Examplification and Illustration
I. Exemplification means "giving examples".
Illustration means "making ideas clearer by giving examples or by using
diagrams or pictures".
An example is always one of a larger "set" or "class", eg Mercury is an
example of an element.
Exemplification and illustration are common techniques in academic writing.
Here are some expressions that are often used to introduce examples:
for example a sample of this...
e.g. particularly
for instance as an illustration
as an example a typical example is ________
such as
Verbs which are used in this connection include:
illustrate } and sometimes { clarify (to make clear)
exemplify } { elucidate (to make clear)
eg: This can be { clarified with an {example from...
{elucidated {illustration
II. Read the following four passages. Each one gives an example,
or some examples, from a particular set or class. Notice how each
example is introduced.
1. Waste material, such as old rages, cotton waste, paper, etc.,
should be removed from the welding area.
* "old rages", "cotton waste" and "paper" are examples of waste material.
2. Many proverbs exhibit special proverbial structures which no normal
grammar would describe as complete grammatical sentences. We find for
instance: Like farther, like son, Better late than never.
* "Like Father, like son", and "Better late than never" are examples
of proverbs which have a 'special proverbial structure'.
3. There are some very interesting legends in our folk-lore about the
origins of the peoples of modern Ghana. For example, some of the Asante
believe that their ancestors came out of a hole in the ground, near
Asante Manso. (F.K. Baah)
*The belief that "their ancestors came out of a hole in the ground" is
an example of a legend that the writer believes to be 'very interesting'.
4. If automation means that higher output can be produced by fewer workers
with more machines, then this could lead to shorter hours of work for
most people. Writers such as Aldous Huxley have carried this suggestion
very far and described a future in which all time is leisure time and
there is no work at all.
* Aldous Huxley is given as an example of a writer who has written about
a world with advanced automation.
5. Many industries and engineering projects depend on the study of Geology
for their survival and development: the water supply industry, the
exploitation of oil and coal, the construction of tunnels, canals and
docks, and even the mining of diamonds and precious metals.
III. In the following passages, find the examples or illustration, and say
which set or class the examples belong to. Underline the words or
phrases that signal the example. Pay particular attention to the
position in the sentence of the example /illustration.
1. A market stall can be given as an example of a one man business
organization.
2. The effect of technology on society can be illustrated by the change
that was evoked by the invention of priting.
3. The Second World War stimulated the production of manganese and bauxite.
Nothing illustrates this better than the case of Sieera Leone, where the
value of minerals exported increased from £252 in 1929 to £3.3 million
in 1945.
4. The last decade of the nineteenth century and the first three decades
of the twentieth may well be described as the railway age in West Africa.
Between 1890 and 1926, the French, for instance, constructed railways
from Dakar to Bamako in Senegal and Mali, from Conakry to Kankan in Guinea
and from Cotonou to Paraku in Dahomey.
5. The earliest examples of man-made glass have found among the remains of
the Ancient Middle Eastern civilizations. In Mesopotamia, glass beads
believed to be nearly 4,5000 years old have been unearthed.
IV. Pictures and diagrams are often used to illustrate an idea.
Certain expressions are commonly used to refer to pictures or diagrams.
(a) as shown in Figure1, Table 2, the picture on page 6.
(b) as seen in the illustration on page ....
(c) as can be seen in ....
(d) (see Fig. 1)
(e) Figure 1 shows ....
(f) .... is exemplified in ....
(g) a .... Is shown in ...
回到 [論文寫作]網頁