WIN-ECW: Dec 21st Lesson

Today blog entry is about:
paragraph (general introduction)
journal writing

What is a paragraph?

A paragraph is a group of sentences about a single topic. Together, the sentences of the paragraph explain the writer's main idea (most important idea) about the topic. In academic writing, a paragraph is often between five and ten sentences long, but it can be longer or shoerter, depending on the topic. The first sentence of a paragraph is sually indented (moved in) a few space, or one tab.

Paragraph organization:

a) The topic sentence. This is the main idea of the paragraph. It usually comes first, or sometimes after the 'attention grabber.' It is the most general sentence of the paragraph.

b) The supporting sentences. These are the sentences that further explain the topic sentence. They are more detailed ideas that follow the topic sentence.

c) the concluding sentence. This may be the last sentence in the paragraph. It can finish a paragraph by repeating the main idea or just giving a final comment about the topic.

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Example:

Winter is a wonderful season.

Many people hate winter, but I simply love it. a) For me, it is the most magical season of the year. b) There are many reasons to love winter: beautiful white snow, exciting winter sports, and, of course, Christmas. A thick layer of snow covers the landscape and hides all the dirt and mess in our cities and the country. For me, there is no nicer scene than a snowy landscape shimmering in the sunglight. Winter is also great because you can do many exciting winter sports, such as skiing, snowboarding, iceskating, etc. Nothing tastes better than a cup of hot chocolate after a hard day on the slopes. Finally, there is Christmas, the most joyful season of the year. Young or old, we all enjoy Christmas, with its fairy lights, cheerful carols, shiny trees, and presents. c) I could never live in a country that doesn't have winter because I love snow, winter sports, and most of all, Christmas.
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Journal writing:
When you're writing your journa, I don't want you to just give me a random list of things you did on one particular day.
The following is an example of what I don't want you to do:

(What not to write: a simple ‘list’ of things you did on a specific day – BORING!!!)

On Monday morning I woke up at 6:00 o’clock. I had a cup of coffee, and then I went for a jog in the Naksan Park. It was cold, so I couldn’t stay there for long. I came back home and made breakfast. I made scrambled eggs with toast. From 8 to 9 I was cleaning my house: washing the dishes, vacuuming and dusting. At 9:00 I had a shower and then get dressed. At 9:30 I went to the photocopy room to make some photocopies. There were two professors already making photocopies, so I had to wait. I went to the teachers’ lounge and checked my email. I got an email from my brother with lots of pictures from his and his son’s birthday – they were born on the same day! I was happy to see that my father still looks very healthy and handsome. My sister-in-law baked an enormous cake in the shape of a sports car. The whole family was there, and I grew sad because I missed yet another family event. I taught all day long. At 7:00 I came home, made some chicken soup and made dinner. I read a little, but went to bed really early because I was very tired.

Instead, pick a specific topic, something special that has happened to you, that you have seen, experienced, or read about:

(What to write: about one event that is special, that stands out among all the others)

Last Saturday I had a Christmas tree decorating party at my house. This party is becoming a tradition, since this time was the third time I had such a party. I usually cook a big pot of simple hearty soup or chili, make some mulled wine and eggnog, and invite my closest friends to help me with the tree. The night before the party I did all the shopping and cooking and prepared the tree and all the Christmas tree ornaments. On the day of the party, the guests started arriving at 7:00 p.m. There were 8 of us: Clare, Andrea, Jung-ah, Seok-joeng, Chris, So-hee, Ju-yeong, and me. First we ate the chili. Then we had some mulled wine and eggnog served with the sweets. Finally, we decorated the tree and arranged fairy lights all over my house. It took us about an our, ut the final product was beautiful. My house looks nicer than the Galleria Department Store.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF BAD JOURNAL WRITING:

Nowadays, I am very tired. I must look for work, but I don’t want to do anything. I can’t sleep a lot because I have many assignments. And I am writing many resumes. I spent many hours in the library working on my assignments. It is hard to me. One company wants and introduction of 200 words, the other wants with 2000 words. It is so hard to me. I can’t write one and use it many times. And the assignments are too long. My family cheers me up. I don’t get allowance from my family, so I have to work almost every day. My boss is angry. I am very tired. This semester is so hard to me. My girlfriend is angry because I am not polite to her. She wants expensive stuff but I have not money. I am sorry but she must leave me. Oh, it is so hard nowadays. I want to buy Christmas presents, but I have no money. Next weekend, I’ll go skiing.

What is the point of this paragraph?
a) the person is tired
b) the person must write resumes
c) the person’s girlfriend is going to leave him
d) the person’s family is supportive
e) the person’s family doesn’t give him any money
f) the person’s life is hard
g) the person doesn’t know how to write a paragraph
h) the person has been abducted by aliens and is speaking in a weird language that is not English (most likely!!!!!)

YOU CAN ORGANIZE THIS JOURNAL WRITING SO THAT IT IS ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES THE WRITER IS FACING IN HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW:

These days (lately, recently), I have been very tired. (TOPIC SENTENCE) There are many things that make me tired and my life difficult. (FIRST SUPPORTING ARGUMENT) First, I am a university student and I have many assignments to complete. Because they are difficult and long, I spend many hours at the library completing them. I have no time to sleep which makes me even more tired. (SECOND SUPPORTING ARGUMENT) Second, I’m also looking for a job. I’ve been writing resumes and cover letters which is not easy for me. All companies want something different in the resume. Some want 200-word cover letters, others want 2000-word cover letters. I can’t write one and reuse it. It takes me a lot of time and effort. (THIRD SUPORTING ARGUMENT) Third, my family doesn’t give me any allowance, so I need to work part-time. My boss is a slave driver and he is always angry. I have to work extra hard to keep my job. (LAST SUPPORTING ARGUMENT) In addition, as if things were not bad enough, my girlfriend is very unhappy with me. She demands expensive gifts that I cannot afford right now. I am afraid she will leave me. (CONCLUSION SENTENCE) My family tries to cheer me up, but for all the reasons I stated above, I can’t help being very tired and feeling that lately life has been more than I can handle (difficult for me).

...........AND FINALLY ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF a diary entry.

Last Thursday something horrible happened that made me very sad and angry. The tree that grew outside of my bedroom window was cut down by three Hansung University employees. I still can’t believe it and I don’t know why they did it. The tree was healthy and beautiful. It lessened the ugliness of the view from my bedroom window and, in addition, it protected me against curious passers-by. All I can see now outside my window is a gaping entrance to a building on the right, a bare wall of another building to the left, and a few meters ahead, the busy and noisy road that leads up to the campus entrance. The worst is that I need to make sure my curtain is drawn at all times so that people cannot peek into my bedroom. The only pretty, natural green thing, my natural curtain, is gone now. When the workers loaded the last fallen leaf onto their truck, I sat down on my bed and cried for a long time, feeling like I had lost a friend.