Keywords, Expanding, and Collapsing

Gilberto BerríosDepartamento de IdiomasUniversidad Simón Bolívar

April 28, 2003

Keywords—A definition

A keyword is a word that “opens the

door” to other words.

Keywords

Appropriate keywords will:

Summarize main point(s) Visually collapse lots of information Serve as reminders for oral expansion

Keywords

Appropriate keywords will

help you paint the picturein the minds of the audience

Keywords—An example

Read this situation:

You must meet a friend who’s flying from Miami. You’ll leave from the airport to take her to an unexpected formal meeting with no time for a rest.

Keywords—An example

You could send your friend a message:

I will meet you tomorrow at the airport, next to the chocolate shop at 6:45 in the evening. Wear a business suit.

What if you had to telegram it?

Tomorrow airport,

chocolate shop,

6:45 pm.

Wear business suit.

Keywords—Another example

Imagine the following situation:

You’re driving quietly

and

a truck swerves dangerously

into your lane.

Keywords—Another example

AOM 024

If the driver is not driving responsibly,

please dial 979-5569978-5564909-4563

If the driver is notdriving responsibly,

please dial 979-5569978-5564909-4563

Keywords—Another example

AOM 024

If the driver is not driving responsibly,

please dial 979-5569978-5564909-4563

Unfortunately...

Keywords—Another example

…speed reading won’t help!

Collapsing information

If the driver of this vehicle is not driving responsibly, please dial 979-5569, 978-5564, 909-4563

Better: Careless driving?

Call 979-5569

978-5564

909-4563

An exercise When collapsing information, we must be

careful to choose keywords. Usually, we will first write longer texts. Then

we analyze the text to decide which words refer to information that is essential. We then delete unessential words and leave (or find substitutes for) essential ones.

We are left with a shorter text that can be more readily processed by the audience.

An exercise

When collapsing info, choose keywords First write longer texts Analyze text for essential words Delete unessential words Result = shorter text

– readily processed– overall picture better understood

It’s up to you