ENTRY#5 PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH

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PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH.

v Topic Sentence.

·       Interesting topic / subject.

·       Give your opinion on it.

v Body- Order of importance or chronology.

·       Supporting details and arguments for your Topic Sentence.

·       Order of importance or chronology :

§  Strongest part of your argument.

§  Ordering of events.

v Closing Sentence

·       Restate the topic.

·       Keep readers thinking.

Review: Topic Sentences

webform topic sentences

Choose the best among the several topic sentences for each paragraph below.

1. I saw around Velva a release from what was like slavery to the tyrannical soil, release from the ignorance that darkens the soul and from the loneliness that corrodes it. In this generation my Velva friends have rejoined the general American society that their pioneering fathers left behind when they first made the barren trek in the days of the wheat rush. As I sit here in Washington writing this, I can feel their nearness. (from Eric Sevareid, "Velva, North Dakota")

Answer:- None -Family-sized farms are not productive.I grew up on a family-sized farm, near a town called Velva.Many politicians deplore the passing of the old family-sized farm, but I'm not so sure.People moved away from the cities in the late nineteenth century, in search of fertile land for farming.

Good Work!

Answer:

The answer Many politicians deplore the passing of the old family-sized farm, but I'm not so sure. is correct.

Explanation:

Sevareid argues that farming is destructive as a way of life, no matter what romantic notions are attached to it. He is not writing about the productivity of farms, about his own life story ("I grew up on a family-sized farm..."), and his main point is not that people moved away from the cities in the late the nineteenth century.

2. The first is the wear-and-tear hypothesis that suggests the body eventually succumbs to the environmental insults of life. The second is the notion that we have an internal clock which is genetically programmed to run down. Supporters of the wear-and-tear theory maintain that the very practice of breathing causes us to age because inhaled oxygen produces toxic by-products. Advocates of the internal clock theory believe that individual cells are told to stop dividing and thus eventually to die by, for example, hormones produced by the brain or by their own genes. (from Debra Blank, "The Eternal Quest" [edited]).

Answer:- None -There are two broad theories concerning what triggers a human's inevitable decline to death.Some scientists believe that humans contain an "internal time clock" which forces them eventually to die.We all must die some day.My biology professor gave an interesting lecture Thursday.

Good Work!

Answer:

The answer There are two broad theories concerning what triggers a human's inevitable decline to death. is correct.

Explanation:

This paragraph is a straightforward description of two possibilities, neither of which is preferred over the other. In this case, it would be wrong to mention only one of the possibilities (the "internal time clock") in the topic sentence, or to treat it as a philosophical discussion of death itself ("we all must die..."). As for the biology professor, He or she might very well have given an interesting lecture, but that has nothing to do with the content of the paragraph.

3. The strictest military discipline imaginable is still looser than that prevailing in the average assembly-line. The soldier, at worst, is still able to exercise the highest conceivable functions of freedom -- that is, he or she is permitted to steal and to kill. No discipline prevailing in peace gives him or her anything remotely resembling this. The soldier is, in war, in the position of a free adult; in peace he or she is almost always in the position of a child. In war all things are excused by success, even violations of discipline. In peace, speaking generally, success is inconceivable except as a function of discipline. (from H.L. Mencken, "Reflections on War" [edited]).

Answer:- None -Soldiers need discipline.We commonly look on the discipline of war as vastly more rigid than any discipline necessary in time of peace, but this is an error.Although soldiers are not always disciplined, they serve an important social function in wartime.In times of peace, soldiers often convert easily from wartime pursuits to the discipline necessary successfully to compete in even the most competitive marketplace.

Good Work!

Relevant Information

Metacognitive Analysis #5.

  Well developed paragraphs are essential in Academic Writing. Paragraphs provide structure and flow to your text and allow you to move from one idea to another following a logical order so that the reader understands your piece of writing. Paragraphs help you sequence your ideas in a proper way.

  When you structure your sentences into pertinent paragraphs your argument will be clearly understood and more appealing to readers. You cannot expect your readers to be engaged in reading your text if it is not carefully organized since it will be difficult and even tedious for them to follow it.

  It is important to make a plan (a draft) beforehand, and to give good thinking about what you are going to write jointing down points you want to make. This, will help you with the unity, coherence and the development of well structured paragraphs.

  All the relevant information from this class becomes crucial to succed in accomplishing the challenging task of Academic Writing productions.