READWRI

• Paragraph


  A series of sentences that are organized, coherent, and are all related to a single topic
• Parts of a Paragraph


  • Introduction
  • Body
  • Conclusion
• Topic Sentence


  States the main topic of the paragraph and the controlling idea
• Supporting Sentences


  Develop the topic sentence
• Concluding Sentence


  Signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to remember
• Properties of a Well-Written Text


  • Organization
  • Coherence and Cohesion
  • Unity
  • Language Use
• Organization


  Also known as arrangement, is achieved when ideas are logically and accurately arranged with focus on the arrangement of ideas, incidents, evidence, or details in a definite order in a paragraph, essay, or speech
• Types of Paragraph Arrangement


  • Chronological Order
  • Order of Importance
  • Spatial Order
  • Comparison and Contrast
  • Developmental
• Chronological Order


  Major pieces of supporting information or steps are arranged in a time sequence according to when they happened or should happen
• Chronological Order


  • first, second, later, before, next, as soon as, after, then, finally, meanwhile, following, last, during, in, on, until
• Chronological Order Paragraph


  • Students who wish to become doctors must plan on many years of demanding study and strenuous work beyond high school. First, they must complete four years of liberal arts studies including certain pre-ed courses. Once they have finished college, pre med students must attend medical school, usually for an additional four years of intensive study in medicine. Then, following medical school, doctors must complete internship and residency requirements at a hospital or other medical facility for at least another one to two years. Finally, when reviewed by supervisors and other doctors, he new doctors are ready to practice their profession.
• Order of Importance


  Major pieces of supporting importance are arranged from least to most important or vice versa
• Order of Importance


  • less, more, primary, next, last, most important, primarily, secondarily
• Order of Importance Paragraph


  • Certain advantages helped the American colonists win their war for independence. The Americans had the initial advantage of fighting on their own soil, whereas English troops had to travel 3,000 miles. A more significant advantage was the experience of the Americans; unlike the English, the colonists were already seasoned wilderness fighters, having previously battled to win upstate New York and the Northwest territory. The greatest advantage, however, for the Americans was the strength, courage, and dedication of such leaders as George Washington, General Washington, General Nathanael Greene, and John Paul Jones.
• Spatial Order


  Major details and other supporting information are arranged by position – near to far, far to near, top to bottom and so on
• Spatial Order


  • above, below, beside, next to, in front of, behind, inside, outside, opposite, within, nearby
• Spatial Order Paragraph


  • We didn't know where to begin hunting for the baseball glove in the incredibly messy room. To our right were shelves littered with broken transistor radios, bowling trophies, erasers, bubble gum, chess pieces, and a plastic tarantula. In the center of the room, the sheets and the blankets of the bed were barely visible beneath record albums, gym clothes, muddy jeans, and stack of socks. The wall on the left displayed a bicycle rack and an old ten-speed.
• Comparison and Contrast


  All the supporting information for one item is presented, and then all the supporting information for other is presented (AAA-BBB) or supporting information for both is compared and contrasted point by point (AB-AB-AB)
• Comparison and Contrast


  • Similarities: both, also, similarly, like, likewise, too, as well as, resembles, correspondingly, in the same way, to compare, in comparison, share// Differences: unlike, differs from, in contrast, on the other hand, instead, despite, nevertheless, however, in spite of, whereas, as opposed to
• Comparison and Contrast Paragraph


  • There is a definite distinction between science and engineering. The scientist is usually interested only in extending knowledge of some aspect of the natural world. Scientist want to know why things happen, but are not necessarily interested in useful applications of their discoveries. They usually do not create a product such as a steam-turbine electric generating unit. Their ideas and concepts are their products. Scientists isolate new chemical elements, explore the atom, and make discoveries in fields such as dietetics and thermodynamics. They seek answers to questions concerning space, sound, and nuclear physics. Engineers, on the other hand, are concerned with the intelligent application of scientific knowledge to the solution of technical problems. They want to know not only why and how things work, but how they can be made to work better and more economically. Engineers must be cost-conscious, because projects are considered practical only if each dollar invested yields a satisfactory return. Furthermore, the engineer has a definite responsibility for public safety.
• Developmental


  When none of the other order fits, support is arranged in the most logical fashion; for instance, several related and equally important items could be mentioned in the topic sentence and then be discussed in that order
• Developmental Paragraph


  • The high point of our seven-park pilgrimage came at Corcovado when we stepped out of the plane into the deep, cool shade of the tropical forest. Huge trees, some more than 200 feet high and six feet in diameter, towered over a rich tangle of smaller trees and vegetation. Here and there we heard a sound like the patter of rain and discovered it was thousands of tiny pink and yellow blossoms floating down from tall trees. Hummingbirds hovered above the fallen blossoms, whose fragrance mingled with the earthy odor of the damp, decomposing leaves underfoot. Now and then there was a loud chattering as parrots flashed by.
• Coherence


  The logical bridge between words, sentences, and paragraphs
• Cohesion


  The many ways (grammatical, lexical, semantic, metrical, alliterative) in which the elements of a text are linked together
• Incoherent but Cohesive Text


  • An octopus is an air-filled curtain with seven heads and three spike-filled fingers, which poke in frills and furls at ribbon-strewed buttons.
• Coherent but not Cohesive Text


  • Speaker 1: "Chocolate biscuits!" Speaker 2: "Me! Me!" Speaker 3: "Uh uh. Lent."
• Unity


  A paragraph is unified if all the specific information belongs together and supports one main idea. Any information outside the range of the topic sentence destroys the UNITY of the paragraph.
• Paragraph without Unity


  • The basic pattern of penguins, dark above and white below, has survival advantages. In the southern oceans, dense with plankton, the water is murky, and a penguin's dark back viewed from above as it slips through the depths is hard to see. Viewed from below, its white front all but disappears against the silvery light that filters down from the sky.Penguins look like proud little men in tuxedos. Their flippers, which look like short, stiff arms, have prompted some scientists to argue that penguins never flew. Other scientists, however, maintain that the ancestors of penguins lost their ability to fly and developed their flippers as they adopted other methods of locomotion, such as swimming, sliding on their chests, and running.
• Paragraph with Unity


  • The basic pattern of penguins, dark above and white below, has survival advantages. In the southern oceans, dense with plankton, the water is murky, and a penguin's dark back viewed from above as it slips through the depths is hard to see. Viewed from below, its white underparts all but disappear against the silvery light that filters down from the sky. This natural camouflage, known as "countershading," serves the penguin well when eluding the leopard seal and the sharks. It matters little that this same bicolored pattern is blatantly conspicuous on the shore; land-based predators are not usually found on the islands where penguins consort for breeding.
• Language Use


  One of the clearest indicators of a well written text. It enables writers to effectively communicate ideas without confusing the reader.
• Levels of Language Use


  • Informal/Personal
  • Formal/Impersonal
• Penguins


  • Dark back viewed from above is hard to see in the murky southern oceans
  • White underparts all but disappear against the silvery light when viewed from below
  • This natural camouflage, known as "countershading," serves the penguin well when eluding predators
• Penguins look like proud little men in tuxedos
• Flippers


  Short, stiff arms that some scientists argue penguins never flew with, while others maintain their ancestors lost the ability to fly and developed flippers as they adopted other methods of locomotion
• The basic pattern of penguins, dark above and white below, has survival advantages
• Land-based predators are not usually found on the islands where penguins consort for breeding
• Language use


  One of the clearest indicators of a well written text, enabling writers to effectively communicate ideas without confusing the reader
• Levels of language use

  • Informal/personal
  • Standard/academic
  • Business/technical
• A paragraph is a series of sentences that talks about a single topic
• Properties of a well-written text


  • Organization
  • Coherence
  • Cohesion
  • Unity