{"id":102,"date":"2017-06-08T11:52:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T11:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/sunycorning1010elec201718\/?post_type=chapter&p=102"},"modified":"2017-06-18T18:11:24","modified_gmt":"2017-06-18T18:11:24","slug":"the-well-structured-paragraph","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/sunycorning1010elec201718\/chapter\/the-well-structured-paragraph\/","title":{"raw":"The Well-Structured Paragraph","rendered":"The Well-Structured Paragraph"},"content":{"raw":"

Paragraphs Are Unified by a Single Purpose or Theme<\/h2>\r\n
\r\n\r\nRegardless of whether a paragraph is deductively or inductively structured, readers can generally follow the logic of a discussion better when a paragraph is unified by a single purpose. Paragraphs that lack a central idea and that wander from subject to subject are apt to confuse readers, making them wonder what they should pay attention to and why.\r\n\r\nTo ensure that each paragraph is unified by a single idea, Francis Christensen, in Notes Toward a New Rhetoric (NY: Harper & Row, 1967), has suggested that we number sentences according to their level of generality. According to Christensen, we would assign a 1 to the most general sentence and then a 2 to the second most general sentence, and so on. Christensen considers the following paragraph, which he excerpted from Jacob Bronowski's The Common Sense of Science, to be an example of a subordinate pattern because the sentences become increasingly more specific as the reader progresses through the paragraph:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. The process of learning is essential to our lives.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. All higher animals seek it deliberately.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. They are inquisitive and they experiment.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. An experiment is a sort of harmless trial run of some action which we shall have to make in the real world; and this, whether it is made in the laboratory by scientists or by fox-cubs outside their earth.<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. The scientist experiments and the cub plays; both are learning to correct their errors of judgment in a setting in which errors are not fatal.<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Perhaps this is what gives them both their air of happiness and freedom in these activities.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nChristensen is quick to point out that not all paragraphs have a subordinate structure. The following one, which he took from Bergen Evans's Comfortable Words, is an example of what Christensen considers a coordinate sequence:\r\n
      \r\n \t
    1. He [the native speaker] may, of course, speak a form of English that marks him as coming from a rural or an unread group.<\/li>\r\n \t
    2. But if he doesn't mind being so marked, there's no reason why he should change.<\/li>\r\n \t
    3. Samuel Johnson kept a Staffordshire burr in his speech all his life.<\/li>\r\n \t
    4. In Burns' mouth the despised lowland Scots dialect served just as well as the \"correct\" English spoken by ten million of his southern contemporaries.<\/li>\r\n \t
    5. Lincoln's vocabulary and his way of pronouncing certain words were sneered at by many better educated people at the time, but he seemed to be able to use the English language as effectively as his critics.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      Paragraphs Flow When Information Is Logical<\/h2>\r\n
      \r\n

      Paragraphs provide a visual representation of your ideas. When revising your work, evaluate the logic behind how you have organized the paragraphs.<\/h3>\r\nQuestion whether your presentation would appear more logical and persuasive if you rearranged the sequence of the paragraphs. Next, question the structure of each paragraph to see if sentences need to be reordered. Determine whether you are organizing information deductively or according to chronology or according to some sense of what is most and least important. Ask yourself these five questions:\r\n
        \r\n \t
      1. How is each paragraph organized? Do I place my general statement or topic sentence near the beginning or the end of each paragraph? Do I need any transitional paragraphs or transitional sentences?<\/li>\r\n \t
      2. As I move from one idea to another, will my reader understand how subsequent paragraphs relate to my main idea as well as to previous paragraphs? Should any paragraphs be shifted in their order in the text? Should a later paragraph be combined with the introductory paragraph?<\/li>\r\n \t
      3. Should the existing paragraphs be cut into smaller segments or merged into longer ones? If I have a concluding paragraph, do I really need it?<\/li>\r\n \t
      4. Will readers understand the logical connections between paragraphs? Do any sentences need to be added to clarify the logical relationship between ideas? Have I provided the necessary forecasting and summarizing sentences that readers will need to understand how the different ideas relate to each other?<\/li>\r\n \t
      5. Have I been too blatant about transitions? Are all of the transitional sentences and paragraphs really necessary or can the reader follow my thoughts without them?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

        Paragraphs Often Follow Deductive Organization<\/h3>\r\n
        \r\n\r\nYour goals for the opening sentences of your paragraphs are similar to your goals for writing an introduction to a document. In the beginning of a paragraph, clarify the purpose. Most paragraphs in academic and technical discourse move deductively--that is, the first or second sentence presents the topic or theme of the paragraph and the subsequent sentences illustrate and explicate this theme.\r\n\r\nNotice, in particular, how Chris Goodrich cues readers to the purpose of his paragraph (and article) in the first sentence of his essay \"Crossover Dreams\":\r\n\r\nNorman Cantor, New York University history professor and author, most recently, of Inventing the Middle Ages, created a stir this spring when he wrote a letter to the newsletter of the American Historical Association declaring that \"no historian who can write English prose should publish more than two books with a university press--one for tenure, and one for full professor After that (or preferably long before) work only in the trade market.\" Cantor urged his fellow scholars to seek literary agents to represent any work with crossover potential. And he didn't stop there: As if to be sure of offending the entire academic community, Cantor added, \"If you are already a full professor, your agent should be much more important to you than the department chair or the dean.\"\r\n

        Paragraphs Use Inductive Structure for Dramatic Conclusions or Varied Style<\/h3>\r\nWhile you generally want to move from the known to the new, from the thesis to its illustration or restriction, you sometimes want to violate this pattern. Educated readers in particular can be bored by texts that always present information in the same way.\r\n\r\nFor example, how Valerie Steele's anecdotal tone and dialogue in the opening sentences of her essay on fashion in academia prepare the reader for her thesis:\r\n\r\nOnce, when I was a graduate student at Yale, a history professor asked me about my dissertation. \"I'm writing about fashion,\" I said.\r\n\r\nThat's interesting. Italian or German?\"\r\n\r\nIt took me a couple of minutes, as thoughts of Armani flashed through my mind, but finally I realized what he meant. \"Not fascism,\" I said. \"Fashion. As in Paris.\"\r\n\r\n\"Oh.\" There was a long silence, and then, without another word, he turned and walked away.\r\n\r\nFashion still has the power to reduce many academics to embarrassed or indignant silence. Some of those to whom I spoke while preparing this article requested anonymity or even refused to address the subject. (\"The F-Word.\" Lingua Franca April 1991: 17\u201318.)\r\n

        Paragraph Transitions<\/h2>\r\nEffective paragraph transitions signal to readers how two consecutive paragraphs relate to each other. The transition signals the relationship between the \u201cnew information\u201d and the \u201cold information.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor example, the new paragraph might\r\n
          \r\n \t
        • elaborate on the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n \t
        • introduce a related idea<\/li>\r\n \t
        • continue a chronological narrative<\/li>\r\n \t
        • describe a problem with the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n \t
        • describe an exception to the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n \t
        • describe a consequence or implication of the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nEffective paragraph transitions signal to readers how two consecutive paragraphs relate to each other. The transition signals the relationship between the \u201cnew information\u201d and the \u201cold information.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor example, the new paragraph might\r\n
            \r\n \t
          • elaborate on the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n \t
          • introduce a related idea<\/li>\r\n \t
          • continue a chronological narrative<\/li>\r\n \t
          • describe a problem with the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n \t
          • describe an exception to the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n \t
          • describe a consequence or implication of the idea presented in the preceding paragraph<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nLet's consider a few examples (drawn from published books and articles of paragraph transitions that work. The examples below reproduce paragraph endings and openings. Pay attention to how each paragraph opening signals to readers how the paragraph relates to the one they have just finished reading. Observe the loss in clarity when transitional signals are removed.\r\n

            Example 1:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
            Part of the Paragraph<\/th>\r\nExample Quote<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph ending<\/td>\r\n[ \u2026 ]Once his system was applied to all acts of manual labor, Taylor assured his followers, it would bring about a restructuring not only of industry but of society, creating a utopia of perfect efficiency.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph Opening with transitional cues<\/td>\r\n\u00a0Taylor\u2019s system is still<\/strong> very much with us; it remains<\/strong> the ethic of industrial manufacturing. [ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening without<\/em> transitional cues<\/td>\r\nTaylor\u2019s system is the ethic of present-day industrial manufacturing. [ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe transitional sentence signals that the new paragraph will seek to demonstrate that the phenomenon described in the preceding paragraph (Taylorism) is ongoing:\u00a0 it is \u201cstill\u201d with us and \u201cremains\u201d the dominant workplace ethic. Compare this sentence with the one directly beneath it (\u201cparagraph opening without transitional cues\u201d).\u00a0 With this version, readers are left on their own to infer the connection.\r\n

            Example 2:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
            Part of the Paragraph<\/th>\r\nExample Quote<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph ending<\/td>\r\n[ \u2026 ]\u201cI was a lit major in college, and used to be [a] voracious book reader,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d He speculates on the answer: \u201cWhat if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I\u2019m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening with transitional cues<\/td>\r\nBruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the Internet has altered his mental habits. [ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening without<\/em> transitional cues<\/td>\r\nBruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, has described how the Internet has altered his mental habits.\u00a0[ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe transitional sentence signals that the new paragraph will provide another example of the phenomenon (changed mental habits) described in the preceding paragraph. In this example, the word \u201calso\u201d serves an important function. Notice that without this transitional cue the relationship between the two paragraphs becomes less clear.\r\n

            Example 3:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
            Part of the Paragraph<\/th>\r\nExample Quote<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph Ending<\/td>\r\n[ \u2026 ]\u00a0The camera-as-narrator is the usual viewpoint in film. It can be used continuously, appearing to reflect reality, and making few mental demands on the viewer. The passive camera seems to be a trustworthy witness, and so the viewer relies upon its apparent omniscience.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening with transitional cues<\/td>\r\nBut<\/strong> the illusion of objectivity is a rhetorical device exploited by the filmmaker.\u00a0[\u2026]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening\u00a0without\u00a0<\/em>transitional cues<\/td>\r\nThe illusion of objectivity is a rhetorical device exploited by the filmmaker. [ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe transitional sentence signals that the new paragraph will challenge the assumption described in the preceding paragraph. The single transitional term \u201cbut\u201d signals this relationship.\u00a0 Notice the drop-off in clarity when the transitional term is omitted.\r\n

            Example 4:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
            Part of the Paragraph<\/th>\r\nExample Quote<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph Ending<\/td>\r\n[ \u2026 ] If the story concerns social crisis or disorder, more frequently than not this response will come from sources of official authority: the police quell the rioting, labor and management leaders reach an agreement, the State Department approves or condemns the latest coup d\u2019\u00e9tat in South America. The press in this way establishes a subtle relation between narrative order and the perception or representation of political order.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening with transitional cues<\/td>\r\nTodd Gitlin makes a similar point in commenting on the \u201corderliness\u201d of television news. [ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Paragraph opening\u00a0without<\/em>\u00a0transitional cues<\/td>\r\nTodd Gitlin comments on the \u201corderliness\u201d of television news. [ \u2026 ]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe transitional sentence signals that the new paragraph will further explore the idea expressed in the preceding paragraph.\u00a0 The phrase \u201cmakes a similar point\u201d signals this relationship.\u00a0 Without this transitional phrase, the connection between the two paragraphs can still be inferred, but it is now much less clear.\r\n\r\nAs the above examples illustrate, effective paragraph transitions signal relationships between paragraphs.\r\n\r\nBelow are some terms that are often helpful for signaling relationships among ideas.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
            Relationship Type<\/th>\r\nSignal Words<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Chronology<\/td>\r\nbefore, next, earlier, later, during, after, meanwhile, while, until, then, first, second<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Comparison<\/td>\r\nalso, similarly, likewise, in the same way, in the same manner<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Contrast<\/td>\r\nhowever, but, in contrast, still, yet, nevertheless, even though, although<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Clarity<\/td>\r\nfor example, for instance, in other words<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Continuation<\/td>\r\nand, also, moreover, additionally, furthermore, another, too<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Consequence<\/td>\r\nas a result, therefore, for this reason, thus, consequently<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
            Conclusion<\/td>\r\nin conclusion, in summary, to sum up<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n*\u00a0The examples of transitional sentences are from:\r\n
              \r\n \t
            1. Parker, Ian. \"Absolute Powerpoint.\" New Yorker. 28 May 2001: 76-87.<\/li>\r\n \t
            2. Carr, Nicholas. \u201cIs Google Making Us Stupid?\u201d Atlantic Monthly.\u00a0 Jul\/Aug2008: 56-63.<\/li>\r\n \t
            3. Harrington, John. The Rhetoric of Film.\u00a0 New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.<\/li>\r\n \t
            4. Spurr, David. The Rhetoric of Empire.\u00a0 Durham, N. C.: Duke University Press, 1993.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n