21.1 infinitives and infinitive phrases answers

BOOK called:

A Writer’s workbook 3rd edition by BOB BRANNAN

2010

BRANNAN, B. (2010). A Writer's Workshop: Crafting Paragraphs, Building Essays (3rd ed.). New York, New York : McGraw-Hill Companies.

Chapter one

Practicing the Writing Process

These climbers prepare for their journey by consulting a map. What other steps have they taken to ready themselves? In what ways can you prepare yourself to begin the writing process?

© Andersen Ross/Blend Images/Getty Images

Key Topics

· How do we begin to write?

· After breaking ground—into the writing process

· Steps in the writing process

· Discovering ideas

· Organizing ideas

· Drafting

· Revising

· Editing

· Proofreading

· Diagnostic writing assignments

Linking to Previous Experience : How Do We Begin to Write?

The first step in beginning to write is to think of yourselves as writers—not necessarily easy to do. Many view the act of writing as mysterious and think successful writers have lucked into their talent. But, just like you, accomplished writers have to work hard at their craft. They can be confused at first, uncertain about where their ideas will come from. Often they produce some genuinely bad writing in their early drafts and agonize over the final shape of their words—and what others will think of the work.

Whatever your past experiences with writing, you share in the common experience of everyone who seeks to commit words to paper. When you write, be it a brief paragraph or long essay, you are a writer, with all the hard work, the aggravation, and the satisfaction that come with it.

How do writers get started? To focus your efforts, ask yourself several questions.

Questions to Ask at the Start of a Writing Project

1.

What is my purpose? People write for many reasons, often having several for the same project, although one purpose usually predominates. Primary reasons for writing are to entertain, explain ideas and information, and persuade. There are, of course, other reasons for writing, such as to express emotions or explore ideas.

2.

Who is my audience? Most student writing is done for teachers. However, in “real-world” writing, you need to be able to communicate effectively with different readers, ranging from fairly general audiences to very specific ones. Knowing who your audience is will help you decide what and how much to say.

3.

What, exactly, is the project? Writing out your goals will help you to focus your thoughts. In class your instructor will give you an assignment guide, or you will follow the assignment instructions in the text. Determine what the project calls for: purpose, audience, overall organization, length, and draft due dates.

4.

How can I develop a real interest in the project? Avoid taking a passive attitude, an “I don’t care, whatever” approach; instead, seek a connection with the assignment and topic. Sometimes you will have to write to specific requirements, sometimes not. When a topic is assigned, you can still find some part of it that is appealing. When you can choose a topic, take time to find an interesting one, rather than going for the seemingly easiest one. If you can commit to the project, you are more likely to enjoy the writing process—and to end up with a better grade.

Good writing is not easily accomplished; it takes time. To achieve the best results, first gain a clear overview of the project, and then apply effective study skills.

Key Study Skills

1. Listen carefully in class, ask questions, and take notes, especially when your instructor writes on the chalkboard, uses the overhead projector, or posts information online.

2. Take handouts home to study or complete.

3. Participate fully in class activities and discussion.

4. Pay attention to any instructions your instructor gives you to clarify writing projects in this text.

5. Study the textbook’s student models for further guidance.

Hint

These key study skills will help you understand every writing assignment.

After Breaking Ground—into the Writing Process

We all have gone through steps to produce written paragraphs and essays, so we all have a writing process. For some of us, that process has worked well; for others . . . not so well. The rest of this chapter explains the writing approach many of us already unconsciously use. However, the writing process varies with individuals, and you should freely adapt it to what works best for you.

Steps in the Writing Process

Gathering and shaping ideas and putting words on paper are a natural sequence for most of us, but writers seldom move through this process like a train moving on a track, beginning at one point and progressing to the final destination. In fact, you will often find yourself brainstorming for ideas in the middle of a paper, editing as you notice an error, and sometimes substantially reorganizing when the work seemed nearly complete.

The Writing Process

1. Discover ideas

2. Organize ideas

3. Draft

4. Revise

5. Edit

6. Proofread

Discovering Ideas

How many times have you been faced with a writing project and found that you have nothing to say? It is a common, frustrating occurrence. Instead of smacking your keyboard or simply giving up, why not try one or several of the following methods for discovering ideas?

Freewriting

Freewriting is rapid, uncensored writing. Fast drafting or freewriting lets you get ideas on paper—some of which may be usable. To practice this method, set aside time—say, 5 to 10 minutes—and write nonstop, without censoring ideas or worrying about grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Even if you run out of thoughts, keep writing or typing.

If you have no idea of what to write, freewriting can help you uncover ideas. Freewriting for this purpose may begin with or include sentences like the following:

English Review Note

While freewriting, don’t worry about grammatical errors. Leave a blank if you can’t think of a word in English.

Hint

Focused freewrites can give your writing direction.

Keep producing words even when you do not seem to be getting anywhere. Although no one has been able to explain why, the mere act of writing triggers more words and, often, usable ideas. Then, with a topic in hand, you can try focused freewriting—uncensored writing on a general topic:

Brief Focused Freewrite

In this freewrite, the author discovers several ideas for a descriptive paper. The backyard, the tree house, or the author’s former house might make interesting subjects to explore.

Activity 1.1. Focused Freewriting

Select a topic from the list below and write nonstop on it for 5 minutes. Remember, don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation or whether ideas get tangled.

airport

gym

subway

attic

interstate

swimming pool

beach

kitchen

wharf

cafeteria

library

woods

football field

restaurant

zoo

Clustering

Clustering is another good prewriting technique. With this method you write a single word in the center of a page and then jot down around it any words it brings to mind. After linking several words to the original word, you connect more words to the second set. Keep extending your network of linked words until you find a grouping that seems interesting.

Sample Cluster

If the author wanted to select the “home” cluster to begin a more focused cluster, the next step might look like this:

Sample Focused Cluster

Now the author has arrived at the tree house as a possible topic for his description paragraph. He might choose to cluster again for specific details, or he might try another method for generating ideas, like brainstorming or listing.

Activity 1.2. Focused Clustering

Select a topic from the list in Activity 1.1 (or continue with the one you have already chosen), and create a focused cluster like the one preceding. Work for 5 minutes, trying to fill a page with word associations.

Activity 1.3. Working Online. Making Online Clusters

As an alternative to Activity 1.2, visit http://bubbl.us/edit.php to create your own cluster (or idea map) online. You can color-code your cluster and choose from a variety of “bubble” shapes and structures. When you’re done, save and post or print your cluster. Return to this site when you’re brainstorming your next paragraph or essay assignment.

Brainstorming (Listing)

In brainstorming, either by yourself or with others, you list in a word or phrase every idea that occurs to you when you think about a general topic. If we extended the tree house topic from the clustering activity, we might end up with a list like this:

Sample List

If we focus the list, we can concentrate primarily on generating the specific words and sensory details that make up a good description. (For more on description, see Chapter 5.)

Sample Focused List

Hint

Try a focused brainstorming list to generate details about your topic.

After you have created a list that is somewhat focused, you will likely have a rough outline that you can use to develop or rearrange ideas.

Activity 1.4. Brainstorming (Listing)

Choose a new topic from the list in Activity 1.1 (or use the topic you have already chosen), and create a list of descriptive phrases that apply to it. Include words that help you visualize the place or that suggest sound, touch, taste, or smell.

Hint

Journalist’s questions provide the framework for news articles, especially the lead paragraphs.

Journalist’s Questions

After you have a fairly clear idea of your writing topic, you can ask yourself the classic journalist’s questions who, what, when, where, and why. You should also add how and what was the result. To continue with our tree house example:

Sample Questions

Activity 1.5. Journalist’s Questions

Select a topic from the list in Activity 1.1 (or continue with the one you have been working with), and create a list of answers to the preceding questions.

Patterns of Development

Another way to generate material for your paper is to turn the patterns of development into questions and then apply them to your topic.

· Narration: telling a brief story to make a point

· What kind of story could I tell to show my reader the tree house?

· Description: using vivid details to paint a picture

· What details do I remember that could help my reader visualize the tree house?

· Illustration: giving examples to illustrate some point

· What examples could I give to explain the importance of the tree house?

· Comparison/contrast: showing how your subject is like and unlike similar subjects

· What could I compare or contrast the tree house to that my reader would know?

· Classification/division: putting your subject into a group, breaking it into parts

· What group does the tree house fit into? What are the parts of the tree house?

· Cause/effect: telling what actions can affect your subject and what effects can flow from it

· How did the tree house come about? What were its effects on me?

· Process analysis: telling how your subject works

· How did the tree house work? What regular activities did I do there?

· Definition: telling the essential characteristics of your subject

· What makes the tree house unique?

· Persuasion: trying to convince someone to agree with you or to perform some action

· How could I persuade my reader of the value a tree house can have for a child?

Activity 1.6. Patterns of Development

Select a topic from the list in Activity 1.1 (or continue with the one you have been working with), and create a list of questions like the ones preceding. Next, answer each question in a sentence or two.

Browsing for Ideas

If you’ve chosen a topic but aren’t sure how to focus it, try a quick online search for relevant images, articles, quotations, and sites that will get you thinking. As you go, note URLs you might want to return to later. This prewriting method can provide quick inspiration, but limit your browsing time to 5–10 minutes; otherwise, it may prove more distracting than helpful. As shown in the following pages, a Wikipedia search on tree houses might remind the student writer of his experience building the tree house with his brother. Looking at the images and following links to other, more focused sites could serve to trigger memories and give the writer ideas to focus on. Note: Wikipedia is a great place to start your browsing search, but because the site’s content can be updated by any user, be sure to double-check the information presented here.

Sample Browse

“Tree house.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Sep 2008, 16:23 UTC. 27 Oct 2008 . All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Wikipedia© is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity.

Sample Wikipedia Page

Opportunities for Further Browsing

Activity 1.7. Working Online. Browsing for Ideas

Using Wikipedia or a search engine, such as Google, choose a key word or words from your focused freewrite (in Activity 1.1) or cluster (in Activity 1.2). What sites do you find, and are they interesting and relevant to your topic? If so, how might they help you focus or further explore it? Limit your browsing to under 10 minutes.

Journal/Blog Entries

A journal or blog in which you write for a few minutes every day can be a good general source of ideas. If you decide to keep a personal journal (paper or online), or your instructor assigns one, this additional daily writing can give you valuable practice in organizing and expressing your thoughts. You can also gain some insights into yourself and the world around you.

The suggestions for Journal/Blog entries that appear throughout Units Two and Three can help you complete major writing assignments. If you respond to them thoughtfully, the entries you write will help you discover, focus, organize, and develop your ideas. Remember, your ideas are what count most. While it is never a bad idea to edit your work (even in your journals), grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be a low priority. The Feedback component provides opportunities for collaborative thinking and input at all stages of the writing process.

Considering Your Audience

While we sometimes write only for ourselves, more often we write for others. These “others” may be a relatively general audience, or they may be quite specific. And we may direct our work toward several kinds of readers, often a more specific group within a larger secondary audience. When you consider a writing topic, you will usually find that knowing who you are writing to will help you generate and select interesting ideas.

If you were describing an action/adventure film like Armageddon to two friends—one a sci-fi fan and one who prefers more serious, “literary” films—which of the following two paragraphs would you be likely to use with each friend?

Hint

Let what you know about your audience help focus your material.

Hint

While much of your writing will appeal to a fairly large “general” audience, within it you will usually be able to appeal to a smaller group.

Clearly, the details in version A should capture the attention of the sci-fi fan while the details in version B should interest the friend who favors more serious films. Writers must constantly generate details and then select the ones that will interest their particular readers.

Ways to Describe and Define Your Audience

age

education

particular knowledge of a subject

sex

political affiliation

level of intelligence

race/ethnicity

religion

wants

country

social groups

needs

region

hobbies

goals

city

sports

prejudices

neighborhood

special interests

personality

occupation

general knowledge

expectations

If you develop a sense of your audience, you are more likely to write in an engaging way—and come closer to enjoying the process of the writing.

Activity 1.8. Considering Your Audience

Assume that you have rented the film The Wizard of Oz for the evening and are trying to persuade two friends to watch it with you. One friend doesn’t mind children’s stories but thinks a 60-year-old movie will be boring. The other friend doesn’t like children’s stories but does like horror and supernatural films. List three points you could make or examples you might choose to convince each of your friends to watch the movie with you. (If you have not seen The Wizard of Oz, choose any film you have enjoyed, list two friends who might not like it for different reasons, and then list three examples/points that would help persuade each person.)

Organizing Ideas

If you have tried prewriting, you should have some ideas for your paper. Before moving ahead, though, you must decide on a central point—a rough topic sentence for a paragraph or a working thesis sentence for an essay. Your topic or thesis sentence should consist of your topic plus a statement that expresses an opinion, attitude, or feeling about it. For instance, in the tree house description, the author might want to focus on enjoyment:

Once you have a central point, you could just plunge into the draft, writing furiously and hoping for the best. Sometimes this approach works well, especially if the material falls into a natural order or if you happen to have a “feel” for the best organizing method. Often, though, you will not be sure what to do with all the words in front of you. In that situation, you need to reconsider your purpose (to entertain, explain, or persuade), review the assignment instructions for suggestions, and try some informal or formal outlining.

Hint

Help focus your paper with a central point.

Rough Outlines

A rough outline usually consists of a simple list of ideas. For example, if you chose to describe a place, you might try a spatial method for organizing (moving from one side to another, inside to outside, top to bottom, or front to back) and then create a rough or “scratch” outline. After reviewing the brainstorming lists for the tree house example (see pp. 7–8), the author might choose to arrange the descriptive details about the tree house from bottom to top, creating the following rough outline:

Once this structure is set, the writer can add more details from the brainstorming list or from additional brainstorming, such as the chalky smell of the brick, the rough feel of the bark, and the deep yellow of the rope.

Hint

To see a detailed informal outline for an essay, turn to Chapter 12.

Activity 1.9. Creating Rough Outlines

Look back at your list from Activity 1.4 and rearrange the examples/details, moving from one side of your place to another, inside to outside, top to bottom, or front to back.

English Review Note

Review carefully the organization of formal outlines in English.

Formal Outlines

Formal outlines have numbered and lettered categories and subcategories. They are particularly useful for longer writing projects, such as essays. Here is the pattern of a formal outline:

Thesis Statement (Controlling Idea of Essay)

(This pattern continues for the length of the essay.)

Hint

Use a formal outline to help plan an essay.

Activity 1.10. Working Online. Using the Outlining Tutor

Create a formal outline based on your list in Activity 1.9. For help, download the Outlining Tutor at www.mhhe.com/brannan . Or use the site’s Outline Template to create an outline in Microsoft Word.

Drafting

With the ideas and details you have discovered in hand and the overall shape of your paper determined, you can confidently begin the first draft.

Hint

Remember that more drafts will come.

In a paragraph, describe your ideal work space.

© Steven S. Miric/SuperStock

Preparing a Work Space

Before jumping into the writing, consider your surroundings. If you feel comfortable working in a noisy environment, any environment will probably work for you. If you need quiet to concentrate, though, find a place where you will not be disturbed. Set aside ample time to complete your writing goal; perhaps 30 minutes is enough, or perhaps several hours. Then decide what you need to be comfortable: soft music, a window, a glass of juice, a relaxing chair. Are you more productive curled up in bed, or do you get more done in the computer lab? Create an environment that will help you work efficiently.

Moving Ahead

As you begin to write, focus on your main idea (topic or thesis sentence), purpose, and audience. The goal of the first draft is to create material for the coming revisions, so grammar, spelling, and punctuation should not be major concerns (though writers occasionally backtrack to correct minor errors as they go). Focus on getting ideas on paper. If you continually stop writing and then start again, you can lose your train of thought and end up with unity problems. However, rereading your work in progress, especially for content, can also keep you connected to each unfolding idea.

Try to keep at your work for the scheduled time, but feel free to go beyond the time limit if the words are coming easily. Resist the impulse to be negative about the draft. There will be ample time to look more critically at your writing later. Finally, if you have difficulty resuming a draft in a new writing session, try leaving an idea or even a sentence unfinished and then beginning at that point.

Solutions for Breaking Out of Writer’s Block

1. Return to your central point. Be sure you have written out a rough topic or working thesis sentence at the top of the page, and reread it frequently as you compose.

2. Try any of the discovery methods discussed in this chapter.

3. Talk to yourself on paper. Begin a written “conversation” about your writing problem.

4. Talk to yourself out loud, or speak with another person. Often, simply verbalizing things can help you clarify a fuzzy idea or give you a new direction.

5. Read what others have written. A Writer’s Workshop offers many models for your assignments. See how other writers have solved the problems you face.

6. To get around the “perfection syndrome” that sometimes freezes writers, let yourself produce clunky, awkward sentences. You might be surprised at how many usable ideas and even sentences result.

7. If you are writing an essay and the introduction is a problem, start writing the body paragraphs. If your first body paragraph is not working, move on to the next.

8. Take a break. Sometimes a 10-minute trip to the kitchen is just what you need. Other times you may need a break of a day or so, thinking about the paper occasionally to let the ideas sort themselves out.

Hint

In drafting, keep self-criticism to a minimum.

Hint

If you are a fast writer but find that your draft is becoming scattered, slow down and reflect. If you typically write slowly, try freewriting to speed the process up.

Activity 1.11. Drafting

Following the “Breaking Out of Writer’s Block Solutions,” select one of the topics you have developed so far, write a topic sentence to focus it, and then write a rough draft of 200 to 300 words.

Conservation in Context: Earth-Friendly Drafting

There are many advantages to drafting on the computer instead of on paper; you can avoid unnecessary waste and work. Typing your draft means that you won’t have to transfer your thoughts from one medium to the other later. It’s also easier to revise on the screen than on paper, where scratched out words make a passage difficult to read.

Revising

Unlike drafting, revising requires a more critical (but not negative) frame of mind and a willingness to look closely at your work, knowing that it can be improved. As you rework your draft, by yourself and with others, you will be looking to add, shift, and delete material.

Very little about revision is easy; in fact, it may be the hardest part of the writing process. To revise effectively, you need to learn what problem areas to look for, gain insight into what you want to say, and let go of words and sentences that aren’t working. Sometimes you will even need to throw out that first rough draft and start over. If you want to see your writing improve, you must join the many professional writers who may moan and groan as they revise, but who do so until they shape a product they can be proud of.

Hint

Remember not to be overly concerned with grammar, spelling, or punctuation at this point; save that for editing.

After giving the draft some time to “cool off” (try for at least a day), remind yourself again of your purpose and audience, and look closely at your topic or thesis sentence. Taken as a whole, does your paper seem to grow from your main point? Jot down any reactions you have, positive or negative, and then reread the draft, following this list of priorities:

Hint

Revision = adding, cutting, and rearranging material.

Revision Priority Checklist

1. Content: The content of your work is the most important feature.

Check your ideas for clarity: Can you and other readers understand your point?

Be sure you have enough examples and details to convey your meaning and satisfy readers’ curiosity.

Check for unnecessary points, examples, or details—anything that is repetitive or will distract readers from the central idea.

2. Organization: Make sure readers can follow your ideas.

Check your topic or thesis sentence to see if it still clearly guides readers.

Review the overall organizational pattern. If you chose a spatial arrangement, for instance, make sure you have been consistent in ordering details.

Look closely at how your sentences and paragraphs flow together. If transitions or other connectors are needed, use them.

Check your ending: Does it link to the main point of your paper and leave readers with something to reflect on?

3. Style: Word choice and arrangement can make writing easy or difficult to follow.

What words are not working well?

Is your meaning fuzzy?

Do you repeat words unnecessarily?

Do you have enough variety in the length, type, and beginnings of your sentences?

Where can you tighten sentences, eliminating words that serve no purpose?

4. Mechanics: The last element to check in your paper is mechanics—grammar, spelling, and punctuation. When you move into more polished drafts, you will edit out mechanical errors that keep you from communicating clearly.

As you practice revising, you will get better at it. Moving slowly through your drafts and focusing on one category to revise at a time will make this process more manageable.

Group Revising: Working Together

What if you have tried to revise by yourself in the past without much luck? Fortunately, in your writing class, you will have the help of fellow students and your instructor. In each chapter of this book, Working Together activities provide specific opportunities for collaborative learning, writing, and revising.

To profit most from collaborative work, you should be open to constructive criticism. Although none of the students in your group is an English teacher, you don’t have to be an expert to respond to another’s draft. Simply letting a student author know that an idea is unclear or that a paragraph seems to be drifting can be invaluable.

Each assignment chapter in this book gives advice on discovering ideas, organizing, drafting, and beginning to revise. Also, the revision chapters, 4 and 14, offer step-by-step suggestions for improving your drafts. However, for some general suggestions to make group revising productive, read through the following lists:

Hint

Use constructive criticism to help you revise. You don’t have to be an English whiz to help others.

How the Writer Can Help the Reader

1. In a sentence or two at the top of your draft, specify your audience and purpose.

2. Tell your reader your main point.

3. Direct the reader to any part of the paper you have specific concerns about—for example, “I’m not sure about my topic sentence. Does it tell you what I think is the main point?” or “Do you think I might have too many details about sound in the first half of the paragraph?”

4. After your paper has been read, listen carefully to the reader’s responses, and then ask for clarification of any comments you didn’t understand.

5. Do not let a reader overwhelm you. Be selective in the advice you follow. Have several other readers comment on suggestions for revision, especially if a suggestion feels wrong for your paper.

How the Reader Can Help the Writer

1. Ask about the audience, purpose, and main point.

2. Read the draft quickly and tell what you liked or thought the author did well.

3. Answer any questions the author has about the draft.

4.

5. Share your honest reactions with the author. But remember, neither of you should expect the other to be the “teacher.” Your job is simply to give the best response you can as you understand the assignment requirements.

6. Remember to role-play the designated audience as you read, and respond as you think that person or group would.

Activity 1.12. Working Together. Revising

Get together with one or more group members and trade drafts. Using the preceding lists, offer each other comments and suggestions that will help you produce better-developed and more clearly written drafts.

Editing

After revising your paper several times for material, organization, and style, it’s time to focus on mechanics—grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Hopefully, hearing the word grammar doesn’t make your eyes glaze over or the sweat start to trickle. The object of editing is simply to make your writing more readable, to help readers better understand and enjoy your ideas.

One goal of this text is to help you solve most of your problems with grammar, punctuation, and spelling. So don’t despair. Even if you think that you’ll never figure out where all the commas and other “stuff” go, you will learn most of what you need to know to write clearly and correctly by the end of the term.

Hint

Concentrate on your most serious errors first.

The following are some pointers for effective editing:

How to Edit

1. Go slowly, stopping often. When you edit, you will tend to see whole word groups as you are used to seeing them, rather than how they actually appear on the page. Your mind will fill in the blanks for missing words, register a there as their, or create or eliminate pauses for commas in an unpredictable fashion.

To help you concentrate, try putting your finger below each word of your printed draft. Go line by line, stopping frequently at the end of completed thoughts. If you are not sure about a possible mistake, write a question mark and continue. But don’t simply ignore it, hoping the problem will go away. It won’t.

2. Read through your paper many times, each time focusing on just a few kinds of errors.

3. Begin an Improvement Chart after your instructor hands back your diagnostic writing sample. List your most common errors in the Improvement Chart at the back of this book. This list will help you track and then correct them. Does it make more sense to memorize all the rules in a 500-page handbook or to figure out the handful of mistakes that cause you the most problems?

4. Use the handbook section in this text (Unit Five) and a supplemental handbook if your instructor requires one. As you write papers, your instructor will mark many errors, some of which will be pattern errors. The handbooks give examples of such errors and show how to correct them.

5. Allow enough time for others to review your work with you: classmates, friends, family members, writing center tutors, and your composition instructor.

6. Word process your draft. Errors are generally more noticeable on a cleanly word processed page than on a handwritten one, and you have the advantage of using spell and grammar checkers.

Unit Five examines problems with grammar, spelling, and punctuation in detail, but the following list will give you an overview of common errors:

Hint

Try covering the line that follows the one you are editing, to keep your eyes from jumping ahead as you work.

Hint

Learn your pattern errors. See Activity 1.13.

English Review Note

Your peers—particularly those who work in the writing center—can be a great editing resource. If English isn’t your first language, ask a native speaker to help you edit your work.

Major Categories of Mechanical Errors

1. Grammar

1. Subject/verb agreement (pp. 560–565)

2. Verb tense shift (pp. 559–560)

3. Correct verb form (pp. 553–560)

4. Pronoun agreement (pp. 570–572)

5. Pronoun shift (pp. 575–577)

6. Pronoun case (pp. 573–575)

7. Pronoun reference (pp. 568–570)

8. Parallelism (pp. 537–539)

9. Misplaced and dangling modifiers (pp. 582–584)

2. Punctuation

1. Run-on sentences/comma splices (pp. 541–546)

2. Sentence fragments (pp. 546–551)

3. Unnecessary commas (pp. 596–597)

4. Commas to introduce main clauses (pp. 588–590)

5. Commas to enclose nonessential words or set them off at the end of main clauses (pp. 590–592)

6. Commas to divide main clauses (pp. 592–594)

3. Words

1. Spelling (pp. 606–616)

2. Sound-alike and look-alike words (pp. 610–616)

3. Wrong words (pp. 478–481, 491–497)

4. Missing words (p. 68)

5. Capitalization (pp. 600–601)

Activity 1.13. Working Online. Diagnostic Editing Tests

For practice revising and editing on the sentence level, take the four Diagnostic Editing Tests at www.mhhe.com/brannan . These can help you identify specific editing concerns to watch for in your own writing.

Proofreading

Proofreading is your final step. After you have closely edited your most recent draft and caught all the mechanical errors possible, print out a copy of the final version, the one you plan to turn in for a grade. You might think that this version is as polished as you can make it. But chances are this draft still contains problems that you can catch and correct—before your instructor does.

How to Proofread and Prepare Your Final Manuscript

1. Check for typographical errors such as misspelled, run-together, and omitted words. Often, when fixing errors in the editing stage, writers slip up in small ways on the keyboard. Be sure to spell check once again.

2. Check the following items carefully: font size (12 point), line spacing (double space), margins (1 inch), and title. Remember to capitalize all words in the title, even small ones like is and do, except articles (a, an, the), prepositions (of, in, to, etc.), and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, so, etc.). If articles, prepositions, or conjunctions begin or end a title or follow a colon, however, capitalize them.

3. Spell check any additional required material, such as outlines. Staple or paperclip your pages. Avoid putting the paper in a plastic sleeve, which most instructors consider a nuisance.

Activity 1.14. Proofreading

Proofread your paper and hand it in to your instructor. Be sure to read your teacher’s comments and corrections carefully when he or she returns the paper, and then list all errors on your Improvement Chart.

Linking to Future Experience

You will use some variation of the writing process for every paper assignment in college, including those in this class. Use this chapter as a reference when working on future paragraphs and essays. Remember that even experienced writers benefit from idea clusters, outlines, collaborative revision, and careful proofreading.

Diagnostic Writing Assignments

Before you begin any of the assignments below, review this chapter’s advice on discovering ideas, organizing, and drafting. Try at least one prewriting method, and aim to write a single paragraph of 200 to 300 words. After you have a revised draft in hand, be sure to edit and proofread it carefully.

Hint

Because your instructor may ask for them, save your prewriting and organizing notes so you can turn them in along with your draft.

Option 1: Description

Describe a room that you are familiar with and comfortable in. If you can visit the room (e.g., a room in your home), you might try listing details of the surroundings and then arranging the details spatially (one side to the other, front to back, bottom to top—see p. 84). Consider taking a photograph that you can use as a reference. Remember to state some central point or main idea about the room in your first sentence. As an alternative assignment, describe the rooms in the photograph on the facing page.

Option 2: Narration

Tell a story about some event in your life that you remember well and that has affected your view of yourself, another person, or the larger world. You could use several of the discovery methods discussed in this chapter to find ideas, but you might begin with general clustering and then try a focused cluster. Arrange your details chronologically (as if you were reliving the event from beginning to end—see p. 122). State some main point or reason for telling the story in your first sentence.

Option 3: Exposition

Explain why you are in college and what you hope to gain from this experience. You could use several of the discovery methods discussed in this chapter to find ideas, but you might begin with general freewriting and then try a focused freewrite. Arrange your reasons, starting your paragraph with the least important one and ending with the most important (see p. 139). State some overall point or reason for being in school in your first sentence.

© James Woodson/Digital Vision/Getty Images

Activity 1.15. Working Online. Writing Process Review

Take the Chapter 1 Review Quiz at www.mhhe.com/brannan .

Chapter Summary

1. Clarify the writing project.

2. Commit yourself to the work.

3. Practice the writing process:

1. Discover.

2. Organize.

3. Draft.

4. Revise.

5. Edit.

6. Proofread.

4. Be flexible in approaching the writing task. Try alternatives when necessary.

5. Don’t despair. Help for your writing abounds, but you must become an active learner, seeking out the help that you need to succeed.

Chapter 2

Making the Most of Reading

How do you feel about reading? What specifically do you like most or least about it? What advantages do you see to becoming a more effective reader?

Image Source/Corbis

Key Topics

· Is there a method to effective reading?

· Prereading: Preparing to understand

· Reading: Processing ideas

· Reading: Focusing and recording main ideas

· Postreading: Retaining ideas

Linking to Previous Experience : Is There a Method to Effective Reading?

When you were a child learning the alphabet and beginning to puzzle out words — c-a-t, d-o-g, p-i-g —reading was a mysterious and difficult process. As you advanced in school, this process became more comprehensible, but your reading tasks have also become more difficult. As a college student and an adult you are expected to read, understand, and evaluate complex texts. When you confront large, abstract reading assignments, you might sometimes feel as if you are back in elementary school, trying to untangle the mysteries of language. To make college-level reading more rewarding, this chapter will help you again become conscious of the reading process and learn some of the techniques that help effective readers remember, comprehend, and evaluate ideas.

We can divide the reading process into three stages:

1. Prereading: preparing to understand

2. Reading: processing ideas

3. Postreading: refining and retaining ideas

Prereading: Preparing to Understand

L. Clarke/Corbis

© L. Clarke/Corbis

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/John and Karen Hollingsworth

Reading, like writing, is best understood as a process. Just as you discover and organize ideas before writing a first draft, so too should you size up a text before you begin reading it. Here are three useful approaches:

1. Skim all signposts.

2. Skim beginnings and endings.

3. Link new information to previous knowledge.

Signposts

All textbooks use signposts (visual aids) to help readers focus on the main points in each chapter, much like road signs guide travelers. The title itself will usually contain the main idea of the chapter. Next you will often find chapter previews, sometimes in the form of lists or brief summaries. Within the chapter, the major headings and subheadings form a chapter outline. Brief summaries or lists of essential points often appear at the ends of main sections, and many chapters conclude with a summary of (or questions on) the chapter’s primary ideas. Text boxes and marginal notes highlight significant points and ask questions to help readers reflect on the material. Finally, key words and passages are boldfaced, italicized, or shaded to emphasize a point. Skimming through a chapter and noting these reading aids may take a few minutes, but it is time well spent.

Beginnings and Endings

Chapters in textbooks are organized in much the same way as paragraphs and essays. Each chapter has a central focus (thesis), which divides into several topics. These, in turn, are divided into subtopics, all of which are then developed through examples, details, and explanations. Before you read the body of the chapter, it helps to read the chapter introduction and concluding paragraphs or chapter summary. For more in-depth knowledge, skim the body paragraphs, focusing on the first and last sentences of each. All paragraphs should contain a unifying idea, and that idea will frequently be stated as a clear topic sentence.

Connections: Linking New to Previous Knowledge

After you have previewed a chapter, pause for a moment of reflection. What have you just read? What does it mean to you at this point? How do the terms and ideas fit into your previous experience? We all have a large store of knowledge to draw from. When you link new information to what you already know, you remember more efficiently. Within almost all new material, you can usually find something familiar to help fix the new information in your mind. If you have little actual experience with a topic, you will still have associations with it and can make useful comparisons that will help you understand and remember it.

Hint

Signposts create a chapter outline.

Activity 2.1. Previewing a Chapter

Turn to Chapter 3 and skim the signposts, the beginning, and the ending. After 5 minutes of skimming, answer the following questions.

1.

What is the chapter focus? _________________________________

2.

What are three essential parts of a body paragraph? _____________

_______________________________________________________

3.

What are three ways of organizing ideas within a paragraph?______

_______________________________________________________

4.

What is a topic sentence?__________________________________

5.

What are the three ways of developing a paragraph?_____________

_______________________________________________________

6.

What does it mean when we say that a paragraph is coherent?_____

_______________________________________________________

7.

What are five ways to achieve coherence in a paragraph?_________

_______________________________________________________

8.

Based on your prior knowledge, how would you describe the concept of coherence in a paragraph? What does the word coherence mean to you? What image or association comes to mind when you think of it? For example, the text uses the image of glue or tape.________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Hint

While previewing, remember not to read the body of the text; simply sample what the chapter will present in more depth.

Reading: Processing Ideas

After previewing a chapter, the next step involves active reading, in which you read the body of the text. During active reading you may often pause to think about the author’s message, sometimes backing up to reread. Complicated material like a college textbook requires careful reading. As active readers move through a text, they interact with it, asking questions, anticipating the author’s next point, agreeing or disagreeing with ideas, and linking new information to their previous knowledge.

Hint

Active reading is a deliberate, often slow process. Active readers interact with the text.

Here are three useful habits to develop as you read through any text:

1. Anticipate and react to the author’s points.

2. Visualize what the author is explaining or detailing.

3. Link new ideas to previous ones.

Anticipating and Reacting

When you preview a chapter, you guess at what the body of the text will assert. Then, as you read, you react to the more detailed information. For example, if an author makes an arguable statement like “The Second Amendment provides for militias, not individual gun ownership,” you can tentatively agree or disagree, depending on the examples and explanations that follow. In a passage in which the author develops an extended comparison of, for example, a school to a prison, a reader might respond in several ways:

· Uncertainty: “What in the world does the writer mean by this comparison?”

· Guesses: “I wonder if he means school before college, when education is still mandatory?”

· Disagreement/agreement: “I don’t/do see many similarities here.”

· Comprehension: “Oh, I see. He means the teachers are like prison guards.”

Experienced readers carry on a running internal conversation with the text, but they also sometimes express themselves aloud.

Remember that all writing—from a comic strip to a calculus textbook—comes from people who are trying to communicate. When writers don’t communicate clearly, readers must puzzle out meaning for themselves. Interacting with a text is the most important way to become a more effective reader.

Visualizing

Another active-reading technique is to visualize the author’s words. We all form images in our minds. What kinds of pictures do you see in the following description?

The redwood table was covered with summer picnic food: bowls of potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, and sweet pickles. Hot dogs sizzled on the grill alongside hamburgers, soaking up flavor from smoking mesquite chips. Mom and Dad rested on the bench for a moment, sipping iced tea and gazing fondly at their three children, who laughed as they pushed their swings higher and higher still into the clear blue sky.

This brief paragraph includes only a few of the details we would see if we were actually there. But if we work with the writer, we can fill in others, making the scene come alive. For example, does the picnic table have a tablecloth? If so, what kind and color—possibly plastic with a red-and-white-check pattern? Maybe there are trees nearby, other families lounging on blankets, and other children climbing monkey bars. Writers select details to stimulate readers’ imaginations. Active readers then do most of the work themselves.

Even writers who are not purposely writing a description will include many details to illustrate their points, using key words to trigger images in readers’ imaginations. In the following passage, some words may be unfamiliar, but others—like island and volcanic—probably create pictures in your mind.

In mid-September of 1835, the Beagle arrived at the Galápagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago straddling the equator 600 miles west of the coast of Ecuador.

Perhaps you visualize sandy beaches and palm trees or a volcano spewing molten lava. We all form images differently, but creating vivid pictures helps us remember material—and makes reading more interesting.

Linking New to Previous Knowledge

As you read, it is crucial to connect new ideas to previous knowledge. For example, linking the Beagle‘s arrival at the Galápagos Islands to some other event of the mid-1800s you are familiar with—say, the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign—will help you put Charles Darwin’s voyage in context, an important step toward understanding. Whenever you link previous knowledge to new ideas through associations and comparisons, you help yourself understand and remember.

Activity 2.2. Developing Active-Reading Habits

This activity returns you to Chapter 3, this time to read in more depth. Turn to the pages listed for each of the three topics below. Read the material carefully, and then practice the three active-reading habits (listed here).

· EXAMPLE: Turn to pages 40–41 and read the information on revising topic sentences.

1.

2.

3.

1. Read about examples and details versus explanations (pp. 42–44).

1. Anticipate and react: ____________________________________

_____________________________________________________

2. Visualize: _____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

3. Link to previous knowledge: ______________________________

_____________________________________________________

2. Read about layering examples (p. 44).

1. Anticipate and react: ____________________________________

_____________________________________________________

2. Visualize: _____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

3. Link to previous knowledge: ______________________________

______________________________________________________

3. Read about unity (pp. 46-47).

1. Anticipate and react: _____________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

2. Visualize: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

3. Link to previous knowledge: _______________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Activity 2.3. Working Online. Reading Websites

Apply the three active-reading habits to reading this web page. Then answer this question: How is reading online different from reading in print?

Reading: Focusing and Recording Main Ideas

Knowing a few common patterns for organizing and developing ideas will make your reading easier and more efficient the first time through. Also, using a pencil and highlighter will make the material easier to review.

Here are several strategies to help focus your reading and record information:

1. Look for thesis, topic, and summary sentences.

2. Focus on primary (essential) examples.

3. Look for repeated material.

4. Notice the patterns of development.

5. Learn to annotate, outline, summarize, and paraphrase.

Looking for Thesis, Topic, and Summary Sentences

Thesis sentences contain the main idea of an essay; topic sentences contain the main idea of a paragraph. Both sentences state, “This is my topic, and this is what I’m going to say about it.” Essays and textbook chapters usually have a thesis statement in the opening paragraphs. Within body paragraphs, the first or second sentence is often a topic sentence, and at the end of the paragraph, there may be a summary sentence that reiterates the main idea. Look for these sentences when you preview a text, and then concentrate on them while reading. In the following paragraph, the topic sentence is shaded.

Hint

For more on thesis, topic, and summary sentences, see Chapter 12.

Focusing on Primary (Essential) Examples

Paragraphs are built from detailed examples and explanations not all of which are critical to a reader’s understanding of the paragraph’s main idea. Writers often use secondary examples and explanations simply to reinforce their most important points. When reading for information, you should concentrate on the primary examples and most important explanations. Don’t be distracted by the less-important ones. In the preceding sample paragraph, the main points that support the topic sentence are in bold type. The other supporting points—the possible text length, a writer’s reaction to a long project, and the reference to clay tablets—are secondary and useful primarily to develop the main idea.

Looking for Repeated Material

Textbooks in particular will repeat and elaborate important ideas, providing many examples and explanations. When you notice repeated material within a paragraph or chapter section (often in lists, charts, summaries, headings, and boxes), pay special attention; it is probably important. In the sample paragraph below, notice that the idea of support is repeated several times.

Noticing the Patterns of Development

In Chapter 1, we looked briefly at the patterns of development, which writers use to expand and clarify their ideas and examples in predictable ways. For instance, in the paragraph below, we find imagined dialogue, which is a narrative element. Then the paragraph begins to tell how writers develop their ideas—the process-analysis or how-to pattern. Illustrating through examples, using vivid descriptive details, making comparisons, speculating about causes and effects, defining terms—when we begin to recognize these patterns, the ideas and information contained within them become easier to understand and to recall.

Hint

Try different methods for recording your interaction with a text to find one that works for you.

Learning to Annotate, Outline, Summarize, and Paraphrase

Annotating and Outlining

Active readers often find it helpful to annotate a text, underlining or highlighting important points while writing marginal notes to record reactions to the material. It is common to write questions, agree/disagree with a point, express surprise, link an idea with one found elsewhere in the text, and so on. You might number examples, star passages, circle prominent facts, and connect information with arrows.

There is no one best way to annotate, but, in general, highlight selectively. It will not help you focus on critical parts of the text if you highlight three-fourths of it. Note the following sample annotation:

Conservation in Context: Annotating

Taking reading notes in the margins of your text saves paper, and it’s also helpful when rereading or reviewing material for a test. Annotations are signposts that you can design especially for yourself.

Informal “scratch” outlines can also be useful for retaining information. Here is how we might outline the paragraph on support sentences:

Sample Scratch Outline

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Paraphrasing and summarizing the material you read helps you remember it because doing so requires you to put a text’s ideas into your own words. In a paraphrase, you retain both primary and secondary examples. Therefore, a paraphrase is longer than a summary, which consists only of the main idea and significant examples. Here is how the support sentences paragraph might be paraphrased or summarized:

Sample Paraphrase

Sample Summary

Activity 2.4. Working Online. Writing to Learn

At www.mhhe.com/brannan , practice annotating, outlining, summarizing, and paraphrasing with the Writing to Learn exercises.

Activity 2.5. Focusing and Recording Main Ideas

Read through the following paragraph excerpt, underlining the topic sentence and any primary examples. Next, annotate in the margins to show your reactions. Finally, write a brief scratch outline and a one-sentence summary of the paragraph.

Organizing Body Paragraphs

So far we have looked closely at the parts of a body paragraph and discussed a number of important ways to focus and develop them. But paragraphs and essays also benefit from an overall organizational plan, and there are several methods that are useful, depending on what you want to accomplish. If your primary goal is to describe, you might choose a spatial method of arrangement, organizing the parts of your description from side to side, front to back, near to far, inside to out, or bottom to top. If your primary goal is to tell a story—to entertain, explain, or persuade—you would choose a chronological pattern, relating events as they unfold in time. If you are most interested in communicating information—telling how something works, defining an idea, giving some history—or persuading, you might select order of importance, that is, beginning with your least important or interesting idea and ending with the most significant. Whatever overall method you choose, keep in mind that, especially in writing longer papers, you will often combine methods. For instance, a persuasive essay with reasons primarily arranged from least to most convincing might include a story that is arranged chronologically, or the essay might need to arrange some scene spatially.

Scratch Outline

Topic sentence (main point): ________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Supporting points:

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________

Summary (one sentence):___________________________________________________

Activity 2.6. Working Online. Find the Focus

Practice summarizing with this online activity; limit each summary to ten words: http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/allwrite3/seyler/se03/finding.mhtml .

Postreading: Retaining Ideas

When you finish a reading assignment, you can simply move on to the next item on your to-do list, or you can take a few minutes to review, making your future recall of the material easier. When you stop reading, keep interacting with the text by asking questions like “What do I think of the material just covered? How does it fit with my experience? Are there any special points that I agree or disagree with, any ideas or suggestions that I will use from now on or that I think are useless?” Forming opinions will help you remember important ideas.

There are many ways to review effectively: silently skimming main points, stating them aloud, or organizing your thoughts on paper. These specific suggestions will help you review any reading assignment:

1. Repeat the prereading step, focusing especially on signposts.

2. Summarize or outline the main points. This may only require pulling together the paragraph summaries you have already written or listing the main points that you underlined when you annotated.

3. Quiz yourself on the material as if your instructor were asking the questions. If you can’t answer your own questions, reread.

4. Try to define any important term or idea in a sentence of 20 words or less. Can you remember (or come up with) an example that helps to define the term or support the idea?

5. List what you feel are the three most important points from your reading.

Activity 2.7. Working Together. Practicing Postreading Strategies

Using any of the five preceding suggestions, review Chapter 2; then, in small groups, list the essential points about reading that you need to remember. Limit your list to ten points and use them to write the Chapter Summary below.

Chapter Summary

1. ___________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

6. ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

7. ___________________________________________________________________

8. ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

9. ___________________________________________________________________

10. ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Hint

Remember that topic sentences are usually the first or second sentence but can be located elsewhere in a paragraph.

Chapter 3

Writing Paragraphs

In this photo, the three women are solving a puzzle, putting the many pieces together to make a complete picture. Explore in a paragraph how writing is like working on a puzzle.

Steve Mason/Getty Images

Key Topics

· What is a paragraph?

· Writing a topic sentence

· Developing body paragraphs

· Writing a concluding sentence

· Organizing body paragraphs

· Connecting sentences—achieving coherence

· Selecting a title

Linking to Previous Experience : What Is a Paragraph?

So far we have discussed the writing and reading processes, reviewing in general how compositions grow. Now we will look more specifically at one writing unit—the paragraph—to see how its pieces fit together and how it works in relation to larger units of writing. You’ve been writing paragraphs for years; in this chapter you will simply learn more about how they work and how you can write even more effective ones.

A paragraph is a collection of related sentences that are clearly connected to one another and that make some point. Paragraphs come in several varieties:

· Introductory

· Body

· Concluding

· Transitional

Our focus throughout Unit Two will be on the body paragraph. We will be developing paragraphs as single units of thought while remembering that paragraphs generally work together in essays. We will practice focusing a paragraph with a topic sentence; developing that main idea with specific, relevant support; and concluding the paragraph forcefully.

Hint

Paragraphs usually work together.

There is no set length for a paragraph; the kind of writing and the audience for it usually determine the number of sentences. For example, newspapers favor shorter paragraphs, whereas articles in academic journals often include paragraphs that fill a page. The paragraphs you write in Unit Two will usually run 250 to 300 words, or around fifteen sentences.

To contrast the paragraph with the essay and to get a sense of the parts of a paragraph, take a look at the diagrams on this page.

The body paragraph has three basic parts: topic sentence, support sentences, and concluding sentence. As you can see, the essay also has an introduction and a conclusion, but they are entire paragraphs. We will study introductory and concluding paragraphs in Unit Three.

Writing a Topic Sentence

All effective paragraphs have a main point, that is, some reason for their author to put that group of sentences together. Writers frequently state explicitly what a body paragraph will be about in a topic sentence. Usually the paragraph’s first sentence, a topic sentence, indicates the direction of the author’s and the readers’ mental journey. Like a compass guiding a backpacker through unfamiliar terrain, the topic sentence can help readers find their way from one end of a paragraph to the other, without taking needless detours along the way.

Hint

To see a student model paragraph with the parts labeled, turn to pages 43–44.

Which of the following sentences both limits the topic and expresses a statement or opinion that you think the author could develop in a single paragraph?

1. I have a brother named Jason.

2. Many families have more than one boy.

3. My brother Jason is a great guitarist.

Hint

A body paragraph is not an essay.

Sentences A and B are simply factual observations that give the reader no sense of what else the writer might want to say about them. Sentence C, on the other hand, limits the topic (“Jason”) and makes a clear statement or assertion about it (“is a great guitarist”) that we would expect the author to discuss further. A clearly expressed opinion or statement combined with a well-focused topic gives you and your readers the direction you need to move through the rest of the paragraph.

How to Write a Topic Sentence

1.

2. Make a clear statement about it.

Your topic sentence should state an opinion or controlling point. For instance, don’t say, “Many people recycle in the United States”—a general factual statement that could lead in many directions. Instead, express a point, like this: “I learned the hard way how important it is to recycle.”

3. Use specific word choices.

Strive to make your topic sentence interesting, since it is your introduction to the rest of your paragraph. You might begin with a rough topic sentence like “My brother is a great guitarist.” But by adding more specific details, you could write a far more interesting sentence, such as this one: “My brother Jason toured all last summer with Architecture in Helsinki, playing some terrific solo riffs.”

English Review Note

Although in some languages it is considered impolite to begin with a strong, direct point, English readers expect such an approach. In fact, you should state your point as directly as possible to show that you value your readers’ time.

Activity 3.1. Recognizing the Parts of Topic Sentences

In the following group of topic sentences, underline the topic once and the statement being made about it twice.

1. Global warming is accelerating faster than most scientists predicted.

2. Hot air balloon rides are fun but more dangerous than most people think.

3. “Road rage” affects people from all walks of life.

4. All day care facilities should require a state license.

5. I think cemeteries are very restful places.

Focusing Topic Sentences

Good topic sentences are broad enough to let the writer develop a subject with specific examples, explanations, and details but narrow enough to allow the subject to be covered in a paragraph. Notice how the following broad topic sentences can be narrowed:

UNFOCUSED

Most people look forward to holidays.

WORKABLE

I always look forward to spending Thanksgiving with my relatives in Dallas.

UNFOCUSED

In the fall nature slows down and prepares for winter.

WORKABLE

While much of nature slows down in the fall, squirrels seem to be in perpetual motion as they prepare for the long winter months ahead.

Activity 3.2. Focusing Topic Sentences

Revise the following topic sentences to narrow their focus. Consider drawing on your own experiences or general knowledge to make a specific point about each topic.

EXAMPLE: Having to stay in the hospital can be a miserable experience.

·

1. There are ways to preserve the environment.

_________________________________________________________

2. Education costs a great deal in this country.

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

3. Computers are often used by students.

_________________________________________________________

4. There are many SUVs on the road today.

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

5. Most people take precautions when they learn of a tornado warning.

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Hint

As you decide how to limit each statement, imagine that you will have to write a paragraph based on your revised topic sentence.

Often, when you reread drafts of your paragraphs, you will see that the supporting sentences take you in a slightly different direction than what you stated in the topic sentence. Sometimes this requires deleting or modifying the supporting sentences, and sometimes it means reshaping the topic sentence.

Activity 3.3. Deducing Topic Sentences

Read each of the following groups of sentences from the body of a paragraph, state a topic that matches them, and then write a suitable topic sentence.

EXAMPLE: Jinyi opened her first present and clapped her hands in delight. Her parents, brothers and sisters, and the rest of the family wished her well. Jinyi’s mother brought the cake, with 10 candles blazing, into the room. Her father hugged her and whispered, “You are the best daughter a father could ever hope for.”

1. One major mistake new college students make is too much partying. Another problem many students have is zoning out in class. Whereas cramming used to cut it in high school, daily study is now required. It is difficult to balance schoolwork with jobs.

Possible topic:____________________________________________

Possible topic sentence:_____________________________________

________________________________________________________

2. I never realized that marriage would have so many bumps in the road. Being a good partner requires more than giving 50-50. A couple must communicate daily. Another important practice is regularly showing affection.

Possible topic:_____________________________________________

Possible topic sentence:______________________________________

3. Dad told us to burn the leaves, and my older brother Jim thought gasoline would help. After we had the leaves raked in a big pile, Jim poured on a mayonnaise jar full of gas. “Go ahead and light them,” he ordered me. When the leaves exploded, I was knocked flat on my back.

Possible topic:____________________________________________

Possible topic sentence:_____________________________________

________________________________________________________

Revising Topic Sentences

A rough topic sentence is enough to begin a draft of your paragraph with, but when you polish a topic sentence, you can make it more informative and interesting. One way to improve a topic sentence is to use specific words wherever possible. Selecting a specific word simply means choosing a word that fits into a more limited category than another, similar word.

Compare the following word lists:

A

B

tool

hammer

plant

rose bush

person

Thomas Jefferson

energy source

coal

animal

horse

Notice that the words in column B are more specific; that is, they are part of a larger group that the words in column A represent. For instance, the first word in column A, tool, includes the first word in column B, hammer, as well as such items as a screwdriver, paintbrush, or shovel. The more specific the word you choose, the sharper the image it creates—and the more interesting the sentence becomes.

Look at the following topic sentences. The first in each pair is the rough topic sentence, and the second has been polished by adding specific words.

© Ingram Publishing/Alamy

© Brand X Pictures/PunchStock

© PIXTAL/PunchStock

C Squared Studios/Getty Images

Hint

For more on specific language, see pp. 75–78.

Activity 3.4. Polishing Topic Sentences

Rewrite the following sentences, making them more interesting by adding specific words where appropriate.

1. Rough topic sentence: I like working on my car.

Revised topic sentence:______________________________________

2. Rough topic sentence: Many voters are excited about the election.

Revised topic sentence:______________________________________

____________________________________________________

3. Rough topic sentence: I know now why I am finally back in school.

Revised topic sentence:______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

4. Rough topic sentence: My husband has to work too much.

Revised topic sentence:______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

5. Rough topic sentence: Living in a new country is difficult.

Revised topic sentence:______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Activity 3.5. Working Online. Reviewing Topic Sentences

Quiz yourself on topic sentence basics at http://cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/paragraph/tutorial_1/constructing_topic1.htm .

Developing Body Paragraphs

After writers establish a workable topic sentence, they must next write sentences that support it. These sentences are developed with examples, details, and explanations—the basic tools of the trade. No matter how long the writing project, we use these tools over and over to “fill up the space” and show why and how our topics matter.

The next few sections explore support: what it is, how much is enough, when it is relevant, and when it is clear.

Kinds of Support

Writers support their topic sentences with specific examples, details, and explanations.

Examples

An example illustrates some part of a statement by showing a specific instance of it. Whenever you are asked for more information to help someone understand an idea, chances are that you will give an example. For instance, you might say to a friend, “Baseball is boring.” Your friend, a baseball fanatic, immediately replies, “What do you mean by that?” When you tell her that the pitcher and the catcher have most of the fun, that half the time the infielders and outfielders are so stationary they might as well be asleep, and that you would like to see a little more body contact, like in football, you have provided a list of examples.

Hint

For more on using examples in writing, see Chapter 7.

English Review Note

Your body paragraph should explain your main point, not just repeat it. Paragraph development in English may differ from that in your native language.

Types of Examples

1. Personal examples: based on your own experiences. To illustrate how frustrating preschoolers can be, you could tell a story about the time your 4-year-old sister locked herself in the bathroom for 2 hours.

2. Facts: commonly accepted truths—for example, “Some trees lose their leaves in the fall.”

3. Statistics: numerical facts—for example, “The earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun.”

4. Information gathered from print sources (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), electronic sources (including the Internet), interviews, TV, and radio.

5. Second-hand anecdotes: things that happened to someone else.

6. Comparisons, including metaphors/similes—for example, “The flute is basically a pipe with holes drilled in it.”

7. “What-if” situations: speculation about what could happen, such as what would happen if you decided to stop working on Fridays.

8. Dialogue created or reported to express a point.

Details

Just as we need examples to illustrate general statements, we need details to make examples more interesting. Details help sharpen an image or clarify an idea. To make the example of your little sister’s locking herself in the bathroom more vivid, you could name some parts of the scene, then add modifiers and sensory details:

Explanations

You can use examples to develop much of your writing, but sometimes you need more. What if the reader does not understand the example or how it relates to your point? You can offer explanations—reasons that justify behavior, tell how things work, or anticipate possible outcomes. Explanations are vital when you develop a main point because they connect examples and guide readers through your ideas.

Suppose a reader’s reaction to the example of the preschooler’s behavior is “That doesn’t seem so frustrating to me. Why didn’t you just walk away and forget it?” The writer would need to explain that the child was his responsibility and that it would have been too dangerous to leave her locked in a bathroom by herself, especially while she was having a tantrum.

Explanations work with details and examples to “fill up the white space.” In the following paragraph, you will find three major examples to support the topic sentence, an explanation following each major example, and details throughout to make the examples and explanations more vivid for the reader.

Dangers in a Deli

Sufficient Support

Detailed examples and clear explanations are important; you must have enough of them to fully illustrate your ideas. However, all too often inexperienced writers think a topic has been fully presented when the development is thin or repetitive.

To avoid underdevelopment, fill your paragraphs with layers of specific examples: The further readers move into a paragraph, the more specific it should become. Each major point should be clarified with detailed examples and explanations that increasingly limit and focus the paragraph’s main idea:

Practically speaking, in one-paragraph papers, you will regularly be descending only one or two levels.

Hint

Layer examples from general to specific.

Read the following to see what the deli paragraph sounds like once we strip away the second-level examples, details, and explanations:

This version reads more like an outline. The main ideas are there, but nothing more.

Activity 3.6. Creating Sufficient Support

Each sentence group below begins with a topic sentence followed by a first-level example. To further develop each topic, create a second-level example that adds more specific information (details and explanation).

· EXAMPLE: Topic sentence: People should avoid jogging because it hurts more than helps them.

· First-level example: For instance, jogging can be bad for a person’s joints.

·

1. Topic sentence: Making it to class on time is difficult for several good reasons.

First-level example: First, students have difficulty finding a parking space.

Second-level example:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

2. Topic sentence: I learned how to budget my money the hard way.

First-level example: One lesson was to stop eating out so often.

Second-level example:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

3. Topic sentence: My family’s annual trip to Silver Dollar City was fun this year.

First-level example: I most enjoyed my time on the lake.

Second-level example:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

4. Topic sentence: Painting my house this spring was a valuable experience.

First-level example: Another way I profited was by saving money.

Second-level example:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

5. Topic sentence: Though some people hate it, I love doing yard work.

First-level example: My work outside gives me a great chance to observe nature.

Second-level example:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Relevant Support—Achieving Unity

Sometimes even fully developed secondary support and examples include material that—while interesting, accurate, and worthwhile—may distract from the main point. When your paragraphs contain examples, details, and explanations that do not clearly develop the topic sentence (main point), you have a problem with unity.

Hint

Unity = all examples and explanations clearly relating to a paragraph’s main point.

Always consider your audience and try to gauge whether they would view any of your material as distracting or unnecessary. If you write out a controlling topic sentence and then look at it often as you work, you will have less trouble with unity.