段落发展和衔接

Ways of Developing Paragraphs and the Most Common Connectives

段落发展手段和常用衔接词

Ways of Developing Paragraphs

1. Planning a paragraph (构思)

Paragraphs need to be planned. First, think of the topic or theme or main idea, and express it in a complete sentence )topic sentence). Then think of the details or examples or facts that may be used to support or explain the main idea. Arrange then in logical order, and you have a rough plan of the paragraph.

On outline may be helpful to beginners. You can list the major points one by one.

(1)

(2)

…..

Now you can begin to write.

2. Development by time

In telling a story or recounting an event, the easiest and clearest way is to describe things in order of time: earlier things are mentioned before later things, the first thing first and the last thing last. This method is also called chronological sequencing.

3. Development by process

When you have to explain how something is done, you usually follow a chronological sequence and give a step-by-step description. As the steps must occur one after another, the exact order in which they are carried out is most important. In giving instructions, imperative sentences and sentences with the indefinite pronoun you as the subject are often used. The present tense should be used if the instructions are still applicable.

4. Development by Space

Before we begin to describe a place, whether it is a large country or a small room, we have to decide on the order in which to name the different parts or details. For this we should find out the space relationships between them and arrange our description accordingly. It would only confuse the reader to mention then in a haphazard way.

5. Development by Example

Supporting a topic sentence with examples or illustrations makes a general statement specific and easy to understand. An illustration is a case, a specimen, an instance. Vivid illustrations light up abstract ideas and make them clear, interesting, memorable, or convincing.

Illustrations may be a single example or a series of examples.

6. Development by Comparison and Contrast

Strictly speaking, a comparison points out the similarities between two persons or things of the same class, while a contrast, the differences between them. In practice, however, comparison and contrast often appear together, because people generally compare two things that are similar in certain ways and different in others.

By comparing and contrasting we may get a clearer picture of things.

There are two major ways of comparison and contrast.

Refer to text book page 29-30

7. Development by Cause and Effect

Causal analysis (因果分析) is very common. Sound reasoning or logic is naturally the most important quality of any causal analysis. But it is not always easy to explain causes and effects clearly and logically. One reason for this is that an effect may have many causes and a cause may have many effects. So we must be thorough in our discussion and careful in our selection of details.

There are two basic ways of organizing paragraphs developed by cause and effect. The first method is to state an effect and devote the rest of the paragraph to examining the causes. The second method is to state a cause and then mention or predict the effects.

8. Development by Classification

To classify is to sort things into categories according to their characteristics. We classify many things: trees, rivers, cities, companies, college students. We group things according to their similarities and differences. If we classify rivers, we separate them into wide ones, narrow ones, long ones, short ones, deep ones, shallow ones. Apples may be classified according to size, place of origin, color, price, or quality.

9. Development by Definition

Sometimes, to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, we have to define a word, term, or concept which is unfamiliar to most readers or open or various interpretations.

There are three basic ways to define a word or term: to give a synonym, to use a sentence (often with an attributive clause), and to write a paragraph or even an essay. We are using the first method when we say, for instance, “To mend means to repair.” Ink may be defined in a sentence: “Ink is colored water which we use for writing.”But a synonym or a sentence cannot give a satisfactory definition of an abstract term whose meaning is complex. We have to write a paragraph or an essay with example or negative examples ( what the term does not mean), with analogies or comparisons, with classification or cause-and-effect analysis.

We should avoid circular definition (Democracy is the democratic process.), long lists of synonyms, or loaded (另有用意的) definitions. Definition should be clear and objective.

10. Development by a Combination of Methods

we have discussed quite a few methods for developing paragraphs. Sometimes only one of them is used in a paragraph, but often two or three of them are used in the same paragraph. Writers may find it necessary to use a combination of methods in order to present their ideas in an impressive and convincing manner.

常用衔接词（语义标记词）

1.Addition

Another point / A further point I want to / I’d like to emphasize add/mention/discuss is …

In addition, …/Moreover,…/Similarly,…/Apart from …