Think about TV ads. Analyze. Ask questions.

 

 

Consider these ideas for your own compositions.
TV Set   Computer and Quill Pen
WHAT KEY WORDS ARE USED?
WHAT ARE YOUR KEY WORDS?

Key words, as used here, are the proper nouns (including brand names and trademarks) and the common nouns and verbs (the content words) which are related to the product or service advertised.

For example, an auto ad usually contains both proper names (Chevrolet, Camaro, Caprice) and relevant common nouns and verbs ("power steering, bucket seats, convertible, accelerates").

If you were an ad writer, you'd have to do your homework before writing about a product. Ideally, the ad writer should know all about the product: be able to name all the parts, see the manufacturing process, talk to the people who make it, who sell it, and who buy it.

Analyze the wording of an ad. Begin by using a print ad with adequate written text. Circle the key words. Get used to isolating individual words rather than reading them in context.

This is hard to do because, once we learn to read, we tend to read the whole context quickly rather than word by word individually. But, this analytical technique is a useful way to focus closely on the parts.

You've heard and seen thousands of ads without paying much attention; but, after you spend a few hours circling key content words in magazine ads, you'll begin to see more predictable patterns than you ever noticed before.

For example, some verbs (cleans, protects, relieves) describe actions related to what the product or service does. Other verbs (buy, get, choose, select, drink, eat, smoke, wear, go, visit, shop at) specify what the audience is to do.

In addition to the content words, note how the various "function words" (prepositions, conjunctions) are used for organization and coherence.

 

Key words, as used here, means both the specific proper nouns (names of persons, places, things) and the common nouns and verbs related to your topic.

For example, if you're writing about Congress, the proper nouns include names of specific laws, lawmakers, bureaus, and agencies (HB 1645, Rep. Jones, FTC).

Common nouns and verbs would be a political vocabulary including the common metaphoric ways of describing intricate actions (such as "pork barreling" and "arm twisting").

Student essays often lack substance. They simply don't have enough ideas and information in them. Sometimes, students will have only a few vague ideas about a topic and (the night before an essay is due) write from these few scant fragments. The resultant essay usually has little substance, but much padding, vague generalities, and redundancies.

To avoid this, try to create - as soon as you get an assignment - a word list of words you think are going to be related or appropriate to your topic.

If you can't quickly generate a list of 50 or 60 such key words, this is an early warning sign that you're in trouble, that you don't have enough available basic information. Nor will you be able to do online searches efficiently.

Increase your own basic information by reading basic sources first: encyclopedia articles, introductory textbooks, and "overview" essays. Add their vocabulary to your original list. Use a thesaurus.

This is simple advice, but very few people used the excellent available sources, for example, Encyclopedia Britannica (EB3) or Merriam-Webster's Synonym Dictionary, all of which are easily available at any library and online.

If you start with a list of key words, you can later use it as a checklist in your revision process to see if you omitted anything you wanted to say.

 
| Welcome | Purpose | Audience | Limits | Structure | Attention | Confidence | Explicit | Implicit | Response| Omission |
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