Deal and Threat

DESERTED

Method of Paragraph Development by CAUSE AND EFFECT

           Cause and effect relationship can be used to develop effective paragraphs by describing what happens and why it happens. You can do so by explaining reasons and consequences of an idea or event.

           Example:

           Global climate change resulting from the accumulation of greenhouse gases, for example is likely to have significant health effects, both direct and indirect. An average global temperature rise of 3-4°C, predicted for the year 2100 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will greatly increase the number of days in the United States with temperatures over 38°C(100°F), with a resulting sharp rise in heat-related mortality. Deaths would occur primarily from heat strokes, heart attacks, and cerebral strokes. The very young, poor, and elderly, as well as those with chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, are most at risk. During the two-week heat wave of July 1993 in the eastern United States, 84 people died in Philadelphia alone as a result of the higher temperatures. (E. Chivan, "The Ultimate Preventive Medicine," Technology Review)

Method of Paragraph Development by COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

           Two or more ideas are said to be compared if their common points or similarities are emphasized. On the other hand, essential differences are pointed out in contrasting ideas from one another.

           Example:

             When I was young I often heard people say, "Canada is the Scotland of North America." Only recently did it occur to me that it might be worthwhile considering the extent to which this is true. As Scotland is the hard northern cap to the British island, with the rich farmlands and cities of England just below her, so is Canada to the United States. Both countries were gouged by the retreating glaciers, which left them on the subsistence level as far as good farmland was considered. It also gave them both a heritage of spectacular beauty uncrowded by cities and towns, and of this they were both inclined to boast. (from Hugh MacLennan, "Scotland's Fate, Canada's Lesson")

Method of Paragraph Development by CLASSIFICATION

           Classifying is the grouping together of items/ objects according to a given basis. In classifying, it is important to consider the similarities of objects and dividing them according to their differences.

           Mills and Waters (1980) in Igoy et. al. defined classification as almost any act of noting relationships; the act of locating a specimen of all the different kinds of objects which possess a given characteristics.

Example:

            "Each of Jamaica's four great gardens, although established along similar principles, has acquired its own distinctive aura. Hope Gardens, in the heart of Kingston, evokes postcard pictures from the 1950s of public parks, gracious and vaguely suburban and filled with familiar favorites--lantana and marigolds--as well as exotics. Bath has retained its Old World character; it is the easiest to conjure as it must have looked in Bligh's time. Cinchona of the clouds is otherworldly. And Castleton, the garden established to replace Bath, fleetingly evokes that golden age of Jamaican tourism, when visitors arrived in their own yachts--the era of Ian Fleming and Noel Coward, before commercial air travel unloaded ordinary mortals all over the island." (Caroline Alexander, "Captain Bligh's Cursed Breadfruit." The Smithsonian, Sep. 2009)

Method of Paragraph Development by DEFINITION

           Words often have different meanings based on their use. Look at the following example:

           Death is the capital  punishment for most countries around the world.

           The capital of Finland is Helsinki.

           Notice how the word capital is used differently in the two statements. Capital in the first sentence means major or principal while the second one means city or town that is the official seat of government in a country or state. This is why as a writer, you need to be highly skilled in defining for your message to be grasped by your readers clearer, easier and faster.

            There are two major ways by which you can define words: (1) formally and (2) informally.

A formal definition is a sentence that contains three parts:

(1) the term that needs defining (species);

(2) the class to which the item belong (genus); and

(3) the differentiation of that item from the other forms belonging to the class (differentia).

Example:

Technical writing writing committed to factual information

    (Species)           (Genus)    (Differentia)

 

From the example, we can define the term in question as follows: Technical writing is a form of writing that is committed to factual information.

            The second way by which you can define terms is through informal definitions. Informal definitions are partial or incomplete definitions. It does not define a term in its complete sense as it can be based on the writer’s experience. The two common informal definitions are operational definitions and synonyms.

¨ Operational Definitions give the meaning of an abstract word for one particular time and place. This is also called as an agreed-upon criterion. For an instance, an executive may define program success as a 10% increase in company profits. If that quota was reached, then, the program is indeed successful.

¨ Synonyms are words that mean the same as another word. It can only be effective when it is better known than the term being defined.

   There are three ways by which you can use synonyms to define a word inside the text itself. One is through the use of parenthesis, another is the use of dashes and lastly, the use of an appositive.

Examples:

Parenthesis Most of the rock consists of calcium carbonate. (limestone)

The fossil algae (stromatolites) take many forms.

Dash Mount Oberlin and many other pyramidal peaks—matter horns—owe their distinctive form to the erosive action

of glaciers on two or more sides of the peak.

Appositive/ End of Sentence

The Atlyn Formation was deposited in a shallow, warm sea,

an environment indicated by the presence of fossil algae

called stromatolites.

           Aside from these, a word can be defined through denotation and connotation. Denotation is the literal or exact dictionary meaning of the word. Connotation, however, involves all the associations related to the word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. If you look at the meaning of the word snake in the dictionary, you may see this—”any of numerous limbless, scaly, elongate reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, comprising venomous and nonvenomous species inhabiting tropical and temperate areas.” But in terms of its connotative meaning, snakes may mean evil, treacherous or insidious enemy.

Here is an example of a paragraph that uses definition as a method of development.

           Questions can be many different things. A question can be an inquiring sentence which asks for a reply, as in "I have a question for you." The word can also refer to whatever subject matter is at hand, as in the sentence, "The question of ethics is a hot topic nowadays." A question can refer to some sort of doubt or uncertainty, as in "There is no question I'm the best man for the job." Used as a verb, to question can mean the instance or act of questioning, such as "Police questioned the suspect." You can question whether something is right or question a celebrity for an interview. If you "pop the question," you are proposing to your sweetheart! Therefore, a question can mean many things to many people.

Method of Paragraph Development by DESCRIPTION

          Description is a method of paragraph development wherein you create vivid pictures or images of a story or instance through the use of words. Normally, adjectives are used in this method. In writing a descriptive paragraph, you need to make use of sensory details, i.e.—details which comes to your senses (smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight).

Example:

           I believe many men, if not all, have their own standards of an ideal girl apart mostly from the most obvious one which is more of a physical judgment with women (one that has a "coke-like body," one who's mestiza, with long black shiny hair, etc, etc. etc..). Of course, I can't deny that women having such qualities are sexually appealing for all Adams and I would regard it to be even nicer and a great blessing if my "soul mate" would possess such qualities as well as a similar degree of beauty within. I don't really need an "accessory" type of a girlfriend (one who men only courts for the purpose of bragging about her appeal among his friends and peers). As all humans have their individual flaws, she should be honest to show who she is and not being pretentious about who she should be in front of my friends and family. She should, however, know how to control herself at a certain degree. She should also be knowledgeable about the proper etiquette of a woman because in the near future, she would carry my name upon marriage.

Method of Paragraph Development by NARRATION

           You may have read so many stories in your childhood that began with Once upon a time. Storytelling is one of the best forms of narrating. Narration is a method of paragraph development which recounts an event or a story of some sort.

           Example:

             A new venture has started. I am now in the real world of communication. Currently, I am working at the Public Information Office in Lucena City. During the first day, we had an orientation on what we are going to do regarding the tasks that may be assigned to us. Also, we heard some advice from media men like Sir Sonny who told us some tips that we may use. Likewise, we observed the daily routine of the staff for us to be guided.

             The next day, however, could be said as the real start. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, we were sent to SM City Lucena to cover the LMSTC graduation rites. As the event progressed, we took down important notes and messages of the guest speaker needed for the press release which we had written afterwards. It was really a flattering but a fulfilling experience to write such an article. After this, I was assigned to interview a lady who had lost her bag then made an announcement aired in different radio stations in Lucena. It really is worthwhile to practice the profession I love so much.

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