BASIC CONCEPTS
UNITY
All
sentences in the paragraph should relate
to and develop the CONTROLLING IDEA;
that is, a controlling idea in a topic sentence help the writer AVOID sentences
that ARE NOT RELEVANT to the main point of the paragraph.
If the
TOPIC SENTENCE in a paragraph states: “Smoking
cigarettes annoys those people that don’t smoke”, the writer should focus
in that specific point about smoking cigarettes: annoys those people that don’t smoke.
Any sentence NOT RELATED, like for instance “smokers get cancer as a
consequence of smoking”, should be AVOIDED.
A
paragraph that has sentences that do not relate to or discuss the controlling
idea lacks unity. Note the following
example of a paragraph that lacks unity:
Another
problem facing a number of elderly people is living on a reduced income. Upon retiring, old people may receive a
pension from their company or Social Security from the government. The amount
of their monthly checks is often half the amount of the checks they received
when they were employed. Suddenly, retirees find that they can no longer
continue the lifestyle that they had become accustomed to, even if that
lifestyle was a modest one. Many find, after paying their monthly bills, that
there is no money left for a movie or a dinner out. Of course, sometimes they can't
go out because of their health. Maybe they have arthritis or rheumatism and it
is painful for them to move around. Some
older people, however, discover that the small amount of money they receive
will not even cover their monthly bills. They realize with horror that
electricity, a telephone, and nourishing food are luxuries they can no longer
afford.
In what
ways does this paragraph lack unity?
There are sentences that don’t develop the main idea; that is, they
discuss a different topic. To help
yourself to identify those sentences, answer the following:
Identify
the topic sentence. Underline the
topic and circle the controlling idea.
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The
controlling idea is the one that gives us the focus of the paragraph; what SPECIFIC
TOPIC is the controlling idea dealing with? In other words WHAT IS THE
PARAGRPH ABOVE?
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What are
the sentences that ARE NOT RELATED to the main idea?
Read the
following paragraphs. Underline the topic sentence, circle the controlling idea
for each paragraph and identify any sentences that do not belong in the
paragraph.
The common sponge, the skeleton of a sea
creature of the Porifera phylum, has been put to many good uses. In prehistoric
times, groups living along seashores bartered with sponges for inland-grown
items. The ancient Greeks used sponges for scrubbing their floors and furniture
and for padding for their armor. The Romans found them useful as mops and paint
brushes. When mature, most sponges cannot move about in the ocean. Today, sponges are used for washing cars,
cleaning our houses, applying shoe polish, and even dabbing on face cream. The
humble sponge, sometimes called nature's washcloth, has proven to be extremely
useful to humans throughout history.
Sentence
(s) that don’t belong:
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COHERENCE
Logical arrangement
We have
seen that a paragraph must have a topic and a controlling idea and unity.
Another element that a paragraph needs is COHERENCE. A coherent paragraph
contains sentences that are logically
arranged; that is, they follow a logical order.
Study the
following paragraph in which one or more sentences are out of order. Identify the sentences that are out of order
and tell where they should be placed.
Although Grant Pass, Oregon, is a fairly small
town, it offers much to amuse summer visitors. They can go rafting down the
Rogue River. They can go swimming in the Applegate River. Lots of people go
hunting for wild berries that grow along the roadsides. Campers will find lovely
campgrounds that are clean. There are several nice hotels. Tourists can browse
through a number of interesting shops in town, such as antique stores. One fun
activity is shopping at the open market where local folks sell produce grown in
their gardens. Grants Pass has a lot of places to eat, ranging from a
low-calorie dessert place to lovely restaurants. Some of these restaurants
offer good food and gorgeous views. One store to visit is the shop that sells
items made from Oregon's beautiful myrtlewood. Fishing in the area is also a popular
activity. Watersports are by far the main attraction. As you can see, Grants
Pass offers a lot to do in the summer. If you want to give your family a nice,
wholesome vacation, try visiting Grants Pass.
There are
different ways of arranging sentences in a paragraph:
- You can use the ORDER OF IMPORTANCE description, in
other words, in you writing you include first the LEAST, then the MOST
important detail.
- You can use CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER if you want to
describe what happens in a movie
- You can use SPATIAL DESCRIPTION if you want to
describe a physical space such as a room, a photograph, etc. In spatial writing you can describe an
object/person from LEFT to RIGHT, from BOTTOM to TOP, or vice versa. You can also describe how a certain
event reached several places.
Activity 10
Analyze the following paragraphs and answer the
questions below.
The first year of life is a time of great motor
development in human babies. In the first month of life, reflexes control the
arm, leg and hand movements of an infant, and non reflexive activity is gross
and random. The baby wiggles, kicks and
flings her arms and legs in all directions.
By six months of age, the infant turns her head freely, crouches on her
arms and legs and creeps backward or forward.
At this age she also sits with little support and holds her bottle. When the infant reaches one year of age, she
can stand and walk as well as climbing up and down stairs. She can lower herself to a sitting position
gracefully and uses her opposable thumbs in activities such as taking lids off
containers. At one, a baby also shows clear preference for left or right
handedness.
What’s
the topic sentence? What’s the
controlling idea?
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What’s
the order the writer uses to develop this paragraph?
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Instead of serving as a source of joy and
learning for the children who participate, children's sports events often
become an outlet for nasty, interfering parents. Often parents create a disturbing scene when
they lose control and shout curses or insults at an umpire or referee in a game
where their child is participating.
Adults may also argue bitterly with each other in the bleachers about whose
child should have rebounded a ball or prevented the opposing team from
scoring. Parents even openly heckle
coaches, yelling bad names or angry criticism in front of the whole team. Perhaps the most troubling spectacle of all,
however, is an enraged father or mother pulling a child off the field or
outside the gym for a humiliating lecture about a missed opportunity or a
failure to perform.
What’s
the topic sentence? What’s the
controlling idea?
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What’s
the order the writer uses to develop this paragraph?
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The box below shows the outline of the next
paragraph in which the writer probably used ORDER OF IMPORTANCE structure (the
least complex to the most complex activities).
Manual labor is one of the principal
development resources in any industrializing country, as the following example
illustrate. To begin with, ploughing
fields, planting and harvesting crops, and raising livestock are all
important to development and all require people who work with their hands. Secondly, building roads and bridges and
constructing dams for irrigation and electrical power are also important to
development and also require people who know how to use their hands skillfully. Finally, the establishment of efficient
transportation and communication systems, essential services in a modernizing
economy, relies heavily upon a labor force of expert craftsmen who take
pride in their manual skills. Clearly,
in agriculture and in industry, the progress of a country depends on the busy
hands of its working people.
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE
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Topic sentence:
Manual
labor is one of the principal development resources in any industrializing
country, as the following example illustrate.
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A1 Fields
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A2 Construction
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A3 Transportation and communication systems
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Conclusion:
Clearly,
in agriculture and in industry, the progress of a country depends on the busy
hands of its working people.
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Develop
an outline for each of the following possible paragraphs:
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
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Topic
sentence:
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A1
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A2
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A3
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A4
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A5
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In order
to write well organized paragraphs we must STICK to a PARALLEL pattern. Parallel means EXTENDING ON THE SAME
DIRECTION.
We may
play with the order of the sentences, as long as we keep parallelism.
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE (the least to the most)
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Topic
sentence:
Pancho
Villa and Benito Juárez are considered to be the greatest Mexican heroes of
all times.
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A1
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(Pancho
Villa) Earlier years
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A2
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(Pancho
Villa) How he benefited poor people
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A3
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(Pancho
Villa) How and why he is still remembered.
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B1
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(Benito
Juarez) Earlier years
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B2
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(Benito
Juarez) How he benefited poor people
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B3
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(Benito
Juarez) How and why he is still remembered.
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Conclusion:
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Notice
that
A1 and B1
deal with the SAME example: earlier years.
A2 and B2
deal with the SAME example: benefits for poor people.
A1 and B1
deal with the SAME example: how and why they are still remembered.
Complete
the following outlines:
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE (the least to the most)
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Topic
sentence:
Pancho
Villa and Benito Juárez are considered to be the greatest Mexican heroes of
all times.
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A1
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B1
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A2
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B2
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A3
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B3
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Conclusion:
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ORDER OF IMPORTANCE (the least to the most)
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Topic
sentence:
Pancho
Villa and Benito Juárez are considered to be the greatest Mexican heroes of
all times.
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A1
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A2
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A3
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B3
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B2
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B1
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Conclusion:
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