TIP Sheet
写段落

A paragraph is a cohesive bundle of specific ideas that are all clearly related to one general idea. 也就是说，有一段是关于 one thing.

段落并不是特别吸引人, but strong paragraphs are the backbones of strong essays and research papers. Conversely, 和句子级的错误一样多, 段落级别的错误会降低写作的质量和清晰度. Take a critical look at your own paragraphs using the following tips on unity, coherence, order, 和长度来决定如何最好地提高自己的工作.

One thing: Unity & topic sentences
A paragraph has unity; that is, it makes one point about a single main idea. While the topic 一个段落可以用一个词或短语来表达 main idea 必须用一个句子来表达吗. The sentence that states the main idea or central point is the topic sentence. The topic sentence 是对一段内容的一种总结:

Example 1:
我家在危地马拉的房产是个活跃的地方，充满了生机. We had a small vivid farm where we grew all sorts of fruit trees and flowers and raised animals. 野生动物是这里的常客. 作为一个家庭，我们都积极地履行自己的责任. My dad loved taking care of the animals, especially when they were young. 他喜欢靠近它们，帮助它们，喂它们.

To identify the topic of the paragraph above, ask the question, "What is the paragraph about?答案是:“她家在危地马拉的农场。." Then, 识别主题句(或确定是否存在主题句), ask, “危地马拉的农场怎么样?答案是:“这个农场很活跃，充满了生机。."

The underlined topic sentence above occurs as the first sentence of the paragraph. 然而，它可能很容易被放在最后:

 

Example 2:
In Guatemala we had a small vivid farm where we grew all sorts of fruit trees and flowers and raised animals. 野生动物是这里的常客. 作为一个家庭，我们都积极地履行自己的责任. My dad loved taking care of the animals, especially when they were young. 他喜欢靠近它们，帮助它们，喂它们. 我家的庄园是个活跃的地方，充满了生机.

Or, the author could have placed the topic sentence somewhere in the middle:

Example 3:
In Guatemala we had a small vivid farm where we grew all sorts of fruit trees and flowers and raised animals. 我家的庄园是个活跃的地方，充满了生机. ...

在上面的例子2和3中, the first sentence is not the topic sentence because it is not broad enough to "cover" (think of the topic sentence as an umbrella) all the sentences that follow–the visits of wild animals are not "covered" under the statement about growing fruits and flowers and raising animals. 另一方面，这段话的每一句话 is "covered" under the statement that the farm was active and full of life, including wildlife.

Check to see if your own paragraphs have topic sentences; most paragraphs should. (隐含的主要思想, or main ideas that are not found in any one sentence of a paragraph even though the paragraph does, in fact, have unity, 不适合初学者.问题的关键在于是否 all or most of the other material in the paragraph supports the sentence intended to be the topic sentence. 如果你的段落缺少主题句, examine the details of your paragraph and construct a sentence to "cover" them.

Unity & 主要和次要的支持细节
当你检查段落的时候, 尤其是在文章中, 你可能会发现句子中有不属于你的细节, 或者没有逻辑分组的句子. You may only realize this when you find it difficult to construct a logical topic sentence broad enough to cover everything in that paragraph. 当你发现这些不合适的句子时，把它们删掉. 不要在意字数——更多的句子会 not help the paragraph if they are not clearly related to the topic sentence. (在较长的论文中, remove unrelated sentences but save them; you may find that this deleted material fits better somewhere else in your paper.)在任何段落中, every sentence that is not the topic sentence should be a sentence containing either major or minor supporting details.

Major support consists of the bigger ideas; minor support gives an example, illustration, or explanation. 在上面的例子中, 关于主题的主要支持细节, “我家的农场,“1)它是一个活跃的地方，2)它充满了生命. To round out this description and more fully support these two points, 我们可以添加额外的次要支持细节, 强调如下:

我家在危地马拉的房产是个活跃的地方，充满了生机. Wild animals 比如野猫和土狼 我们是常客. We had a small vivid farm where we grew all sorts of fruit trees and flowers and raised animals. 作为一个家庭，我们都积极地履行自己的责任. We enjoyed taking care of the pigs, ducks, birds, horses, and chickens. 我爸爸专门为鸡和鸭建了一个鸡笼, 我们拥有的最大的动物群体是什么. When it was time to eat, they all came out at the same moment and spread all around the property. 看到动物们散在周围唱歌真是太好了. My dad loved taking care of the animals, especially when they were young. 他喜欢靠近它们，帮助它们，喂它们. 然而，我更喜欢摘水果或给植物浇水.

Each added sentence provides support for and is related to the main idea as expressed in the topic sentence.

讲道理:连贯性 & transitions
Remember that it is not the reader's job to make your writing make sense; it is your responsibility to make understanding effortless. Transitions 有什么信号可以帮助你做到这一点吗. These words and phrases signal the exact relationship between one sentence and another, 通常通过把它们放在句子的开头而提前. The reader understands before he ever reaches the end of the sentence whether you intend to show, for example, contrast, illustration, additional points, 或者因果关系. 转场也阐明了目的(传达信息)? persuade? entertain? explain?)和秩序(空间)? time? importance?) of a paragraph.

In the preceding example, "such as" tells the reader that examples follow. In this case, the author gives two examples of the wild animals that visited the farm. "However" signals contrast to the preceding idea (her preference for working with the plants against her father's preference for taking care of animals).

The following examples are only a very small sample of the variety of transitions at your disposal:

这些转变表明你是 添加信息 or points: Moreover Furthermore As well	这些转换信号 space order: Beyond Nearby On the far side Nearest
这些转变表明你是 比较相似特征 or points: Similarly Likewise Both	这些转换表明你正在给出一个具体的 example 前一点的: For instance In particular To illustrate
这些转换信号 对比或差异特征或要点: Although On the other hand Yet	这些转换信号 importance: Above all Surely Not least Especially
这些转换信号 causes or effects: Since Because Consequently	这些转换信号 time order: Recently Briefly Currently

 

 

 

 

Coherence & order
Since it is your responsibility as a writer to make your writing make sense, choose an appropriate way to order the information in your paragraphs. 即使对初学者来说，使用起来也相当直观 time, or chronological为了解释如何做某事首先，其次，最后)或叙述一个故事(同时，最后). 选择并不总是那么直观 space 描述顺序. 当作者使用空格顺序时, he constructs description as if a camera were moving smoothly through a scene. 空间顺序可以从左到右移动, bottom to top, near to far, 或者其他有序的方式, 这取决于你想要达到的效果. 如果你的目的是说服、解释或论证一个观点，顺序 importance (从重要到不重要或从最不重要到最重要)是合适的. 为了说服的目的, it may be effective to order your points from least to most important, creating a climactic effect; however, 用于论文考试和大多数商务写作, 把最重要的事情放在第一位.

Coherence & keywords
让它变得不可能, improbable, 不管怎样)让读者误解你或错过你的观点, 通过重复重要的关键词或这些关键词的同义词:

这片土地硕果累累，富饶而多产. 它属于热带气候，雨量充沛. 那里有很多植被，所有的东西都是绿色的，开花的. The rivers ran abundantly with water and the mountains were thick with trees. 早晨是纯洁无瑕的, 非常晴朗, 田地被耕种得很好，开满了野花. The fecundity of the land produced a diverse fauna that included all sorts of small reptiles such as lizards and snakes, 昆虫，如蟋蟀和蜻蜓, 还有野生动物，比如猴子, wildcats, and coyotes.

上面的例子中有很多卓有成效的同义词, rich, 富有成效:慷慨, flowering, abundant, thick, richly cultivated, fecund, diverse. 尤其是当你在写复杂的过程时, make it your responsibility to repeat the key words that increase the reader's sense of continuity.

统一、连贯、有序和长度
一个段落应该有多长? As Lewis Carroll said, "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop." That is, when you have fully developed your topic sentence and its attendant major details, you are done. Five sentences or twelve sentences or twenty-a paragraph should be as long as it needs to be. Instructors who assign a minimum paragraph length want you to accustom yourself to fully developing your subject; if you know yourself to be a beginning writer, 你可以给自己设定这个最小值，直到你更流利为止.

Accept responsibility for crafting and sharpening meaning in your writing to achieve unity and coherence. By testing your writing for topic sentences and related supporting sentences, 通过选择适合你主题的顺序和过渡, audience, and purpose, 你应该看到你所有的试卷都有明显的进步.