Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
cida
Ciocon
A paragraph is a collection of related
sentences dealing with a single topic.
Learning to write good paragraphs
will help you as a writer stay on track
during your drafting and revision
stages. You can have fantastic ideas,
but if those ideas aren't presented in
an organized fashion, you will lose
your readers (and fail to achieve your
goals in writing).
The Basic Rule: Keep One
Idea to One Paragraph
The basic rule of thumb with paragraphing is
to keep one idea to one paragraph. If you
begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs
in a new paragraph. You can have one idea
and several bits of supporting evidence within
a single paragraph. You can also have
several points in a single paragraph as long
as they relate to the overall topic of the
paragraph. If the single points start to get
long, then perhaps elaborating on each of
them and placing them in their own
paragraphs is the route to go.
Paragraph unity is perhaps the most
important principle for good
paragraphs. A reader quickly loses
direction and ends up frustrated when
confronted with paragraphs having
multiple aims. A unified paragraph leaves
a reader feeling secure that the writer is
in control of her argument and able to
lead the reader toward a clear and
satisfying conclusion.
Revising for unity:
supporting sentences
Consider the following poorly unified paragraph:
Horror films are most popular with teens. When a new horror film comes out,
the theater seats are filled with teens. Adults don't seem to be interested in
two
hours of edge-of-your-seat fear and anxiety, but teens sure are. I think the
popularity of these films with teens is due to teenagers' desires to test their
limits in
the real world, to see how far they can go before they get scared and prefer
the
safety of home, and mom and dad. Horror films allow teens to test their limits
in the
safety of the movie theater, where they can put themselves in the position of
the
teenagers in the film without any real danger to themselves. Last week, I went
to
see the sci-fi/horror film Alien, and got so scared anticipating the alien's attack
on
The paragraph starts out pretty well. The controlling idea
that begins "Last week, I went to see the sci-fi/horror film Alien. . .
feel at horror films, not why horror films are most popular with
Verbal bridges
Key words can be repeated in several sentences
Synonymous words can be repeated in several
sentences
Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences
Transition words can be used to link ideas from
different sentences
There are several logical orders in
which coherence can be established.
Chronological order is done in such ways
like narrating experiences, summarizing
the steps in the process and explaining
events and movements.
Spatial order can be established through
the arrangement of visual details in some
consistent sequences such as from left to
right, east to west, near or distant and
vice versa.
Inductive order is done by starting the
statement with more particular detail
going to and supporting the general
statement.
Deductive order is done by
establishing a general statement
moving to the more particular details
that explain the general statement
itself.
Coherence can also be established
through the use of some special
devices.
Transitional words and phrases serve as
indicators of the different relationships
that need to be connected to be able to
establish coherence in the paragraph.