Chapter 4 Summary

Week 7
Writing Topic: Rules for Writers Chapter 4


Paragraphs build the body of your paper they contain the information needed to support the thesis. Each paragraph needs to have a main point; this main point is found in the topic sentence. In business as well as college writing the topic sentences are used to clarify what you are trying to present, this is important for people who are scanning for information. In developing the main point the writer needs it to be clear and easy to find. As writers we organize our papers in different patterns. Our writing takes the form of narration: telling a story, description; sketching a image of a person, place or thing, process; structuring a paper in chronological order, comparison and contrast; detailing similarities and differences, analogy; drawing comparisons between items which appear to have little in common, cause and effect, definition and classification and division; grouping items into categories or dividing items into parts.
When writing paragraphs you want to link the ideas clearly and have the sentences flow from one to another. Your point of view needs to remain consistent and repeating key words is an important technique to refine. Transitions are used to make stronger connections between your paragraphs for the reader. Paragraph writing is an important skill to develop. As a writer you need to be aware of the length of your paragraphs, the reasons for combining paragraphs and the reasons for starting new ones.
In my own writing I always thought that each paragraph just needed to follow a point made in the thesis statement. Now after reading this chapter I realize that that is only one step in the process.