Organizing information

Topic sentences and paragraphing

Adapted from: 1) Turner, Dorothy. Writing Topic Sentences. University of Ottawa.2) Academic Writing in English website (http://sana.tkk.fi/awe) 3) Johnson-Sheehan, Richard (Dr.), Purdue OWL, ppt. How to Achieve Coherence at a Micro level (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/ppt/2008_Micro_727.ppt#259,1,How to Achieve Coherence at a Micro Level)

CONTENT• Topic sentences

• Analysing a topic sentence

• Developing and building paragraphs

• Presenting information

What is a topic sentence and what does it do?

TOPIC SENTENCES• A topic sentence (or a focus sentence)

organizes an entire paragraph.

• Works in two directions simultaneously:– relates the paragraph to the essay's thesis,

acting as a signpost for the argument of the paper as a whole

– defines the scope of the paragraph itself.

Analyzing a topic sentence

1. Topic sentence = #1 (but not always!)2. general statement

– wider in its scope than the rest of the sentences in that paragraph.

– should be general enough so that it can be supported by specific details in later sentences.

3. Topic sentences should always contain both a topic and a controlling idea.

The topic typically occurs before the verb and is what the paragraph is about, while the controlling idea is what you want to say about the topic.

4. The controlling idea should be repeated (preferably, in subject position) in each of the sentences that follow the topic sentence

The topic sentence…

• …introduces a new topic, – The Finnish higher education system consists of

universities and polytechnics

• enumerative (listing) paragraph – There are a number of good reasons for

immigrating to Finland.

• or a claim of some sort. – Finnish is an easy language to learn

What’s the topic sentence here?

Business school professors perennially debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents oneach side. Human resource experts maintain that keeping an old employee requires fewer man hours for training and orientation. However, management gurus insist that having the right person in the right position increases the overall productivity of a team or workgroup. Betweenthese two arguments are the economists who study new hiring practices in a company-specific context.

Topic sentence…sentences?

Business school professors perenniallydebate over whether maintaining an oldemployee is more costly than hiring a new one.+The issue has strong proponents onEach side.= total picture

A better choice?

The debate over whether maintaining an oldemployee is more costly than hiring a newone has strong proponents on both sides.(both because a debate traditionally has two

sides…)

CLARITY IS KEY!

For more information on topic sentences…

http://sana.tkk.fi/awe/cohesion/topsen/index.html

http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/

Developing paragraphsA paragraph…• is used to narrate, describe, compare and contrast or

analyze information• is well-structured when every sentence develops the

point made in the topic sentence.• must have a single focus and it must contain no

irrelevant facts.

Every sentence must contribute to the paragraph byexplaining, exemplifying, or expanding the topic sentence.

Ask yourself…“What main point am I trying to convey here?" (topic sentence)

"Does every sentence clearly relate to this idea?"

How do I put a paragraph together?

(Define it)

Other possible elements…

• Reasons (explanations)

• Arguments

• Data/facts (explanation/example)

• Analysis (compare/contrast, cause-effect)

Take out your reference articles!

• Switch your article with the person sitting next to you.***• Pick 3 random paragraphs• Analyze them for the elements talked about so far:

– Topic sentence – topic and controlling idea– Paragraph building – topic sentence, explanation, example,

concluding/summarizing closing sentence, other possible elements?

• ***If you are doing this on your own, use your own reference article for this.

Coherence and Cohesion

• Coherent: logically ordered

• Cohesive: the connections between things

• Adhesive = glue

Improving flow in a paragraph - cohesion

• ’givennew’ principle– The idea is that the brain responds to ’old’

information first. It is easier to process the ’new’ information based on the ’old’ information.

• For example:

For example

Business school professors perennially debate overwhether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on

each side.

Red: new information

Blue: old information (The issue = whether maintaining…)

Example – can you find the given-new?

Business school professors perennially debate overwhether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on

each side. Human resource experts maintain that keeping an old employee requires fewer man hours for training and orientation. However, management gurus insist that having the right person in the right position increases the overall productivity of a team or workgroup. Betweenthese two arguments are the economists who study new hiring practices in a company-specific context.

Notice the Given-New structure

Business school professors perennially debate over

whether maintaining an old employee is more costly

than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on

each side. Human resource experts maintain that keeping

an old employee requires fewer man hours for training and

orientation. However, management gurus insist

that having the right person in the right position increases

the overall productivity of a team or workgroup. Between

these two arguments are the economists who study new

hiring practices in a company-specific context.

new information = red old information = blue

Presenting info

• ’light before heavy’ = short simple subject first.

• Nouns building blocks of a sentence.

• Noun phrases one head noun + a lot of stuff defining it.– These can be veeerrrrrrryyyyy long.

• 7+2 principle – we can’t remember much past the 9th word of a sentence

What’s wrong with this sentence?

We have shipped the Environmental Protection Agency's National Homeland Security Research Center in Cincinnati, Ohio an EDS system.

• What have we shipped?

• Where has it been shipped?

New and improved…

We have shipped an EDS system to

the Enivironmental Protection

 Agency's National Homeland

Security Research Center in

Cincinnati.

= put the important info first, right up front!

How do I know when to start a new paragraph?

You should start a new paragraph :• when you begin a new idea or point. • to contrast information or ideas. • when your readers need a pause. • when you are ending your introduction

or starting your conclusion.

Taken from: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/

Back to the reference article

Go back to your 3 random paragraphs:

Check how the information is organized

in each sentence. Do they follow the

givennew, light before heavy

principles?

Other coherence and cohesion builders (Homework 1)• READING!!

• Definitions and examples – Chapters 2.5-2.6

• Rhetorical devices = linking words– Chapter 2.1 – 2.4

• Organizing flow:

http://sana.tkk.fi/awe/cohesion/infostrux/flow/index.html

Homework 2

• Pick 3 paragraphs*** in your reference article and go through it for things we looked at today (including the homework). Make notes in the margins – we’ll be discussing it in class next week!

• ***For those of you working on this on your own, you don’t need to do this – it was done earlier.