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rulesandskillsforwriting

英语写作规则与技巧

4RhetoricalStrategiesinParagraphs

Rhetoricalstrategiesinwritingaretechniquesforpresentingideassothatawriter’sintendedmessageisdeliveredwithclarityandimpact.Therhetoricalstrategiesavailabletoyouasawriteraresufficientlyvariedtogiveyoumanychoicesofwaystomakeyourwritingeffective.Asyoucanseefromtheexplanationsandexamplesinthischapter,allrhetoricalstrategiesreflectthetypicalpatternsofthoughtthathumansusequitenaturally.Asyoutryoutthesestrategies,especiallyastheykeepyouawareofsequencingandarrangingsentences,youcanapplythemtocomposingyourparagraphsand,insomesituations,wholeessays.

4aUnderstandingparagraphs

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