Practice 2: Organizing paragraphs
1 Paragraph structure
■ Discuss the following questions.
• What is a paragraph? A paragraph is a group of sentences that follow a same theme.
• What is the normal length of a paragraph? Traditionally, the length of a paragraph oscilates between four and five lines.
• Is there a standard structure for paragraphs? A paragraph usually consists of a topic sentence, an explanation, a few examples and a conclusion.
• How is a paragraph linked together? A paragraph is linked together with connectors and phrases.
2 Example paragraph
■ Study the paragraph below. It is from the introduction to an essay titled
‘Should home ownership be encouraged?’
This example shows that:
(a) A paragraph is a group of sentences that deal with a single topic.
(b) The length of paragraphs varies significantly according to text type, but should be no less than four or five sentences.
(c) Normally (but not always) the first sentence introduces the topic. Other sentences may give definitions, examples, information, reasons, restatements and summaries.
(d) The parts of the paragraph are linked together by the phrases and conjunctions shown in bold in the table. They guide the reader through the arguments presented.
3 Practice A
■ Read the next paragraph from the same essay and answer the questions below.
(a) Analyse the paragraph by completing the left hand column in the table below with the following types of sentence: Supporting point 1, Supporting point 2, Supporting point 3, Example, Reason, Topic.
(b) Underline the words and phrases used to link the sentences together.
‘It is widely believed’, ‘for example’, ‘in addition’ and ‘but above all’.
(c) Which phrase is used to link this paragraph to the one before?
‘Despite this’.
4 Development of ideas
■ (a) The sentences below form the third paragraph of the same essay, but they have been mixed up. Use the table below to put them in the correct order.
Topic sentence: (iii) All these claims were challenged by the economic crash of 2008, which was in large part caused by defaults on American sub-prime mortgages.
Definition: (i) These had been developed to allow higher-risk poorer families to buy their own homes, but contributed to a property price bubble.
Result 1: (vi) When this burst, millions of people lost their homes, which for many had contained their savings.
Result 2: (v) Others were trapped in their houses by negative equity, in other words their houses were worth less than they had paid for them.
Result 3: (iv) Even households that had positive equity still felt poorer and reduced their spending.
Conclusion: (ii) Many economists now argue that there is a maximum level of home ownership that should not be exceeded.
(b) Underline the phrase used to link the paragraph to the previous one. ‘All this claims’.
(c) Underline the words and phrases used to link the paragraph together. ‘When this’, ‘even’, ‘others’, ‘these’ and ‘in other words’.
6 Practice B
■ (a) Use the notes below and the table on p. 82 to complete a paragraph of an essay titled:
‘High rates of home ownership are bad for the economy – Discuss.’
• It is claimed that increases in rate of home ownership lead to unemployment
• Home ownership appears to make people more reluctant to move to find work
• e.g. Spain (high ownership + high unemployment) vs. Switzerland (low ownership + low unemployment)
• Other factors have been proposed, e.g. liquidity of housing markets (how easy to sell houses)
• Theory still controversial
Topic: It has been argued that rises in the rate of home ownership can increase the rate of unemployment.
Reason: Many studies have confirmed that home ownership appears to make people more reluctant to apply for a job.
Example: For instance, in countries like Spain, where there is a high ownership rate, there also exists a high unemployment rate. However, the opposite happens in Switzerland where a lower ownership and unemployment rates exists.
Argument: Other factors affecting the rates may be taken into consideration, for example the liquidity of housing markets.
Conclusion: All these claims and theories often lead to controversies.
■ (b) Use the notes below to write the next paragraph of the essay, including a phrase linking it to the previous paragraph.
• Recession of 2008–9 gave support to theory in some US states (e.g. California, Michigan and Florida)
• They had major housing boom in 1990s
• After recession rate of house moving fell sharply
• One factor was number of households in negative equity
• Having negative equity means selling house at loss
• High rates of ownership may deepen recession if labour is more static
Not only did the recession of 2008 inspire new theories, but it also gave support to some already existing ones in some US states. States such as California, Michigan and Florida had a major housing boom in the 90s. As a consequence, not long after the boom the recession rate fell sharply. It is traditionally believed that the main factor was the number of households in negative equity. This means that the inhabitants of these states were losing money after reselling their houses. Which may lead to the idea that high rates of ownership may deepen the recession if labour is static.
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