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Elaboration on a Dozen Steps in

Paragraph Writing

Abul-Qasim Avand

INTRODUCTION

For what useful purposes can students write in English? To give the students a sense of purpose in their writing , a distinction ought to be made among types of writing activities the students are involved in . In its simple form , writing is copying something already written or producing something read or heard. In this kind of activity , nothing is involved except the ability to use the writing system of the language which is ,here, the association of graphic symbols with unexpected sound sequences. Such an activity is sometimes used to sensitize the students to a new phonological system and to important sound discrimination . It is made more complicated when it is involved in grammatical exercices,the construction of simple dialoges ,uncomplicated translation exercises,dictation and the cloze procedures . This type of writing ,writing practice, moves from the more guided types of exercises to more flexible production in writng where the students begin from the material provided and develop it out individually.

In its most highly developed form,writng refers to the conveying of information or expression of original ideas. This type of writing ,called expressive writing, or composition may be used for writing instructions(how-to-do paragraphs),reports (narrative paragraphs),re"sume"s(descriptive paragraphs),concrete descriptions, or essential correspondence connected with every day life(letter writing), or it may be more creative. It requires a delicate choice of vocabulary and some refinements of structure.

These distinctions made among the types of writing activities reflect the main areas of learning involved in writing process. Some of them are:

-the students must learn the graphic system :

-the students must learn the spelling rules ;

-the students must learn to control the structure ;

-the students must learn to convey the meaning through the most meaningful units of words and phrases ;

-the students must learn to express nuances in the appropriate linguistic register

To reach this stage ,the students must have a control of the mechanics of good writing.What follows is an attempt to elaborate on a dozen steps in paragraph writing which helps the students to get mastery over the technical details of the art of writing. It is hoped that the students,passing academic writing courses, and especially those who attend the ILI classes in level Eight, attain some degree of mental dextrity in paragraph writing by carefully following the steps.

1. Indention ,or Indentation is an important device for showing the beginning of a paragraph. It is the beginning a line of writing or print further in from the margin than the rest of the passage.1 Usually,instead of starting at the left hand margin of the page,the first word 2 of the paragraph is started about five letter spaces from that margin ,but not more than ten .2

2.Margin is leaving some blank space on both sides of the page.

3.Capitalization Use a capital letter in the following situations:3

1. Capitalize the first letter of every sentence.

2. Capitalize the first letter of every word in a proper noun.( a person oa a place)

e.g. George Washington was the first president of the United States .

3. In the title of a book or a film, capitalize the first word and all other important words( not articles, a an, the ;short conjunctions, short prepositions)

e.g. War and Peace

For Whom the Bell Tolls

A Bell for Adano

4. Capitalize the first letter of a quotation

e.g. Patrick Henry said,""Give me liberty or give me dearth!""

5. Capitalize the first letter of each item in a list when the list is 1: numbered and 2:arranged vertically (like the five items in this list )

1. Publication schedule

2. Sales overview

3.Upcoming confrences

4. Staff additions

5.Job descriptions

4. Punctuation helps the reader to see these units of meaning _paragraph, sentences,and words _in a written message.Punctuation is a set of graphic signs used in written language to signal certain important grammatical and attitudinal contrasts.It has three main functions:

1.To separate units (a hyphen separates words,a period 1 separates sentences)

2. To indicate when one unit is included whitin one another (paranthesis,quotation marks, a pair of commas )

3.To mark a specific grammatical or attitudinal function (question mark ,exclamation mark ,apostrohe)2

Punctuation are: apostrophe,brackets,colon,comma,dash,hyphen,period ,

quotation marks,semicolon,and solidus.

APOSTROPHE(") is a punctuation mark which signals the omission of letters or numbers ( she"ll , n"t , o"clock , the "80s ) or expresses the possessive relationship

( the boy"s car , the boys" car , a week"s holiday , Oxford colleges, government"s policy , the ship"s captain )

BRACKETS < > [ ] ( ) { } A pair of correlative punctuation marks which typically

signals an included parenthetic unit.

( ) round brackets2

[ ] square brackets4

< > angle brackets

{ } curely brackets ( brace )

The last two brackets are specialized in use.

COION ( : )is a punctuation mark whose typical function is to anticipate what follows. It expresses that what follows in the sentence is an expansion of what has preceded. Uses:

1.Colon is used before a list (especially if anticipated by the following, as follows)

The heart pumps blood round two circuits:the pulmanary and the systemic .

2. Colon is used before a formal or long quotation .

3. Colon is used before an appositive.

4. Colon is used when the second clause explains the first.

There is now no way for the country to avert financial catastrophe:the government must declare a period of great austerity

COMMA ( , ) is a punctuatipon mark which has a wide range of grammatical and prosodic functions. Among its typical uses are

a. the separation of independant clausesjoined by and , or , but , yet , so , for

b. the separation of the items in a list1

c. the separation of phrases

d. the separation of dependent clauses

e. the separation of independent clauses Comma also cuts off sentence introductory elements

f. adverb or adverbial expressions Unfortunately, I cannot come now .

g. exclamation ,interjection Indeed,the work was well done .

h. direct address John, please come now .

i. prepositional phrase Because of the bad condition of the road, we decided to take a train .

j. adverbial clauses Because the road was in such bad condition that driving would be dangerous,------- .

k. participal phrase Helping to finish all the typing that had accumulated,-------- .

l. infinitive phrase To finish all the typing that had accumulated ,-------- .

m. absolute construction A great deal of typing having accumulated ,-------- .

n. appositive phrase Anxious to finish all the typing that had accumulated ,-------- .

However,commas cut off interupting elements _on both sides.

o.parenthetical phrase or clause John,some students feel , is --------.

p. non-restrictive adjective clause John,who was wearing the medal he had won for swimming,--------.

q. non-restrictive participle phrase John,wearing the medal he had won for swimming,--------.

r. appositive phrase John,proud of the medal he had won for swimming,-------- .

s. adverb or adverbial expression John,as a matter of fact, was -------- .

t. adverbial clause John ,as was his custom , was too modest to admit that he was proud of the medal he had won for swimming.

Final elements , especially if long or preceded by a pause in speech, are separated by commas,however.

u. adverb or adverbial expression No one was hurt, fortunately.

v. adverbial clause

w. participal phrase

x. infinitive phrase

y. absolute construction

z. appositive phrase

DASH ( _ ) is a punctuation mark which marks an emphatic or abrupt break. It typically signalls an included unit_such as this one_ especially in informal writing.

The uses of dash are

a. to represent a sudden shift in sentence structure The boy_he had been playing in the snow_ran into the house crying bitterly.

b. as an alternative for a colon in making a list There are three qualities in people that I hate _deceit,dishonesty,and dullness.

c. as an alternative for a semicolon between two independent clauses

d. as an alternative for a comma

with a group of items that already have commas within them

Three books_Shakespeare"s Plays, The Bible , and Walt Whitman"s Leaves of Grass _have strongly shaped the poet"s work.

HYPHEN ( - ) is a punctuation mark which indicates a division within a word.

a. at the end of a line of print,where a word will not fit without a break (exclamation)

b. to mark the parts of a complex word

1. compound form mother-in-law

2. prefixed form ex-husband

Due to divergence over the use of hyphen within compound words, one will find three posibilities :

solid ( flowerpot )

hyphened ( flower-pot )

open ( flower pot )

However, in formal work , consistency is important .

PERIOD ( . ) is a punctuation mark which signals the end of a sentence in statement form. It contrasts with question mark and exclamation mark.

a. If the list is written like a list_vertically,not in a sentence_a period is put after each number.

1. ...........

2. ...........

3. ...........

b. Period is used at the end of indirect questions.

I must know what kind of car Jack has . But : Do you know what kind of car Jack has?

c. Period is used at the end of an exclamatory sentence when the resulting sentence

is a report,not an exclamation itself.

He remembered what an interesting meal that had been .

QUOTATION MARKS 1 ( "" " ) Is a punctuation mark which signals a piece of directed speech. There are two kinds of quotation marks:

single quotation marks ( " " ) which are generally used in American publishing and

double quotation marks ( " " ) which are traditional in British publishing ,howeverthe former are increasingly the norm. When a quotation is used within a quotation ,

it is necessary to switch from one variety to the other, both agreed.

""Who said "charming" like that ""John asked .

SEMICOLON ( ; ) Like the conjunction and semicolon is a punctuation mark which functions to coordinate clauses.

Use a semicolon :

a. to separate two independent clauses which are not joined by a conjunction

The weather was very bad;all clauses were canceled.

b. to separate elements that already contain commas

The color order was red,white,blue;blue,white,red;or white,red,blue.

SOLIDUS2 ( / ) Is an oblique stroke which is typically used to indicate

a. alternatives ( either/or) , ( -ia/sis )

b. certain kinds of abbreviations ( c/o for "care of ) ,( h/o for " history of " ) ,( c/o for " complains of )

c. dating ( 6/7/78 )

d. classification (section B/36/2 )

5) Correct and Grammatical (and not very long ) sentences.

To elaborate on correctness and grammaticality of sentences,it is felt essential to shed light on prescriptivism.It is the view that one variety of language has inherently higher value than others,and that this ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community3 .The variety which is favored is that of standard written language,encountered in literature or in the formal spoken language. Those sentences which are spoken or written in this variety are said to be "correct" ; those which are not said to be "incorrect". A clear example of such prescription rules is the recommendation to use whom and not who ,in such a question as Whom did you speak to?

A sentence is assumed to be correct when it follows the standard of language academies or publications such as grammars , dictionaries , manuals of pronunciation and style . For example the spelling form langauge and the word order Hardly he had left are regarded to be incorrect since there is no usage variation among educated users. A sentence is considered to be grammatical or ill-formed when it conforms tothe rules defined by a specific grammar of a language. A sentence may be grammaticl but it depreciates the quality of being long .Therefore,as the contemporary trend is toward simplification,writers are encouraged to use simple and short sentences.

6. Good Handwriting

In asmuchas the students can write neatly and they are good at handwriting they are not needed of having it typed.However,it is of primary steps to instruct the students to write on the line and keep space for each letter to stand either above or below the line. Thereby they can improve their handwriting.

7.A Title for the Paragraph

It is of particular importance to first provide a definition for ana a function of a paragraph. What is a paragraph? It is defined as a group of sentences which develop one central idea1. . A paragraph is a unit of information unified by a controling idea2. . Still another definition of paragraph is a group of sentences which have a central idea3 . David Crystal has defined paragraph as a unit of written discourse between the sentence and the whole text,graphically distinguished either by indention of the first line or by white space preceding and following4 . But what is the function of the paragraph? Each paragraph should explain only one main idea which controls or limits the information that can be included in a paragraph. Its functionis to show the reader that the sentences in a particular set are more closely related to each other than to the sentences in adjacent text5. . While in all types of writing,the central idea must be developed by supporting sentences,in narrative writing , a new paragraph may be started to indicate a change of action ,place,time,or speaker 6 .

Therefore,to choose a title for each paragraph of any kind seems to be impractical.

8.Topic Sentence

Attempts are often made to specify a "topic" and to identify "topic sentence" for each paragraph,even though it is possible not to have a topic sentence at all. In this case, it is said that the topic sentence is implied or suggested . The topic sentencemay be found in any position in a paragraph:at the beginning ,in the middle ,or at the end. When you write ,put the topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph,whenever possible,since in that position ,it provides an easy-to-understand way for the reader and easy ,simple,and effective paragraph organization for you to manage7. .

.The topic sentence is defined as "the sentence in which the controling

idea is contained"1 .That sentence is called the topic sentence because it has the idea or topic which is developed and explained in the rest of the argraph. Therefore, a topic sentence cosists of a topic and a limiting statement. Always try to make a state-ment about your topic which limits it to a certain extent2 . The words or phrases _ keywords or phrases_in the topic sentence,limiting the topic,will let the reader know how you are going to discuss the topic. Since they control the organization of the paragraph ,they are sometimes called "controling words or phrases"3 .

There are many ways to limit a topic in a topic sentence. One way way to do is possibly by referring the statements to eight categories,as follows:place(geographicallocation),time(period of time),a certain aspect similarities,differences,a number of things( a list),effect,and cause(reason). For instance make the general topic of soccer. The statements which limit the topic may follow like:

1. Soccer is now played in U.S. ( geographical location)

2. Soccer has become more popular within the last five years. ( time or period of time)

3.. Soccer is a physical demanding sport. (a certain aspect )

4.Soccer and football have a great deal in common. ( showing similarities )

5. Soccer is more dangerous than tennis. (showing differences )

6. A soccer player can receive various kinds of penaltiesduring a game . ( a number of things ; a list )

7. The World Cup Soccer Championship Games create interest from soccer fans all over the world. (effect )

8. Soccer is dangerous for several reasons. ( cause :reason )4.

9. Supporting Sentences

As stated before , the topic sentence contains a controling idea which limits the subject or topic. Therefore, each paragraph must be limited to a single topic which is expressed in the topic sentence. The other sentences in the paragraph serve to develop the topic sentence. They contribute to or support the idea in the topic sentence. In other words, all these sentences must be related to the topic and must therefore refer back to the topic sentence .

paragraph

topic sentence

( major ) supporting sentence

(major) supporting sentence

(major) supporting sentence

etc.

Of course , it is possible that some sentences may be directly related to the preceding supporting sentences thereby they provide examples ,details,or furtherexplanation.

paragraph

topic sentence

major supporting sentence

minor supporting sentence

minor supporting sentence

major supporting sentence

etc .

.

Supporting sentences may be classified into major support sentences or minor support sentences . The former directly support the controling idea by making that idea more easily understood. The latter have two jobs:

1. They directly support the major supporting sentence by making it more easily understood

2. They indirectly support the controling idea of the paragraph by helping its major support sentence make that idea more easily understood.

10. Unity, Coherence

A well-unified paragraph is a paragraph if it announces its main idea in the topic sentence and if all the supporting sentences contribute to the reader"s understanding of the main idea. In other words,if the paragraph fails to do this , wesay that it lacks unity1 .

Coherence is referred to as the underlying functional connectedness of a piece of language2 . Therefore, the supporting sentences and the topic sentence must be connected to each other in a way that the separation of any supporting sentence defects or ruins the coherence of the paragraph.

11. Writing on Every Other Line

While it is not an essential element of paragraph writing, writing on every other line seems to serve as an ease in reading the paragraph.

12. Not More Than 60 Words

There is no fixed rule for the length of a paragraph, just as there is no fixed rulefor establishing the length of sentences or even of books . The paragraph is as long as it needs to be3. .

A paragraph may vary in length. Some paragraphs are quite short; others are extremely long. Most paragraphs have more than three sentences in them and usually have between one hundred and two hundred words1 .

Here is an example of a very short paragraph cosisting of only three sentences.

Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. Everywhere that Mary went,the lamb was sure to go2. .

منبع:avand.parsiblog.com