FOUR: PARAGRAPH FORM & POLISHING Flashcards
The three features - recognized & stressed by all critics of writing include what?
They include:
- unity
- coherence
- order
What is unity?
Unity is what holds a paragraph together.
What are the three main aspects of unity?
- Unity of thought
- Unity of POV
- Unity of mood & voice
What does unity of thought mean?
All sentences within paragraphs should contribute directly or indirectly to the promise made in the topic sentence.
Disrupting unity within a paragraph means doing what?
discussing a different subject than what you promised in the topic sentence.
This is an example of what?
An instance about the delights of autumn in which unity is disrupted.
In this sentence about autumn, what is the way in which unity has been disrupted?
Instead of writing about autumn as the topic sentence demands, this student has used the word “spring” in the next sentence to “spring” into a completely new subject & has thus broken the paragraph’s unity.
What are two ways to re-establish unity within the paragraph in which the topic sentence is about autumn?
By either staying on the subject of autumn or by changing the topic sentence to reflect what all the seasons will be written about. (“Each season has its own special beauty,” for example.)
What does unity of point of view mean?
It is the writer’s authorial relationship to the subject.
In this paragraph what are all the different POVs that are mentioned?
How is mood and voice unity maintained?
By being consistent.
The first sentence is in the imperative mood, just as all writing that gives instructions should be…But sentence two is indicative.
Sentence #3 shifts from active to passive voice & from the indicative mood to the imperative mood.
Sentence #6, the worker who until this point has been addressed in the second person, is now referred to in the third person.
When applying the meaning of coherence to sentences in a paragraph - what is a writer trying to do?
They’re trying to ensure that all the sentences in a paragraph stick together logically & smoothly & they’re using transitions to avoid any random or jerky issues.
Transitional expressions in a paragraph appear where?
They occur first in a sentence or clause.
What do transitional expressions help do in between sentences?
They help smooth the way from one sentence to the next.
How would the effect that these sentences have become lost?
The effect would be lost if you ran the sentences together into a compound and/ or complex sentences.
Overall, what are two things that short simple sentences are doing?
Overall, short sentences are first lending an air of excitement. Second, each short sentence encapsulates a different observation.
By using short simple sentences for the above scene, what two effects is the reader able to perceive?
The reader is perceiving movement first of all. Second, there is an almost overwhelming bombardment of individual images.
What are the two other ways with which to achieve coherence?
- repetition
- parallelism
*These two terms overlap a bit in meaning.
To achieve coherence through repetition - this involves doing what?
It involves having words or phrases that are repeated to lend a sense of rhythm or add emphasis.
To achieve coherence through parallelism - this involves doing what?
Having repetition (not of words), but of sentence patterns.
When it comes to the periodic order of a sentence, this involves doing what?
Putting the most important thought closest to the period.
Generally speaking, when applying periodic order to that of paragraphs, what happens?
Generally speaking, paragraphs should follow the same pattern: The most important sentence of a paragraph should come last, the second most important should usually come first, and everything else falls in between.
Why is it advantageous to apply periodic order to that of a paragraph - particularly when it comes to capturing the attention of your reader?
The periodic order of a paragraph “hooks” the reader, arranges things in climaxing order, but still leaves the most important info. at the end.
In this paragraph about Ann Boleyn, how does the writer apply periodic order to paragraph order?
The important info. - that Ann was pregnant with a son is something that appears last. (It is also implied that the miscarriage was Henry’s fault - not that he’d admit it!)
How does the rule of sentence variety also apply to different paragraph lengths?
The rule of sentence variety also applies to different paragraph lengths - in which it is appropriate to have a variety of long and short paragraphs.
In terms of style, short paragraphs, like short sentences do what?
The short paragraphs help to speed up the pace of your narrative.
Longer paragraphs - while they may be necessary to impart info. that needs to be kept together - will end up having the effect of doing what?
Longer paragraphs will slow the pace and bog readers down.
The only “rule” that is more or less standard involving paragraph length involves what?
That every printed page should have at least one new paragraph.
If it becomes difficult to make a logical paragraph break, what is a potential alternative?
“Fracturing” your paragraph is a potential alternative.
“Fracturing” paragraphs involves doing what?
It involves beginning each break with a sentence similar to the others, as John Steinbeck does in: Winter of Discontent.
The first step in polishing your prose involves doing what?
Cutting out all the deadwood.
When grammarians speak about cutting out all the deadwood - what do they mean?
They mean to cut out all the verbiage or unnecessary words.
Some of the most common deadwood is not just unnecessary, but it is also what?
It is also grammatically incorrect.
What is it that’s grammatically incorrect when it comes to deadwood?
The modification of absolute expressions.
What are the three common deadwood expressions which are the incorrect modification of absolute expressions?
- “really dead” (something is either dead or not)
- “more unique” (something is either unique or not)
- “true facts” (A fact isn’t a fact unless it’s true)
Most deadwood isn’t incorrect, it’s just what?
It’s just clutter.
To avoid deadwood - what are the five dependable guidelines which will keep your prose clean and efficient?
What is the definition of a compound sentence?
Two independent clauses that are joined by a comma, plus a coordinating conjunction.
The following is an example of what?
A compound sentence that wastes words.
Why does this sentence waste words?
It wastes words because there is nothing gained by announcing the presence of a teacher twice.
How might this sentence be corrected?
By getting rid of the unnecessary verbiage through using a compound predicate instead.
By using a compound predicate - that only works in what particular cases?
It only works if the subject is the same in both clauses.
The following sentence is a situations involving what?
In this sentence what are the two subjects that prevent the sentence from being reduced?
The two subjects are “teacher” in clause one, and “class secretary” is the subject of the second, which also can’t be reduced.
What beginnings of certain sentences are often needless?
Those that begin with “it is” or “there are.”
The following is an example of what?
There was snow covering everything in sight.
A sentence that has dead wood and can be reduced.
How can deadwood be eliminated in this sentence - in order to allow for reduction?
It was 1929 that the Great Depression began.
These phrases are what?
Redundant.
In what way are these two phrases redundant?
How can the redundancy be corrected?
They’re redundant because of the pronouns. Also, they’re redundant because by both shrugging and blinking - the nonverbal physicality does not need to be mentioned because it’s implied (by mentioning it, this is just something that is redundant for the reader.)
What are the words/homonyms that teachers will drill their students on, primarily b/c of their rampant misuse:
According to general function, what are the four basic types of paragraphs?
This scene that has just been described reads like what?
But you could also describe the same setting & create an impression of what?
It reads like a happy scene, where people are having fun and interacting peacefully.
But you could also describe the same setting & create an impression of loss & loneliness, perhaps even fear.
This opening paragraph is an example of what?
It is an opening of a paragraph that begins with a shocking statement/fact.
What is this opener doing? Where is this opener from?
This is a shocking opening that is from the opening to A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens).
This following question is an example of what?
It is “The asking of a rhetorical question”
With this quotation, what two aspects about it make it into a strong opening paragraph?
The quotation captures the reader’s attention even though it doesn’t say what the composition is about.
Even though a quote is being used in an introduction, it is still the job of the writer to do what?
It is still the job of the writer to introduce the topic.
The following is an example of what?
A short anecdote that is being applied to a paragraph.
While this paragraph is not about Damerji, but rather the problems Iraq faces in the aftermath of Desert Storm….the above little anecdote about Damerji serves what purpose?
The anecdote serves as a lead-in to the subject by showing the problems on an individual level.
The following sentences are an example of what?
These are two short sentences that are loaded with info. - which serves as a transitional paragraph.
In this example, and through the means of transitional paragraphs - what are the two ideas/references that are occurring?
The author mentions tooth decay, and lets the reader know that the topic about the causes of tooth decay will be discussed later on. Right now, though, he wants to discuss toothbrushes.
The following is an example of what?
A short paragraph that sums up everything in an essay.
The following is an example of what?
A closing paragraph in which a shift in tone involves a shift in tense.
The following is an example of what?
This is an example of parallelism.
What should be noticed about this excerpt which involves parallelism?
It is noticed that the author does not use transition words or phrases in between sentences. Instead, the repetition of “Due to his” binds everything together.
What should be noticed about this excerpt involving the use of parallelism?
Parallelism through the use of “are not the problem” is used which binds the paragraph together - not to mention, also creates suspense with what the problem is.
