On HSG Anh

Exercise 2: Identify the sentences in the following paragraph by type: topic sentence, support sentences, detail/example sentences and transition signals These are the differences betwee[r]

SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC PHÒNG GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO HUYỆN LẬP THẠCH

-*** -THE STUDY

“HOW TO WRITE A GOOD PARAGRAPH”

Họ và tên : NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ

Chức vụ : Giáo viên

Đơn vị : Trường THCS Lập Thạch – huyện Lập Thạch

Tỉnh Vĩnh Phúc.

Đối tượng học sinh bồi dưỡng: HS lớp 8,9

Số tiết bồi dưỡng: 12

B, CONTENTS

I, What is a paragraph?

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that discuss one (and usually only one) main idea A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long as ten

sentences The number of sentences is unimportant; however, the paragraph should

be long enough to develop the main idea clearly

A paragraph should always have complete, correct sentences As well it should beeasy to read and well organized The paragraph itself should focus on one subject, theme, or central idea

In other words, a paragraph could be about an object such as a young boy If the paragraph starts out talking about the boy, it must stay the same throughout For example, if the writer were to talk about where a young boy lives and then go on to describe what the boy looks like, these are two separate ideas This is demonstrated below:

John lived in San Francisco, California, with his two parents He had his own bedroom, which he decorated himself He and his parents all lived comfortably in the cozy apartment on the third floor The apartments were only three blocks from

where he attended J.U High School

John was only five years old, but he was extremely smart for his age He wasn’t that tall and he was a bit on the skinny side He had big blue eyes, light brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a friendly smile Just looking at him he seemed like any other kid quite normal Yet, everyone in his class looked at him differently

because John could never be a normal kid Instead, he wasn’t normal No, he was

create two paragraphs Although, in order to understand what a paragraph is and how

to write one, you need to know how a paragraph is constructed

II, Elements of a paragraph

A paragraph should contain some structures and particular elements, which are listed below in relative order:

1.A Topic sentence- motivates the reader to want to read more.

Every good paragraph has a topic sentence, which clearly states the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph.

A topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph It briefly indicates

what the paragraph is going to discuss For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful guide to both the write and the reader The writer can see what information to

include The reader can see what the paragraph is going to be about and therefore better prepare to understand it For example, in the model paragraph on gold, the topic sentence alerts the reader to look for two characteristics

Gold

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics First of all,

gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries ago Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as photography and dentistry The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields for

protection when they go outside spaceships in space In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

Here are three important points to remember about a topic sentence:

a, A topic sentence is a complete sentence; that is, it contains at least one subject

and one verb The following are not complete sentences because they do not have verbs:

Eg: Learning English at school

How to cook a good meal

b, A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea It names the topic

and then limits the topic to a specific area to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph

Eg:

Gold , a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics

Driving on freeways requires skill and alertness

Topic controlling idea

Participating in class discussions is a problem for several different groups of students Topic controlling idea

c, A topic sentence should be neither too general nor too specific If it is too

general, the reader cannot tell exactly what the paragraph is going to discuss If it is too specific, the writer will not have anything to write about in the rest of the

paragraph

Eg1: English has been influenced by other languages -> This sentence is too

general We don’t know how many languages English has been influenced

Eg2: Undercooked chicken and hamburger may carry E.coli bacteria.

->This sentence is too specific It dedicates that undercooked chicken and hamburger causes E.coli bacteria It is too clear for us to continue our ideas

Eg3: It is hard to know which foods are safe to eat nowadays.-> This is the best

topic sentence It limits the paragraph to talk about only safe foods

A topic sentence is usually (but not always) the first sentence in a paragraph

Sometimes a topic sentence comes at the end But the best spot is usually right at the beginning The reader who are used to the English way of writing want to know whatthey will read about as soon as they begin reading

2, Body: Supporting sentences

2.1, Supporting sentences:

- Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence That’s, they explain or prove the

topic sentence by giving more information about it One of the biggest problems in

student writing is that student writers often fail to support their ideas adequately

They need to use specific details to be thorough and convincing

- Good supporting sentences are specific and factual

- There are several kinds of specific supporting details: examples, statistics, facts and quotations.

Following are some of supporting sentences that explain the topic sentence about gold

First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion

For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made

25 centuries ago

Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science.

- Paragraphs in English often have more than two supporting ideas At minimum, youshould have at least five to seven sentences in your paragraph

2.2, Unity:

- Supporting sentences must be directly linked to the topic sentence of the paragraph When the sentences in a paragraph are not consistent with the main idea provided by

the topic sentence, the paragraph lacks unity Unity is a very important characteristic

of good paragraph writing Paragraph unity means that one paragraph is about ONLYONE main topic That is, all the sentences the topic, supporting sentences, the

detail sentences, and (sometimes) the concluding sentence are all telling the reader about ONE main topic If your paragraph contains a sentence or some sentences that are NOT related to the main topic, then we say that the paragraph "lacks unity," or that the sentence is "off-topic."

Eg: paragraph 1

Adventure travel is the hot trend in the tourism industry Ordinary people no

longer content to spend their two weeks away from the office resting on a sunny beach in Florida More and more often, they are choosing to spend their vacation rafting down wild rivers, hiking through steamy rain forests, climbing the world’s

highest mountains, or crossing slippery glaciers.(People of all age are choosing education study tours for their vacations.)

->This paragraph breaks the rule of unity because it contains one or more sentences that are off the topic The last sentence introduces a new topic

- Every sentence in the paragraph should relate to the main idea You achieve unity

by:

+ discussing only one idea in a paragraph.

+ always staying on the topic in your supporting sentences.

2.3, Coherence:

- Supporting sentences should be arranged in logical order and connected by

transitions to provide coherence (that other one!) The Latin verb cohere means

“hold together” For coherence in writing, the sentences must hold together; that is, the movement from one sentence to the next must be logical and smooth There must

be no sudden jumps

There are four ways to achieve coherence:

1 Repeat key nouns

2 Use consistent pronouns.

3 Use transition signals to link ideas.

4 Arrange your ideas in logical order.

- Arrangement of support sentences might be based on importance (usually least to most), time (usually first to last), or even space (far to near, near to far) just about anything, as long as it serves the writer's purpose Transition words are often used to

improve coherence and to reinforce the order in which supporting points are

presented Sometimes writers use simple transitions such as these to connect support sentences:

 "My first challenge at Wilson High School "

 "The second challenge I encountered "

 "My final challenge in high school "

These sentences not only use transition words (first, second, final), but also repeat the

key word challenge This repetition of key words helps the reader keep in mind

the main idea of the paragraph.

a, Repeat key nouns:

- The easiest way to achieve coherence is to repeat key nouns frequently in your

paragraph Read the model about gold to see how it uses this technique to smooth the

flow of sentences The key words in this paragraph are gold.

Gold

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes Gold never needs to be polished and

will remain beautiful forever For example, a Macedonian coin remains as

untarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries ago Another important

characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science For many years, it has

been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as photography and dentistry

The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields for protection when they go outside spaceships in space In conclusion, gold

is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility

b, Use consistent pronouns:

- Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and number Consistency in point of

view, verb tense, and number is a subtle important aspect of coherence If you shift from the mode of personal "you" to the impersonal “one,” from past to present tense,

or from “a man” to “they,” for example, you make your paragraph less coherent Such inconsistencies can also confuse your reader and make your argument more difficult to follow

- When you use pronouns, make sure that you use the same person and number

throughout your paragraph Don’t change from you to he or she (change of person )

or from he to they( change of number)

c, Use transition signals to link ideas.

- Now, look at this paragraph Can you identify the main points?

Each of the U.S manned space exploration projects had specific major goals The Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human beings could

survive and function in outer space The Mercury project tested rockets with the new Mercury space capsule, which could hold one person The Gemini project wasintended to find out whether two people could work in the weightless environment

of space Gemini astronauts took "spacewalks." They floated outside their

spacecraft in a spacesuit, connected to it by a tether Gemini astronauts tried out new flying skills Some astronauts flew two spacecraft extremely close together; this procedure was called "rendezvous." On some Gemini flights, astronauts

physically linked two spacecraft together Linking, or "space docking," was a

major goal of the Gemini program The Apollo project, with three astronauts, was intended to test spacecraft and skills so that people could actually fly to the Moon and land on it Performing scientific experiments on the lunar surface and

collecting rocks for study on Earth were goals

-Was this paragraph a little confusing to read? Now consider the same paragraph with a few changes:

Each of the U.S manned space exploration projects had specific major

goals For example, the Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human

beings could survive and function in outer space In addition, the Mercury project

tested rockets with the new Mercury space capsule, which could hold one person As

another example, the Gemini project was intended to find out whether two people could work in the weightless environment of space One way of doing this was by having Gemini astronauts take "spacewalks." That is, they floated outside their spacecraft in a spacesuit, connected to it by a tether Gemini astronauts also tried out new flying skills For example, some astronauts flew two spacecraft extremely close

together; this procedure was called "rendezvous." On some Gemini flights, astronauts

physically linked two spacecraft together This linking, or "space docking," was a

major goal of the Gemini program Finally, the Apollo project, with three astronauts,had the goal of testing spacecraft and skills so that people could actually fly to the

Moon and land on it Other goals included performing scientific experiments on the

lunar surface and collecting rocks for study on Earth

- Do you see which of the connectors above are major and which are minor?

The major ones are For example in the second sentence, which introduces the first

supporting point (the Mercury program); As another example, which begins the second main point (the Gemini program); and the word Finally, which introduces the

third and last main point (the Apollo moon program)

- As for the minor connectors, we can divide them into three groups The first group

of minor connectors provides coherence for the first main point (the Mercury

program) There is only one minor connector in this first group, In addition, although

it is possible to have more than one, depending on how many details you have to

support your first main point

The second group of minor connectors consists of That is, also, and also the

phrase For example in the sentence, "For example, some astronauts " Notice that

this last minor connector is the same as the major connector at the beginning of the paragraph However, the function of each is different, depending on the meaning of the sentences

The third group of minor connectors in this particular paragraph also has one

member, which are other goals included

Here is a table of a few common connectors (also called transitions)

Relationship English Transition Words and Phrases

Resulting

from the

accordingly, as a result, consequently, so, thereby, therefore, thus,…

previous idea

Showing

relative

location

Adjacent, at the side, between, here, in the back, in the background,

in the distance, in the foreground, in the front, nearby, there, to the side,…

Consider this example:

[ topic sentence] My senior year of high school was challenging [support sentence]

My first challenge at Wilson High School was studying enough to make good grades

and stay on the honor roll [detail/ example] I often studied past midnight, even

though I had to get up at 6:00 a.m to be ready in time to catch the school bus

[detail/ example] When I was studying for my chemistry mid-term in Ms Beasley's

class, I never went to bed at all but I made an "A" on the exam!

- Although this paragraph is unfinished, you can see how important the details are to its development Without them, the supporting points do not really mean much; they

do not seem as real or immediate to the reader Notice the use of names, specific times, and concrete details You may have good ideas without providing the detail to support them, but your goal is to convince your reader Good use of details and examples will help you get your main idea across

-The short paragraph in this lesson is a fairly complete paragraph, but it lacks details Whenever possible, you should include enough details in your paragraphs to help your reader understand exactly what you are writing about In the paragraph about Wheaton, three natural landmarks are mentioned, but we do not know very much about them For example, we could add a sentence or two about Wheaton river concerning HOW wide it is or WHY it is beautiful

Consider this revision (and note the additional details in bold):

My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for several amazing natural features First, it

is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful On either side

of this river, which is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can move gracefully in the wind In autumn the leaves

of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like golden snow Second, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous, because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can be used as stairs There are no trees

around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many miles away The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree This tree stands two

hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old These three

landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place

- If we wished, we could also add more details to the paragraph to describe the third natural feature of the area, the Big Old Tree

- Why are details important? Consider the example of the hamburger If the

hamburger buns are the topic and concluding sentences, then the meat, the cheese, the lettuce, and so on are the supporting details Without the food between the

hamburger buns, your hamburger would not be very delicious! Similarly, without supporting details, your paragraph would not be very interesting

d, Arrange your ideas in logical order.

You can order your supporting sentences in different ways:

1 Chronological order /Time order

2 Logical division of ideas

English sentence, determining its grammatical structure and identifying the subject,

verb, objects, and modifiers Next, the words are translated by an English- Japanese dictionary After that, another part of the computer program analyzes the resulting

awkward jumble of words and meanings and produces an intelligible sentence based

on the rules of Japanese syntax and the machine understands of what the original

English sentence meant Finally, a human bilingual editor polishes the computer-

produced translation

 This paragraph uses chronological order