Chapter 1: An Introduction to Writing:



Chapter 7: Introduction to Paragraph Development

I) Introduction:

a. While each paragraph/essay that you write will involve one predominant pattern, very often one or more additional patterns may be involved as well.

b. No matter which pattern or patterns you use, each paragraph will probably involve some form of argumentation. You will advance a point and then go on to support your point. To convince the reader that your point is valid, you may use a series of examples, or narration, or description, or some other patterns of organization.

c. Much of your writing, in short, will have the purpose of persuading your reader that the idea you have advanced is valid.

II) Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development

a. We’ll be exploring these patterns of paragraph development in the coming weeks. The goal is to both create a framework for our final essay while simultaneously learning what tools are available to us when we enter the adding details phase of writing.

b. The Nine Patterns are:

i. Examples

ii. Process

iii. Cause and Effect

iv. Comparison and Contrast

v. Definition

vi. Division and Classification

vii. Description

viii. Narration

ix. Argumentation*

III) Knowing Your Subject

a. Whenever possible, write on a subject that interests you. You will then find it easier to put more time into your work.

b. Even more important, try to write on a subject that you already know something about. If you do not have direct experience with the subject, you should at least have indirect experience—that is, knowledge gained through thinking, prewriting, reading, or talking about the subject.

IV) Side Note: Write What You Know

a. While we’re on the subject, writers often throw around an old adage that goes, “Write what you know.” This “rule” cab often misleading for young, inexperienced writers who take it too literally.

b. Writing is a process where we explore and learn about a subject as much as we convey information we already know about it. As such, if writers only wrote what they already knew, libraries and bookstores would have very little stock indeed.

c. Instead, I feel the saying should read, “Write what you want to know.” If you do that, then you’ll eventually come to know the subject thanks to the research, experience, energy, and, yes, writing you put into crafting your essay.

V) Knowing Your Purpose and Audience

a. The three most common purposes of writing are to inform, to persuade, and to entertain.

i. To Inform— to give information about a subject. Authors who are writing to inform want to provide facts that will explain or teach something to readers.

ii. To Persuade— to convince the reader to agree with the author’s point of view on a subject. Authors who are writing to persuade may give facts, but their main goal is to argue or prove a point to readers.

iii. To Entertain— to amuse and delight; to appeal to the reader’s senses and imagination.

b. Note: These are not mutually exclusive purposes. A piece of writing can inform, persuade, and entertain all at the same time. In fact, I might argue that the very best writing does all three simultaneously.

c. Langan’s Note: Your audience will be primarily your instructor and sometimes other students. Your instructor is really a symbol of the larger audience you should see yourself writing for.

VI) Tone

a. Tone reveals the attitude that a writer has toward a subject. It is expressed through the words and details the writer selects.

b. Just as a speaker’s voice can project a range of feelings, a writer’s voice can project one or more tones/feelings.

c. As we’ve discussed before in this class, I’m mostly teaching you to write in an “academic tone” as it will be the voice you’ll use most often in your college career. However, it is by no means the only tone available to you, and it is also not the proper tone.

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