2. RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR Refining Composition Skills Macías Rinaldi Leyla – Comisión C CHAPTER II: INTRODUCTION TO THE PARAGRAPH CHAPTER III: THE NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH CHAPTER IV: THE DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH CHAPTER V: THE EXPOSITORY PARAGRAPH

3. What is a Paragraph? The Topic of a Paragraph Is a group of sentences and that the first sentence of this group is indented; that is, it begins a little bit more to the right of the margin than the rest of the sentences in this group. A paragraph develops a topic. A topic is the subject of the paragraph: it is what the paragraph is about Introduction to the Paragraph

4. Often these topics are too general to be developed adequately in one paragraph; therefore, you will have to restrict your topic. The topic of a paragraph is usually introduced in a sentence called the topic sentence. A good topic sentence also serves to state an idea or an attitude about the topic. This is called the controlling idea, it controls what the sentences in the paragraph will discuss. All sentences in the paragraph should relate to and develop the controlling idea. The Topic Sentence

5. Introduction to the Paragraph A topic sentence serves to introduce and the controlling idea, it is a good idea to place it at or near the beginning of the paragraph. However, depending on the kind of paragraph it is, the topic sentence may be placed near the middle or even at the end of the paragraph. Sometimes neither, the topic and the controlling idea are implied. Recognizing the Topic Sentence

6. Introduction to the Paragraph: Formulating the Topic Sentence Often you must find your own controlling idea. Once you have found a manageable topic for a paragraph, you need to examine that the topic more closely to determine your own feelings or attitudes about it. To decide on the controlling idea and what to say about a topic, using learned in Chapter 1. One you have brainstormed your ideas, look through the list for something striking.

7. Prewriting: Planning Extract from the prewriting notes the material you can use to develop the paragraph. This material is used to support the opinion or attitude expressed in the topic sentence. To generate more notes is useful to ask WH- questions. Introduction to the Paragraph WHO? WHEN? WHERE? WHAT? WHY? WHICH?

8. Introduction to the Paragraph: Unity Each sentence within a paragraph should relate to the topic and develop the controlling idea. If any sentence does not relate to or develop that area, it is irrelevant and should be omitted from the paragraph. A paragraph that has a sentences that do not relate to or discuss the controlling idea lacks unity.

9. Coherence A coherent paragraph contains sentences that are logically arranged and that flow smoothly. Logical arrangement refers to the order of your sentences, which varies depending on your purpose. A paragraph can be incoherent even when the principle for ordering the idea is logical. Smooth flow can be achieved through sentence combining and through the use of certain expressions, called transitions, that provide the links between ideas The expressions another, in addition, and finally bridge the gaps in ideas. Some of the sentences have been combined as well. Combining sentences and adding transitions make the ideas and sentences easier to follow Introduction to the Paragraph

10. The Narrative Paragraph There are several ways to organize sentences in paragraphs. The arrangement of sentence and details depends on the writer’s purpose. Arrange your ideas according to the time in which they occurred. Likewise, to explain a process you would begin by explaining what to do first and finish by explaining what to do last. Ordering your sentences and ideas in order of time is referred to as chronological development.

11. Chronological Development:  There are principally two types of writing that require chronological development: narration and process description. o Narration: to describe the relating of an experience. o To decide what to include and what to omit and to select a controlling idea for your paragraph. o The writer does not have to tell what he feels about this experience, but a controlling idea would help the reader get a clearer image of what that experience is like. The Narrative Paragraph

12. Coherence: It is important in narrative writing to show the reader the time relationship between sentences and ideas; clarifying the time relationship helps to achieve coherence. In your paragraphs, using adverbials of time and sequence will give your writing coherence Grammar Review: If you want further review of grammatical structures that will help you achieve coherence and grammatical accuracy in your writing

13. Writing Narrative paragraphs describe a sequence of events or tell a story, they describe an experience. The logical arrangement of ideas and sentences in a narrative paragraph is chronological. When you are describing the way something looks (its physical appearance) it is not time but space that is important. This type of organization is called spatial organization. The Descriptive Paragraph

14. The Descriptive Paragraph : Description of a Place  There is no set pattern for arranging sentences in a descriptive paragraph.  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.  The selection and the description of details depend on the describer’s purpose.

15. The Descriptive Paragraph Composition Skills: Coherence: Adverbs of Place  Clarifying the spatial relationship helps to achieve coherence.  These spatial expressions are called adverbs of place, most of them are prepositional phrases ( preposition + noun phrase).  Nouns can be modified in three ways: by adding adjectives, by adding adjective and prepositional phrases, and by adding clauses. Each time a modifier is added to a noun, the class to which it belongs is restricted.  Always strive to make details specific. Vague descriptions do not allow the reader to really see the object.  Specific details make your writing clearer and more interesting.

16. The Descriptive Paragraph Composition Skills: Coherence: Adverbs of Clauses  Another technique for improving coherence is the use of the adjective clause.  An adjective clause (or relative clause) modifies a noun and, like an adverbial clause, is a dependent clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence; it must be connected to an independent clause.  An adjective clause 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.

17. Writing The organization and content of a paragraph are determined by the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph. A topic sentence must be supported with details organized chronologically in a narrative paragraph and spatially in a descriptive paragraph. Not all the topics are best developed into narrative or descriptive paragraphs, however. The Expository Paragraph

18. The Expository Paragraph: Writing A paragraph that explains or analyzes a topic is an expository paragraph. Although explaining a topic can be done in several ways, the most common approach to developing an expository paragraph requires using specific details and examples The controlling idea is the word or phrase in the topic sentence that states an idea or an attitude about the topic; this idea or attitude is frequently referred to as a generalization. A generalization is a statement that applies in most cases to a group of things, ideas or people. A generalization can be value judgement or an opinion or a factual statement

19. The Expository Paragraph: Support of the Generalization  Specific Details: Specific details would help support this statement more strongly. Just as specific descriptive details help to support the controlling idea in a description and make the description more vivid and interesting, specific details help “prove” or support the generalization in an expository paragraph.

20. Illustrations and Anecdotes This kind of extended example is useful for illustrating the statement in the generalization. An anecdote is a brief story that dramatizes the point made in the generalization. The Expository Paragraph

21. The Expository Paragraph: Coherence  Organization of the Details and Example: When a paragraph contains details and examples, it is necessary to consider the order of their presentation. The ordering depends on the subject and often on the author’s logic.  Order of Importance: Saving the best for Last.  Order of Familiarity: From the More Familiar to the Less Familiar.  Order of Time: From the Past to the Present.

22. The Expository Paragraph Some types of words and phrases help to achieve coherence by establishing the relationship between sentences in a paragraph. Because they provide transitions – links or connectors – between ideas and sentences by signalling what is going to follow, they are called transitional words and phrases. Try to use variety of coherence devices. Do not overdo the use of transitions. Transitional Words and Phrases

23. The Expository Paragraph: Revision When you have finished writing the first draft of your paragraph, give it to a classmate to read and review. PEER REVISION

24. The Expository Paragraph: Revision REVISION CHECKLIST FOR THE EXPOSITORY PARAGRAPH Does your paragraph use sufficient details and examples? Does your paragraph have a clear, focused generalization? Are the generalization and support logically arranged in your paragraph? Is your paragraph unified? Do all the sentences support the controlling idea? Is your paragraph coherent? Do the sentences flow smoothly?

25. THE END!!! Refining Composition Skills