ENGLISH CLASS San Agustin Diocesan Academy

PROPERTIES OF A
WELL-WRITTEN
TEXT
Raymalyn F. Bautista
 HOUSE RULES
• Always observe our health protocols.
• Turn off your phones. Using of phone during
class hours is strictly prohibited. Violation of
this rule is an automatic ground for phone
confiscation.
• One speaker at a time. When someone is
speaking, keep quiet and listen. If you want
to say something, raise your hand and wait
for your teacher to recognize you.
ENGLISH CLASS San Agustin Diocesan Academy

PROPERTIES OF A
WELL-WRITTEN
TEXT
Raymalyn F. Bautista
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Identify the properties of a well-written
text
2. Evaluate a written text based on its
properties (organization, coherence and
cohesion, language use and mechanics)
3. Demonstrate the effective use of the
properties of a well-written text by
constructing a written work
ORGANIZATION
• A well-written text is organized. It is
said that ideas are well-organized
when there is a clear statement of
purpose, position, facts, examples,
specific details, definitions,
explanations, justifications, or
opposing viewpoints.
SOME WAYS TO
ORGANIZE THE
BODY OF OUR
TEXT
A. CHRONOLOGICAL
the details are arranged
in the order in which
they happened.
 This morning was crazy. My alarm clock was set
for PM instead of AM, so I woke up really late. I
just threw on some clothes and ran out the door. I
rode my bike as fast as I could and thought that I
was going to be late for sure, but when I got
there, everyone was outside and there were fire
trucks all lined in front of school. I guess
somebody pulled the fire alarm before class
stated. It worked out though, because nobody
really noticed or minded that I was tardy.
B. SPATIAL
the sentences of a
paragraph are arranged
according to geographical
location, such as left-to-
right, up-to-down, etc.
 Inside Billy’s refrigerator was horrible. On
the top shelf was a three-week old carton of
milk. Next to it sat a slice of melon that had
started to get moldy. To the right of melon
sat the remains of a macaroni salad and
cheese that had been served a week
earlier. On the shelf below was a slice of
cake from his sister’s birthday party.
Though there was food, none of it was
edible.
 C. CAUSE AND
EFFECT
the details are arranged and
explain why something
happened or identifies the
effects of something
 Headaches can have several causes. One
obvious cause is stress. People have hectic
lives and frequently have multiple stressors
everyday, like work, family, and money.
Another reason for headaches is diet. Some
get headache because they are dependent
on caffeine. Other people may be allergic to
salt, or they may have low blood sugar. The
environment can also cause this
uncomfortable condition.
Allergens such as household
chemicals including polishes,
waxes, insect killers, and pain
can lead to headaches. Lowering
stress, controlling your diet and
avoiding allergens can help
avoid headaches.
D. PROBLEM-SOLUTION
the details are arranged and
present the problem first
and then proceed to discuss
the solutions.
Drug abuse is very rampant in many
countries. Every society, every age and
ethnic group, every social class, and every
family has been touched by the devastating
effects of drug addiction. Billions are spent
regulating drug use, treating addicts and
their families, and fighting drug-related
crime. Although drugs threaten many homes
and societies, their effects can be combated
more effectively.
Centeno, et. al. (2018) also added
that whatever manner we arrange
our main ideas in the body of the
text, a well-organized piece always
has a solid conclusion. A good
conclusion provides closure to the
texts we write. When we conclude,
we usually:
• summarize the main points
discussed in the body,
• reemphasize the central idea in a
memorable way, and
• motivate reader to change his/her
attitude or behaviour (in the cases
of argumentative persuasive
texts).
Coherence and cohesion
• A paragraph may be unified without
being coherent. Charvat, et. al.
(1970) argued that unity depends
upon selecting details and ideas
relevant to the paragraph’s topic.
Coherence and cohesion
• Coherence depends upon organizing
these details and ideas so that the
reader can easily see how they are
relevant. A coherent paragraph
leads the reader from sentence to
sentence.
 COHESIVE DEVICES
COMPARISON ADDITION
also, equally, similarly, likewise,
and, also, furthermore, too, what is more
compared with
EXEMPLIFICATION SEQUENCING
for example, for instance, to illustrate,
first, second, next, then, after
such as, namely
RESULT CONTRAST
in comparison, in contrast, instead, on
so, therefore, as a result, thus, because
the contrary, conversely
QUALIFYING REFORMULATION
but, however, although, except, unless in other words, put more simply, that is
to say, rather, in simple terms

HIGHLIGHTING TRANSITION
in particular, especially, mainly, turning to, with regard to, with reference
particularly, above all to, as far as X is concerned
I personally believe that libraries are among
humanity’s most important institution for
several reasons.

Firstly, most of humanity’s collective

knowledge is stored in libraries. Secondly,
libraries protect and preserve this knowledge.
They also classify or group the materials into
logical and easily available divisions.
Secondly, libraries protect and preserve this
knowledge. They also classify or group the
materials into logical and easily available
divisions. Furthermore, libraries make the
materials available to everyone and even
provide librarians to help us find what we
need. Finally, libraries are our links to the
past and our gifts to the future.

In conclusion, libraries are important

institutions for humanity.
Language use
• It is important that we make good
choices when it comes to language
use because how we use it affects
the tone of the text and the readers'
interpretation of it. Before writing,
we have to think about and consider
our target audience.
 Here are some
points that we
should remember:
a. We must determine when it is
appropriate to use formal
language or when informal
language is acceptable. Informal
language is usually used in writing
for oneself or in writing to family,
friends, and colleagues. On the
other hand, formal language is
used in writing academic,
business, and official texts.
Examples:
1.We asked the secretary to
call the professor and get her
permission for us to continue
our research.
2.We requested that the
secretary contact the
professor and obtain her
permission for us to continue
our research.
b. When we write, we should also
make sure that the language we
use is direct and simple rather
than complicated so that readers
would easily understand the text.
If our readers are the youth, then
we should use words that are
familiar to young people.
c. We should also be sensitive
enough to use unbiased
language so that we will not
offend any individual or any
particular group of people.
Unbiased language is language
that is free of racial bias, free of
religious bias, and free of
gender bias.
Examples:
1. A teacher should make it
a point to motivate her
students.
2. Teachers should make it
a point to motivate their
students.
here are some important
Language use
tips:
• Use clear and concise sentences. On
average, a sentence is 18 words
long. Note that this does not require
every sentence to be composed of
exactly 18 words.
• Avoid redundancies, wordiness,
clichés, and highfalutin language.
• Avoid excessive use of “there” and
“it” structures. These sentences can
be revised by dropping “there” and
“it” phrase and transforming the
sentences appropriately
• Use precise vocabulary. Be
accurate and condense
lengthy phrases into fewer
words.
• Be consistent with your
pronoun's point of view.
• Avoid sexist language.
• Use appropriate level of
formality.
mechanics
• These are conventions that have to
be considered in writing. Some of
these conventions are (a) spelling,
(b) punctuation, and (c)
capitalization. It is important to
know and observe these
conventions in writing to avoid
confusion.
A. spelling
When we write, always make
sure that we are consistently
using one standard with regard
to the spelling of our words.
Remember that there are slight
differences in American English
spelling and British English
spelling.
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH SPELLING
SPELLING
color colour
defense defence
organize organise
traveled travelled
theater theatre
learned learnt
airplane aeroplane
anesthesia anaesthesia
analyze analyse
aging ageing
b. punctuation
It is the act of using a system of
symbols such as the comma,
period, quotation marks, question
marks, etc. that are used to give
structure to and organize a text.
The use of punctuation guides the
reader regarding how the text
should be read.
Examples:
1. I love to paint portraits I
would paint one everyday
if I had the time.
2. I love to paint portraits.
I would paint one
everyday if I had the time.
Examples:
3. This book is dedicated
to my parents, Noel and
Corazon.
4. This book is dedicated
to my parents, Noel, and
Corazon.
 c. capitalization
It is the act of writing the first
letter of a word in uppercase
while the rest of the letters are
in lowercase. There are rules in
capitalization that one has to
remember. Below are a few
examples of words that require
capitalization:
proper nouns specific course
- Alex, Manila titles
- Theater 101
proper
adjectives
- Canadian

days of the week

- Sunday
kinship names used in place of
personal names and are
followed by personal names
- Grandma, Dad, Aunt Paz Uncle
Alvin

historical periods, events,

documents
- Great Depression, the
Renaissance, the Constitution
adjectives, verbs, adverbs,
nouns, and pronouns in a title
and the first and last word in a
title
- The Legend of Mayon Volcano
(literature)
- No Tears Left to Cry (song)
- Through Night and Day (movie)
DO YOU
HAVE
QUESTIONS?
Activity 3
Considering the Properties of a
Well-written text Organization,
Coherence and Cohesion. Write a
three-paragraph essay about the
topic #JeepneyModernization.
Each paragraph must be at least
5 sentences.
 CRITERIA Very Good (4) Good (3) Satisfactory (2) Poor (1)
Organization The introduction is The introduction The ideas and There is no clear
(50%) inviting and states states the main organization are introduction, body
the main topic. topic. Information somewhat clear. of the paragraph,
Information is clear is organized with a The information is or conclusion. The
and very well good amount of organized, but not information
organized, clean, clarity and entirely sequential appears to be
and sequential in sequencing. A or with clarity. disorganized.
order. The conclusion is
conclusion is included.
strong.

Coherence and There is one clear, There is one clear, There is one topic. The topic and main
Cohesion well-focused topic. well-focused topic. Main ideas are ideas are not clear.
(50%) Main ideas are Main ideas are somewhat clear.
clear and are well clear but are not
supported by the well supported by
detailed and detailed
accurate information.
information.
Activity 4
The following sentences use biased
language. What you are going to do
is to rewrite these sentences to
avoid unbiased language in your
writing. In each case, try to observe
what the sentence is saying so you
can see the difference between
biased and non-biased language.
1. BIASED: Each student must
meet with his professor.
UNBIASED:
2. BIASED: The average teenager
worries about his physical fitness.
UNBIASED:
3. BIASED: Ask the fireman for
help and he will get your pet dog out
of the fire.
UNBIASED:
4. BIASED: All men are created
equal.
UNBIASED:
5. BIASED: A philanthropist
surrounds mankind and calls it
sympathy.
UNBIASED:
6. BIASED: The freshmen students
continue to have the profile of new
approach.
UNBIASED:
7. BIASED: To be a policeman or a
stewardess are both good options.
UNBIASED:
Scaffold 2
situation
Your school is celebrating the
English month, and one of the
program is a speech writing
contest. You are invited to join
since you love writing and
inspiring younger minds.
situation
In the speech writing contest,
you are tasked to create a three
paragraph essay with the theme
“What inanimate object
embodies you.”. Each
paragraph must contain at least
5 sentences.
situation
Your essay will be evaluated
using the properties of the well-
written text which are,
Organization, Coherence and
Cohesion, Language Use, and
Mechanics.
Direction
Observing the properties of a
well-written text, write an essay
with a theme “What inanimate
object best embodies you?”.
Your essay must be written in
English and must have at least 3
paragraphs with a minimum of 5
sentences each.
Direction
You must also provide your own
title for your work. Write your
essay on a separate sheet of
paper. Your essay will be
delivered in front of the class.
THANK YOU!
Raymalyn F. Bautista