PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT
The English paragraph can be divided into three sections: INTRODUCTION, BODY, and CONCLUSION.
The INTRODUCTION briefly states the content of the paragraph and enables a reader to establish his expectation of what is to come. THE BODY is the main part of the paragraph, which is developed sequentially. THE CONCLUSION, the writer summarizes what he has already discussed in the main part and finishes his presentation of the idea. The following paragraph is an example.
Sample Paragraph:
Although the New Testament writers used the popular language of their day, they often achieved great dignity and eloquence. Convinced of the greatness of their message, they often wrote naturally and directly, as earnest men might speak to their friends. Although St, Mark's writing was not necessarily polished, he wrote with singular vigor and economy- St. John struggled with the language until he produced sparse and unadorned prose of great beauty. St. Paul . at his best reached heights of eloquence which some consider unsurpassed in literature. St. Luke, the most brilliant of the New Testament writers, gave us Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son. Taken as a whole, the work of these great Christian writers of the first century has a dignity and splendor all its own. (Donald et al (1978:12)
THE INTRODUCTION is: Although the New Testament writers used the popular language of their day, they often achieved great dignity and eloquence. From this the reader knows that the author will discuss the New Testament as literature rather than as a religious book. In THE BODY, the author comments on each of the writers of the book; the reader learns why the author believes that they achieved dignity and eloquence. In THE CONCLUSION the final sentence of the paragraph-the author repeats the opinion he stated in the introduction, clarifying the point of the paragraph: the work of the Christian writers has a dignity and splendor.
The topic sentence and Supporting Sentences: Each paragraph contains A TOPIC SENTENCE and SUPPORTING SENTENCES.
The topic sentence presents a condensed idea of the paragraph. It usually occurs at the beginning of the paragraph, but it may appear somewhere else, even at the end of the paragraph. When a reader reads the topic sentence, he learns the main idea of the paragraph. This idea tends to be abstract.
Supporting Sentences, on the other hand, are usually concrete. They support the idea of the topic sentence and develop it, employing the techniques of example, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition, etc. Supporting Sentences are, of course, related to each other, since no irrelevant sentence should appear in a good expository English paragraph.
In the following paragraph, The topic sentence is Our teeth are very important to us. This sentence tells the reader what the main idea of the paragraph is. Since this idea is broad and abstract-it doesn't mention why and how they are so important-the writer must develop and explain this idea with Supporting Sentences. These details developed by Supporting Sentences are clear and more concrete. Thus, the reader understands what the writer means by The topic sentence.
Sample Paragraph
Our teeth are very important to us. There are two main uses for teeth. One is to chew our food, which then is easy to swallow and digest. The second use is to help us talk. We put our tongues against our teeth to make certain sounds. It is difficult to understand what a person is saying if he does not have any teeth. (Horn 1977:9)
Techniques of Development: In addition to these basic characteristics and forms of the English paragraph, a good writer uses a variety of techniques to develop his idea. These techniques are helpful for nonnative writers to imitate, so that they can use them in their own writing. Therefore, I would like to introduce some of them that seem to be useful, especially for writing a thesis. These techniques are: EXAMPLE, CAUSE AND EFFECT, COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, DEFINITION, and ANALOGY.
1. Example
A paragraph developed by examples gives the reader many facts, which help to make the topic more concrete and more easily understood. This technique is often employed when the topic of the paragraph is very broad or abstract. In the sample paragraph below, The topic sentence is Limiting one's view to an area that is too small in relation to the world can be disappointing and dangerous. This topic sentence alone is not sufficient to convince the reader. Hence, the writer uses three examples: an international war, a decision at the national level, and a country's economic development. These three examples support The topic sentence and make the abstract idea more concrete.
Sample Paragraph
Limiting one's view to an area that is too small in relation to the world can be disappointing and dangerous. There are many examples of a person striving mightily to solve some immediate local problem, only to find his efforts defeated by events occurring in a larger context. A farmer's carefully maintained fields can be destroyed by an international war. During the Vietnam War, the rice paddies of the Mekong Delia were obliterated. Also, local officials' plans can be overturned by a national policy. A decision at the national level that relocates a major highway away from a town can mean ruin to the unwary gas-station operator or restaurant owner. Further, a country's economic development can be thwarted by a lack of world demand for its products- The coffee-growing regions of Brazil or Uganda could suffer if people stopped drinking coffee. Indeed, there is increasing concern today that most personal and national objectives may ultimately be frustrated by long-term global trends. (Johnston and Zukowski / Faust 1981:42)
2. Cause and Effect.
A paragraph developed by cause and effect shows the relationship between two statements; that is, one element results from the other. In the sample paragraph below, by listing many physical conditions and concomitant behaviors, the writer shows how climate affects the culture of a country. That is, The topic sentence Climate affects the culture of a country is developed by Supporting Sentences illustrating effects. In this style of development, the writer can list several effects resulting from one cause, as in the sample paragraph below, or he can list several causes to support one effect.
Sample Paragraph
Climate affects the culture of a country- Men must learn to live within the limitations of their environment, and climate is an important part of the physical environment Life in a tropical country is less strenuous and more casual than it is in a temperate one. Men work shorter hours and less vigorously in a hot climate. They cannot play hard either. They tire easily- They can relax by reading, by sipping cool drinks, or by listening to soothing music. They must try to conserve their energy. The wisest ones learn to respect the demands of Nature. (Friend 1971:43)
3. Comparison and Contrast.
A paragraph developed by comparison and contrast identifies the similarity or difference between two items by pointing out several elements of both. In the following paragraph, the author writes about two kinds of elephants. They look alike; however, the author tries to convince his readers of the distinction between them by pointing out a list of differences, such as the color of the body, the size of the ears, and other characteristics.
Sample Paragraph
There are two kinds of elephants-the African and the Indian. The African elephant is larger and darker; it also has larger ears and a more sloping forehead. Both can be lamed, but the Indian elephant is more easily trained to do work. When an African elephant sleeps, it usually stands u, but its Indian cousin usually sleeps lying down. (Yorkey 1982:124)
4. Definition.
When a writer uses a word that might cause confusion or misunderstanding, he must clarify the meaning for the reader. In the sample paragraph the writer defines the meaning of compassion. He gives many synonyms, several examples, and an explanation of the meaning.
Sample Paragraph
Compassion is the ability to understand another person's misfortunes- It is kindness, tenderness, mercy, pity. and sympathy. A nurse may have compassion for an irritable patient by understanding that the illness may be the cause of that patient's behavior and by treating that patient with kindness and sympathy. An airline stewardess displays compassion for her passenger", by considering the fact that they may be nervous about flying and by answering their questions in a patient, sympathetic manner. In the same way, a judge may have compassion for a Juvenile offender by taking his age into consideration and setting the punishment accordingly. Compassion is not merely a verbal expression of sorrow. It is not begrudgingly contributing money to charitable causes out of a sense of duty. Compassion is putting yourself in another person's situation and treating that person the way you would want to be treated. (Donald et al. 1978:200)
5. Analogy.
Instead of explaining the idea directly, as in paragraphs of example or comparison and contrast, the writer may use an analogy-a simple situation that has some similarities to the main idea of the paragraph. In the sample paragraph, the writer explains the distinction between Newton 's and Einstein's ideas about gravitation. Instead of using technical terms, he tells the story of a little boy with some marbles, The significant feature of this sort of paragraph is that the reader can easily grasp the main idea because of the familiarity of the simple symbolic story, or analogy.
Sample Paragraph
The distinction between Newton 's and Einstein's ideas about gravitation has sometimes been illustrated by picturing a little boy playing marbles in a city lot. The ground is very uneven ridged with bumps and hollows. An observer in an office ten stories above the street would not be able to see these irregularities in the ground. Noticing that the marbles appear to avoid SOP sections of the ground and move toward other sections, he might assume that a "force" was operating which repelled the marble from certain spots and attracted them to others. But another observer on the ground would instantly perceive that the path of the marbles was simply governed by the curvature of the field. this analogy Newton is the upstairs observer who imagine "force" is at work, and Einstein is the observer on me group who has no reason to make such an assumption. (Bar 1950:91)
Transitional devices
There are, indeed, many techniques for developing paragraph. However, to compose a good paragraph a writer needs additional special tools: TRANSITIONAL DEVICES. They often appear between sentences or between paragraphs serve to link them, so that the direction of ideas become clear and their sequence flows smoothly. Transitional devices (or discourse markers) are divided into two groups according to function: one group is called SENTENCE LINKERS and the other, PARAGRAPH LINKERS. Sentence tinkers connect two sentences and show the relationship between them.
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1. To show addition : and; furthermore; also; besides; moreover; in addition; again: Example: The price is too high; furthermore, the apartment is not in an appropriate place.
2. To show contrast : But; however; nevertheless; unlike; on the other hand; yet; on the contrary; instead: Example: I like dogs; however, I hate cats.
3. To show comparison : Likewise; similarly; correspondingly; in the same way; in like manner: Example: A person who talks too much is seldom loved by others. Likewise, a person who rarely speaks is not always well liked.
4. To show emphasis : In fact; certainly; actually; indeed; as a matter of fact: Example: Even though he is a quiet person, everyone likes him. In fact, he is always invited to parties.
5. To show concession : even though; though; although; despite this: Example: Even though he is a funny person, he looks very serious in the classroom.
6. To introduce an example: for example; that is; in particular; for instance; in other words: Example: I think he doesn't have any concept of time; for example, he kept me waiting almost two hours yesterday.
7. To introduce a reason : Thus; as a result; consequently; accordingly; so; therefore; then; hence; for this reason; because of this: Example: It was raining; therefore, we decided to stay at home.
8. To introduce a conclusion : in summary; finally; to sum up; in conclusion; in short: Example: Mary didn't get up when her mother woke her up; she didn't wash her face before she went to school; at dinnertime she didn't go to the kitchen to help her mother. In short, she behaved uncharacteristically all day.
9. To show a sequence : first, second,...next: Example: If you want to get a good grade, you have to follow these directions: First, you must preview what you will study tomorrow. Second, you must do your homework. Third, you must review what you have learned after school.
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Some of these transitional devices must be preceded or followed by special punctuation. Paragraph linkers connect a following paragraph to a preceding one. Most of the discourse markers listed above are used as both sentence linkers and paragraph linkers. However, some sentence linkers, such as and, but, or then, do not ordinarily function as paragraph linkers.
Sample Paragraphs
Japan is a nice country to visit. For example, there are many temples in Kyoto and Nara , where you can enjoy terrific views. Korakuen Park in Okayama is famous for its beautiful Japanese garden. However, Japan has another aspect. Traffic jams are terrible in Tokyo and it takes more than an hour for many workers to get to their office. The price of food is incredibly high. Maybe Japan is not a good place to live.
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