提升英语写作技能Improving your paragraph skills.ppt

Improving your paragraph skills Dr. Zhang Jingning A typical paragraph consists of Main idea Support Organization State your main idea in a topic sentence Support your main idea with plenty of specific details Organize your evidence so that the details are logically arranged, unified and coherent State your main idea Each group please choose one topic from the following list, and develop a topic sentence. Cell phones Addictive behaviors Roommates Weight loss programs Voting Reality TV Types of music State your main idea It should not be a well-know fact. It needs to be specific. It cannot be too specific. A good topic sentence is not a general fact that everyone accepts as true. For example, cars use gasoline. A good topic sentence is specific. SUVs are useful is not a good topic sentence because it is too general. SUVs are useful to parents with three or more children is a good topic sentence. A good topic sentence is not too specific. An SUV can hold up to six adults limits the topic. The supporting details have already been stated. In some paragraphs the main idea is implied, which means there is no topic sentence. Support your main idea State facts to be convincing Julia Roberts is a versatile actress In Pretty Woman she plays a likeable prostitute. In Notting Hill she plays a famous actress who falls in love with an ordinary man. In Mona Lisa’s Smile, she plays an unconventional professor at a traditional women’s college in the 1950s. Support your main idea Provide reasons to explain So far, our community has remained safe even though we live near a high-crime area One reason is that the city has installed quartz halogen bulbs in the street lights to make it harder for criminals to hide. Police make regular neighborhood patrols. Also we have a successful neighborhood watch program. Support your main idea Give examples to clarify My grandmother’s house is a collection of aromas, odors and fragrances The aroma of chocolate chip coo