Chapter 4
Overview
Welcome to Chapter 4.
In Chapter 3, you learned how to
l
draft a
document and
l
revise a
document to make sure it is complete.
In this chapter you'll continue to learn how to revise
what you write. You'll concentrate on the paragraphs of your written documents.
In other words, you'll learn how to make your paragraphs
cohesive.
-
Plan
-
Organise
-
Draft
-
Revise
-
Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to revise your
paragraphs and make them cohesive.
Do you know what cohesive means?
Cohesive: when all the parts are related to form a
whole.
You'll make your paragraphs cohesive by learning two
things:
1) define a cohesive paragraph and
2) write a cohesive paragraph using
l
a topic
sentence
l
supporting
sentences and
l
transitions.
Being Cohesive: What Is A Paragraph?
Look at the following letter. In Chapter 3, you revised
it to make it complete. But something is still wrong. Do you know what it is?
|
22 April 200X
Ms Fiona Green
100 Clearwater Bay
Road
Sai Kung NT
Dear Ms Green
PPS
I refer to your recent communication, and for your
information please be advised that the PPS details and application form
were sent to you at an earlier date. If you complete and return the form
to us, we can process your application immediately. Thank you for your
kind attention.
Yours sincerely
Clever Man |
Answer:
|
Clever Man
Manager
Smart Branch
What's wrong with this letter?
Can you see that
it
only has one paragraph?
the
paragraph is very long?
there
are several unrelated ideas in the paragraph?
As a result, the paragraph in this letter is not
cohesive.
You need to revise paragraphs like
this.
To achieve this, you need to know the answer to the
following question:
What is a cohesive paragraph?
|
Before you can write a cohesive paragraph, you need to
know what a cohesive paragraph is.
Do you know what a cohesive paragraph
is?
Choose the option that you think best describes a
cohesive paragraph.
1. A cohesive paragraph is one long sentence containing
many unrelated ideas or subjects.
2. A cohesive paragraph is a group of unrelated sentences
containing many unrelated ideas or subjects.
3. A cohesive paragraph is a group of sentences related
to one another by a single idea or subject.
4. A cohesive paragraph is one long sentence containing
one idea or subject.
Learning Point 1
A paragraph is a group of sentences related to one
another by a single subject or idea.
All the sentences in a paragraph should be related to
that one idea.
If they're related, then the paragraph will be
cohesive.
Remember: one paragraph, one idea. Begin a new paragraph
each time you introduce a new idea.
Now take a blank sheet of paper and try to revise the
letter from Clever Man to Ms Green.
|
22 April 200X
Ms Fiona Green
100 Clearwater Bay
Road
Sai Kung NT
Dear Ms Green
PPS
I refer to your recent communication, and for your
information please be advised that the PPS details and application form
were sent to you at an earlier date. If you complete and return the form
to us, we can process your application immediately. Thank you for your
kind attention.
Yours sincerely
Clever Man
Clever Man
Manager
Smart Branch |
|
22 April 200X
Ms Fiona Green
100 Clearwater Bay
Road
Sai Kung NT
Dear Ms Green
PPS
I refer to your recent
communication.
For your information please be advised that the PPS
details and application form were sent to you at an earlier
date.
If you complete and return the form to us, we can
process your application immediately.
Thank you for your kind
attention.
Yours sincerely
Clever Man
Clever Man
Manager
Smart Branch |
Now there are four paragraphs instead of one. Each of
these paragraphs, though, contains just one sentence. You can have only one
sentence in a paragraph. However, a paragraph usually contains more than one
sentence.
The rule is: New idea, new paragraph
You can practise this rule in the following
exercise.
The ten sentences below all describe a market. Look at
the sentences and then answer the questions in boxes A and B.
The building
between Henessey
Road and Lockhart Road is the market.
It was built
in 1875.
The market
sells fresh food, like fish.
It also
sells fruit.
It also
sells vegetables.
It used to
sell meat.
Meat is now
sold in the supermarket.
The market
is open seven days a week.
It is open
from 7 am to 1 pm and then again from 4 pm to 8 pm.
It is closed
during the New Year Holiday.
|
A:
If you were writing an essay on the subject of the
market using these sentences, how many paragraphs do you think you would
need?
1，2，3，4 |
B:
What would be the main ideas of each of these
paragraphs?
Henessey Road
The building
The food
Opening times
|
The three paragraphs below contain the ten sentences from
the above exercise.
1. The building The building between Henessey Road and
Lockhart
Road is the market. It was built in 1875.
2. The food The market sells fresh food, like fish. It
also sells fruit. It also sells vegetables. It used to sell meat. Meat is now
sold in the supermarket.
3. Opening times The market is open seven days a week. It
is open from 7 am to 1 pm and then again from 4 pm to 8 pm. It is closed during
the New Year Holiday.
Each of these paragraphs contains a group of sentences
that are related to a single idea. Can you identify the idea in each paragraph?
Answers:
Paragraph 1 talks about the building: where it's located
and when it was built. It doesn't talk about anything else.
Paragraph 2 talks about the different kinds of food that
were sold and are sold now. It doesn't talk about anything else.
Paragraph 3 talks about the opening times. It doesn't
talk about anything else.
下一節我們將學習什么樣的段落才算Cohesive Paragraph，不要錯過哦！
（來源：中國物流論壇 實習生江巍 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）
我要學習更多商務英語
