Writing Hands-on
The Irrelevance When you are writing a paragraph, it is important to focus on what is related to the topic. The unrelated parts, including unrelated words, phrases, or sentences, are considered irrelevances. Irrelevances should be avoided because they make paragraphs difficult to understand.
Examples: ◆ Candied and fried insects are regarded as mouthwatering dishes in some parts of the world—just as roast mice make a perfect meal in others. This recipe book covers various famous Western dishes. [An Irrelevance] Some people, however, may find it disgusting to eat any of these foods. Likewise, the horse meat that is served as a delicacy in certain areas of France might never be acceptable to most Americans.
◆ Over the years, the Red Sox continued to be haunted by the curse. Worst of all, many baseball fans—for some unknown reason—believed that if the curse was not broken in 2004, it would last forever. It was a cloudy October night at Busch Stadium in [An Irrelevance] However, the Red Sox and most of the team’s fans kept their faith and refused to give in to the curse and odds. The team kept on persevering for eighty-six years, and it was nice of their fans to support them for so many years.
◆ Friendship needs many different things. For example, trust and similar interests are very important. If you really trust your friends, you can talk to them about any problems you have and share your feelings with them. If you and your friends have similar interests, you will spend more time doing the things you enjoy together. Helena will never do such a thing to me. [An Irrelevance]
Exercise: Each of the following paragraphs has one sentence that is irrelevant. Find and underline the sentence. 1. One day, the managers of the opera house found a note from the Phantom. He asked them to give Christine the leading role in an upcoming opera. Although the Phantom loved Christine deeply, she was already in love with a handsome young man. The managers thought that the note was a joke because they had never seen the Phantom. They didn’t even believe that he was real.
2. Global warming is caused by the huge amounts of carbon dioxide discharged into the atmosphere by the burning of fuels. This carbon dioxide absorbs the sun’s heat and keeps it from escaping into space, thus warming the Earth. We should watch the animation Farewell; it helps focus public attention on environmental protection. As the planet warms up, tons of ice surrounding the North Pole and the South Pole have begun to melt, causing worldwide sea level to rise.
3. Sometimes, using the wrong gesture in the wrong place can cause a lot of trouble. In Greece, the gesture of showing one’s palm toward other people is called the “moutza.” However, Indians used the head bobble to express a positive answer. This gesture is very insulting because, in earlier times, Greek criminals’ faces were covered in ashes (“moutzos” in Greek) as a punishment. The ashes were placed on a criminal’s face with an open palm, so the gesture itself became insulting.
4. In Greek mythology, gods and goddesses often exercised their power over mortals when there were disagreements. This is exactly what happened with the Trojan War, which actually started because Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite had a fight over a golden apple for the fairest. Doctor Faustus, first published in 1604, is a play written by Christopher Marlowe. To avoid being blamed by any of the goddesses, Zeus had Paris make the difficult choice for him.