukakan ...
Perujukan lain dapat dilakukan dengan menuliskan sumber yang terujuk setelah
kutikan. misalnya:

Temuan ini

mendukung hasil hasil penelitian

psikolingu-istik (Clark, James, dan Hobart 1977:6771; Burt, 1978:68; dan

Halim, 1992:23).
Rujukan hendaknya diupayakan terbitan sepuluh tahun terakhir, dan merupakan
pustaka primer.
9. Daftar pustaka disusun secara alpabetis dan khronologis.
Buku: Nama akhir, initial pengarang,. tahun. Judul buku (dicetak miring).
Tem-pat terbit: nama penerbit.
Ellis, Rod. 1990. Instructed Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basil Blackweel Ltd.
Karangan dalam buku (bunga rampai): Nama akhir, inisial pengarang.tahun.
Judul karangan (ditulis dalam tanda petik).Dalam: Nama Editor (Ed.) Judul
Buku, halaman. Tempat terbit: Nama penerbit.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Brockway, Diane. 1981. Semantic constraints on Relevance. Dalam:

Herman Parret, Mari-na Sbisa, dan JefVerskuren. Possibilities and
Limita-Jtions of Pragmatics, hlm. 5758. Amsterdam: John Benyamins
B.V.
Karangan dalam jurnal: Nama akhir, inisial pengarang. Tahun. Judul
Artikel (diapit tanda petik ganda). Dalam: Nama Jurnal, Nomor, Bulan, dan
tahun, Halaman. Tempat terbit: Nama pnenerbit.
Kweldju, Siusana. 1992. Peranan Belahan Otak Sebelah Kanan terhadap
Ke-mampuan Berbahasa. Dalam: Bahasa dan Seni, Tahun XX: hlm.
2533. Malang: IKIP
Karangan dalam pertemuan: Nama akhir, initial pengarang. Tahun. Judul
Makalah (ditulis diapit tanda petik ganda). Makalah dibacakan dalam pertemuan, Nama Lembaga penyelenggara, tempat dan tanggal penyelenggaraannya
Lumintaintang, Yayah B. 1991. Pemasyarakatan Bahasa Indonesia yang
Baik dan Benar. Makalah dibacakan dalam Seminar Nasional Bahasa
dan Sastra Indonesia, PBS IKIP Yogyakarta, 21 22 Oktober.
Karangan ditulis dan diterbitkan oleh lembaga: Nama lembaga penanggung
jawab langsung. Tahun. Judul Karangan. Nama Kota: Nama lembaga
tertinggi yang bertanggung jawab atas penerbitan ini.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa. 1998. Pedoman Penulisan

Laporan Pe-nelitian. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan
10. Penulisan kutipan mengikuti tata cara berikut.
Kutipan terdiri dari 3 baris atau kurang dari tiga baris ditulis langsung diapit
tanda petik ganda.
Kutipan bentuk potongan kalimat

dimulai atau diakhiri dengan 3 (tiga)

titik ( ... )
... tuturan ini tidak santun dan tidak sesuai dengan konsep dengan kaidah
maksim kebijakan (Porat, 1999:23).
Kutipan terdiri lebih dari 3 baris ditulis dalam format, 1 cm dan 7 cm masuk
ke dalam dari margin kanan dan kiri.
In this context Murray (1984:6) says:
Writing also varies with our thinking style. Some of us think out
loud, and others work quietly. Some are long distance learners,
writing steadily and evenly day after day. Others of us are
sprinters, and spend a lot of time sitting around between sudden
spurts of writing. Others use a logic that is less apparent, moving
from A, B to C. Others use a logic that less apparent, leaping to C
and working back to B then A. Or going to D, then B, E, F, C, G,
A.
11. Pengetikan tanda baca serta penulisan kata dan huruf mengikuti pedoman
umum Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia yang Disempurnakan (Moeliono, 1998).
Titik (.). titik koma (;), tanda seru (!), tanda tanya (?), dan tanda prosen (%)
diketik rapat dengan huruf yang mendahuluinya.

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

Tidak Baku

Baku

Sampel dipilih secara acak .

Sampel

dipilih

secara

acak.
Data dianalisis dengan teknik Data dipilih dengan teknik
korelasi,
ANOVA,

korelasi,
dengan

regrasi ANOVA,

dan

regrasi

ganda.

ganda.

... dengan teori; kemudian

... dengan teori; kemudian

dibanding-kan...

dibanding-kan...

... sebagai berikut :

... sebagai berikut:

Signifikankah korelasi itu ?

Signifikankah korelasi itu?

Tanda petik (...) dan tanda kurung ( ) diketik rapat dengan huruf dari kata
atau frasa yang diapit.
Tidak Baku

Baku

Pendapat-pendapat itu dapat

Pendapat-pendapat itu dapat

dipadukan

dipadukan

Istilah itu tidak baku ( Istilah

standar )

itu

tidak

baku

(standar)

Tanda hubung (-), tanda pisah ( ), dan garis miring (/) diketik rapat dengan
huruf yang mendahului dan mengikutinya.
Tidak Baku

Baku

sub kategori

sub-kategori

Permusyawaratan

/ Permusyawaratan/perwakilan

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

perwakilan
Tanda sama dengan (=), lebih besar (>), lebih kecil (<), tambah (=), kurang
(-), kali (x), bagi (:) diketik dengan jarak satu spasi/ketukan sebelum dan
sesudahnya.
Tidak Baku

Baku

p=0

p=0

p>0,01

p > 0,01

p<0,01

p < 0,01

a+b=c

a+b=c

axb=z

axb=z

a:b=d

a:b=d

Akan tetapi tanda bagi/titik dua (: ) untuk memisahkan tahun terbitan dan
nomor halaman pada rujukan diketik rapat dengan angka yang mendahuluinya.
Tidak Baku

Baku

Halliday (1985 : 15

Halliday (1985:15

Halliday (1985: 15

Halliday (1985:15

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013

REFERENCES
Hingmane, G. 2011. Easy Texts: Texts Collection for Senior High School. Moru: Unpublished
Handout
Hefernan, J; Lincoln, 1986. Writing: A College Handbook. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company
Hiliday and Martin, 1993. Writing Science: Literary and Discursive Power. London: The Palmer
Press
Leggett, G. 1998. Practice Hall: Handbook for Writers. Tenth Edition. New Jersey: Practice Hall
Martin, J.R. Rose, D. 2006. Genre Relations: Mapping Culture. London: Equinox
Oshima, A; Hogue, A. 198. Writing Academic English: A Writing and Sentence Structure
Workbook for International Students. London: Addision-Wesley Publishing Company
Rosidi, I. 2009. Menulis.Siapa Takut?: Panduan bagi Penulis Pemula. Yogyakarta: Kanisius
Saragih, A. 2005. Academic English. Medan: Fakultas Pascasarjana UNIMED
Siahaan, S. 2008. Issues in Linguistics: Teaching Writing. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu
Turabian, K. 1976. Students Guide: For Writing College Paper. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press
Tans, F. 1999. The Genre Approach: Academic Writing. Kupang: Unpublished

http://www.ttms.org/writing_quality/writing_quality.htm
http://winsonyeung.com/internet-marketing/7-steps-to-article-writing-for-beginners

Writing 3, for the Fourth Semester Students of Academic Year 2012/2013