Chapter-4-Features-of-a-Paragraph-+-Development-by

Chapter4DevelopingParagraphsI.FeaturesofanEffectiveParagraphII.WaysofDevelopingParagraphs(1)·DevelopmentbyTimeI.FeaturesofanEffectiveParagraphAparagraphisaunitofthought;itisatonceaunitinitselfandpartofalargerwhole,thatis,theessay.Aparagraphislikeamini-essay;itshouldbeunified,coherentandwelldeveloped.Aparagraphisunifiedwhenallsentencesintheparagrapharefocusedontheonecentralthoughtorasingletopic;aparagraphiscoherentwhenitdevelopsnaturallyandsmoothly,andonesentenceleadslogicallytoanother.FeaturesofanEffectiveParagraph:•Acentraltheme•Supportingevidence•Coherence&transition1.AcentralthemeIfallthesentencesintheparagraphleadtoonecentraltheme,theparagraphisunified.Thecentralthemeisusuallysummarizedinwhatiscalledthetopicsentence.Itoftenappearsatthebeginningoftheparagraph;however,itmayalsobefoundinthemiddleorattheendofaparagraph.e.g.Inrockmusicthereisadistinctandalmostoverwhelmingbeat.Nosinglebeatischaracteristicofthemusictoday.Buteachsonghasaneasilyrecognizablerhythm．Asyoulistentoasong，yourfootusuallystartstopickupthebeat．Beforelong，yourentirebodyseemstobemovingwithit．Yourheadpoundswiththebeat，andthereisnoroomforthought．Onlythesurgeofthemusicisimportant．Initsownway，rockmusicisasdominantastheRockofGibraltar.Itsmessageisanover-poweringemotionalone．Analysis:Thetopicsentenceisthefirstoneinthisparagraph:“Inrockmusicthereisadistinctandalmostoverwhelmingbeat.”The“beat”givesusacontrollingideaofthisparagraph.Noticehowwellthewritertieseverysentencetotheideaofthebeatofrockmusic.Thewriterdoesthischieflybywordrepetition.Theword“beat”isrepeatedinsentences2,4and6.“Rhythm”,anotherwayofsaying“beat”,appearsinsentence3.“Surge”,alsoasynonym,isinsentence7.Thepronoun“it”insentence5refersbackto“beat”.Andinthelasttwosentencesthewriterrestatesandsumsuptheopeningstatementaboutrockmusic.Fromthefirstsentencetothelastthisisatightlyunifiedparagraph.Itcontainsnoinformationthatisnotrelatedtorockmusicanditsbeat.•Topicsentenceatthebeginning•Topicsentenceattheend•TopicSentenceatthebeginningandtheend•Topicsentenceinthemiddle•Topicsentenceimplied•Topicsentenceatthebeginning:BeginningaparagraphwithatopicsentenceisthemostusefulwayforastudenttostartpracticingwritingEnglishparagraphs.e.g.Baby-sittingwithmylittlebrotherisnofun.JustasIsettledowntoreadorwatchtelevision,hedemandsthatIplaywithhim.IfIgetatelephonecall,hescreamsinthebackgroundorknockssomethingover.Ialwayshavetohanguptofindoutwhat'swrongwithhim.Herefusestoletmeeatasnackinpeace.UsuallyhewantshalfofwhateverIhavetoeat.Then,whenhefinallygrowstired,ittakesaboutanhourforhimtofallasleep.•Topicsentenceattheend:Thetopicsentenceoccurringattheendoftheparagraphsummarizesthemainpointofthewholeparagraph.e.g.Peopleliveincitiestodaythinkthatmeatissomethingthatcomeswrappedincellophanefromthesupermarket，potatoescomebythepoundinplasticorpaperbags，andfeathersgrowinhats.Thecitydwellers’viewsarequitedifferentfromtheviewsoftheirancestors,whoknewthatmeatishunteddownintheforest，potatoesareplantedandweeded，andonlybirdscanproducefeathers.Yet,whetherpeopletodayrealizeitornot，theyarestillasdependentonanimalsandplantsfortheirexistenceastheirancestorswere．•TopicSentenceatthebeginningandtheend：Sometimesawriterwantstogivereallystrongemphasistoatopicsentence.Whenthishappens,awritercanplaceatopicsentenceatboththebeginningandtheendofaparagraph.e.g.Goodmannersareimportantinallcountries,butwaysofexpressinggoodmannersaredifferentfromcountrytocountry.Americanseatwithknivesandforks;Japaneseeatwithchopsticks.AmericanssayHiwhentheymeet;Japanesebow.ManyAmericansopendoorsforwomen;Japanesemendonot.Onthesurface,itappearsthatgoodmannersinAmericanarenotgoodmannersinJapan,andinawaythisistrue.Butinanycountry,theonlymannersthatareimportantarethosewhichinvolveoneperson'sbehaviortowardsanotherperson.Inallcountiesitisgoodmannerstobehaveconsideratelytowardsothersandbadmannersnotto.Itisonlythewayofbehavingpolitelythatdiffersfromcountrytocountry.•Topicsentenceinthemiddle:Thisisahelpfulapproachwhenyouarewritingabouthowthingsarealike(comparison)orhowtheyaredifferent(contrast).e.g.CaliforniansandNewEnglandersarebothAmericans.Theyspeakthesamelanguageandabidebythesamefederallaws.Buttheyareverydifferentintheirwaysoflife.Mobility,bothphysicalandpsychological,hasmadeagreatimpressiononthecultureofCalifornians.LackofmobilityisthemarkofthecustomsandmoralityofNewEnglanders.•Topicsentenceimplied：Sometimes,thetopicsentenceisnotstatedexplicitlybutisimplied.Awriterneedstobecarefulinshapingparagraphswithimpliedtopicsentencesbecausehe/shemaymoreeasilylosetrackofthetopicbeingdeveloped.e.g.Oneimportantpurposeofbloodistocarrythesubstancethatmaintainsandrepairsthebodytissues.Inthisway,bloodservesasaprovider.Theseconduseofbloodistoactasadisposer,carryingwastesandgasesawayfromthetissuesofthebody.Bloodactsinathirdwayasadefender.Thewhitecorpusclesinthebloodstreamconstantlyguardagainstandtrytodestroybacteriaandotheragentsthatthreatenthebody'swelfare.(Possibleimpliedtopicsentence:Humanbloodservesthebodyinthreeimportantways.)•Exercise:Pleaselocatethetopicsentence(s)ofeachofthefollow