rulesandskillsforwritingWord格式.docx
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Aparagraphisagroupofsentencesthatworkinconcerttodevelopaunitofthought.Paragraphingpermitsyoutosubdividematerialintomanageablepartsand,atthesametime,toarrangethosepartsintoaunifiedwholethateffectivelycommunicatesitsmessage.
Paragraphingissignaledbyindentation.Thefirstlineisindentedfivespacesinatypewrittenpaperandoneinchinahandwrittenpaper.(Businesslettersaresometimestypedin“blockformat,”withparagraphsseparatedbyadoublespacebutnoparagraphindentations.Generally,blockformatisnotappropriateforessays.)
Thepurposeofaparagraphhelpsyoudetermineitsstructure.Incollege,themostcommonpurposesforacademicwritingaretoinformandtopersuade.Someparagraphsintroduce,conclude,orprovidetransitions.Mostparagraphs,however,aretopicalparagraphs,alsocalleddevelopmentalparagraphsorbodyparagraphs.Theyconsistofastatementofamainideaandspecific,logicalsupportforthatmainidea.Considerparagraph1,atopicalparagraphthatseekstoinform.(Tohelpdiscussionandreferenceinthischapter,arednumberappearsattheleftsideofeachsampleparagraph.)
Paragraph1
Thecockroachlorethathasbeendauntingusforyearsismostlytrue.Roachescanlivefortwentydayswithoutfood,fourteendayswithoutwater;
theycanflattentheirbodiesandcrawlthroughacrackthinnerthanadime;
theycaneathugedosesofcarcinogensandstilldieofoldage.Theycanevensurvive“asmuchradiationasanoaktreecan,”saysWilliamBell,theUniversityofKansasentomologistwhosecockroachesappearedinthemovieTheDayAfter.They’lleatalmostanything—regularfood,leather,glue,hair,paper,eventhestarchinbookbindings.(TheNewYorkPublicLibraryhasquiteacockroachproblem.)Theysensetheslightestbreeze,andtheycanreactandstartrunningin.05second;
theycanalsoremainmotionlessfordays.Andifallthisisn’tcreepyenough,theycanflytoo.
—JaneGoldman,“What’sBuggingYou”
Goldmanstateshermainideainthefirstsentence.Shethengivesconcreteexamplessupportingherclaimthatthereismuchtruthtotheloreaboutcockroaches.Thisparagraphrelatestothethesisofthewholeessay:
“Roachescannotbebanishedfromtheworld,buttheycanbecontrolledinpeople’shomesandapartments.”
Considerthistopicalparagraph,whichseekstopersuade.It,too,consistsofamainideaandsupport.
Paragraph2
Thepubliclibraryisthebest,mostdemocratic,mosteconomicalmechanismeverdevisedtoprovideaccesstoinformationandenlightenmentonissuesthatrangefromtheintenselypersonaltothosethatareglobalinnature.Individualsofallagesandfromallwalksoflife,communitygroups,agencies,businesses,unions,andgovernmentinstitutionsofeverykindincreasinglyturntothepubliclibraryforassistance.Itistheonlylibrarythatisavailabletoeveryoneinthecommunity.Typically,itreceiveshalfof1percentofthegovernment’sbudgetyetserves30to50percentofthepeople.Noothercommunityserviceismorecosteffective.
—ClaraBennett,presidentoftheboardoftrustees,NassauCountyLibrarySystem
Bennettstateshermainideainthefirsttwosentences.Thesecondsentencenarrowsthefocusofthefirstandsetsthestageforthesupportingstatementsthatfollow.
Goldman’sandBennett’sparagraphsdemonstratethethreemajorcharacteristicsofaneffectiveparagraph.(SeeChart22.||||)
Chart22
Majorcharacteristicsofaneffectiveparagraph
•Unity:
clear,logicalrelationshipbetweenthemainideaofaparagraphandsupportingevidenceforthatmainidea
•Coherence:
smoothprogressionfromonesentencetothenextwithinaparagraph
•Development:
logicalarrangementofparagraphsandspecific,concretesupportforthemainideaofeachparagraph
4bWritingunifiedparagraphs
Aparagraphisunifiedwhenallitssentencesclarifyorhelpsupportthemainidea.Unityislostifaparagraphgoesoffthetopicbyincludingsentencesunrelatedtothemainidea.Hereisaparagraphaboutdatabasesthatlacksunitybecausetwodeliberatelyaddedsentencesgooffthetopic.
Paragraph3
NOWehaveallusedphysicaldatabasessinceourgrammarschooldays.Grammarschoolisknowntodayasgradeschoolorelementaryschool.Ourclassyearbooks,thetelephonebook,theshoeboxfullofreceiptsdocumentingourdeductionsfortheIRS—thesearealldatabasesinoneformoranother,foradatabaseisnothingmorethananassemblageofinformationorganizedtoallowtheretrievalofthatinformationincertainways.Anyonewhoiswellorganizedhasabetterchanceofsucceedingincollegeorinthebusinessworld.
Inparagraph3,thesecondandlastsentenceswanderawayfromthetopicofdatabases.Asaresult,unityislost.Areaderquicklylosespatiencewithmaterialthatramblesandconsequentlyfailstocommunicateaclearmessage.Paragraph4istheoriginalversion.Itisunifiedbecauseallitssentences,includingtheonesaddinginterestingdetails,relatetothesubjectofdatabases.
Paragraph4
YESWehaveallusedphysicaldatabasessinceourgrammarschooldays.Ourclassyearbooks,thetelephonebook,theshoeboxfullofreceiptsdocumentingourdeductionsfortheIRS—thesearealldatabasesinoneformoranother,foradatabaseisnothingmorethananassemblageofinformationtoallowtheretrievalofthatinformationincertainways.Atelephonebook,forexample,assumingthatyouhavetherightonefortherightcity,willenableyoutofindthetelephonenumberfor,say,AlanSmith.Coincidentallyitwillalsogiveyouhisaddress,providedthereisonlyoneAlanSmithlisted.WherethereareseveralAlanSmiths,youwouldhavetoknowtheaddress,oratleastpartofit,tofindthenumberoftheparticularAlanSmithyouhadinmind.Evenwithouttheaddress,however,youwouldstillsaveconsiderabletimebythetelephonedatabase.Thebookmightlist50,000namesbutonly12AlanSmiths,soattheoutsetyoucouldeliminate49,988telephonecallswhentryingtocontacttheelusiveMr.Smith.
—ErikSanberg-Diment,“PersonalComputers”
Thesentencethatcontainsthemainideaofaparagraph,calledthetopicsentence,shapesandcontrolsthecontentoftherestoftheparagraph.Someparagraphsusetwosentencestopresentamainidea.Insuchcases,thetopicsentenceisfollowedbyalimitingorclarifyingsentence,whichservestonarrowtheparagraph’sfocus.Inparagraph4,thesecondsentenceisitstopicsentence,andthethirdsentenceisitslimitingsentence.
Professionalessaywritersdonotalwaysusetopicsentences,becausethesewritershavetheskilltocarrythereaderalongwithoutexplicitsignposts.Studentwritersareoftenadvisedtousetopicsentencessothattheiressayswillbeclearlyorganizedandtheirparagraphswillnotstrayfromthemainidea.
Topicsentenceatthebeginningofaparagraph
Mostparagraphsplacethetopicsentence(showninitalics)firstsothatareaderknowsimmediatelywhattoexpect.
Paragraph5
TotravelthestreetsofLosAngelesistoglimpseAmerica’sethnicfuture.AtthebustlingplaygroundatMcDonald’sinKoreatown,adozenshadesofkidssquirtdowntheslidesandburrowthroughtunnelsandracedownthecatwalks,notmuchmindingthatnotwoofthemspeakthesamelanguage.Parentsofgrade-schoolchildrensaytheyrarelyknowthecoloroftheiryoungsters’bestfriendsuntiltheymeetthem;
itneverseemstooccurtothechildrentosay,sincetheyhavenotyetbeentaughttocare.
—NancyGibbs,“ShadesofDifference”
Sometimesthemainideainthetopicsentencestartsaparagraphandisthenrestatedattheendoftheparagraph.
Paragraph6
Everydreamisaportraitofthedreamer.Youmaythinkofyourdreamasamirrorthatreflectsyourinnercharacter—theaspectsofyourpersonalityofwhichyouarenotfullyaware.Onceweunderstandthis,wecanalsoseethateverytraitportrayedinourdreamshastoexistinus,somewhere,regardlessofwhetherweareawareofitoradmitit.Whatevercharacteristicsthedreamfigureshave,whateverbehaviortheyengagein,isalsotrueofthedreamerinsomeway.
—RobertA.Johnson,InnerWork
Topicsentenceattheendofaparagraph
Someparagraphsrevealtheirsupportingdetailsbeforethemainidea.Insuchcases,thetopicsentencecomesattheendofaparagraph.Thisapproachisparticularlyeffectiveforbuildingsuspenseandfordramaticeffect.
Paragraphs7and8endwithatopicsentence.Inparagraph7,themainideaisfairlyeasytopredictasthespecificsuggestionsaccumulate.Inparagraph8,themainideaislesspredictable,whichmakesitmoresatisfyingforsomereadersbutmoredifficultforothers.
Paragraph7
Burnoutisapotentialproblemforanyhardworkingandperseveringstudent.Apreliminarystepforpreventingstudentburnoutisforstudentstoworkinmoderation.Studentscanconcentrateonschooleveryday,providedthattheydonotovertaxthemselves.Onemethodstudentscanuseistoavoi