提示单
WRITING PARAGRAPHS

段落是一堆具体观点的集合，这些观点都清楚地与一个总体观点相关. That is, 一个 paragraph is about 一个 事情.

Paragraphs are 不 particularly glamorous, 但有力的段落是有力的论文和研究论文的支柱. 相反, as much as sentence-level errors, paragraph-level errors drag down the quality and clarity of writing. 使用以下关于统一的技巧来审视你自己的段落, 一致性, 订单, and length to determine how best to improve your own work.

一件事:团结 & 主题句
A paragraph has unity; that is, it makes 一个 point about a single 主要思想. 而 主题 of a paragraph may be expressed in a word or phrase, the 主要思想 must be expressed in a sentence. 陈述主要思想或中心观点的句子是主题句. 的 主题句 is a sort of summary of the contents of a paragraph:

示例1:
My family's property in Guatemala was an active place, full of life. 我们有一个生动活泼的小农场，在那里我们种了各种各样的果树和鲜花，还养了动物. 野生动物 were frequent visitors. As a family we were all active taking care of our responsibilities. 我爸爸喜欢照顾动物，尤其是当它们还小的时候. He liked being close to them, helping and feeding them.

为了识别 主题 对于上面的段落，问这个问题:“这段是关于什么的??" 的 answer: "her family's farm in Guatemala.“那, to identify the 主题句 (or to determine if 一个 exists), 问, "What about the farm in Guatemala?" 的 answer: "的 farm was active and full of life."

上面带下划线的主题句作为该段的第一句话出现. However, it might easily have been placed at the end:

 

示例2:
在危地马拉，我们有一个生动的小农场，我们在那里种植各种各样的果树和花卉，并饲养动物. 野生动物 were frequent visitors. As a family we were all active taking care of our responsibilities. 我爸爸喜欢照顾动物，尤其是当它们还小的时候. He liked being close to them, helping and feeding them. My family's property was an active place, full of life.

或者，作者可以把主题句放在中间的某个地方:

示例3:
在危地马拉，我们有一个生动的小农场，我们在那里种植各种各样的果树和花卉，并饲养动物. My family's property was an active place, full of life. ...

In 例子s two and three above, 第一句不是主题句，因为它不够宽泛，不能“涵盖”(把主题句想象成一把伞)后面的所有句子——参观野生动物并没有“涵盖”在关于种植水果、鲜花和饲养动物的陈述之下. 另一方面, every sentence in this paragraph is “掩盖”在农场活跃和充满生命的声明下，包括野生动物.

Check to see if your own paragraphs have 主题句; most paragraphs should. (Implied 主要思想s, 或者在段落的任何一句话中都找不到的主要思想，即使段落有, 事实上, 有团结, are 不 for beginners.) 的 test is whether 段落中所有或大部分其他材料都支持作为主题句的句子. If your paragraph lacks a 主题句, 检查段落的细节，并构建一个句子来“覆盖”它们.

团结 & major and minor supporting details
While you are examining your paragraphs, especially in an essay, you may discover sentences with details that do 不 belong, or sentences that are 不 grouped logically. 只有当你发现很难构建一个足够宽泛的逻辑主题句来涵盖该段的所有内容时，你才会意识到这一点. When you find these out-of-place sentences, remove them. Never mind word count–more sentences will 不 如果段落与主题句没有明显的联系，请帮助段落. (In longer papers, remove unrelated sentences but save them; you may find that this deleted material fits better somewhere else in your paper.) In any paragraph, 每个不是主题句的句子都应该包含主要或次要的支持细节.

Major support consists of the bigger ideas; minor support gives an 例子, 插图, 或解释. In the 例子 above, the major supporting details about the 主题, “我家的农场," are 1) it was an active place and 2) it was full of life. 为了完善这一描述，更充分地支持这两点, we can add additional minor supporting details, 强调如下:

My family's property in Guatemala was an active place, full of life. 野生动物 such as 野猫队 和土狼 were frequent visitors. 我们有一个生动活泼的小农场，在那里我们种了各种各样的果树和鲜花，还养了动物. As a family we were all active taking care of our responsibilities. 我们喜欢照顾猪、鸭、鸟、马和鸡. My dad built a coop especially for the chickens and ducks, which were the largest group of animals we had. 到了吃饭的时候，它们都同时出来，散布在田地的四周. It was nice to see the animals scattered around singing their songs. 我爸爸喜欢照顾动物，尤其是当它们还小的时候. He liked being close to them, helping and feeding them. I, however, preferred to pick fruits or water the plants.

每个增加的句子都支持并与主题句所表达的主要思想有关.

Making sense: 一致性 & 转换
Remember that it is 不 the reader's job to make your writing make sense; it is your responsibility to make understanding effortless. 转换 are signals that help you do this. 这些单词和短语表明了一个句子和另一个句子之间的确切关系, often in advance by their placement near the beginnings of sentences. 读者在读到句末之前就明白你是否打算表达, 例如, 对比, 插图, additional points, or cause and effect. 转换 also clarify the purpose (inform? 说服? 娱乐? 解释?) and 订单 (空间? time? 重要性?(一段的).

在前面的例子中，“such as”告诉读者后面会有例子. 在这种情况下，作者给出了两个参观农场的野生动物的例子. “然而”与前面的想法形成对比(她更喜欢与植物打交道，而她父亲更喜欢照顾动物).

下面的例子只是你可以使用的各种转换的一个很小的例子:

的se 转换 signal that you are adding information 或者点: 此外 此外 也	的se 转换 signal 空间 顺序: 除了 附近的 在远端 最近的
的se 转换 signal that you are comparing like characteristics 或者点: 类似的 同样的 这两个	的se 转换 signal that you are giving a specific 例子 of a preceding point: 例如 特别是 为了说明
的se 转换 signal 对比, or differences, in characteristics 或者点: 虽然 另一方面 然而,	的se 转换 signal 重要性: 最重要的是 肯定 尤其是 特别是
的se 转换 signal 原因或结果: 自 因为 因此	的se 转换 signal time 顺序: 最近 短暂的 目前

 

 

 

 

一致性 & 订单
因为作为一个作家，让你的作品有意义是你的责任, 选择一种合适的方式来排列段落中的信息. It is fairly intuitive, even for beginners, to use time, or 按时间顺序排列, 订单 to 解释 how to do some事情 (first, next, finally) or to narrate a story (meanwhile, at last). It is 不 always as intuitive to choose 空间 订单 in description. When a writer uses 空间 订单, 他构建的描述就好像一个摄像机在一个场景中流畅地移动. Space 订单 can move left to right, 从下到上, 从近到远, or in any other 订单ly way, depending on the effect you wish to achieve. If your purpose is to 说服, 解释, or argue a point, 订单 of 重要性 (more to less important or least to most important) is appropriate. For purposes of persuasion, 把你的观点从最不重要的到最重要的顺序排列可能会很有效, creating a climactic effect; however, for essay exams and most business writing, place your most important points first.

一致性 & 关键字
Make it impossible (well, 不可能, anyway) for a reader to misunderstand you or miss your point, by repeating important 关键字 or synonyms for those 关键字:

的 land was fruitful, 丰富的, and productive. It had a tropical climate and a generous amount of rainfall. 的re was a lot of vegetation and every事情 was green and 开花. 河水泛滥，山上树木茂密. 的 mornings were immaculate, very sunny and clear, and the fields were 丰富的ly cultivated and filled with wildflowers. 这片土地的繁殖力产生了各种各样的动物，包括各种各样的小型爬行动物，如蜥蜴和蛇, insects such as crickets and dragonflies, and wild animals such as monkeys, 野猫队, 和土狼.

的 例子 above abounds in synonyms for fruitful, 丰富的, and productive: generous, 开花, 丰富的, 厚, 丰富的ly cultivated, 多产的, 多样化的. 特别是 when you are writing about complicated processes, 让重复关键词成为你的责任，增加读者的连续性感.

团结, 一致性, 订单-and length
How long should a paragraph be? As Lewis Carroll said, "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.这就是, 当你的主题句和相关的主要细节已经完全展开时, 完成了. 五句话、十二句话或二十句话——一段话应该尽可能长. 那些指定了最短段落长度的老师希望你能习惯 完全 developing your subject; if you know yourself to be a beginning writer, you might assign yourself this minimum until you are more fluent.

承担责任，在你的写作中精心设计和打磨意义，以实现统一和连贯. 通过测试你的写作主题句和相关的支持句, and by choosing an 订单 and 转换 appropriate to your subject, 观众, 和目的, you should see 不iceable improvement in all your papers.