Organizing information

1. Organizing information Topic sentences and paragraphing Adapted from: 1) Turner, Dorothy. Writing Topic Sentences. University of Ottawa. 2) Academic Writing in English website (http://sana.tkk.fi/awe) 3) Johnson-Sheehan, Richard (Dr.), Purdue OWL, ppt. How to Achieve Coherence at a Micro level (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/ppt/2008_Micro_727.ppt#259,1,How to Achieve Coherence at a Micro Level)

2. CONTENT Topic sentences Analysing a topic sentence Developing and building paragraphs Presenting information

3. What is a topic sentence and what does it do?

4. TOPIC SENTENCES A topic sentence (or a focus sentence) organizes an entire paragraph. Works in two directions simultaneously: relates the paragraph to the essay's thesis, acting as a signpost for the argument of the paper as a whole defines the scope of the paragraph itself.

5. Analyzing a topic sentence • Topic sentence = #1 (but not always!) • general statement • wider in its scope than the rest of the sentences in that paragraph. • should be general enough so that it can be supported by specific details in later sentences. • Topic sentences should always contain both a topic and a controlling idea.The topic typically occurs before the verb and is what the paragraph is about, while the controlling idea is what you want to say about the topic. • The controlling idea should be repeated (preferably, in subject position) in each of the sentences that follow the topic sentence

6. The topic sentence… • …introduces a new topic, • The Finnish higher education system consists of universities and polytechnics • enumerative (listing) paragraph • There are a number of good reasons for immigrating to Finland. • or a claim of some sort. • Finnish is an easy language to learn

7. What’s the topic sentence here? Business school professors perennially debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on each side. Human resourceexperts maintain that keeping an old employee requires fewer man hours for training and orientation. However, management gurus insist that having the right person in the right position increases the overall productivity of a team or workgroup. Between these two arguments are the economists who study new hiring practices in a company-specific context.

8. Topic sentence…sentences? Business school professors perennially debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. + The issue has strong proponents on Each side. = total picture

9. A better choice? The debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one has strong proponents on both sides. (both because a debate traditionally has two sides…) CLARITY IS KEY!

10. For more information on topic sentences… http://sana.tkk.fi/awe/cohesion/topsen/index.html http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/

11. Developing paragraphs A paragraph… is used to narrate, describe, compare and contrast or analyze information is well-structured when every sentence develops the point made in the topic sentence. must have a single focus and it must contain noirrelevant facts. Every sentence must contribute to the paragraph by explaining, exemplifying, or expanding the topic sentence.

12. Ask yourself…“What main point am I trying to convey here?" (topic sentence) "Does every sentence clearly relate to this idea?"

13. How do I put a paragraph together?

14. (Define it)

19. Other possible elements… • Reasons (explanations) • Arguments • Data/facts (explanation/example) • Analysis (compare/contrast, cause-effect)

20. Take out your reference articles! • Switch your article with the person sitting next to you.*** • Pick 3 random paragraphs • Analyze them for the elements talked about so far: • Topic sentence – topic and controlling idea • Paragraph building – topic sentence, explanation, example, concluding/summarizing closing sentence, other possible elements? • ***If you are doing this on your own, use your own reference article for this.

21. Coherence and Cohesion • Coherent: logically ordered • Cohesive: the connections between things • Adhesive = glue

22. Improving flow in a paragraph - cohesion • ’givennew’ principle • The idea is that the brain responds to ’old’ information first. It is easier to process the ’new’ information based on the ’old’ information. • For example:

23. For example Business school professors perennially debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on each side. Red: new information Blue: old information (The issue = whether maintaining…)

24. Example – can you find the given-new? Business school professors perennially debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on each side. Human resourceexperts maintain that keeping an old employee requires fewer man hours for training and orientation. However, management gurus insist that having the right person in the right position increases the overall productivity of a team or workgroup. Between these two arguments are the economists who study new hiring practices in a company-specific context.

25. Notice the Given-New structure Business school professors perennially debate over whether maintaining an old employee is more costly than hiring a new one. The issue has strong proponents on each side. Human resourceexperts maintain that keeping an old employee requires fewer man hours for training and orientation. However, management gurus insist that having the right person in the right position increases the overall productivity of a team or workgroup. Between these two arguments are the economists who study new hiring practices in a company-specific context. new information = red old information = blue

26. Presenting info • ’light before heavy’ = short simple subject first. • Nouns  building blocks of a sentence. • Noun phrases  one head noun + a lot of stuff defining it. • These can be veeerrrrrrryyyyy long. • 7+2 principle – we can’t remember much past the 9th word of a sentence

27. What’s wrong with this sentence? We have shipped the Environmental Protection Agency's National Homeland Security Research Center in Cincinnati, Ohio an EDS system. • What have we shipped? • Where has it been shipped?

28. New and improved… We have shipped an EDS system to the Enivironmental Protection  Agency's National Homeland Security Research Center in Cincinnati. = put the important info first, right up front!

29. How do I know when to start a new paragraph? You should start a new paragraph : • when you begin a new idea or point. • to contrast information or ideas. • when your readers need a pause. • when you are ending your introduction or starting your conclusion. Taken from: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/

30. Back to the reference article Go back to your 3 random paragraphs: Check how the information is organized in each sentence. Do they follow the givennew, light before heavy principles?

31. Other coherence and cohesion builders (Homework 1) • READING!! • Definitions and examples • Chapters 2.5-2.6 • Rhetorical devices = linking words • Chapter 2.1 – 2.4 • Organizing flow: http://sana.tkk.fi/awe/cohesion/infostrux/flow/index.html

32. Homework 2 • Pick 3 paragraphs*** in your reference article and go through it for things we looked at today (including the homework). Make notes in the margins – we’ll be discussing it in class next week! • ***For those of you working on this on your own, you don’t need to do this – it was done earlier.