先蹲下后起跳-淺談留學(xué)文書中欲揚(yáng)先抑的寫作方法

1、    先蹲下，后起跳淺談留學(xué)文書中欲揚(yáng)先抑的寫作方法    谷約每年中國(guó)都會(huì)有大批學(xué)生出國(guó)留學(xué)，其中高中升本科，本科升碩、博的居多。在申請(qǐng)海外高校時(shí)，申請(qǐng)者往往會(huì)遇到向申請(qǐng)學(xué)校提交留學(xué)文書這一環(huán)節(jié)。留學(xué)文書是出國(guó)留學(xué)申請(qǐng)準(zhǔn)備材料中重要的組成部分，其主要作用是申請(qǐng)人向所申請(qǐng)的學(xué)校介紹或者說“推銷”自己。在文書中，申請(qǐng)人既要展現(xiàn)自己的綜合實(shí)力（如學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)、社會(huì)實(shí)踐、公益活動(dòng)、榮譽(yù)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)、興趣愛好），還要表現(xiàn)出自己鮮明、獨(dú)特的個(gè)人形象；既要展現(xiàn)自己的思維邏輯（對(duì)某問題的看法），又要直觀地反映出自己的英語(yǔ)功底。這就要求申請(qǐng)者對(duì)豐富龐雜的素材進(jìn)行取舍、串聯(lián)和加工，

2、并用流暢、地道的英語(yǔ)將其組織成文。于是，如何寫出一篇漂亮的留學(xué)文書就成了一門大有學(xué)問的技術(shù)活。從本期開始，筆者將陸續(xù)給讀者介紹一些留學(xué)文書的寫作方法。本期先為大家介紹的是文書寫作中欲揚(yáng)先抑的寫作方法。文書類型簡(jiǎn)介留學(xué)文書主要由個(gè)人陳述（personal statement/ps）、推薦信（recommendation letter）、個(gè)人簡(jiǎn)歷（resume）和短文（essay）組成。個(gè)人陳述申請(qǐng)去國(guó)外大學(xué)留學(xué)的學(xué)生要按照自己所申請(qǐng)學(xué)校的要求，寫一篇有關(guān)個(gè)人背景、學(xué)術(shù)成就、未來研究和職業(yè)目標(biāo)的文章。一篇好的個(gè)人陳述不僅要主題鮮明、內(nèi)容真實(shí)、語(yǔ)言流暢、邏輯嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)、層次分明，還要充分顯示出申請(qǐng)人的才華

3、，要讓招生人員一看便被吸引了。在英文中，個(gè)人陳述還被稱為statement of purpose/sop、statement of intent、statement of objectives、academic statement等，一般簡(jiǎn)稱ps或sop。ps側(cè)重點(diǎn)在personal上，目的是讓招生人員充分了解申請(qǐng)人的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷、品行和素質(zhì)。申請(qǐng)人要力求在個(gè)人陳述中最大限度地展現(xiàn)自己，陳述內(nèi)容可以包括個(gè)人成長(zhǎng)環(huán)境、受教育情況、社會(huì)實(shí)踐經(jīng)歷、興趣愛好，也可以包括個(gè)人如何面對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)、克服困難或?qū)ι鐣?huì)現(xiàn)象的思考等。個(gè)人陳述沒有固定格式，但申請(qǐng)者千萬(wàn)不能將其視為個(gè)人的表?yè)P(yáng)狀或決心書。sop側(cè)重點(diǎn)在purp

4、ose上，也就是申請(qǐng)人要表明自己留學(xué)的目的，內(nèi)容主要包括申請(qǐng)者在自己的專業(yè)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)的研究經(jīng)驗(yàn)和所提出的想法。推薦信在出國(guó)留學(xué)申請(qǐng)過程中，海外院校通常會(huì)要求申請(qǐng)者提供24封推薦信。推薦信是申請(qǐng)文書中非常重要的組成部分。推薦信是從第三者的角度對(duì)申請(qǐng)人的學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)、能力、潛質(zhì)和性格特點(diǎn)等進(jìn)行評(píng)價(jià)，較為客觀，所以推薦信的分量直接關(guān)系到申請(qǐng)者能否被錄取、能否獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金等。個(gè)人簡(jiǎn)歷申請(qǐng)者提供個(gè)人簡(jiǎn)歷的目的是讓所申請(qǐng)?jiān)盒Ｈ轿?、清晰地了解自己的情況。申請(qǐng)者應(yīng)力求在真實(shí)、全面、簡(jiǎn)明的基礎(chǔ)上準(zhǔn)確寫明自己的受教育程度、實(shí)踐和從事專業(yè)工作的經(jīng)歷、曾發(fā)表過的文章或論文等。申請(qǐng)者沒有必要提供性別、婚姻狀況、相貌等信息，這些

5、都會(huì)被視為干擾中立判斷的因素。短文很多美國(guó)高校都會(huì)要求申請(qǐng)者寫一篇短文。短文要圍繞申請(qǐng)人自己的特點(diǎn)來寫，內(nèi)容包括對(duì)過去的成就、經(jīng)歷、技能、思想等進(jìn)行總結(jié)，并對(duì)未來進(jìn)行規(guī)劃。在寫作過程中，申請(qǐng)者千萬(wàn)不要照搬照抄別人的范文，要寫出具有鮮明個(gè)人特色的文章。接下來，我們就結(jié)合實(shí)例和文書范文具體談?wù)勎臅鴮懽髦杏麚P(yáng)先抑的寫作方法。欲揚(yáng)先抑在文書寫作中的應(yīng)用如果最出色的跳遠(yuǎn)運(yùn)動(dòng)員兩腿直直地起跳，恐怕跳出的距離也不會(huì)超過一米。想要跳得遠(yuǎn)，必須先蹲下。蹲下這一動(dòng)作是為跳得更遠(yuǎn)積蓄力量，先蹲后跳正如寫作中的欲揚(yáng)先抑。欲揚(yáng)先抑是一種常見的寫作手法，指先從負(fù)面角度切入，盡量貶低文章所談的對(duì)象或話題，之后筆鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，從正

6、面、積極的角度談起，與前文的“抑”形成鮮明對(duì)比，突出真正的主旨。這種寫作手法可用于人物描寫、景物描寫、事件描寫等。例如在楊朔的散文荔枝蜜中，其開篇寫“蜜蜂是畫家的愛物，我卻總不大喜歡”，還交代了小時(shí)候自己被蜜蜂蜇過，留下心理陰影，但之后作者的態(tài)度開始慢慢轉(zhuǎn)變，到最后發(fā)出了“多可愛的小生靈啊”的感嘆，全文可謂是欲揚(yáng)先抑的典范。在留學(xué)文書寫作中，這一寫作手法可用于人物描寫。一般而言，就是先寫主人公的缺點(diǎn)，繼而筆鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，開始突出其優(yōu)點(diǎn)?；蛘撸葘?duì)某事表達(dá)厭惡之情，繼而轉(zhuǎn)為對(duì)其的由衷喜愛，這也是欲揚(yáng)先抑的一種表現(xiàn)手法。需要注意的是，“抑”是配角，“揚(yáng)”是主角，切不可主次顛倒。“抑”得過度，掩蓋了“揚(yáng)”

7、的部分，就會(huì)適得其反。下面我們通過實(shí)例來看一篇個(gè)人陳述是如何運(yùn)用欲揚(yáng)先抑這一寫作技巧的。個(gè)人陳述案例z同學(xué)本科就讀于中國(guó)某大學(xué)計(jì)算機(jī)系，同時(shí)修了金融專業(yè)的雙學(xué)位，要跨專業(yè)申請(qǐng)密歇根大學(xué)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)碩士。他的父親是國(guó)內(nèi)一本經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)學(xué)術(shù)雜志的主編，也是國(guó)內(nèi)知名的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家。在父親的幫助下，z同學(xué)參加了不少含金量較高的學(xué)術(shù)研究和實(shí)習(xí)活動(dòng)。家庭背景的影響和之前的實(shí)踐經(jīng)歷對(duì)z同學(xué)申請(qǐng)美國(guó)大學(xué)非常有幫助，但是如果z同學(xué)根據(jù)這些情況平鋪直敘地完成個(gè)人陳述，寫出來的文章一是較呆板，可讀性差，二是會(huì)讓父親的名望喧賓奪主，反而不利于表現(xiàn)z同學(xué)的個(gè)人才華。我們?cè)谂cz同學(xué)溝通交流過程中，了解到在高考選擇專業(yè)時(shí)，他的父親曾讓他學(xué)

8、習(xí)經(jīng)濟(jì)專業(yè)，但是他選擇了自己比較喜歡的計(jì)算機(jī)專業(yè)，兩人各執(zhí)己見，誰(shuí)也不退讓，甚至有段時(shí)間兩人都不理對(duì)方。知道這一情況后，我們便建議z同學(xué)的個(gè)人陳述以父子矛盾為主線。這樣一來，欲揚(yáng)先抑的手法就派上用場(chǎng)了。個(gè)人陳述范文with great trepidation， i pushed open the heavy mahogany （紅木） door to the office of the general manager of chinatrust commercial bank， xx branch. my mission was to raise 10，000 yuan （an equival

9、ent to us$ 1700） as part of the fundraising campaign to support “challenge cup，” the national academic science and technology “olympics.” i had met economists， bankers and corporate executives beforethanks to my father， who was and still is the president of the economic research journal， a leading s

10、cholarly publication in china but i had never asked any of these people for money before. there i was， an 18-year old freshman， trying to talk the man into writing a six figure check. i seriously doubted i could do it， and i was prepared to take my leave （告別） empty-handed. i did not know whether it

11、was because the general manager took a genuine interest in what i had to say or because he was himself a xx university alumnus （校友）； i did not know whether it was pure luck； i simply could not believe my ears when he agreed to pledge （許諾） the money on behalf of his branch. i was so excited， i almost

12、 jumped up and down. i said to myself， “i love these banks.” i did not always love banks. not that i hated them， but i did not think i was going to have anything to do with the banking industry or the financial world in general， more than having a father who was an expert in economics. in fact， i re

13、fused to take my fathers suggestion about majoring in economics at college and signed up for software engineering instead. i remember i stopped talking to my father for almost a year just because he thought i was going to waste my precious time in college playing all sorts of computer games， like i

14、did as a child， and now all in the name of a computer science degree.to prove my father wrong， i did quite well living an independent life away from home. i was one of the top students in academic performance， especially in math， c language and c+classes. i was also a leader of the soccer team， havi

15、ng led my team to win the second place in a campus-wide tournament. as time went on， i started to feel a bit guilty for having ignored my father. i actually missed him. so i started calling him more often. i shared with him what was going on at school and he talked about his speech engagements on th

16、e use of reference and double blind1） reviewing system and his project creating one of the most sophisticated economic databases in china. i found， to my surprise， that i was rather drawn to my fathers take on the global economic situation， the subprime crisis （次貸危機(jī)）， the fall of lehman brothers and

17、 chinas position on the currency debate. my father， while careful not to put too much pressure on me， indicated to me that there were projects and internship （實(shí)習(xí)崗位） opportunities available to me within his organization and elsewhere where i could put my programming， statistical and quantitative skil

18、ls to use. i told him i was not only interested， i was very interested. i also told him that i was going to go for a double undergraduate program by adding financemuch to his delight.the double major program meant that i had more study to do and longer hours in the library. what helped me tremendous

19、ly was the fact that， in economics， many theoretical frameworks and research methods are based on mathematical models and quantitative analyses： something i was good at. to date， i have maintained an average 3.5 gpa in both software engineering and economics. i scored a high grade of 96 in econometr

20、ics， a class that enabled me to learn and apply forecasting and simulation tools such as matlab2） and eviews3）.i should count myself fortunate because i have already had substantial firsthand appreciation of the world of work and have participated in and contributed to some rather high-profile proje

21、cts outside my classroom education. one such project， in early 2009， involved helping economic research journal to design a “working paper” database and to dramatically improve the journals online research experience by creating or inserting visual elements such as graphs， tables and charts. i follo

22、wed the leading experts in software engineering every step of the way： we carefully studied american nber4） and ssrn5） databases from design and retrieval （檢索） system perspectives； we compared notes on various proposals and solutions. and after 6 months hard work and repeated tests， the database wen

23、t live and the website itself received many favorable comments on the visual improvements. i also had the opportunity to work for dr. xxx， a young and capable scholar of the chinese academy of social sciences， as his research assistant. i joined him in the summer of 2009 in his multiple field trips

24、to chinas zhejiang province where we interviewed three small non-governmental， or some say， regional banks. specifically， we studied the operational models of these banks， their dynamic relationship with the local government， their customers and creditors and the tremendous risk management challenge

25、s they faced. i not only took notes and collected data in the process but also sifted （細(xì)查） through and analyzed the numbers and wrote the summary. i was the proud co-author of dr.xxxs published paper on the structures and governance of micro financial institutions and their contribution to the agric

26、ultural and township manufacturing sectors， which appeared in chinese review of financial studies， june 10， 20xx edition （issn1674xxxx）.when i told my father recently that i had made up my mind to pursue a masters degree in applied economics and management at the university of michigan， he was thrilled. but honestly， i made the decision not so much out of the desire to please my father as out of the realization that computer skills are a good stepping stone to build my future career in economics， especially in agricultural economics， a field with cri