Chapter 3 Developing Paragraphs

1. Chapter 3 Developing Paragraphs

2. 3.1 Introduction to Paragraph ★ Definition of paragraph A paragraph is the necessary and important unit of thought in writing. It is usually a series of sentences that develop one main point or controlling idea. It must be about one single topic. Each sentence should be logically and structurally joined to the one before it.

3. ★Basic Components of a paragraph To write a good paragraph in communication, the writer first needs to decide upon his purpose or idea and to try to make it clear to his reader in a topic sentence. Then, almost immediately, he should develop his idea by presenting relevant supporting details.

4. After that, he needs to give a logical conclusion to the idea just discussed to satisfy the reader psychologically. With all this, and with various other means of paragraph development, he organizes the paragraph and gives it an overall structure of unity

5. topic sentence Paragraph supporting sentence concluding sentence

6. ＊ Topic sentence (governor and controller) Topic sentence declares the topic of a paragraph, and at the same time, it constrains the topic to some specific points. A topic sentence consists of two parts: topic (subject) and key words ( attitude towards the subject, or the controlling idea of the paragraph)

7. Water pollution has been disastrous for the fishermen in Star Lake People pick up materials to read for many reasons. A person can look for a job in several different ways. Many commercials on television today are insulting to a woman’s dignity. The cost of prescribed drugs is surprisingly high.

8. Winter is the most boring season of the year. Buying insurance is a good way of investment.

9. The topic sentence can be laid at the beginning, at the end or in the middle of a paragraph. However, they have different functions to play. Look at the following examples:

10. Garden plants need different amounts of sunlight. Cucumbers, for example, are very hard to please. They like heat, moisture, well-drained soil, and some shade. The gardener may provide such conditions by planting cucumbers with corn. The corn, which likes heat and sun, helps shade the cucumbers, sunflowers, which like lots of sun, are usually planted on the north side of a garden where they can enjoy the sun but not shade other plants. Successful gardeners provide just the right amount of sunlight for each plant’s need.

11. Doctors are of the opinion that most people cannot live beyond 100 years, but a growing number of scientists believe that aging process can be controlled. There are more than 12,000 Americans over 100 years old, and their numbers are increasing each year. Dr. James Langley of Chicago claims that, theoretically and under ideal conditions, animals, including man, can live six times longer than their normal period of growth. A person’s period of growth lasts about 25 years. If Dr. Langley’s theory is accurate, future generations can expect a life span of 150 years.

12. Just as I settle down to read or watch television, he demands that I play with him. If I get a telephone call, he screams in the background or knocks something over. I always have to hang up to find out what’s wrong with him. Baby-sitting with my little brother is no fun. He refuses to let me eat a snack in peace. Usually he wants half of whatever I have to eat. Then, when he finally grows tired, it takes about an hour for him to fall asleep.

13. Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting. I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were talking loudly. I could not hear the actors. I turned round. I looked at the man and the woman angrily. They did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it. I turned round again. “I can’t hear a word!” I said angrily. “It’s none of your business,” the young man said rudely. “This is a private conversation!”

14. ＊Characteristics of a good topic sentence Being Clear Being Concise and specific The Right Words

15. Notes ＊a sentence rather than a phrase or fragment ＊ neither too broad nor too specific ＊clear and informative rather than vague To play any kind of musical instrument, one needs to know something about the instrument.

16. ★Form and Length of a Paragraph ＊the form—indentation ＊the length—depending on the complication of the topic being discussed. The more complicated the topic, the longer the paragraph. Sometimes, a paragraph may be a single sentences as well.

17. 3.2 Characteristics of an Effective Paragraph ★unity A paragraph is unified when all the sentences in it are clearly related to the topic sentence.

18. My father’s face is rough. His complexion is leathery and wrinkled. There are large pores in the skin that cover his nose and cheeks. His nose, broken twice in his life, makes him look like a boxer who has lost too many fights. His mouth, unless he smiles, looks hard and threatening. His chin is massive and angular. Shaved or not, my father’s face is rugged.

19. My father is very strict with his children, especially me. He will not let me out of the house unless I have done all my homework. Frankly, I don’t care whether I go to school or not. School is such a waste of time. There are not any good jobs, anyway. My mother does not agree with my father. They quarrel a lot. Sometimes I wish they would get a divorce, but then who would I live with?

20. ★completeness Completeness of a paragraph means that a paragraph should do completely and fully what it prepares to do. It should not leave anything undone. A paragraph is complete when it fully covers a limited topic to achieve your purpose and meet the reader’s needs.

21. Every Saturday morning, Jiefang Road is alive with activity. Vendors sell many different things on the street, and storekeepers try to get customers inside their stores. There are all kinds of people on the streets.

22. Every Saturday morning, Jiefang Road is alive with activity. Vendors line the sidewalks, selling everything from cassette tapes to wigs. Try to lure customers inside, the shops blast pop music into the street or hang brightly colored banners announcing “Granding Opening Sale” or “Everything Must Go”. Shoppers jam the sidewalks, both serious bargain hunters and families just out for a stroll, munching Chili dogs as they survey the merchandise. Here and there, the drunks hustle for handouts, taking advantage of the Saturday crowd.

23. ★Coherence Coherence means “sticking together”. To be coherent, the paragraph must have order or sequence and all the sentences that compose it should be logically arranged and connected in explaining the controlling idea. Each sentence clearly follows the sentence before it and leads to the sentence next to it so that the readers can follow the order of ideas without confusion.

24. Steps to make the paragraph coherent ※arrange the paragraph in the structure of parallel and subordinate ideas ※achieve coherence through connecting language.

25. ＊coherence through repetition ＊coherence through the use of parallel structure ＊coherence through transitional expressions. ※basic ways to make paragraph coherent: time order, space order and order of climax

26. Transitions that explainnow, in addition, for , in this case, furthermore, in fact, in other words, this is, as a matter of fact, in fact Transitions that emphasize.certainly, indeed, above all, surely, most important, truly, of course, anyway, in particular

27. Transitions that qualifybut, however, although, yet, except for Transitions that illustrate.for example, for instance, thus, such, next, namely, Transitions that add.In addition, furthermore, also, moreover, first, second, third, etc, then, besides, next, again, besides, what’s more

28. Transitions that compare.like, in the same way, similarly, equally important, too, likewise, at the same time, meanwhile Transitions that contrastunlike, in contrast, whereas, on the other hand, instead, but, despite, nevertheless, on the contrary, however, in spite of

29. Transitions that concede.although, nevertheless, of course, after all, clearly, still, yet Transitions that state a consequencetherefore, as a result, consequently, accordingly, otherwise, hence, thus, in this way

30. Transitions that sum upto sum up, finally, in conclusion, at last, in summary, all in all, altogether, as has been said/stated/mentioned, in brief, on the whole, in a word, Transitions that indicate placeabove, below, adjacent to, elsewhere, here, there, farther on, near, nearby, on the other side, opposite to, to the east, wherever, to the left…etc, close to, next to, in front of, at the back of, at the front of

31. Transitions that indicate timeafter a while, afterward as long as, at that moment, as soon as, at last, at length, at that time, before, earlier, formerly, immediately, in the meantime, in earlier, formerly, immediately, in the meantime, in the past, lately, later, once upon a time, meanwhile, now, presently, shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, then, subsequently, thereafter, until, when, etc.

32. Transitions that indicate reason and causebecause, because of, since, due to, owing to, thanks to, as, for, for this reason Transitions that indicate orderfirst, second, in the first place, first of all, at first, to begin with, firstly, in the end, eventually, at last

33. ways of developing paragraphs To write a good paragraph in communication, the writer first needs to decide upon his purpose or idea and to try to make it clear to his reader in a topic sentence. Then, almost immediately, he should develop his idea by presenting relevant supporting details. After that, he needs to give a logical conclusion to the idea just discussed to satisfy the reader psychologically.

34. With all this, and with various other means of paragraph development, he organizes the paragraph and gives it an overall structure of unity.

35. 1. paragraph development by chronological sequence One logical way to develop a paragraph is to arrange the supporting details on the basis of the order of time, from the beginning to the middle then to the end. In this way the writer virtually leads the reader step by step to the completion of an event by well-placed words of transition or clear-cut instructions. This kind of development is usually used in the style of narration

36. 2. paragraph development by process Paragraph development by process is a step-by-step description of how something is done. It is quite similar to the procedures in conducting a program or a scientific experiment, or to such daily activities as baking bread, writing a paper, driving a car, etc.

37. 3. Paragraph development by space Paragraph development by space focuses on locations for various types in a spatial order that starts the reader to move in a certain direction from one place to another. Usually this kind of arrangement requires the reader to follow where the events take place.

38. 4. Paragraph development by example Paragraph development by example is one of the most common and most useful means for expanding the topic sentence into a more convincing discourse. By doing so, one can make a general statement specific and easy to be understood, shed light on the abstract ideas, making them more concrete, clear, interesting and convincing.

39. 5. Paragraph development by comparison and contrast Paragraph development by comparison and contrast usually has three patterns to follow: one is to develop through illustrations to show how things are different, another is to discuss similarities only, and still another is to treat likenesses and differences. We can use all the three patterns or just one of them to show the similarities and /or differences about objects or opinions both in social and academic life.

40. block comparison/contrast: respectively examine two things thoroughly alternating comparison/contrast: examine two things at the same time, discussing them point by point.

41. 6. paragraph development by cause and effect Paragraph development by cause and effect is the basis of logical reasoning—a widely used device in both general and applied writing. It is believed that every effect must have a cause either immediate or remote. There are two ways to develop a paragraph by cause and effect:

42. First: state an effect and devote the rest of the paragraph to examine the causes Second: state a cause and then mention or predict the effects.

43. 7. Paragraph development by classification Paragraph development by classification helps us sort out information about a subject into logically related categories according to some specifically shared quality. Through classification, the most prominent aspects of a subject come more sharply into focus and the dominant ideas become easier for readers to understand.

44. 8. Paragraph development by definition To avoid confusion or misunderstanding, we have to define a word, term, or concept which is unfamiliar to most readers or open to various interpretations There are three basic ways to define a word or term: to give a synonym, to use a sentence (often with an attributive clause), and to write a paragraph or even an essay. Certain principles: