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how to write effectively

PART OF A PARAGRAPH

1. THE TOPIC SENTENCE

- This sentence has two parts: topic + controlling idea

* The controlling ideas is the main idea or opinion about the topic that you are going to discuss
about. That means all the sentences in the paragraph will relate to and develop the controlling
idea.
Ex: Hurricanes (topic) . tremendous power (controlling idea).

American cooking(topic). The native foods of America's immigrant population

* The controlling idea should not be vague like this: Smoking is bad.

- This sentence should be clear and focus on a specific idea. It should not be too general (too
many things to discuss about) or too specific (too simple to be developed).

- This sentence may be the first or last sentence of the

paragraph.http://www.ltn.lv/~markir/essaywriting/conclud1.htm

2. THE SUPPORTING IDEAS (BODY)

- The purpose of the sentences in this part of the paragraph is to support the controlling ideas
in the topic sentence. Therefore, any sentence that is out of this order will be omitted.

- To make the supporting ideas stronger, you should use some techniques to strengthen these
ideas including using examples, illustrations, statistics, quotations and personal experience.

3. A CONCLUDING SENTENCE HAS THREE PURPOSES:

a. It signals the end of the paragraph.
b. It summarizes the main points of the paragraph.
c. It gives a final comment on the topic.

- A concluding sentence should begin with one of the following phrases: finally, in conclusion,
in summary, therefore, thus, as a result, in short, in brief, ...

- The concluding sentence is sometimes a paraphrase of the topic sentence.

parts of the conclusión
 The three parts of a conclusion

The three parts to a conclusion:

1. Restates the main premise
2. Presents one or two general sentences which accurately summarise your
arguments which support the main premise
3. Provides a general warning of the consequences of not following the
premise that you put forward and/or a general statement of how the
community will benefit from following that premise

- The concluding sentence is sometimes a paraphrase of the topic sentence.

There are usually 100 to 200 words in a paragraph,” but a more accurate answer would be
“It depends…” which isn’t particularly helpful.

LOGICAL TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSION

RELATIONSHIP
Similarity also, in the same way, just as … so too, likewise, similarly
Exception/Contrast but, however, in spite of, on the one hand … on the other hand,
nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, in contrast, on the contrary,
still, yet
Sequence/Order first, second, third, … next, then, finally
Time after, afterward, at last, before, currently, during, earlier, immediately,
later, meanwhile, now, recently, simultaneously, subsequently, then
Example for example, for instance, namely, specifically, to illustrate
Emphasis even, indeed, in fact, of course, truly
Place/Position above, adjacent, below, beyond, here, in front, in back, nearby, there
Cause and Effect accordingly, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus
Additional Support or additionally, again, also, and, as well, besides, equally important,
Evidence further, furthermore, in addition, moreover, then
Conclusion/Summary finally, in a word, in brief, briefly, in conclusion, in the end, in the final
analysis, on the whole, thus, to conclude, to summarize, in sum, to sum
up, in summary
https://www.ntid.rit.edu/sea/processes/paragraph/process/concluding

Concluding Sentence
The topic sentence and the body now completed, it remains only
to end the paragraph. This is accomplished through a "concluding
sentence," essential to the stand-alone paragraph. The purpose of
this concluding sentence is two-fold: (1) to reiterate the main point
developed by the body sentences and (2) to signal the reader that
this is the end of the paragraph. The concluding sentence for a
stand-alone paragraph should accomplish one of the following:
(a) Restate the topic sentence of the paragraph
(b) Summarize by referring to the key points in the paragraph
(c) Draw a conclusion based on the information set forth in the
paragraph
(d) Offer a final observation about the controlling idea
(e) Make a prediction based on the details of the paragraph
The concluding sentence often begins with a transition word to
signal the reader. Here are some examples of transitions used
with concluding sentences:
all in all
in other words
in any event
in brief
in short
therefore
In addition to the concluding statement, the writer may wish to
include a "final thought." The final thought is the last sentence of
the stand-alone paragraph. If the writer has not had an opportunity
to interject an opinion about the topic, the final thought is the last
opportunity to do so. The following is an example of a concluding
statement and final thought:
You can gain both muscle and stamina if you follow these simple
steps. Although any exercise program takes time, the results are
bound to please.
The first sentence of the pair is the concluding statement, which
reiterates a general statement about exercise and the steps to
follow in order to achieve muscle and stamina. The last sentence
is the writer's opinion about the results of such a program.

CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH WORDS AND PHRASES

 As Can Be Seen
 After All
 By And Large
 Generally Speaking
 In Fact
 To Sum Up
 In The Final Analysis
 On The Whole
 All Things Considered
 In Any Event
 As Shown Above
 In Short
 In Either Case
 In The Long Run
 In Brief
 All In All
 Given These Points
 In Essence
 As Has Been Noted
 In A Word
 On Balance
 For The Most Part
  Altogether, Obviously, Overall, Ultimately, Ordinarily,
Definitely, and Usually.

http://ego.webcom.vn/vi/how-to-write-effectively--167.html

How to write effectively?

As the international tests require more and more writing skill, I think it is
necessary to post this topic to help us meet their requirements. This topic
will be open for all of you. You can learn, practice and post your opinions
about writing.

I will gradually post all that you need to produce a good piece of writing.
Hope you all will learn something from them.

But first of all, there is something you should pay attention to when you
write a paragraph or essay.

- A good piece of writing needs a logical arrangement of ideas.

Each kind of writing must follow a particular outline which I will post later.

- A good piece of writing needs a variety of sentence structures. It

is to say you shouldn't use one or two structures all the time. You shoud
use as many structures as possible.

-A good piece of writing should be as formal as possible.

* You should use formal style to write, i.e use full form not
contractions (I am instead of I'm, he does not instead of he doesn't)
* Carefully choose the vocabulary. Do not use slangs, taboos, and
informal idioms.

- A good piece of writing should contain ideas which are

concretely supported. That is to say you should use examples,
quotations and statistics from reliable sources. You should also use your
personal point of view; however, it is not recommended all the time.

- A good piece of writing must have coherence. It is to say the

movement from one sentence to another (or one paragraph to another)
must be logical and smooth. No sudden jump is encouraged.
- A good piece of writing must have unity. It should discuss about one
idea at a time. Do not discuss about something too far from its point or
your writing will be digressive.

- A good piece of writing does not contain grammatical and

spelling mistakes. (It is better if you write your writing on a computer
as it can check these mistakes for you.)

Topic 1: Grammar Review

(You may find these things in the Grammar Box, but I want to
systematically raise them again.)

I. SENTENCE TYPES

a. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE contains one S and one finite V (V in a

particular tense).
She likes to eat mushrooms.
You and I will meet them soon.

b. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE contains one or more main

clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
I know the man who is standing at the door.
Because she didn't know the answer, she had to find it.

c. THE COMPOUND SENTENCE contains two or more independent

clauses.
We don't like him; besides, we don’t like parties.
We rarely take taxis; we can't afford it.
She screamed and ran away. (This sentence can be considered as a
simple sentence.)

d. THE COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCE contains two or

more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
When she saw him, her hands shivered and she fell down.
II. TRANSFORMATION

You should use a variety of sentence structures.

a. Fronting and inversion

Expensive as the shirt was, she bought it.
Rarely did he travel by bus.

b. Active vs. Passive

c. Cleft structures:
It was the weather that made us stay home.

d. Pseudo-cleft structures:
What amazed me was the things he did.

III. COMMON SENTENCE MISTAKES

* Choppy sentences: No linking words are used to combine related

sentences.
Ex: She looked at the sky. Then she looked at the sea. They were
too big. She threw a rock into the ocean. It disappeared. She began
to cry.
Correction: use linking words or make compound or complex sentences
from them.
Ex: The sky and the sea looked too big. She threw a rock into the
ocean and began to cry as it disappeared.

* Run-on sentences: Too many ideas in one sentences with no proper

linking words or punctuation mark.
Ex: It was a pleasant drive the sun was shining.
Correction: Use punctuation or linking words.
Ex: It was a pleasane drive because the sun was shining.

* Comma splice: Wrong use of comma (,)

Ex: If you know, you must tell us, we will do it.
Correction: use another punctuation mark or linking words.
Ex: If you know, you must tell us. Then we will do it.

* Fragment: Incomplete sentences.

Correction: Provide the missing part.

* Rambling sentences: Too long sentences => too complicated to be

understood.
Correction: make shorter sentences from them.

* Dangling participles: The implied subject of the dependent clause

and the subject of the main clause do not refer the same person or thing.
Ex: Jumping into the sea, a shark attacked him.
Correction: Use the proper subject for the main clause.
Ex: Jumping into the sea, he was attacked by a shark.

* Ambiguous pronouns: Pronouns make the readers confused what

they prefer to.
Ex: When Mary saw Ann, she told her that she was pleased to help
her.
Correction: Use a Noun or noun phrase in place of the pronoun.
Ex: When Mary saw Ann, she told Ann that she was pleased to help
her.

* Faulty parallelism: non-parallel structures.

Ex: She noticed the way he talked and how he did it. Correction: use
parallel structures.
Ex: She noticed how he talked and how he did it.

* Subject-verb agreement: The verbs of the sentence does not go

with the subject.
Ex: Either she or I are going to the party.
Correction: Either she or I am going to the party.

Writing a Paragraph

Each paragraph should focus on one appropriate topic. However, a

general topic must be narrowed down to a specific or limited topic that
can be discussed.

For example, you are given the topic about music. This topic should be
narrowed down like this: MUSIC => VIETNAMESE MUSIC => NEW SONGS
or about weather: WEATHER => WEATHER IN VIETNAM => STORMS AND
TYPHOONS

I. PART OF A PARAGRAPH

1. THE TOPIC SENTENCE

- This sentence has two parts: topic + controlling idea

* The controlling ideas is the main idea or opinion about the topic that you
are going to discuss about. That means all the sentences in the paragraph
will relate to and develop the controlling idea.
Ex: Hurricanes (topic) exert tremendous power (controlling idea).
Ex: The native foods of America's immigrant population (controlling
idea) are reflected in American cooking(topic).
* The controlling idea should not be vague like this: Smoking is bad.

- This sentence should be clear and focus on a specific idea. It should not
be too general (too many things to discuss about) or too specific (too
simple to be developed).

- This sentence may be the first or last sentence of the paragraph.

2. THE SUPPORTING IDEAS (BODY)

- The purpose of the sentences in this part of the paragraph is to support

the controlling ideas in the topic sentence. Therefore, any sentence that is
out of this order will be omitted.

- To make the supporting ideas stronger, you should use some techniques
to strengthen these ideas including using examples, illustrations, statistics,
quotations and personal experience.

3. THE CONCLUDING SENTENCE

- A concluding sentence has three purposes:

a. It signals the end of the paragraph.
b. It summarizes the main points of the paragraph.
c. It gives a final comment on the topic.
- A concluding sentence should begin with one of the following
phrases: finally, in conclusion, in summary, therefore, thus, as a
result, in short, in brief, ...

- The concluding sentence is sometimes a paraphrase of the topic

sentence.

Ex:
Topic sentence: Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do
not always have the same emotional meaning.
Concluding sentence: Therefore, you should be careful in choosing
words because many so-called synonyms are not really synonymous at all.

II. OUTLINE OF A PARAGRAPH

Topic sentence:

Supporting ideas (Body):

* supporting idea 1
specific details (example / stastistic / quotation...)
* supporting idea 2
specific details (example / stastistic / quotation...)
* supporting idea 3
specific details (example / stastistic / quotation...)

Conluding sentence

tps://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/Write_in_English/WL9_concl
uding_sentences.html

What is a
concluding sentence?

The last sentence in the paragraph is the concluding sentence. It refers the reader's attention to the
topic sentence, and if there are more paragraphs that follow, the concluding sentence may offer
some kind of a transition to the next paragraph.

Let's look at the paragraph from the previous lesson.

 Early childhood education programs such as Head Start provide cognitive benefits well
beyond preschool. Recent studies that compare student test scores show that children who
are exposed to structured learning activities outside the home environment are better able to
adapt to formalized instruction in grades kindergarten through third grade than children who
remain at home. This is particularly true among children from low-income families and
children whose parents have a limited proficiency in English. Children living in states that do
not provide early childhood programs, on the other hand, lag behind their peers. State and
local governments must continue to bridge the achievement gap so that children may reach
their full academic potential at an early age.

The sentence in red concludes the paragraph. Not only does it refer to the topic sentence, it also
ends the paragraph with some kind of "call to action" following the supporting sentences. In this case,
the the idea proposed is for state and local to bridge the achievement gap.