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1、Part ThreePart ThreeThe ParagraphThe Paragraph1知识书苑A paragraph is a unit of thought; it is at once a unity in itself and part of a larger whole, that is, the essay.A paragraph is like a mini-essay; it should be unified, coherent and well developed.2知识书苑A paragraph is unified when all the sentences i
2、n the paragraph are focused on one central thought or on a single topic; when the writer wishes to introduce a new thought or topic, he should begin a new paragraph. A paragraph is coherent when it develops naturally and smoothly, and one sentence leads logically to another. There are many ways to d
3、evelop a paragraph, for example, by process, by cause and effect, by comparison and contrast, etc.3知识书苑. Effective Paragraphs1. UnityUnity of a paragraph is concerned with its content. If all the sentences in the paragraph lead to one central theme, the paragraph is unified. The central theme is usu
4、ally summarized in what is called the topic sentence. It often appears at the beginning of the paragraph; however, it may also be found in the middle or at the end of a paragraph.4知识书苑For instance:Ive done my share of leaning on their shoulders over the years. I never felt there was anything I could
5、nt tell my Mom and Dad, and I am the kind who has to get it all out when I have a problem. Over the years theyve heard it all: the time in junior high when one boy was constantly bugging me, the time in high school when I got caught drinking, the time I wrecked their Volkswagen Rabbit, rough times w
6、ith my former boyfriend, and on and on.5知识书苑Exercises: Find out the topic sentence of the following paragraph: There are two factors which determine an individuals intelligence. The first is the sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ considerably, some being more capable than others. But
7、 no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. 6知识书苑So the second factor is what happens to the individualthe sort of environment in which he is brought up. If an individual is in poor environment, it is lik
8、ely that his brain will fail to develop and he will never attain the level of intelligence of which he is capable.7知识书苑Exercises. Cross out the sentence that is not connected to the topic of this paragraph: Books are placed on the library shelves in numerical order. In other words, all the books on
9、one subject are put together under the same number; for example, all books on United States history are numbered 973, and are placed together on the 973 shelf or shelves. Of course, such books are borrowed mostly by students who learn history.8知识书苑2. CoherenceCoherence of a paragraph is concerned wi
10、th its form, or its organization. The sentences in a paragraph should be arranged in a clear, logical order, and the transitions should be smooth and natural. As a result, the reader finds it easy to follow the writers train of thought and understand what he is talking about.9知识书苑For instance: There
11、 is some feeling nowadays that reading is not as necessary as it once was. Radio and especially television have taken over functions once served by painting and other graphic arts. Admittedly, television serves some of these functions extremely well; the visual communication of news events, for exam
12、ple, has enormous impact. 10知识书苑The ability of radio to give us information while we are engaged in doing other thingsfor instance, driving a caris remarkable, and a great saving of time. But it may be seriously questioned whether the advent of modern communications media has much enhanced our under
13、standing of the world in which we live.11知识书苑Exercise:Listed below are a controlling idea and nine sentences that develop the controlling idea. Renumber the sentences to arrange them in what you think is the best order; then compose a paragraph, using the controlling idea as your first sentence. 12知
14、识书苑The controlling idea: Since I began living in an apartment and going to school, my biggest problem has been the housework.13知识书苑a）Cooking my food is a bigger problem.b）The worst problem is doing my laundry.c）Cleaning the apartment is not too bad; although it takes time away from my studies; at le
15、ast when I finish the apartment looks nice.14知识书苑d）Sometimes the food is burned, sometimes it is not cooked enough, and sometimes I have not measured correctly, so the food tastes terrible.e）Shopping for my food is more difficult because I dont know the English names of many foods, and often I have
16、to spend extra time asking for help.f）The Laundromat is far from my apartment, and I waste much valuable time.15知识书苑g）I have never had to cook before, and usually the results are discouraging.h）Mostly I am embarrassed as I sit in the Laundromat with all the women, and so I wait until all my clothes
17、are dirty before I do this terrible task.i）I also have trouble with the complicated instructions, so occasionally I end up with pink socks or a shirt that is too small.16知识书苑3. TransitionCoherence may not be perfect even if the writer arranges his sentences in a clear, logical order. He has to use g
18、ood transitions so that one sentence runs smoothly to another.17知识书苑The following ways may help the writer to produce a fluent paragraph: A) Using parallel structures;B) Repeating words or words groups;C) Using pronouns to refer to nouns in preceding sentences;18知识书苑D) Being consistent in the person
19、 and number of nouns and pronouns, and the tense of verbs;E) Using transitional expressions19知识书苑a) Connectives and transitional phrases for spatial development:above before me here on the left below there in the distance on the right nearby next to on top of down close to20知识书苑b) Connectives and tr
20、ansitional phrases for chronological development:first, second, etc soon eventuallyin the meantime then finallyafter an interval now afterpresently later at last21知识书苑c) Connectives and transitional phrases for analytical development:first, second, etc for this purpose as a result furthermore moreov
21、er but consequently otherwise likewise for instance in addition on the contrary in this case on the other hand thus in conclusion therefore22知识书苑d) Connectives and transitional phrases for comparison:another furthermore equally important besides accordingly in fact in the same way in addition to sim
22、ilarly23知识书苑e) Connectives and transitional phrases for contrasts:on the contrary different from in contrast in spite of whereas yet, but not onlybut also thisthat the formerthe latter someothersstill others on the one handon the other hand the firstwhereas the second24知识书苑Exercise: Read the followi
23、ng passages and identify the grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in them.Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely in
24、crease our happiness. 25知识书苑It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. It liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always havin
25、g so much fun actually may not be happy at all.26知识书苑Key: At least six cohesive devices are employed in this passage. 1).Use pronouns to replace noun or noun phrases. e.g. Understand and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with funit;those rich and glamorous peoplethey. 2). Use determine
26、rs (the, this, that, etc) to refer to previous noun phrases. e.g. That new car; those fancy clothes; those rich and glamorous people. 3). Repeat the key words. e.g. happiness; fun; liberate.27知识书苑4). Use synonyms or words of similar meaning to express the same idea. e.g. understandingaccepting; time
27、hours; realizationunderstand; moneybuy.5.) use related word forms. e.g. Liberatingliberated, happinesshappy; usourwe 6). use parallel structures. e.g. It liberated time. it liberated money it liberated us from envy28知识书苑Exercise: Read the following paragraph carefully. Insert transitional expression
28、s where necessary.Yankelovich helps explain the dilemma of American workers. Most want to do their best. They do not work as hard as they could. They feel that others receive the benefit of their hard work. Yankelovich doesnt see this attitude as a sign of a weak work ethic. 29知识书苑He feels the attit
29、ude toward work would change if workers made more of the decisions that affect their work. There is a message for managers in Yankelovichs findings. Managers need to allow workers to express their needs. They need to listen to what workers say.30知识书苑. Ways of Developing Paragraph 1. Planning a Parag
30、raphParagraphs need to be planned. First, think of the topic or theme of main idea, and express it in a complete sentence (topic sentence). Then think of the details or examples or facts that may be used to support or explain the main idea. Arrange them in logical order, and you have a rough plan of
31、 the paragraph.31知识书苑2. Development by Time In telling a story or recounting an event, the easiest and clearest way is to describe things in order of time: earlier things are mentioned before later things, the first thing first and the last thing last. This method is also called chronological sequen
32、cing.32知识书苑For instance:My heart gave a leap when I heard the announcement that our train would soon arrive at its destinationBejing. Like other passengers, I began to collect my things and put my mug, towel, atlas, apples, and other things into my bag. To the tune of a beautiful song the train pull
33、ed into the station and gently stopped by a platform. 33知识书苑I walked out of the train and was carried forward by the stream of people into an underground passage and then into a big hall. As I stepped out of the station, I was dazzled by the bright autumn skies of Beijing. Though I had been on the t
34、rain for more than thirty hours and spent a sleepless night, I didnt feel tired at all, and I believed my days in Beijing would be as sunny as the skies.34知识书苑3. Development by Process When you have to explain how something is done, you usually follow a chronological sequence and give a step-by-step
35、 description. As the steps must occur one after another, the exact order in which they are carried out is most important.35知识书苑For example: Once you encounter a person who has stopped breathing, you should begin immediately to do mouth-to-mouth breathing. First, place the victim on his back and remo
36、ve any foreign matter from his mouth with your fingers. Then tilt his head backwards, so that his chin is pointing up. 36知识书苑Next, pull his mouth open and his jaw forward, pinch his nostrils shut to prevent the air which you blow into his mouth from escaping through his nose. Then place your mouth t
37、ightly over the victims. Blow into his mouth until you see his chest rise. Then turn your head to the side and listen for the out rush of air which indicates an air exchange. Repeat the process.37知识书苑4. Development by Space Before we begin to describe a place, whether it is a large country or a smal
38、l room, we have to decide on the order in which to name the different parts or details. For this we should find out the space relationships between them and arrange our description accordingly. It would only confuse the reader to mention them in a haphazard way. 38知识书苑For instance:Mr. Cook, a renown
39、ed American historian, arranges the books on his bookshelves in a unique way. In the upper right hand corner, there are books about the development of the early colonies in New England and the War of Independence. Right under them can be found books on the slave trade, the plantation system and the
40、growth of the southern states. 39知识书苑The left side of the shelf contains hundreds of books concerning subjects of the Westward Movement, Indian culture, the cowboys contributions to American society and the Gold Rush in California. Form the description above, one can see that Mr. Cooke regards his b
41、ookshelves as map of the U. S. and arranges his history books accordingly. It is odd, but it is convenient.40知识书苑5. Development by Example or GeneralizationSupporting a topic sentence with examples or illustrations makes a general statement specific and easy to understand. An illustration is a case,
42、 a specimen, an instance. Vivid illustration light up abstract ideas and make them clear, interesting, memorable, or convincing.41知识书苑If a paragraph starts with a topic sentence, then detailed examples or illustrations are given to back up the opening statement, this is general-to-specific pattern.4
43、2知识书苑For instance:My little niece, a ten-month baby, is the most lovely child I have ever seen. Her face is like a red apple and her eyes are like bright stars. When you carry her in your arms, she likes to put her arms around your neck. All the grownups in the family love her very much and often tr
44、y to make her smile. But quite often it is she who makes us laugh. Once I winked at her and she smiled. 43知识书苑When I did it again, she watched me attentively. Then she tried to imitate. While we closed one eye to wink, she had to close both eyes at the same time, and then quickly opened them again.
45、And that was her way to wink. We all burst into laughter. When we looked at her again, she was staring at us, puzzled, as if she was asking: “What are you laughing at?” 44知识书苑Another possible arrangement of details (or examples) in a paragraph is from the specific to the general. The details are men
46、tioned first, and the general statement, which may be the topic sentence, comes at the end of the paragraph, summarizing the main idea of the paragraph.45知识书苑For example:Whether you do or do not open a gift in the presence of the giver; whether you should or should not turn the plate over to look at
47、 the makers symbol on the back; whether you eat as quietly or as noisily as possible; whether you carry on a conversation during a meal; whether you walk in front of or behind a seated person; 46知识书苑whether it is a friendly or an offensive gesture to put your hand on the arms of the person with whom
48、 you are talking these and a thousand other questions are matters of cultural definition. None of them inherently right or wrong, and none is good or bad manners except as society defines it so.47知识书苑6. Development by Comparison and Contrast The method of comparison and contrast is often used. We co
49、mpare the present and the past of China, the cultures of the east and west, Chinese and English. By comparison and contrasting we may get a clearer picture of things.48知识书苑Strictly speaking, a comparison points out the similarities between two or more persons or things of the same class, while a con
50、trast, the differences between them. In practice, however, comparison and contrast often appear together, because people generally compare two things that are similar in certain ways and different in others.49知识书苑For instance:Some ole people are oppressed by the fear of deathThe best way to overcome
51、 itso at least it seems to meis to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly emerged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a riversmall at first, narrowly contained within it
52、s banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. 50知识书苑Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can s
53、ee his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. (Bertrand Russell) 51知识书苑7. Development by Cause and EffectIn our daily conversation, questions with why are often asked and answered. This shows that causal analysis is very common; it is s
54、omething we are familiar with.52知识书苑There are two basic ways of organizing paragraphs developed by cause and effect.The first method is to state an effect and devote the rest of the paragraph to examining the cause. 53知识书苑For instance:the topic sentence is: “In the past few years, higher education h
55、as become less important to young people than it was previously.” This is an effect. It should be followed by a discussion of the causes of this effect, such as “the pressure of fierce competition, better opportunities in the job market, much of the knowledge taught in universities and colleges bein
56、g out-dated”, and so forth.54知识书苑The second method is to state a cause and then mention or predict the effects. Suppose the topic sentence is: “More and more fertile land in China is taken up by new buildings.” In the rest of the paragraph the effects of this development should be mentioned, such as
57、 “the reduction of the grain output, increasing environmental problems, too many peasants moving into the cities”, etc.55知识书苑8. Development by Classification To classify is to sort things into categories according to their characteristics. We classify many things: trees, rivers, cities, companies, c
58、ollege students. We group things according to their similarities and differences.56知识书苑Parallelism is essential to a good classification. For example, if we classify types of sports, we may speak of track ad field events, swimming, ball games, gymnastics, etc. if we classify sports into jumping, bal
59、l games, running, floor exercise and backstroke, we would violate parallelism, for ball games should be considered a general category, 57知识书苑while jumping and running are subcategories of the track and field events; gymnastics is a general category, and floor exercise a particular form of it. In sho
60、rt, in a good classification the parts must be parallel, and they should add up to the whole.58知识书苑For instance:There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellersunread, untouched. This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books. The second has a grea
61、t many booksa few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean as shiny as the day they were bought. 59知识书苑This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance. The third has a few books or manyevery one
62、 of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (Mortimer J. Adler)60知识书苑9. Development by Definition Sometimes, to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, we have to define a word, term, or concept which is unfamiliar to most reader
63、s or open to various interpretations.There are three basic ways to define a word or term: a) to give a synonym; b) to use a sentence (often with an attributive clause), and c) to write a paragraph or even an essay. 61知识书苑For instance: to mend means to repaira fellow is a man or a boy.Ink is colored
64、water which we use for writing.62知识书苑But a synonym or a sentence cannot give a satisfactory definition of an abstract term whose meaning is complex. 63知识书苑We have to write a paragraph or an essay with examples or negative examples (what the term does not mean), comparisons, with classification or ca
65、use-and-effect analysis. 64知识书苑For instance: A “liberated woman” is simply a woman who controls her own life, rather than allowing it to be controlled by other people, traditions, or expectations. A “liberated woman” can be found pursuing any line of work, including housework, or no work at all. She
66、 may or may not be married; she may or may not have borne children. 65知识书苑She may belong to any race; she may have attained any age. She may be poor or wealthy, educated or illiterate. She need have only one trait in common with her “liberated sisters”: she makes her own choices, whether they be the
67、 colors on her walls or advanced degrees she seeks. She acts of her own volition, responsible to herself, and not out of fear of what her mother, lover, or neighbor might say. (Klarner W. Harp)66知识书苑10. Development by a Combination of Methods We have discussed quite a few methods for developing para
68、graphs. Sometimes only one of them is used in a paragraph, but often two or three of them are used in the same paragraph. Writers may find it necessary to use a combination of methods in order to present their ideas in an impressive and convincing manner.67知识书苑For instance:As far back as I can remem
69、ber, I have often come close to serious injury or death. When I was six years old, I narrowly escaped death for the first time. I was then ill with some respiratory ailment for which the simplest cure was sulfa. The doctor, having no knowledge that I was allergic to the drug, prescribed sulfa tablet
70、s. Shortly after giving me a pill, my mother returned from work to find me gasping for breath. She called the doctor who hurried back to my home. He saved my life by administering oxygen. 68知识书苑Not long after that accident, I swallowed a chicken bone which became lodged in my throat. I was rushed to
71、 the hospital emergency ward in time to save my life. When I was eleven, I was bitten by a dog. As I look back, I recalled that the wound was not as painful as the series of shots which followed. Now, having all these narrow escapes behind me, I consider myself fortunate to be alive today.69知识书苑Exer
72、cise: In the blank before each of the following sentences, write G if it is a statement of Generalization or C if it is a statement of Classification.A) Democracy is a state of mind.B) Some sports require as high a degree of eye-mind-hand coordination as brain surgery.C) Gamblers fall into several c
73、lasses, depending upon what their stakes are.70知识书苑D) Many aspects of the American character can be attributed to the American frontier.E) A wild stallion is powerful and fierce.F) Everyone has three kinds of “friends” he wants to forget.71知识书苑Exercise: define the following from your own experience
74、or observation in the form of sentences.A)The Chinese saying “show off ones skill with an ax before Lu Ban”.）superstition）optimism）feminism72知识书苑Writing: Write paragraphs using the following as the topic sentences.(1) I remember the day when I came to this university.(2) If I could choose, I would major in73知识书苑The contents we have learned are mainly based on the book A Handbook of Writing (P.9P.143). 丁往道 吴冰主编，外语教学与研究出版社Thank you for your time and cooperation! Goodbye!74知识书苑
