1. Refining Composition Skills Rhetoric and Grammar

2. Ch. 2: Introduction to the Paragraph A paragraph is a group of sentences that develops one main idea: a topic. But usually, topics are too general to be developed in just one paragraph, that’s why we need to narrow down our topic to a more specific one. So once you have found your topic, examine it and determine your feelings or attitudes about it. Make sure your ideas are supported by investigating more about your topic. The Topic of the Paragraph

3. The Topic Sentence It is used to introduce the topic. A good topic sentence also gives an idea or attitude about how that topic will be discussed in the paragraph: a controlling idea. This one should be clear and focused on a particular aspect of the topic.

4. Transition sentence: it relates to the topic and the controlling idea but its main function is to link the sentence and make the paragraph flow more smoothly. Concluding sentence: it summarises the main idea in the paragraph for ending the development of the support softly.

5. Unity Each sentence within a paragraph should relate to the topic and develop the controlling idea, otherwise it is useless and should be omitted.

6. Coherence Sentences that are logically arranged (in the correct order) and that flow smoothly (with transitions like “To begin with,” “In contrast,” “However,” etc) are COHERENT. The order depends on the purpose of the writing: if you want to tell a story you will follow a chronological order; but if you want to describe certain parts of that story, you can decide for a logical order according to what you want to discuss.

7. Ch. 3: The Narrative Paragraph A narration tells a story or describes a sequence of events. It is important to show the reader the time relationship between sentences and ideas by using adverbials of time and sequence, in order to achieve coherence. Composition Skills

8. Some advices... If you want to describe an important moment of your life, sum up the significance of that moment in one sentence. Then arrange your sentences logically and include only the sentences that relate to the topic. The resultant paragraph must have a controlling idea, unity and coherence. Achieving coherence involves adverbial clauses of time: After, first, then and until followed by noun phrases or time expressions.

9. Ch. 4: The Descriptive Paragraph Describing people and places When you are describing the physical appearance of something you should arrange your sentences and details according to where the objects being described are located. This type of organization is called spatial organization.

10. Description of a place The sentences should not be randomly arranged, the description must be organized so that the reader can vividly imagine the scene being described. The arrangement of the details in a descriptive paragraph depends on the subject and on the describer’s purpose. To make the paragraph more interesting, you can add a controlling idea that states an attitude or impression about the place being described. A strong controlling idea gives the paragraph focus. Sometimes, the description can focus on some object that dominates the scene or on something that is unusual in the scene. Describing what can be perceived with the senses (sights, sounds, smells, touch, taste) makes the scene even more vivid and interesting.

11. Composition Skills Coherence Adverbs of Place Details in descriptive paragraphs are organized spatially to give the reader a clear picture of the scene being described. Clarifying the spatial relationship helps to achieve coherence. Most of the adverbs of place are prepositional phrases (preposition + noun phrase). Some of them are: -on the second floor -straight ahead -against the wall -from these heights -on your left -underneath the desk

12. Modification: specific details To make the details more vivid, you need to modify them. (Modify means to restrict or narrow down the meaning.) Nouns can be modified in three ways: -By adding adjectives. -By adding adjective and prepositional phrases. -By adding clauses. Each time a modifier is added to a noun, the class to which it belongs is restricted. Vague descriptions do not allow the reader to really see the object. Specific details make your writing clearer and more interesting.

13. Description of a person You can describe a person’s appearance in many ways. You can tell about the person’s style of clothing, manner of walking, colour and style of hair, facial appearance, body shape and expression. You can also describe the person’s way of talking. What you select to describe depends on you topic and purpose. As in the description of places, paragraphs describing a person should be detailed and have a strong controlling idea, in order to make them more interesting and vivid.

14. Coherence Adjective Clauses Another technique for improving coherence is the use of adjective clauses. An adjective clause (sometimes called relative clause) modifies a noun, and is a dependent clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence; it must be connected to an independent clause. -It can be placed only after the noun it modifies; it can never be placed at the beginning of a sentence. -The subordinators that introduce adjective clauses include who, whom, whose, that and which. Less common adjective clause subordinators are when, where and why. -In order for a paragraph to be coherent, the sentences should flow smoothly. If the sentences in a paragraph are mostly short and if they contain a lo of repeated words, the paragraph is choppy.

15. The Paragraph The organization and content of a paragraph are determined by the topic that has to be supported with details organized chronologically in a narrative paragraph and spatially in a descriptive paragraph. A paragraph that explains a topic is an expository paragraph. You will need specific details and examples to support the controlling idea in your topic sentence. The controlling idea is the phrase in the topic that states an idea about the topic. Frequently called generalization

16. Illustrations and Anecdotes It is not always necessary to give several examples to support the controlling idea. Sometimes one example that is explained in greater detail will suffice to support the controlling idea Another type is an anecdote. A brief story that dramatizes the point made in the generalization.

17. Composition Skills: Coherence When a paragraph contains several details and examples, it is necessary to consider the order of their presentation: Order of Importance: Saving the best for last. Readers generally remember what they read last and it’s a good idea to leave a good impression on the reader by placing the most impressive example at the end of the paragraph Order of Time: From Past to Present. When the details and examples in a paragraph are taken from history or are events that took place in the past, it’s good to order the chronologically

18. Transitional words and phrases Not only should sentences and ideas be logically arranged but the should flow smoothly as well. Expressions such as: next, then, above, etc.