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Writing is much more than producing correct sentences. How you structure and organize the sentences to express your thoughts is what writing is all about. The
sentence is the basic unit of grammar;
the paragraph is the basic unit of writing.
Good
paragraphs also have an underlying structure. I also like to say that
the paragraph is the basic unit of thinking. This unit should have a
structure like the skeleton gives shape to the body. The ideas in your
paragraph need to be organized around a structure. There are many
possible types of paragraphs that you may use in your writing. TASK: Browse
this site: http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/para-dev.htm You should think of a paragraph as
a single unit. If it is a unit, it should hold together. In writing
books, we call this coherence.
http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/p-cohere.htm Paragraph analysisThere
are many
structures we can use to write paragraphs. http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/structov.html
Once we have a
clear structure, there are many ways we can improve our paragraphs. HAVE
ONE MAIN IDEA PER PARAGRAPH The first
strategy is called the TOPIC
SENTENCE
TASK: http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/topic-s.htm "Topic sentences appear most
frequently as the first sentence in a paragraph. This position helps
readers become oriented immediately to the paragraph's topic and
facilitates communication (e.g., an estimated 95% of paragraphs in
professional/technical writing begin with their topic sentences)”
source: http://web.mit.edu/writing/Writing_Process/topicsentence.html MAKE
SURE EVERYTHING IN THE PARAGRAPH SUPPORTS YOUR ONE MAIN POINT
One way to check
your paragraphs is to look at the level of generality.
By analyzing
this, you can see if they are well supported or not. If you have two
sentences in your paragraph that are the most general statements, you
should probably split it into two paragraphs and provide more support
for each part. http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/paragraphs.htm If the first
sentence is the topic sentence, then it should be labeled as a level
"1," because in a sense, it is the most "general" statement in the
paragraph. Sentences labeled as level "2" support or continue to
explain the idea in the topic sentence; they are less general than the
topic sentence because they focus on something specific that is related
to the topic sentence. Sentences labeled as level "3" support or
continue to explain level "2" sentences. Sentences labeled as level "4"
support or continue to explain level "3" sentences, and so on. TASK: Read this
explanation. http://www.english.upenn.edu/Grad/Teachweb/jdparag.html If you change a level of
analysis, you should often include a transition signal. TASK: Choose a paragraph from your own paper and
analyze it using this method. Number the sentences from 1 to 4. What
does it tell you about your paragraph? TASK: analyze a
paragraph from your writing. Is there one main point for each paragraph?
In order to write clearly, you
should help the reader to identify the subject of your sentence. Most dangerous are unclear references. This
happens most often with pronouns like it these, that and they. TASK: Read
http://www.writersdigest.com/tipoftheday.asp?id=1345 Read but do not scroll down. http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/gram2.html#proref On way to solve this problem is to
use "This" + a term or Noun Phrase summarizing the previous sentence.
This links one sentence to the next one. TASK: Read the introduction of
your model paper. Scan for any summary nouns and underline them. Then
delete or cross out the noun and see how much more difficult it is to
read. Key nouns Another way is to repeat the key
nouns in the paragraph. TASK: Read
repeat key nouns. Abstract: Source: Automated high-level movie
segmentation for advanced video-retrieval systems - Hanjalic et al. http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/hanjalic99automated.html If the author had used “They” instead of repeating “logical
story unit”, it could be unclear whether we were talking about
“strategy” or logical story unit. Not only do you have to make it
clear what you are talking about, but also you have to make it clear
when you have changed the subject. Transition signals give clues to the
relationship between sentences or paragraphs. SHOW
HOW YOUR IDEAS ARE RELATED TO OTHER IDEAS, SENTENCES, OR SECTIONS of
YOUR WORK.
One of
the most important ways
to write more effectively is to have clear transition signals.
Transition signals give your reader a kind of roadmap to where you are
going with your writing. TASK: Skim briefly to get the idea of what is a transition signal. http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/style/transitioncues.htmlhttp://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm#transitions <!--[if !supportLists]--> TASK: Using your pen, underline any transition signals
in the discussion or conclusion section of your Model Paper. Also,
mark any repeated key words the author uses to make their writing
clearer. TASK: Look at a
paragraph of your model paper and find the transition signals. Copy and
paste the text onto a new page if possible. Remove the transition
signals from the paragraph. Do not even leave blank spaces. Then, read
the paragraph and see if you can identify where and what kind of
transition phrases should be in the paragraph.
This is a word that simply means
telling the reader what you are going to talk about or reminding them
of what you have already said. You can think of these phrases as
commenting on the writing itself. Examples include: In section 4 we
will discuss the importance of…, will be examined in chapter five…,
as previously stated, as mentioned in the preceding
section etc. These types of comments are
especially important in long pieces of writing such as a thesis,
dissertation or textbook. http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/forecast.htm HAVE
VARIETY IN YOUR WRITING Sentences
should vary in type and length. TASK: Read: http://www.kristisiegel.com/variety.html and TASK: Copy and
paste some text from your writing. Highlight each sentence from a
paragraph. Use the word count tool to count the number of words in each
sentence. Take a color pencil and analyze the type of sentences and
length of your writing: short, medium or long (22+ words). Write down
the number. Is there variety? What is the average length? TASK: Do the
same exercise on a paragraph from your model paper that seems to read
very well. See what the pattern is. TASK: Analyze a
long paragraph of your writing. Color each different type of sentence
in your paragraph. Simple
Yellow; Compound TASK: Later,
compare it with a well-written paragraph from your field from your
model paper. A well-written paragraph should be a colorful mix but not
too much blue!
Use a
variety of
ways to introduce quotations. This is most important for social science
and humanities papers but it is a good general principle to follow.
Remember that each field has its own style of citation so the following
link may not be in the correct format for your field.
TASK: Refer to
this page when needed for APA style: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/intext.html MLA http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/intext.html TASK: Look at
the Literature review of your model paper introduction. Circle the
names of the authors that have been quoted or referred to. Are they in
the text of the sentence or at the end of the sentence? The subject of
the sentence? Passive or active verb? TASK: Analyze
a page of your own writing to see if there are many differences in
style. |
Links
Analysis
of Coherence Harvard
website Transition advice Technical
writing
transitions, great list An example
of the importance of revising with transitions |
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