Or , if we want to see distant happenings on earth, they use some of the previously wasted electromagnetic waves to carry television images which they re-create as light by whipping tiny crystals on a screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or they can bring happenings of long ago and far away as colored motion pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-absorbing molecules to force light waves into the patterns of original reality.
Or if we want to see into the center of a steel casting or the chest of an injured child, they send the information on a beam of penetrating short-wave X rays, and then convert it back into images we can see on a screen or photograph. In a coherent paragraph, each sentence relates clearly to the topic sentence or controlling idea, but there is more to coherence than this.
If a paragraph is coherent, each sentence flows smoothly into the next without obvious shifts or jumps. A coherent paragraph also highlights the ties between old information and new information to make the structure of ideas or arguments clear to the reader.
If you have written a very long paragraph, one that fills a double-spaced typed page, for example, you should check it carefully to see if it should start a new paragraph where the original paragraph wanders from its controlling idea. On the other hand, if a paragraph is very short only one or two sentences, perhaps , you may need to develop its controlling idea more thoroughly, or combine it with another paragraph.
A number of other techniques that you can use to establish coherence in paragraphs are described below. Repeat key words or phrases. Particularly in paragraphs in which you define or identify an important idea or theory, be consistent in how you refer to it. This consistency and repetition will bind the paragraph together and help your reader understand your definition or description.
Create parallel structures. Parallel structures are created by constructing two or more phrases or sentences that have the same grammatical structure and use the same parts of speech.
By creating parallel structures you make your sentences clearer and easier to read. In addition, repeating a pattern in a series of consecutive sentences helps your reader see the connections between ideas. You might think of it as a signpost for your readers—or a headline—something that alerts them to the most important, interpretive points in your essay. Thus topics sentences help protect your readers from confusion by guiding them through the argument.
But topic sentences can also help you to improve your essay by making it easier for you to recognize gaps or weaknesses in your argument. Topic sentences usually appear at the very beginning of paragraphs. In the following example from Anatomy of Criticism , Northrop Frye establishes the figure of the tragic hero as someone more than human, but less than divine. He backs up his claim with examples of characters from literature, religion and mythology whose tragic stature is a function of their ability to mediate between their fellow human beings and a power that transcends the merely human:.
The tragic hero is typically on top of the wheel of fortune, half-way between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky. Prometheus, Adam, and Christ hang between heaven and earth, between a world of paradisal freedom and a world of bondage.
Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass.
No, though this is usually the most logical place for it. Sometimes a transitional sentence or two will come before a topic sentence:.
We found in comedy that the term bomolochos or buffoon need not be restricted to farce, but could be extended to cover comic characters who are primarily entertainers, with the function of increasing or focusing the comic mood.
The corresponding contrasting type is the suppliant, the character, often female, who presents a picture of unmitigated helplessness and destitution. Here are three examples of topic sentences you could use for each of the three body paragraphs :. Each of these sentences expresses one main idea — by listing them in order, we can see the overall structure of the essay at a glance.
Each paragraph will expand on the topic sentence with relevant detail, evidence, and arguments. The topic sentence usually comes at the very start of the paragraph. However, sometimes you might start with a transition sentence to summarize what was discussed in previous paragraphs, followed by the topic sentence that expresses the focus of the current paragraph.
A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph. Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence. The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:. Without a clear thesis, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.
The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction. Follow these three steps to come up with a thesis :. A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay. Everything else you write should relate to this key idea. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument summarized in your thesis statement that every part of the essay relates to.
The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point. The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.
The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas. The vast majority of essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay. Almost all academic writing involves building up an argument, though other types of essay might be assigned in composition classes. In rhetorical analysis , a claim is something the author wants the audience to believe.
A support is the evidence or appeal they use to convince the reader to believe the claim. A warrant is the often implicit assumption that links the support with the claim. Pathos appeals to the emotions, trying to make the audience feel angry or sympathetic, for example. Collectively, these three appeals are sometimes called the rhetorical triangle. They are central to rhetorical analysis , though a piece of rhetoric might not necessarily use all of them.
For example, you could also treat an advertisement or political cartoon as a text. The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to explain the effect a piece of writing or oratory has on its audience, how successful it is, and the devices and appeals it uses to achieve its goals.
You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay. If you have to hand in your essay outline , you may be given specific guidelines stating whether you have to use full sentences. When writing an essay outline for yourself, the choice is yours.
Some students find it helpful to write out their ideas in full sentences, while others prefer to summarize them in short phrases. You will sometimes be asked to hand in an essay outline before you start writing your essay. Your supervisor wants to see that you have a clear idea of your structure so that writing will go smoothly. Even when you do not have to hand it in, writing an essay outline is an important part of the writing process.
Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:. Comparing and contrasting is also a useful approach in all kinds of academic writing : You might compare different studies in a literature review , weigh up different arguments in an argumentative essay , or consider different theoretical approaches in a theoretical framework.
The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept. Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?
The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.
The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself. Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes.
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