Bailey.Academic_Writing

1.12 Organising Paragraphs
Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of texts. Well-organised
paragraphs not only help readers understand the argument, they also
help writers to structure their ideas effectively.
1. Read the following paragraph.
The way we use banks is currently changing. This is partly
because of the introduction of new technology in the last
ten years. The personal computer and the internet, for
instance, allow customers to view their accounts at home
and perform operations such as moving money between
accounts. At the same time banks are being reorganised
in ways that affect both customers and staff. In the
past five years over 3,000 bank branches have closed
in Britain. The banks have discovered that staffing call
centres is cheaper than running a branch network.
The structure of the paragraph is:
1. topic sentence The way we use banks . . .
2. reason This is partly because . . .
3. example The personal computer . . .
4. information At the same time banks . . .
5. information In the past five years . . .
6. reason The banks have discovered . . .
cross-reference
2.5 Definitions
2.7 Examples
2.12 Restatement and
Repetition
2. a) A paragraph is a collection of sentences which deal with
one subject.
b) All paragraphs contain a topic sentence, which is often,
but not always, the first.
c) Other components vary according to the nature of the
topic. Introductory paragraphs often contain definitions,
while descriptive paragraphs include a lot of information.
Other sentences give examples and offer reasons and
restatements.
3. Read and analyse the following paragraph.
In recent years all British universities have adopted the
semester system. A semester is a period of time which
lasts for half the academic year. Semester 1, for example,
starts in September and finishes in January. Previously
the academic year had been divided into three terms:
autumn, winter and spring. Most courses consist of
modules which last for one semester, and exams are
held at the end of each. Britain began using semesters to
make it easier for international students to move from one
country to another.