实用英语写作手册.docx

实用英语写作手册.docx

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实用英语写作手册

AHandbookofEnglishWriting

TheParagraph

Aparagraphisaunitofthought;itisatonceaunitinitselfandpartofalargerwhole,thatis,theessay.

Aparagraphislikeaminiessay;itshouldbeunified,coherentandwelldeveloped.Aparagraphisunifiedwhenallthesentencesintheparagrapharefocusedononecentralthoughtoronasingletopic;whenthewriterwishesitintroduceanewthoughtortopic,heshouldbeginanewparagraph.Aparagraphiscoherentwhenitdevelopsnaturallyandsmoothly,andonesentenceleadslogicallytoanother.Therearemanywaystodevelopaparagraph,forexample,byprocess,bycauseandeffect,bycomparisonandcontrast,etc.

Paragraphsvaryinlength.Inashortexpositoryessayofabout600words,theaverageparagraphmaybeabout100words,orbetweenfourandeightsentences.Ultimately,thelengthoftheparagraphdependsonitstopic,itspositionintheessayanditsroleinthedevelopmentofthethesisstatement.Paragraphsinbooksareusuallylongerthanthoseinnewspapers.Alongparagraphexposesacomplexidea,andashortonemakesamajortransition,anemphaticstatement,orasummary.Anexperiencedwritervariesthelengthofhisparagraphstoavoidmonotony.

I.EffectiveParagraphs

1.Unity

Unityofaparagraphisconcernedwithitscontent.Ifallthesentencesintheparagraphleadtoonecentraltheme,theparagraphisunified.Thecentralthemeisusuallysummarizedinwhatiscalledthetopicsentence.Itoftenappearsatthebeginningoftheparagraph;however,itmayalsobefoundinthemiddleorattheendofaparagraph.

Oneofthecentralpreoccupationsoftheartsandhumanitiesistheobservationofhumanbeings.Paintersandsculptorscreatetheimagesofthehumanform;writerstellstoriesorcomposepoemsabouthumanexperience;musicalartistsgivemelodiccontourstothehumanspirits;historiansandphilosopherspondertheessentialqualitiesofhumancivilizationandnature.Andinourownlives,inourownways,wespendagreatdealofourenergyandattentiontoourfellowcreatures,beinginfamiliesandotherkindsofrelationship,observingpeoplewithcuriosityandinterestinthecourseoftheday,thinkingaboutandformingourowncharacter---decidingwhatkindofpersonwewishtobe---aswegrow.

---DonKneel

Wenowhave,asaresultofmodernmeansofcommunication,hundredsofthousandsofwordsflungatusdaily.Teachers,preachers,salesmen,publicofficialsandmotion-picturesoundtracksareconstantlytalkingusat.Thecriesofadvertiserspursueusintoourveryhomes,thankstotheradio---andinsomehousestheradioisneverturnedofffrommorningtonight.Dailythenewsboybringsus,inlargecities,fromthirtytofiftyenormouspagesofprintandalmostthreetimesthatamountonSunday.Wegooutandgetmorewordsatbookstoresandlibraries.Wordsfillourlives.

Inthefirstparagraphthefirstsentenceisthetopicsentence,whereasinthesecondparagraph,itisthelastsentence.Sometimesthetopicsentenceisnotstatedexplicitlybutisimplied.Inthefollowingparagraph,allthedetailscontributetoonetheme---whattheroomlookslike.Thoughwithoutatopicsentence,theparagraphisunified.

Theroomislocatedonthefifthfloorofthehighbuilding.Onethirdofitstotalfloorspaceistakenupbyadoublebed.Facingit,inthecornerbehindthedoor,standsacupboardloadedwithpots,bowls,dishes,bottles,andbagsofriceandflour.Adeskcompletelyfillsthegapbetweenthebedandthewallwiththewindow.Behindthedeskisahair,theonlyoneintheroom;anditalmosttouchestheboxesandtrunkspilesagainstthewallontheoppositeside.

---Student

2.Coherence

Coherenceofaparagraphisconcernedwithitsform,oritsorganization.Thesentenceisaparagraphshouldbearrangedinaclear,logicalorder,andthetransitionsshouldsmoothandnatural.Asaresult,thereaderfindsiteasytofollowthewriter’strainofthoughtandunderstandwhatheistalkingabout.

Thereissomefeelingnowadaysthatreadingisnotasnecessaryasitoncewas.Radioandespeciallytelevisionhavetakenovermanyofthefunctionsonceservedbypaintingandothergraphicarts.Admittedly,televisionservessomeofthesefunctionsextremelywell;thevisualcommunicationofnewsevent,forexample,hasenormousimpact.Theabilityofradiotogiveusinformationwhileweareengagedindoingotherthings---forinstance,drivingacar---isremarkable,andagreatsavingoftime.Butitmaybeseriouslyquestionedwhethertheadventofmoderncommunicationmediahasmuchenhancedoutunderstandingoftheworldinwhichwelive.

---MortimerJ.Adler

Thisparagraphiscoherent.Thewriterbeginswithastatement,andthenhegoestoexplainwhathavemadesomepeoplefeelthat“readingisnotasnecessaryasitoncewas”---radioandtelevisionhavealmostreplacedthefunctionsoftheprintedmatter.Whatfollowsfurtherexplainshowwatchingtelevisionandlisteningtoradioservesomeofthefunctionsofreading.Butthewriterdoubtswhethertheappearanceofmoderncommunicationmediahasreallypromotedourunderstandingoftheworld,whichheexpressesinthelastsentence,thetopicsentenceoftheparagraph.

3.Transition

Coherencemaynotbeperfectevenifthewriterarrangeshissentencesinaclear,logicalorder.Hehastousegoodtransitionssothatonesentencerunssmoothlyafteranother.

Thefollowingwaysmayhelpthewritertoproduceafluentparagraph:

A.Usingparallelstructure;

B.Repeatingwordsorwordsgroup;

C.Usingpronounsandrefertonounsinprecedingsentences;

D.Beingconsistentinthepersonandnumberofnounsandpronouns,andthetenseofverbs.

Inthefollowingparagraph,notehowthewritermakesuseofallthesewaystoachievecoherence.

Americansarequeerpeople:

theycan’tplay.Americansrushtoworkassoonastheygrowup.Theywanttheirworkassoonastheywake.Itisstimulant---theonlyonetheyarenotafraidof.Theyusedtoopentheirofficesatteno’clock;thenatnine;thenateight;thenatseven.Nowtheynevershutthem.EverybusinessinAmericaisturningintoanopen-all-day-and-all-nightbusiness.Theyeatallnight,danceallnight,andmakeanoiseallnight.Theycan’tplay.Theytryto,butcan’t/theyturnfootballintoafight,baseballintoalawsuit,andyachtingintomachinery.Theycan’tplay.Thelittlechildrencan’tplay;theyusemechanicaltoysinstead---toycranes,hoistingtoyloads,toymachineryspreadingatoyindustrydepressionofinfantiledullness.Thegrownuppeoplecan’tplay,theyuseamechanicalgymnasiumandaclockworkhorse.Theycan’tlaugh;theyhireacomedianandwatchhimlaugh.

---StephenPeacock

E.Usingtransitionalexpressions

1）Connectivesandtransitionalphrasesforspecialdevelopment:

Abovebeforemehereontheleft

Acrossfrombelowinthedistanceontheright

Adjacenttobeyondnearbyoppositeto

Alsofurthernexttoontopof

Updownclosetobeneath

Underaroundneartoover

2）Connectivesandtransitionalphrasesforchronologicaldevelopment:

First,second,etc.Sooneventually

Inthemeantimethenthereupon

Atthesametimenextthereafter

Afteranintervalnowafter

Presentlylaterafterward

Somewhatlaterfinallyatlast

3）Connectivesandtransitionalphrasesforanalyticaldevelopment:

First,second,etc.Nowforthispurpose

Butasaresultfurthermore

Finallyatlastmoreover

Alsoconsequentlylikewise

Anotherforexamplenext

Yetforinstanceonthecontrary

Onceinadditioninsummary

Suchinthiscaseontheotherhand

Thenotherwiseinconclusion

Thusinclosingtherefore

4）Connectivesandtransitionalphrasesforcomparisons:

Anotherfurthermoremoreover

Equallyimportanttoo,alsoatthesametime

Besidesthenaccordingly

Infactinadditiontolike,likewise

Similarlyjustas…sointhesameway

5）Connectivesandtransitionalphrasesforcontrasts:

Onthecontrarydifferentfrom/incontrast

Ontheotherhandto

Despiteinspiteof

Yet,butwhereas

Notonly…butalsohere…there

Yearsago…todaythis…that

Theformer…thelatterthen…now

Theformer…whereasthesecondsome…others

Ontheonehand…ontheotheronce…now

II.WaysofDevelopingParagraphs

1.PlanningaParagraph

Paragraphsneedtobeplanned.First,thinkofthetopicorthemeormainidea,andexpressitinacompletesentence（topicsentence）.Thenthinkofthedetailsorexamplesorfactsthatmaybeusedtosupportorexplainthemainidea.Arrangetheminlogicalorder,andyouhavearoughplanoftheparagraph.

Anoutlinemaybehelpfultobeginners.Supposeyouaretowriteanarticleaboutphilately,andyourtopicsentenceis“Philatelyisaninterestinghobby”,youmayhavethefollowingpoints:

（1）Therearebeautifulpicturesonpostagestamps;

（2）Thereareportraitsofhistoricalfiguresonthem;

（3）ItisalwaysadelighttogetastampIhaveneverseenbefore;

（4）IcanlearnsomethingbylookingatthestampsIhavecollected.

Onreadingthefourpointsagainyoumayfindthatthelastpointhadbetterbemadethefirst.Nowyoucanbegtowrite.Hereisaparagraphdevelopedfromtheaboveoutline:

Philatelyisaninterestinghobby.EverytimeIopenmyalbumsandlookedatthestampsI’vecollectedovertheyears,Ilearnedsomethingnew.Onmanyofthemareprinteddrawingsorpictureofrarebirds,animals,treesorflowers.Underamagnifyingglasstheylookverybeautiful,andtheyhelptoincreasemyknowledgeofnature.Onotherstampsthereareportraitsofhistoricalfigures,suchasQuipYuanandDr.SunYates,GeorgeWashingtonandChesterW.Limits.WheneverIseeanunfamiliarname,Iwilltrytofindsomeinformationabouttheperson