ENTRY # 6 Structured Paragraph Writing

Structured Paragraph Writing

Writing Structured Paragraph

Three elements for successful writing:                                               

•          formal style
•          correct punctuation
•          paragraphing: clear and logical organization of the material to write

Paragraph:

•         a distinctive section in a piece of writing
•          contains related sentences.
•          deals and states one main idea/topic/concept
•          physically easy to identify: a new line for each paragraph.
•          well organized → interrelation and clear link between sentences (cohesion)
•          three qualities to construct a successful paragraph:

o   unity:

§  All sentences in a paragraph must show the same idea.

o   coherence:

§  all sentences clearly related and stick together

§  makes an easy reading

§  create a logical bridge from one sentence to another by:

-        repeating key words

-        substituting keywords with synonyms.

-        using pronouns to already mentioned nouns.

-        using transition words to progress through the text (E.g.: as a result, furthermore, similarly) and to indicate chronological order and relationships.

o   development:

§  the main idea is supported with evidence and examples to give it validity.

§  holds the readers’  interest and explores the topic fully

§  format: use detail and evidence to support the topic sentence.

§  illustrate the point with examples → convinced the reader that the topic sentence statement is valid.

·        parts of a paragraph:

o   Topic sentence

§  Opening and first sentence that clearly state the main idea of the paragraph.

§  Interesting topic and opinion.

§  Not over detailed.

§  Attract reader’s attention.

§  May go elsewhere

§  Includes two parts:

-        The topic, which is the subject of the paragraph-- what to write about

-        The controlling idea, which is the comment about the topic and might answer to a wh-question (who, where, when, what, why, how), each of which is to be developed on one different paragraph.

o   Body

§  heart of the paragraph

§  supporting details/arguments for the topic sentence.

§  solid and concrete details in order of importance or chronology.

§  two ways for ordering details.

-        by order of importance: the strongest argument (that stands out)

-        order of chronology of events: specific order in which an event happens

o   concluding sentence

§  summarize the main points of the paragraphs

§  may not be present.

§  in a long paragraph helps summarize the main idea.

§  gives the reader a final comment on the topic.

§  leaves the reader with the most important ideas.

§  last thing the reader reads: last impression

§  has two functions:

-         remind audience what you are writing about → restate topic sentence in a different way.

-        keeping them thinking.

T.E.E Rule

·         T : Topic sentence

·         E: Explain

·         E: Example / Evidence

Introducing paragraph:               

•         must state the topic of assignment and a briefly comment of its importance → catch the reader attention and go directly to the point of the essay.
•          state the main argument/issue discussed.
•          give intention of how you intend to answer the question → state your plan
• 
  

Concluding paragraph: 

•          summarize the main point by using different words and changing the way not the contents in a few sentences
•          state assignment main conclusions.
•          must satisfy the reader → the question must be answered.    
•          make it original and striking
•          use your own voice and opinion

Closing paragraph

•          has to keep readers thinking after they finish reading
•          don´t:

o   introduce new material

o   end with a generalization

o   use quotation

Sources

Parts of a Paragraph - English Academic Writing Introduction. (2009). Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cCuExRE6N-4. Retrieved: May 25, 2013

Writing Structured Paragraphs. (2009). Available at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w183qB0KDFg. Retrieved: May 25, 2013

Students:

• Caputto, Natalia
• Sarramea, Carolina

Citations and Bibliographies in APA Style

Citations and Bibliographies in APA Style

According to the capitalization in reference lists, it is only capitalize the first letter of all words in periodical titles. For other titles (i.e. books, articles, or Web pages) it is capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle, and proper nouns.

ARTICLES

Journal Article (print):

For articles with up to and including 7 authors, include the names of all authors.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), pages.

Kozma, A., & Stones, M. J. (1983). Re-validation of the Memorial University of Newfoundland scale of happiness.

    Canadian Journal on Aging, 2(1), 27-29.

Newspaper Article (online, no doi):

Provide URL of newspaper's homepage only if doi is not available. Omit page numbers for online newspaper articles.

Author, A. A. (Year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from

    http://newspaper homepage address

Hurley, C. (2009, October 24). Suzuki encourages Newfoundlanders to join the world in demonstration on climate change. The Western Star. Retrieved from http://www.thewesternstar.com/

BOOKS

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.

For location, give city name & and state/province abbreviation. Outside North America, spell out city & country names.

Grenfell, W. T. (1919). A Labrador doctor: The autobiography of Wilfred Thomason Grenfell. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Rutherfurd, E. (1988). Sarum. London, UK: Arrow Books

E-Books

Provide the doi number (Digital Object Identifier) or a URL. Only use a URL if the doi is not available.

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. doi:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moorcroft, W. H. (2005). Understanding sleep and dreaming. doi:10.1007/0-387-28698-5

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Retrieved from http://URL

Holland, N. N. (1982). Laughing: A psychology of humor. Retrieved from

    http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/UFDC.aspx?n=palmm&c=psa1&m=hd2J&i=45367

Edited Book

State the editor(s) instead of author, followed by (Ed.) or, for multiple editors (Eds.).

Wright, M. J., & Myers, C. R. (Eds.). (1983). History of academic psychology in Canada. Toronto, Canada: Hogrefe and Huber.

WEBSITES

If no author is available, begin entry with the title. If no publication date is available, use (n.d.) for "no date".

Author, A. A. (Year, Month day). Title of web page/document. Retrieved from http://URL to specific page

Rose, C. (2012, November 12). How to write citations and bibliographies in APA style. Retrieved from

    http://www.library.mun.ca/guides/howto/apa.php

Newfoundland and Labrador Environment Network. (2011, October 7). Voting for the environment: Environment Network releases review of party policies. Retrieved from http://www.nlen.ca/issues/forests/voting-for-the-environment-environment-network-releases-review-of-party-policies/

Newfoundland government rejects environmental impact statement for nickel plant. (2008, November 28). Retrieved from     http://www.miningwatch.ca/newfoundland-government-rejects-environmental-impact-statement-nickel-plant-0

Biography of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (1977-). (1999,n.d.).

Retrieved from http://www.gradesaver.com/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/

Dictionary/Encyclopedia (Print):

Author, A. A. (if available). (Year). Title of entry. In B. B. Editor (Ed.), Title of dictionary/encyclopedia (p. page number). Location: Publisher.

Facial expression. (2007). In G.R. VandenBos (Ed.), APA dictionary of psychology (pp. 362-3). Washington, DC:

    American Psychological Association.

Dictionary/Encyclopedia (Online):

Provide the doi number (Digital Object Identifier) or a URL. Only use a URL if the doi is not available. If there are no page numbers, the entry title is sufficient.

Author, A. A. (if available). (Year). Title of entry. In B.B. Editor (Ed.), Title of dictionary/encyclopedia. (p. page number). doi:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx OR Retrieved from http://URL

Roesch, S. (2006). Coping mechanisms. In Y. K. Jackson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of multicultural psychology. Retrieved from http://www.sage-ereference.com.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/multiculturalpsychology/Article_n53.html

Movie:

Producer, A. A. (Producer/s), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country

    of origin: Studio.

Bender, L., Burns, S. Z., & David, L. (Producers), & Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2006). An inconvenient truth [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount.

sources:

Memorial University Libraries. Available at: http://www.library.mun.ca/guides/howto/apa.php. Retrieved: May 20, 2013

She is a writer

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born September 15, 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria. She was raised in Nsukka near the University of Nigeria. Her father, James Nwoye Adichie, was a professor of statistics and later became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University. Her mother, Ifeoma Adichie, became the first female registrar at the University.  Chimamanda is of Igbo descent that belong to an ancestral home.She was an A student that  received several academic awards.  When she was 19, she left Nigeria on a scholarship to Drexel University in Philadelphia to study communication and earned a degree there. Later that year, she began MFA courses in literature at Johns Hopkins University where she got credits with her literary success.  After reading Chinua Achebe, masterwork Things Fall Apart at the age of 10 , she realized that people who looked like her could exist in books. Her desire to write was sparked by his work. In 2003, Purple Hibiscus was published to wide acclaim, and together with her second novel Half of a Yellow Sun about the Biafran War, she was awarded with many prizes. Adichie tries to combat the image of Africans as portrayed by Western media. Choosing to write first from her experience as an affluent and educated Nigerian, she was often criticized for shying away from the “real” Africa. But she struggled to write characters who were not starving, bullied or with AIDS. She is a staunch feminist and uses her work as a way to work through the misogyny and condescension she has faced as an African woman in the global literary community. She married to a Maryland-based doctor, and splits her time between the United States and Nigeria.

The Danger of a Single Story

In the first presentation, the author talks about the danger of telling a single story as a writer as well as to keep only to what we are told as readers. Specially with children that happen to be very impressionable and vulnerable when they are told a story. As a child, when the writer read only foreign books, about things she did not know, she believed those were the only stories. However, a  mental shift in her perception appeared when she discovered African literature with topics she recognized. It was the beginning of a new world that saved her from knowing a single story.  Single stories have the power to be greater than others, depending on what is told, on who tells the story and on how many times is told. In fact, one character from a book is not representative of all the inhabitant of a certain place. Personal impressions from authors show only one part of the story, and sometimes it is a negative image. Single stories create stereotypes by showing  incomplete versions that sometimes are not true and make that story an only version. The author advises on engaging in all aspects of one character and emphasize on the similarities rather than the differences with the reader. In order to balance a story,it is essential to see both sides and get a complete picture. The importance of books is that they could empower, regain or breake human dignity. As readers, she advises on  rejecting single stories, because there is never one, and to enrich ourselves by pursuing and knowing the complete version.

In the second lecture, the author exposes that books have the wonderful ability to enlarge imagination. The audience as readers are responsible from moving the writing from a private to a public space. She also talks about her preference for the realistic literature where real human beings live in real places. Although the world of real literature is not the real world, it is the most humanized one because it infuses meaning. She speaks of the danger of turning facts into truth and the importance of books as vehicles to achieve the  truth in searching for humanity. The world emphasizes on facts and numbers while human desires are shelved. A pursue of a coexistance of these factors with human stories is needed, to get to know how other people live,  to embrace empathy by getting to know others so as to realize how people share a common and equal humanity. Literature focus on the difference among people, so as to truly see them, and find how similar they are in the eyes of their differences. And the thrill lies on the magnificent difference of the world that  is share in the quest for values. Every human being is to be valued and their hearts to be nourished. Books have the power to transcend the writer and the importance of its content includes the possibility of a secret knowledge. While emotions such as love and dignity matter and lead us to act, facts convince. Nigeria, as a British colony, was imposed a foreign language and culture through books. Ideas are put through words, not only for entertainment but also for the population to learn english manners. As a result, to write realistic literature is to create citizenship. And the value of a person is precisely given by citizenship. Although, the weight of assumptions and negative connotations is very strong, the importance of real literature is the transmission of a sense of sensibility. Clearly, visions of Africa by westerns  writers are not accurate and show the significance of colonial influence that resulted in the loss of language, identities, dignity and its inheritance to successive  generations.

Sources:

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story.(n,d). Retrieved from 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D9Ihs241zeg

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Commonwealth Lecture 2012.(2012). Retrieved from 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vmsYJDP8g2U
Biography of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (1977-). (1999). Retrieved from http://www.gradesaver.com/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/

Metacognitive Analysis

On her last visit to Argentina, the world famous economist Carine Imhoff, stated that the present situation on our country is becoming really problematic on different aspects. To begin with, education is still way behind Europe. That is to say there is a small budget for materials, teachers and school equipment. Besides, the increase on strikes reduce the class days. Secondly, the Health Service is in crisis. Not only reality shows a lack of supplies for hospitals, but also that doctors are badly paid. As for the economy, there is no immediate sign of an end to the recession. In addition, there is no interest in investments from other countries.

These conclusions come from an interesting editor´s letter published last sunday on an important newspaper. Patrick Eggli, the man that wrote it, remark the main points from the conference he attended on ‘ The current situation on underdeveloped countries’. Argentina was mentioned as a clear example of the problematic situation.The specialist also suggested some stages that would be advisable to follow as part of a recovery plan.

Metacognitive Analysis

According to the text on Academic Writing, I wrote a narrative with a formal register that is shown through the use of formal connectors and special lexis, as well as avoiding the use of modals and phrasal verbs.

I am a writer - improved version

(improved version)

I am a writer

When I narrate a story I try to attract the readers’ attention. I also show my feeling and thoughts. After developing all the ideas in different paragraphs, I end with a conclusion to summarize the main points.

First, I make a brainstorming in order to get all my ideas together. Sometimes, for certain topics, I need to make a research  in the web and books to get special information as well as to support the main ideas . In general, I consult different authors. After rearranging the sequence of facts, I pay close attention to tenses, vocabulary, cohesion and coherence. This is very important because I want my audience to understand my message.  The sentences have to be comprehensible and the paragraphs in a correct order, so that the story flows and is followed without trouble.

Concerning the register and type of vocabulary, it is the audience and context that would determine them. Sometimes pieces of information are omitted on purpose, for instance when there is a shared information among writer and reader. Although writing is a difficult task, it is a reward when our work receives a nice comment.

I am a writer - original version

ENTRY N° 2: Original version

I am a writer

When a narrate a story , I try to attract the reader’s attention. First, I make a brainstorming in order to get all my ideas together. After rearranging the sequence of facts, I pay special attention to the tenses, vocabulary, cohesion and coherence. The words in the sentences have to make sense. They have to be easily understood, together with the syntax and word order. The paragraphs have to be in order so the reader can follow the sequence of the story.

It is important to bare in mind the audience’s background knowledge and to situate the story within a context. The audience is a very important matter because it will determine the kind of language and register that I have to use.  For instance, if I am adressing a friend and retelling my holidays I would use informal language or if I am directing a letter to apply for a job position I would use formal language.

So as to make my story more realistic, I make a research on the topic. I get different points of view from different authors.

There are different kinds of stories. Sometimes it is about narrating an event. The idea is that anyone that reads the paper should understand the piece. We tend to omit certain information because we think that the audience already knows it or should know it. A writer has something to tell when he decides to write. It feels a reward to know that someone will read it.

WELCOME

My name is Carolina Sarramea. I am a fourth year student at the Teaching Training College N° 18.  This is my first blog for Language and Written Expression IV.