The central idea is expessed in a statement and then supported by means of examples and other supporting details . All the sentences or expressions are directed or led to the conclusion. reasons are given leading to a conclusion; or a cause and effect relation is also presented. In this order, the controlling idea is developed by means of supporting details leading to a conclusion.For example:
"Two hundred and fifty years ago the population of Great Britain was about seven millions roughly one seventh of the present figure. It was probably increasing, but only slowly. Though we have little statistical information about birth and deaths at that time , we can be fairly confident about the genreal picture. Both the birth rate and death rate were high, and there cannot have a great difference between them. The general standard of living was relatively low, The general standard of living was relatively low, the techniques of agriculture, manufacture and communication being far inferior to those of modern society; medical men were few medical knowledge scanty, And medical institutions such as hospitals hardly existed. In this circumstances morality was inevitably very heavy. When ther were out breaks of epidemic disease deaths may have exceeded births, but this was not normally the case. In most years births exceeded deaths,and the population therefore grew, but only slowly."
The central idea of the above paragraph is that the population of Great Britain was increasing slowly. The reaason for the slow population growth is mentioned in the middle of the paragraph. The central idea is then repeated at the end. Thus there is the logical order of the material.
According to Narayanaswami, there are other metyods of arranging the materials of a paragraph. They can be statements leading to a climax, comparison and contrast, enumeration or classification,and definition. But the three above mentioned are the basic ones.
In order to obtain coherence in a paragraph, different types of connectives can be used. Connectives are also called transitional words or phrases. Some of them are given below:
- Reason connectives: because, because of, as, since etc
- Purpose connectives:to, in order to, so that,etc.
- For a cause effect relation: If, unless, accordingly, as a result, thus, hence, therefore,etc
- To introduce contrast: but, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, on the contrary, although, in spite of, etc
- To introduce semantic relation:who, which that, what, where, etc.
- By the use of pronouns and other reference words.
- By repeating the key words and sentences
No comments:
Post a Comment