1. CHAPTER 4
Organization
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

2. CHAPTER 4: Organization
Effective Paragraphs
A paragraph is a group of sentences that communicates one idea.
Paragraphs can be made more effective in several ways:
Inserting a topic sentence
Dividing and combining paragraphs
Rearranging and deleting sentences for clarity
Maintaining a consistent tone and diction
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

3. Inserting a Topic Sentence
CHAPTER 4: Organization
Inserting a Topic Sentence
Choose the one best answer to the question below.
(1) The U.S. Congress passed the G.I. Bill in (2) It gave millions of soldiers returning from World War II the opportunity to go to college almost for free. (3) Most veterans received full tuition support and stipends. (4) By 1952, the federal government had spent $7 billion sending veterans to college. (5) About 40 percent of them would never have gotten a college education without the G.I. Bill. (6) Each dollar spend educating that 40 percent produced a $6.90 return in national output.
Which sentence below would be most effective at the beginning of the paragraph?
(1) It cost a fortune to go to college
even 60 years ago.
(2) The G.I. Bill was one of our
government’s best investments.
(3) Four in ten World War II veterans
wouldn’t have gone to college
without the G.I. Bill.
(4) World War II veterans don’t
know how lucky they were.
(5) World War II veterans risked
their lives for freedom.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

4. Inserting a Topic Sentence
CHAPTER 4: Organization
Inserting a Topic Sentence
(Continued)
The G.I. Bill was one of our government’s best investments. (1) The U.S. Congress passed the G.I. Bill in (2) It gave millions of soldiers returning from World War II the opportunity to go to college almost for free. (3) Most veterans received full tuition support and stipends. (4) By 1952, the federal government had spent $7 billion sending veterans to college. (5) About 40 percent of them would never have gotten a college education without the G.I. Bill. (6) Each dollar spend educating that 40 percent produced a $6.90 return in national output.
The main idea of this paragraph is that the G.I. Bill was a good investment--answer choice (2).
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

5. Correcting Paragraphs
CHAPTER 4: Organization
Correcting Paragraphs
Sometimes paragraphs need to be divided or combined to effectively express a main idea.
Dividing Paragraphs: When a paragraph contains two main ideas, it needs to be divided into two paragraphs.
Rearranging or Combining Paragraphs: Sometimes a piece of writing will be more effective if sentences are moved around or combined with another paragraph.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

6. Deleting Sentences Choose the one best answer to the question below.
CHAPTER 4: Organization
Deleting Sentences
Choose the one best answer to the question below.
(1) The middle-school play this year will be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (2) We’re looking for students to play four children (the winners of the Golden Tickets), their parents, chocolate factory owner Willy Wonka, and of course the Oompah-Loompahs. (3) Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the movie, has been quite a success in Young Frankenstein. (4) Tryouts will begin next Thursday after school in the auditorium. (5) Interested students can pick up scripts from Ms. Mikulski in Room 308 anytime after Monday (6) Students can also request help from the drama coach in preparing for their auditions.
Which revision would make the paragraph more effective?
(1) move sentence 1 to the
end of the paragraph
(2) move sentence 5 to follow
sentence 6
(3) move sentence 4 to the
beginning of the paragraph
(4) remove sentence 3
(5) remove sentence 6
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

7. CHAPTER 4: Organization
Deleting Sentences
(Continued)
(1) The middle-school play this year will be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (2) We’re looking for students to play four children (the winners of the Golden Tickets), their parents, chocolate factory owner Willy Wonka, and of course the Oompah-Loompahs. (3) Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the movie, has been quite a success in Young Frankenstein. (4) Tryouts will begin next Thursday after school in the auditorium. (5) Interested students can pick up scripts from Ms. Mikulski in Room 308 anytime after Monday. (6) Students can also request help from the drama coach in preparing for their auditions.
Option (4) is the best answer. Sentence 3 is true, but it still does not belong in the paragraph.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

8. CHAPTER 4: Organization
Tone and Diction
The tone of a piece of writing is its general style: formal or casual, serious or upbeat, scholarly or for a general audience.
Diction is word choice, which contributes greatly to tone.
Different tones are appropriate for different pieces of writing and different audiences, but the tone should stay the same within a piece of writing.
If a sentence has an inconsistent tone, it should either be deleted or rewritten to be consistent.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

9. CHAPTER 4: Organization
THE END
Practice the skills you learned in this chapter by taking the Chapter Review Quiz or the GED Practice Quiz.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.