ENGLISH FOR

SPECIAL PURPOSES
FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

COMPILED BY WESLY HUTABARAT

UNIVERSITAS NEGERI
MEDAN 2020

1
 Contents

1. Chapter 1. Expressing Cause and Effect 1

1.1.Introduction 1
1.2.Cause and Effect Criteria 1
1.3. Cause and Effect Reasoning 2
1.4.Attribution Theory 3
1.5.Correspondent Inference Theory 4
1.6.Covariation Model 4
1.7.Self Determination Theory 5
1.8.The need for a Sense of Control 6
1.9.Maslow Theory of Needs 6
2. Chapter 2. Expressing Effect 11
2.1.Key Languages “ Because of” and “Due to” 11
2.2.Key Languages “ Therefore,, Consequently, and So” 11
2.3.Key Languages “ Such…. That” and “SO …. That” 12
3. Chapter 3. Hypothesis 13
3.1.Writing Hypothesis 13
3.2.Ways of Expressing evidence 13
3.3.Completing arguments 17
3.4.Writing a short essay 17
4. Chapter 4 Expressing Comparison and Contrasts 21
4.1. Comparison 21
4.2. Contrasting 24
4.3. Comparing and Contrasting 26
5. Relative Clauses 30
5.1. Definition 30
5.2. Relative Clauses 31
5.3. How to form Relative Clauses 31
5.4. Defining Relative Clause 33
5.5. Non- defining Clauses 34
5.6. Relative Pronouns associated with their preceding noun 37
5.7. Relative Pronouns 38
5.8. Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun 38
5.9. Relative Adverbs 39
5.10. Adjective Phrase 43
5.11. Absolute Adjectives 44
6. Chapter 6. Writing a Short Composition 46
6.1. Guidelines on Writing a Short Essays 46
6.2. Component of a Short Essay 46
2
6.3. Tips on Writing a Thesis Statement 49
6.4. What nakes a Strong Thesis Statement 49
6.5. Where dose the Thesis Statement Go 49
6.6. Topic Sentences 54
6.7. Characteristic of an effective Topic Sentence 57
6.8. Guidelines for Composing Topic Sentences 57
6.9. Testing for Topic Sentences 57
6.10. Frequency of Topic Sentences 59
6.11. Methods for Adding Information in Topic Sentence Paragraphs 59
6.12. Word Formation in English 71
6.12. Idiomatic Expresion 72

3
 Chapter 1.
EXPRESSING CAUSE AND EFFECT
1.1 Introduction
In this chapter you will learn Cause and effect relationship which is often
related to chronological order in that the effect usually follows the cause in time.
Therefore, you must not confuse the two relationships, because not every
chronological sequence is Cause and effect.
For example, when you woke up today, you were probably woken up by the
sound of an alarm clock. The loud sound of the alarm was the cause. Without the
alarm, you probably would have overslept. In this instance, the alarm had the effect of
you waking up at a certain time. This is what we mean by cause and effect.
A cause-effect relationship is defined as a relationship in which one event
(the cause) makes another event happen (the effect). One cause can have several
effects. For example, you were conducting an experiment using regular high school
students with no athletic ability. The purpose of our experiment is to see if becoming
an all-star athlete would increase their attractiveness and popularity ratings among
other high school students. Suppose that your results showed that not only did the
students view the all-star athletes as more attractive and popular, but the self-
confidence of the athletes also improved. In this case, we see that one cause (having
the status of an all-star athlete) has two effects they are, increased self-confidence and
higher attractiveness ratings among other students.

1.2. Cause-Effect Criteria

In order to establish a cause-effect relationship, three criteria must be met. The
first stage is that the cause has to occur before the effect which is known as temporal
precedence. In this example, the students had to become all-star athletes before their
attractiveness ratings and self-confidence improved. For example, you were
conducting an experiment to see if making a loud noise would cause newborns to cry.
In this case, the loud noise would have to occur before the newborns cried. In both
examples, the causes occurred before the effects, so the first criterion was met.
Secondly, whenever the cause happens, the effect must also occur.
Consequently, if the cause does not happen, then the effect would not take place. The
strength of the cause also determines the strength of the effect. Think about the
example with the all-star athlete. It was found that popularity and self-confidence did
not increase for the students who did not become all-star athletes. Assume we also
found that the better the student's rankings in sports; the stronger they became in
athletics compared to their peers, the more popular and confident the student became,
therefore criterion two is met.
For example, that for our newborn experiment we found that as soon as the
loud noise occurred, the newborn cried and that the newborns did not cry in absence
of the sound. We also found that the louder the sound, the louder the newborn cried.

4
In this case, we see that the strength of the loud sound determines how hard the
newborn cries, as result criterion two has been met.
The last criterion is that there are no other factors that can explain the
relationship between the cause and effect. This is a little trickier. For instance, for
example that while observing the newborns, you discovered that newborns cried
periodically without the loud sound. You also know that it is typical for newborns to
cry when they are hungry, need a diaper, or miss their primary caregiver. It would be
impossible to tell whether or not the crying was caused by the newborn being hungry,
needing a new diaper, or if they just missed their parents, unless you account for all
these factors in the design of your experiment. As you can see, the third criterion is
difficult to meet. The only way to meet the third criteria is by using the experiment
method and controlling the other factors that can influence the outcome of your
research.

1.3. Cause-and-Effect Reasoning

When you are presenting an argument, show the cause-and-effect that is in
operation. Help the other person see why things have happened or will happen as
they do.
Link things to higher values. Show the inevitable linkage between what
happens first and what happens next. Go beyond correlation (that may show
coincidence) to giving irrefutable evidence of causality. If you cannot show causal
linkage, then you may be successful just by asserting it, because few people will
challenge a cause-and-effect assertion.

Example 1.1

Say this Not this

If I help you, you will be more
I will help you.
successful.
When the moon is high, things
Things are sometimes abroad.
are abroad.
The new additive to fuel makes Add our new fuel additive to
your car go so much further. your car.

People have great needs for explanation and to be able to predict what will
happen. We also require to be able to appear rational to others, and that they appear
rational to us. When a person explains cause and effect, we are believed that they
are reasonable people, and hence we trust them and their arguments more than we
might otherwise do. This need leads to psychological effects where you can offer a
cause-and-effect argument that clearly has no real causal connection, yet it is
surprising how many people will accept your argument without question. In a
famous experiment, Ellen Langer et al were able to butt into a queue for a
photocopier just by saying 'Can I use the photocopier because I want to use the
photocopier' (yet without giving reason, the researcher was not allowed to jump the
queue).

5
 If we can explain something, we can claim expertise. This gives us two very
useful advantages::
 Control: If I am expert in something, then I understand it and can use that
knowledge to control it.
 Social position :Expertise is a form of power, that leads to other people
looking up to me, either in admiration (or fear) of my power or in gratitude
from the use (or not) I have made of it on their behalf.
 When we do something of which others might disagree, we will desperately
try to explain ourselves. Why is this? It is due to the fact that we fear
appearing irrational and hence being rejected by others. Explaining our
rationality and enables others to predict what we are likely to do and hence
not consider us a threat. There are often unwritten group norms about
appearing rational and we will help our friends save face when they appear
irrational for example by explaining how they are having a 'bad day'.
There is a difference between explaining and explaining away. When we
explain, we seek a rational reason that will make sense to ourselves and others into
the future. When we explain away, we seek any plausible (or even emotional)
argument that will get rid of our discomfort around not understanding something or
not being able to explain it well to others.
To get credibility by demonstrating your own expertise in a topic of interest,
but beware in doing this that you do not embarrass the other person too much. Build
friendship by helping the other person save face through your rational explanation
of their failures and strange misdeeds (that you may have engineered). Helping
embarrassed people explain away their problems can make them more friendly
towards you. Challenging people when they try to explain away things can be a
good way of winning an argument, for example by showing how their explanations
are insufficient.

1.4. Attribution Theory

We all have a will to explain the world, both to ourselves and to other people,
attributing cause to the events around us, which gives us a greater sense of control.
When explaining behavior, it can affect the standing of people within a group
(especially ourselves).
When another person has erred, we will often use internal attribution, saying
it is due to internal personality factors. When we have erred, we will more likely
use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming
ourselves. And vice versa. We will attribute our successes internally and the
successes of our rivals to external ‘luck’. When a football team wins, supporters say
‘we won’. But when the team loses, the supporters say ‘they lost’. Our attributions
are also significantly driven by our emotional and motivational drives. Blaming
other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving
attributions. We will also make attributions to defend what we perceive as attacks.
We will point to injustice in an unfair world. People with a high need to avoid
failure will have a greater tendency to make attributions that put themselves in a
good light.
We often tend to blame victims (of us and of others) for their fate as we seek
to distance ourselves from thoughts of suffering the same plight. We also tend to

6
ascribe less variability to other people than ourselves, seeing ourselves as more
multifaceted and less predictable than others. This may well because we can see
more of what is inside ourselves (and spend more time doing this). In practice, we
often tend to go through a two-step process, starting with an automatic internal
attribution, followed by a slower consideration of whether an external attribution is
more appropriate. As with automatic believing, if we are hurrying or are distracted,
we may not get to this second step. This makes internal attribution more likely than
external attribution.
Roesch and Amirkham (1997) found that more experienced athletes made
less self-serving external attributions, as a result they can find and address real
causes and hence were able to improve their performance.
Beware of losing trust by blaming others (i.e. making internal attributions
about them). Also beware of making excuses (external attributions) that lead you to
repeat mistakes and leads to Cognitive Dissonance in others when they are making
internal attributions about you. Beware for people making untrue attributions.

1.5. Correspondent Inference Theory

When we are making attributions about other people, we compare their
actions with alternative actions, evaluating the choices they have made. It is easier
for us to make internal attributions when there fewer non-common effects between
these choices. That is, when both choices have a lot in common and there are thus
fewer things which differentiate them. When the behavior is not what we would
have forecast, we assume that it is due to their internal preferences or character
traits.
Information about five factors is sought to make these inferences:
 The behavior being considered is voluntary and freely chosen.
 The unexpected about the behavior (‘non-common effects’).
 The behavior is socially desirable.
 The behavior impacts the person doing the inferring (‘hedonic relevance’).
 The behavior is of personal interest to the person doing the inferring
(‘personalism’).
For instance, a person is choosing between two jobs. They are very similar
apart from location and salary. This makes it easier for us to attribute their choice to
the person’s individual preferences. If they choose the lower salary job, it is easy for
us to assume that the person is not money-driven.
When surprised by another person’s actions, it may seem obvious that this is
because this is just because of ‘who they are’. We should be careful to look closer
in these cases as this may not be true.

1.6. Covariation Model

When explaining other people’s behaviors, we look for similarities
(covariation) across a range of situations to help us narrow down specific
attributions. There are three particular types of information we look for to help us
decide, each of which can be high or low:
 Consensus: how similarly other people act, given the same stimulus, as the
person in question.
 Distinctiveness: how similarly the person acts in different situations, towards

7
 other stimuli.
 Consistency: how often the same stimulus and response in the same situation
are perceived.
People tend to make internal attributions when consensus and distinctiveness
are low but consistency high. They will make external attributions when consensus
and distinctiveness are both high and consistency is still high. When consistency is
low, they will make situational attributions. People are often less sensitive to
consensus information.
Example, if a manager yells at a person, we assume it is his nature if he is the
only person to yell at that person (low consensus), he yells at other people too (low
distinctiveness) and he yells at them often. However, if everyone else gets cross
with the same person (high consensus) and the manager does not yell at other
people (high distinctiveness), we assume it is something external—probably the
person being yelled at. Finally, if the manager has not yelled at the person before,
we assume that something unusual has happened (situational attribution). Use this
to help understand how others are thinking.

1.7. Self-Determination Theory

People have an external 'Perceived Locus Of Causality' (PLOC) to the extent
they sees forces outside the self as initiating, pressuring, or coercing one’s action. In
an internal PLOC a person feels they are the initiator and sustainer of their own
actions. People with a higher internal PLOC thus feel self-determined in that they see
their behavior as stemming from their own choices, values, and interests, whereas
those with an external PLOC experience their behavior as controlled by some
external event, person, or force.
The internal locus is connected with intrinsic motivation, whilst the external
locus is connected with extrinsic motivation. The distinction between intrinsic and
extrinsic is a core part of SDT, which was developed in the wake of Behaviorism
and Conditioning, where behavior management is based around reward and
punishment. SDT extends this extrinsic view to consider intrinsic effects.
There are three needs that SDT identifies as requiring satisfaction:
 Competence: succeeding in what you do.
 Relatedness: connecting with others.
 Autonomy: being in control of your life.

Examples.
I feel in control of my own life. I feel responsible for my actions. I have a high
internal locus and motivate myself. My friend is always complaining that they are
being 'forced' to do things and that life is not fair. They have a high external locus
and are more affected by reward and punishment.
Find out whether people have stronger internal or external locus and then
persuade them accordingly. For internal locus, you might show how they are
controlled and let them choose. For external locus you could show how they are
being driven by outer forces and then offer a safe haven for them.
Understand your own PLOC and how you attribute cause. Think about
whether this is effective for you and whether you want to change it. Also note how
this relates to how others persuade you (and how you persuade yourself).

8
 1.8. The Need for a Sense of Control
No, this is not so much about how to control people as about their needs
around control. The real secret is the deep, deep need that people have for a sense of
control. In persuasion, by managing how they feel about control, you can achieve far
greater actual control. If you ignore this need, you might easily fall into
a power battle for control of the conversation and the agenda. Control is a deep, deep
need.
Perhaps the deepest need people have is for a sense of control. When we feel
out of control, we experience a powerful and uncomfortable tension between the need
for control and the evidence of inadequate control.
Note that the need is for 'a sense of control', not just for 'control'. This need
around how we feel about control is much deeper and has a wider scope than just
seeking power and the control it brings.
One of the most disturbing things about having a terminal illness, as those who
unfortunately suffer from such afflictions will tell you, is the feeling of
powerlessness, of being unable to do anything about it. Being unable to control the
illness and knowing that others cannot help either can be even more painful than
impending death.
From an evolutionary standpoint, if we are in control of our environment, then
we have a far better chance of survival. Our deep subconscious mind thus gives us
strong biochemical prods when we face some kind of danger (such as the fight-or-
fight reaction).
Other needs that lead to a sense of control include:
 A sense of certainty.
 Completion of outstanding things, so we don't have to worry about them..
 Understanding of how things work.
 Being able to predict what will happen.
 That people (including ourselves) and things are consistent..

1.9. Maslow theory of needs

Psychologist Abraham Maslow defined a hierarchy of needs, with the
particular revelation that when lower level needs are not met, then higher-level needs
will be abandoned in favor of shoring up the deeper needs, as shown below.

9
 Notice how the lower you go, the more important control is. We work hard to
control disease and our susceptibility to it. Being ill gives a terrible sense of being out
of control.
Beyond basic Maslow, there is a sequence of acknowledgment (recognizing
the person), approval (evaluating the person) and acceptance before a person is
admitted to a group and so achieve the need for belonging. With further approval
they gain respect, esteem, and consequent status, in which they gain power and
consequent control..
In fact, we don't actually need to be in control all of the time. What we really
seek is a sense of control. When our parents or our managers are controlling us, we
can still be happy because we trust them to provide the control we seek in our lives.
In fact many people actively seek parent-figures in all walks of their life who will
provide this control. When seek the advice of experts and obey those in authority, we
are depending on them for our sense of control. Control is embedded in much of what
we do, look around and watch what people do. A significant portion of our everyday
activity is related to achieving our much-needed sense of control.
Rituals, for example, are everywhere. Why do we have them? They exist to
reassure people everything is as it was and to provide a familiar framework for our
daily lives. Social norms and values tell us what to do, what is right and wrong, what
is good and bad. When everyone in the group follows the rules, we feel a sense of
control.
The sense of control is closely related in opposite ways to power and trust.
You can get a sense of control by taking control and acting, which is effectively
about power. You can also get a sense of control by ceding it to others, which
requires trust. Trust and control support one another. Not only does trust cede
control, but the need for a sense of control drives us to seek trust, otherwise we
implement trust substitutes, such as monitoring or barriers.
Control and risk If we have control then we risk less. Threats can be avoided
or handled. This has significant evolutionary benefit as it leads to a better chance of
survival. We trust more and risk less when we have control. In this way powerful
people will trust others more easily. Not control, just the sense Vulnerable people, on
the other hand, can do little about avoiding threats and so must depend on others to
help them.
Pain and control. People who have a higher sense of control tend to feel pain
less intensely. This is probably because a person who feels they are not in control
also feels vulnerable to attack and starts to imagine being hurt and so feels some
psychologically created pain. When real pain appears they simply feel worse.
Locus of control. There is a principle of locus of control whereby we tend to
attribute control in our lives either internally (I have control) or externally (others
control my life). People with an internal locus of control are more proactive and self-
motivated. External attribution leads more to passivity and belief in fate or luck.
Harmony and control. A loss of the comfortable state of harmony that we
seek has been defined as shift towards either chaos or rigidity (Siegel 2008). When
we become more rigid, we control more. When we become more chaotic, we control
less. Harmony and integration can hence be understood as a balance of control.
The control trap. There is a trap into which many sales people and other
would-be persuaders fall. This pitfall is to try to hold tightly to the reins of control

10
throughout the whole process.
Grabbing control causes resistance. When I grab control of the
conversation, talking past the point when you want to reply, you will get increasingly
frustrated as you wait for a pause in which you can respond. Sales people do this
when they insist on going through the whole sales pitch even when the customer just
wants to pay, take the product and leave. Parents do it when they over-do the lectures
to their children. A point which is initially accepted is later rejected at what gets seen
as unfair punishment. Taking direct control of a conversation or situation does not
persuade. It is possible that you get temporary compliance, but you will not get true
persuasion.
Fishing is a delicate game. The control game is much like fly fishing. Pull to
hard and the fish will slip the hook. Let it out too far and the line will snag or the fish
will swim away. It is only through a sometimes-long process of give and take, you
steadily reel in your fish. So manage the other person's sense of control by changing
those things that make them certain, able to understand and predict the things around
them. This can be done by making things uncertain and inconsistent.
Giving control to get control. Giving up control gets control in two ways.
First, by choosing when, where and how you give control, you still have hold of the
reins. You have defined the cage in which the other person can play. Secondly,
having allowed them to exercise control, you can evoke the reciprocity principle such
that the other person will willingly give up control of the conversation to redress the
social balance. As someone said long ago, 'Give, in order that ye shall receive'.
When people exercise choice, they are controlling their environment. So give
them a choice, ensuring that whatever they choose gives you an advantage. One of
the most common sales closes is the alternative close, where you assume the other
person is ready to buy, and give them a simple choice ('Do you want the red one or
the yellow one.'). Don't give them too much choice, because this makes the decision
harder and can thus lead to a reduced sense of control. Because we make our easiest
decisions by contrasting two things at one time, the best number of options to give is
two.
Closed questions do not give control. In fact they can seem very
controlling. Open questions give people the floor, letting them talk. This can be a
scary step and can indeed lose all control. But you are the person who asked the
question, so choose the question well to contain their response and possibly even give
you information. Just having them talk is itself a great persuader. When people talk
about something themselves, they are far more likely to believe in it than if they just
sit back and listen to you.
The corollary of questioning is to give them something active to do. Just like
when they are talking, actively doing something, especially when they have choices,
give a sense of control. As with questioning, when you are directing the action, you
are still in overall control. People often keep talking because they are not sure that
you have really understood what they have said. When you reflect back to people
what they have told you, you show them that you have heard, that they have been
successful, that they have controlled their environment. This will speed the point at
which they will give you back the talking stick.

11
Exercise 1.1.
In the following pairs of sentences decide, which sentences are cause and
effect or chronological order or unrelated.
1. John’s diet is low in iron
2. There was heavy rain yesterday. The road outside the office was flooded.
3. John’s car run out of petrol. John had to walk to the petrol station.
4. Mary cut her finger with a sharp knife. Mary’s finger bled.
5. Paul woke up at 6:00 this morning. But caught the Bus at 7:00.
6. Caroline had a lot of home-work last night. Caroline didn’t watch television.
7. That Novel is a best seller. The Novel is well written.
8. They went to the cinema on Sunday. They went out to dinner after that movie.
9. Indonesia consists of thousand islands. Indonesia became independent in
1945.
10. The British Council English language Centre employs only native speakers.
The English course in the BCELC is very good.

Example of Cause and Effect.

1. Key language :
Is cause by
Snow a mixture of smoke and
Is produced by fog.

Is the results of

Results from

Now write down similar statements about the following:

1. Steam …………………………………………
2. Road accidents ……………………………..
3. Malnutrition…………………………………
4. Divorce ……………………………………..
5. Landslide ……………………………………
2. Key language:
a. Erosion is partly due to wind.

b.
One of the cause of erosion is wind.

Please complete the following sentences below:

1. Disease ………………………………………….
2. Floods ……………………………………………
3. Revolution ………………………………………
4. Illiteracy ………………………………………..
5. Economic progress …………………………….
6. World war two …………………………………

12
 7. Diabetes ………………………………………..
8. Tetanus …………………………………………
9. Malaria …………………………………………
10. Heart attack …………………………………….

3. Key language:
Advertising often result in increases sales.
causes
produces
leads

One of the results of advertising is increased sales.

One of the effects of

Exercise 1.2.

Write similar statements about the following items below, using any of the patterns in
the boxes.
1. Lack of oxygen at high altitudes …….. dizziness.
2. Anxiety ………… insomnia.
3. Sporting activities ………. increased health.
4. Statistical analysis ………….. better planning.
5. Overcrowded conditions …… aggressiveness behavior.
6. ……………………… ……… …………………….
7. ……………………… ……… …………………….
8. …………………….. ………. …………………....
9. ……………………. ,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
10. …………………… ………. …………………..

13
 Chapter 2.

EXPRESSING EFFECT
In previous lessons we’ve shown how to use adverb clauses and modifying
adverbial phrases to express cause and effect, contrast, and condition. The words that
introduce adverb clauses belong to a category of English words known
as connectives that join one part of a sentence to another. Other types of connectives
can also be used to express some of the same ideas that adverb clauses can. The other
connectives are :prepositions, transitions and conjunctions.
In this lesson, we’re going to discuss how these additional connectives can be
used to express cause and effect and purpose. In the next lesson, we’ll wrap up
connectives by looking at how they are used in expressions of contrast and condition.

2.1. Key languages: “Because Of” and “Due To”

Adverb clauses introduced by because expresses cause and effect relationships:

Examples 2.1.
Because it was raining, I wore a hooded sweatshirt.
Because of and due to are phrasal prepositions. They express the same cause-effect
relationship
as because. However, a preposition is followed by a noun object, not by a subject and
a verb:

Example 2.2.
Because of the rain, I wore a hooded sweatshirt.

Due to the rain, I wore a hooded sweatshirt.

Occasionally, you will see due to followed by a noun clause introduced by the fact
that. This occurs primarily in older and very formal writing. Native English speakers
rarely use it in conversations or informal writing:

Example 2.3.
Due to the fact that it was raining, I wore hooded sweatshirt.
Like adverb clauses, phrasal prepositions can also follow the main clause. Note the
lack of a comma in these instances:

Examples 2.4.
I wore a hooded sweatshirt because of the rain.
I wore a hooded sweatshirt due to the rain.
I wore hooded sweatshirt due to the fact that it was raining.

Key languages: “Therefore, Consequently, and So”

14
Transitions connect ideas between two sentences. They are used commonly in formal
writing but rarely in spoken English. The transitions therefore and consequently mean
“as a result.” They occur in the second of two related sentences and can have a variety
of positions within the second sentence.

Compare the following examples, which all have the same meaning:
Sam was late for work because she overslept.
Sam overslept. Therefore, she was late for work.
Sam overslept. She, therefore, was late for work.
Sam overslept. She was late for work, therefore.

So is a conjunction that has the same meaning as therefore. Because it is a

conjunction, so uses a comma, not a period, to connect two related independent
clauses:
Sam overslept, so she was late for work.

Key languages: “Such…That” and “So…That”

Such…that and so…that express cause and effect by enclosing other parts of speech.
Such…that encloses a modified noun (such + adjective + noun + that):

Examples2.5.
It was such a nice day that I ate my lunch outside.
It was such a good movie that I saw it a second time.

So…that encloses an adjective or adverb (so + adjective/adverb + that):

Examples 2.6.
The drink was so cold that it made my teeth hurt.
James speaks so slowly that I lose interest in what he is saying.

You can use so…that with many, few, much, and more to help express quantity:
Sarah’s section of the report contained so many grammar errors that I had to
completely rewrite it.
Mike has so few days off that I rarely get to see him.
Julie makes so much money that she can go out for dinner whenever she wants.
Robert had so little trouble with the assignment that he finished it the day it was
assigned.
Native English speakers often omit the that when speaking or writing informally:
I was so hungry (that) I ate an entire pizza for dinner.

Using “So That” to Express Purpose

So that (with no words in between) expresses purpose. It has the same meaning as “in
order to”:

Examples 2.7.
I cleaned up the living room in order to enable my roommate to vacuum the floor.
I cleaned up the living room so (that) my roommate could vacuum the floor.

15
I cleaned up the living room for a purpose. The purpose was to make it possible for
my roommate to vacuum the floor without having to move things out of the way.

So that is often used instead of in order to when ability is being expressed.

Pairing so that with can/could is the same as saying “in order to be able to”:

Examples 2.8.
I’m going to cash my paycheck so that I can buy groceries.
I cashed my paycheck so that I could buy groceries.

Combining so that with will, would, or a simple present tense verb is the same as
saying “in order to make sure that.” Will is used in expressing present
tense. Would express past tense. Using a simply present verb in place of will/
would express future tense:

Examples 2.9.
I’ll wear a hooded sweatshirt so that I won’t get my hair wet.
I wore a hooded sweatshirt so that I wouldn’t get my hair wet.
I’ll wear a hooded sweatshirt so that I don’t get my hair wet.

Please study the following examples.

2.2. Key language:
Malaria mosquitoes can be controlled by insecticides.

Consequently
Therefore Malaria has now been eradicated
As a results of (of this) in many parts of the World.
Because of this

Exercise 2.1.
After having read the key language above, you can read the following statements. For
each item, write a second statement describing a result or effect which the first
statement suggests to you. Use one of the boxed expressions in each of your answer.
1. Diamonds are the hardest of all materials.
……………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………….
2. It is still not possible to predict when earthquakes will occur.
…………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………
3. Camels can go without water for longer periods than other animals.
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
4. The cost of petroleum has increased enormously in recent year.
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
5. Many people who work in cities are obliged to live in tower blocks.

16
 ……………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
6. The number of burglaries committed in Indonesia has increased recently.
………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………

Exercise Cause and Effect

Read the following information.

In 1970 about sixty small and medium-sized companies in the United States
adopted a four-day work week. According to the plan, workers work forty hours but
instead of the usual five-day week, they now work only four days. Workers are
enthusiastic about the three-day weekly vacation. According to management,
productivity has increased about 18% since the inception of the new plan.
Absenteeism has dropped by 69% and lateness is almost non-existent.

Exercise 2.10.
Write three statements of cause and effect which are true according to the
paragraph above.
Exercise 2.11.
Look at diagram below relating to poverty. Write two or three paragraphs
describing poverty and include a definition of it in your description. Refer to
some of the causes and effects of poverty below.

Causes Poverty Effects

Low wages The state of being Inadequate
very poor accommodation
Unemployment Insufficient food
Irregular employment Inadequate clothing
Death of the wage-earner Insufficient heating
Large families Poor health
Illness Few opportunities
Old ages Amenities
drink Possessions
Gambling Comforts
Unwise spending

Exercise 2.12.
Write a short essay on one or more of the following:
a. The causes and effects of blindness
b. The causes and effects of drought.
c. The causes and effects of rain.
d. The causes and effects relationship between poverty and illiteracy.

17
 Chapter 3.
HYPOTHESIS
Hypothesis is a tentative prediction about the nature of the relationship
between two or more variables.” ƒ “A hypothesis can be defined as a tentative
explanation of the research problem, a possible outcome of the research, or an
educated guess about the research outcome.” (Sarantakos, 1993: 1991) ƒ “Hypotheses
are always in declarative sentence form, an they relate, either generally or
specifically, variables to variables.” ƒ “An hypothesis is a statement or explanation
that is suggested by knowledge or observation but has not, yet, been proved or
disproved.” (Macleod Clark J and Hockey L 1981). A hypothesis is a conjectural
statement of the relation between two or more variables”. (Kerlinger, 1956).
Hypothesis is a formal statement that presents the expected relationship between an
independent and dependent variable.”(Creswell, 1994). “Hypotheses are single tentative
guesses, good hunches – assumed for use in devising theory or planning experiments
intended to be given a direct experimental test when possible”. (Eric Rogers, 1966)
In hypothesis we can speculate about possible explanation for facts or
observations. For example, we could put forward various hypotheses to explain why
there are similarities between the Indians living on the west coast of South America
and the people of the Pacific island. Similarly, we could make hypotheses to explain
why Java is overpopulated and Kalimantan is underpopulated.
In the following exercises you are going to examine hypotheses made to
explain the disappearance of dinosaurs 63 million years ago.
You are going to write a short essay about dinosaurs. The essay might be
summarized as follows.“Although dinosaurs were on the dominant form of life on
earth, they became extinct 63 million years ago. A number of hypotheses have been
put forward into account for their disappearance. The most hypotheses is that
……………

There are three main hypotheses put forward to explain the sudden
disappearance of the dinosaurs.
Hypotheses 1: A global catastrophe.
Hypotheses 2: Dinosaurs could not compete with mammals.
Hypotheses 3: the climate suddenly became cooler.
Which of these explanations do you think is the most likely?

Here are a number of ways of introducing hypotheses:

1. One hypotheses is that …………………………
2. One hypotheses is that …………………………
3. Another/ a second / a third possibility is that ……………………
4. It has (also) been suggested that …………………………………..
5. It is possible that there was a global catastrophe.
6. It is possible that climate suddenly became cooler.
7. One possible explanation is that ………………………….
8. Another possible explanation is that …………………….

18
 9. A second possible explanation is that …………………....
10. The third possible explanation is that ……………………

Exercise 3.1.
Write a short paragraph putting forward three possible explanations for that
disappearance of dinosaurs. End with the explanation which you think most likely.
Now consider the evidence.
a. Mammals are quicker and more intelligent and adaptable than reptiles.
b. Fossilized remains of coniferous trees have been found.
c. These trees can only grow in a cool climate.
d. These trees originated about 65 million years ago.
Exercise 3.2
1. Which hypothesis does the evidence support?
2. Which hypothesis is unsupported?
3. Which do you think is the most likely hypothesis?

Complete this table:

Hypothesis Evidence
1.

2.

3.

Here are ways of expressing the evidence for a hypothesis derived from
observation.
Observation : Dolphins see to communicate efficiently.
Hypothesis : They have a spoken language.
Evidence : They produce a wide variety of sound signals.

Exercise 3.3.
Look at the paragraph below and: underline each observation, circle each hypothesis
and box each sentence giving evidence.
1. Dolphins seem to communicate efficiently. It is possible that they have a
spoken language since they produce a wide variety of sound signals.
2. Dolphins seem to communicate efficiently. Since they produce a wide variety
of sounds it is possible that they have a spoken language.
3. Dolphins seem to communicate efficiently. It is possible that these creatures
which produce a wide variety of sound signals have a spoken language.
4. Dolphins seem to communicate efficiently. We know that they regularly
produce a wide variety of sound signals so they may have …………….. It is
possible that they have …………………………………..
Exercise 3. 4:
Write a short paragraph based on the following:
Observation : Dinosaurs became extinct 63 million years ago.
Hypothesis : Dinosaurs were unable to compete with mammals.

19
 Evidence : Mammals are quicker and more adaptable and intelligent than reptiles.
Sometimes we have no supporting evidence for a hypothesis:
Observation : The moon and earth are made of similar materials.
Hypothesis : The moon was once part the earth.
Evidence : None

Exercise 3. 5. Fill in the blank in the sentence velow.

1. Although it is possible that the moon was once part of the earth there is no
evidence for this.
2. It is possible that ……………….. but we have no evidence for this.
3. The moon may once have been part of the earth. There is, however, no
evidence to support this hypothesis.

Sometimes we have to draw on previously given information to complete the

argument:
Observation :Dolphins communicate very efficiently.
Previous information : Dolphins are highly intelligent.
Hypothesis : Dolphins have a language.
New evidence : Dolphins regularly produce a wide range of
sound signals.
Exercise 3.6.
Look at the paragraph below: underline each hypothesis, circle each sentence giving
previous information and box each sentence giving evidence.
1. It may be that dolphins have a language. As we know they are highly intelligent
and we now know that they regularly produce a wide range of sound signals.
2. One possibility is that dolphins have a language. We have already seen that they
are highly intelligent. In addition, to this they regularly produce a wide range of
sound signals.
3. We know that dolphins are highly intelligent. One possibility, therefore, is that
they have a language. There is further evidence for this. Dolphins regularly
produce a wide range of sound signals.

Exercise 3.7:
Now write a paragraph based on the following:
Observation : Dinosaurs suddenly became extinct.
Previous information : Dinosaurs were ill-equipped for a cold climate.
Hypothesis : The climate suddenly became cooler.
Evidence : fossilized remains of coniferous trees have been found. These trees only
grow in a cool climate. The trees originated about 65 million years ago.

Exercise 3.8.
Write a paragraph giving all these hypotheses and the evidence to support them.
We still have three hypotheses. There is evidence to support two of them. If we can
find no further evidence on which to base a firm decision we must look for counter-
evidence.

20
 Look at this table:
Hypothesis
1. The Romans discovered
America.
2. The Canary Islands were the
site of Atlantics.
3. Human sacrifices were made
as Stonehenge.
4. Stonehenge was built by
visitors from space.
Counter-evidence
There are no references to a new
continent in Roman literature.
There are no ancient remains on
the Canaries.
No human bones have been found
at the Stonehenge.
They have left no further evidence
of their visit.

We can quote counter-evidence in this way:X may be true, but Y is true. Therefore, X
is unlikely.
Examples 3.9.
1. It is possible that the Roman discovered America, but there are certainly
no references to a new continent in Roman literature.
2. It is very unlikely that the Roman discovered America since there is no
reference to a new continent in Roman literature.
Exercise 3. 10.
1. Write sentences to show that the other hypotheses in the table are unlikely
to be true.
2. Write sentences to show that two of the hypotheses about the
disappearance of dinosaurs are unlikely.

Complete this table with information about dinosaurs.

Hypothesis Evidence Counter-evidence

Exercise 3. 11:
Write a paragraph about dinosaurs with this structure:
a. Hypothesis- evidence - counter evidence
b. Hypothesis- evidence - counter evidence
c. Hypothesis- evidence - conclusion.

Exercises 3. 12:
Making hypothesis : 1. One hypothesis is that …………………….
2. Another possibility is that …………………
3. It has been suggested that ………………….
4. It is possible that …………………………..
5. Another possibility explanation is that …….
6. The most likely explanation is that ………..
Citing previous information:
1. As we know that …………………………
2. We have already seen that ………………...

21
 3. We know that ……………………………..
Providing information:
1. We (now ) know that ……………………
2. Hypothesis + became ……………………
3. Hypothesis + since ………………………
4. There is (further) evidence for this + evidence.
No evidence:
1. Although it is possible that ……. Hypothesis ….. there is no evidence for this.
2. It is possible that ……… hypothesis but we have no evidence for this.
3. Hypothesis + there is, however, no evidence to support this hypothesis.
Citing Counter-Evidence :
1. It is possible that …….. but ………..
2. It is very unlikely that ……. Since ……..
Exercise 3. 13:
Imagine a town in Samosir in the year 1974 with two factories and two
thousand workers. All the workers work either as factory A, which makes motor cars,
or at factory B, which produce bicycles. In fact, 250 work at factory A and 1.750 at
factory A. In the 1986 budget the Chancellor increased the tax on petrol from 200% to
300%. This puts up the price from Rp. 160.000 per gallon to 200.000 per gallon.
Based on the information above, which of the following do you think will
happen as a result:
a. People will buy more bicycles.
b. People will buy few bicycles
c. People will buy more cars.
d. People will buy few cars.
In fact there was a shift from the production of cars to the production of
bicycles. The owner of factory A tried to reduce wage rates but the trade unions were
too powerful for him and he had to go on paying the same wages. The owner of
rectory B , however, increased wage rates and two things happened as a result. First,
his workers were willing to work longer hours and second workers began to move
from factory A to factory B.

Exercise 3. 14.
Examine the map and consider the following data about a hypothetical
country, Hondland, which is situated in a subtropical region.
Area :600 miles long, 400 miles wide. Population : 4,000.000,.
1 large city : 200,000 population, capital
1 seaport : 500,000 population; rural population scattered throughout plateau,
dense forest, some fishing villages along the coast.
Terrain:
1. Coastal region with sandy beaches, dense forest, extends 50 miles inland.
2. Upland plateau, 300 miles wide, good agriculture soil, 2000 ft. above the sea
level.
3. Foothill of mountains with forest, mineral deposits rise gradually from 2000 ft.
above sea level.
4. Mountain range: 10,000 – 12,000 ft. above sea level.

22
5. One major river: 200 m wide, navigable up to the waterfall. Manufacturing: fish
canning, food processing in the two cities. Natural resources: forests, fish,
agriculture, silver mining, oil.
6. Education: illiteracy rate 20%. One university in the captal city.
7. Compulsory education through age 10.
8. Average life span: 52 years.
9. Yearly average per capita income: $ 1000 (US dollars)
One year ago oil was discovered (see map). The government has built a road
from the seaport to the oil field. This is the first major highway in the Country. Prior
to this time the river was the main transportation means and other roads were minor.
Discuss this in groups then write a short essay in which you discuss the
changes you think the oil discovery and subsequent highway will bring about in th
country. Consider in your essay some of the following:
Population distribution tourism
Standard of living manufacturing
Exports, imports development of cities
Social customs

mountain

river

waterfall

mines

Oil field development city

Seaport

23

ocean
 Chapter 4

E XPRESSING COMPARISONS
AND CONTRASTS
Comparing and contrasting ideas can be made using adverbs,
conjunctions, transitional adverbs and phrases.

Comparison
To compare ideas, you can use the following structures.
Adverbs: Similarly, likewise, in the same way, also
Phrases: Like, alike, similar, equal, comparable
Verbs: Compare to, resemble, fit, match, mirror, reinforce, reflect etc.

Contrasting ideas and things, you can use the following adverbs and
transitional verbs: in contrast, on the other hand, however.
The conjunctions though, although and but are also possible.

Notes
A transitional adverb goes between separate sentences.
Some people want a new leader. However, not everybody agrees.
A dependent conjunction joins a dependent clause to an independent clause which can
be accomplished in two patterns below:

Conjunction + subject + verb, subject + verb

Subject + verb + conjunction + subject + verb…

Although he is a post graduate in chemistry, he can’t even boil water.

OR
He can’t even boil water although he is a post graduate in chemistry.

Coordinating conjunctions join independent clauses.

Subject + verb + conjunction + subject + verb

He is a post graduate in English, but he can’t even change a bulb.

A prepositional phrase normally comes at the beginning of the sentence if the phrase
is an adverb.

Prepositional phrase, subject + verb

Subject + verb + prepositional phrase
Unlike his brother, Stephen is quite interested in their family business.

Words and Short Phrases Used to Compare

The following words or short phrases compare two items or ideas:
like
likewise

24
same as
as well as
also, too
likewise

Here is a short paragraph using some of these expressions:

You'll find that time like money is a limited resource. You can't buy everything you
want, likewise, you don't have enough time to do everything you want to do. Our time
is the same as our money: it's limited. Also, time is a resource when work needs to be
done.

The following words or short phrases contrast two items or ideas:

unlike
in contrast to
as opposed to
different from
whereas

Here is a short paragraph using some of these expressions to contrast:

Unlike time or money, desire is an unlimited resource. Think about it: In contrast
to money which can run out, your desire for new experiences and ideas will never
end. Whereas there is never enough time to do everything you want, your desire will
always come up with something new and exciting.

Forms used when comparing ideas

The most important form to use when comparing two ideas is the comparative form.
For three or more ideas, use the superlative form.

Comparative form
These sentences use the comparative form to discuss ideas concerning the difficult
economy.
Employment issues are more important than political problems at this point in time.
Job training is more critical to sustained well being than food stamps and other
welfare programs.
Politicians are more worried about reelection than truly improving the economy.

As ... as
A related form to the comparative is the use of 'as ... as'. The positive form shows
something is equal. However, when using 'as ... as' do not modify the adjective as in
the comparative form.

The loss of manufacturing jobs is as unfortunate as the drop in pay.

Spending on education in my state is as high as in some foreign countries like Korea.

The negative form shows that something is not equal.

It isn't as easy as you think.
The loss in production isn't as great as in the past.

25
Superlative form
These sentences use the superlative form to state what someone feels are the most
important aspect of a success at university.
Dedication is the most important factor in success at University.
Opening my mind to new perspectives was the most rewarding part of my time at
university.

Conjunctions and connectors

Use these subordinating conjunctions, connecting words and prepositions to contrast
positive and negative aspects.

Though, although, even though

Although the initial cost will be high, we will eventually profit from the time spent.
It's important to remember that time is money even though many believe that money is
more important.

However, Nonetheless
We need to improve the local infrastructure. However, we must also respect nature.
The government should invest in job training programs. Nonetheless, these will be
expensive.

Despite, In spite of
Despite the difficulty, students will soon see the benefit of this topic of study.
The situation will improve in spite of the economy.

Practice Situations
Find a partner and use these suggestions to practice comparing and contrasting ideas,
events, and people. Make sure to vary the language you use when practicing rather
than using the same phrase over and over again.
 discuss the economic situation in your country
 speak about the positive and negative aspects of a politician or political party
 compare and contrast two different courses at school
 consider both sides of an important decision such as an investment, a career
change, etc.
Table 4.1 Key language

KEY LANGUAGE EXHEAD AND PORTSEA

In some ways Exhead and Portsea are two towns on the southcoast of
In some respects England. in some ways they are very similar. They are
both old towns and both have harbours.
Similar/alike Like Portsea, Exhead has a population of approximately
both 12,000. Exhead has a growing number of local
like industries.

similarly Similarly, Portsea is also expanding its industrial sector.

But But in other ways the two towns are quite different. For

26
different one thing, Exhead is more attractive than Portsea. For
More/less this reason it is a popular holiday resort in summer.
On the other hand Portsea, on the other hand, attracts vary few visitors. In
while addition, Exhead, has extended its hotel facilities, while
Portsea has not done so.
One difference.. between One difference between the two towns is that in Exhead
….. is that ……. the new industries are located outside the coast.
however In Portsea, however, there are factories in all parts of the
town.

Exercise 4.1:
We can write about similarities or differences.
Read the following and decide whether each one is a question expressing a similarity,
a question expressing a difference, a statement of similarity or a statement of
difference.
Underline the words or phrases which indicate similarities or differences.
1. In what way was Indonesia’s struggle for independence different from India’s?
2. Jenner and Pasteur are both famous for their work in immunization.
3. The ball used to play football is larger than the ball used to play tennis.
4. How is a drum similar to a telephone?
5. Are you less optimistic than your friend?

Patterns 1: Comparing
Examples:
1. In some ways Bandung and Medan are similar
2. In some respects Bandung and Medan are alike.
3. Like Bandung, Medan is a big city.
4. Both Medan and Bandung are big cities.

Look at the examples above and write some sentences using the following words.
a. Helicopter/Aeroplanes.
b. The cameras/the eye
c. Dogs/cats

Pattern 2: Contrasting
Examples:
1. In some ways Berastagi and Surabaya are different.
2. Berastagi is located inland , but Surabaya is on the coast.
3. Berastagi is located inland, while Surabaya is on the coast.
4. Berastagi is located inland, whereas Surabaya is on the coast.
5. Whereas Berastagi is located inland, Surabaya is on the coast.
6. Berastagi has a cool climate, Surabaya, however, is often extremely hot.
7. Berastagi has a cool climate, Surabaya, on the other hand, is often extremely
hot.

27
Exercise 4.2.
By Looking at the pattern above, write sentences based on the topics below:
a. Indonesia/America
b. Javanese music/Batak music.

Table 4. 2. Paragraph plan:

Trains
Trains are vehicles
Trains usually have several carriages.
Trains can carry a lot of passengers.
Trains run on rails.
Trains usually travel long distance.
Trains have electric and diesel engines
Trams
Trams are vehicles.
Trams usually have only one carriage.
Trams cannot carry a lot of passengers.
Trams run on rails.
Trams usually travel short distance.
Trams have only electric ones.

Based on the paragraph plan above, write a short paragraph by using the following
key words: and, but, so, both and whereas.

Exercise 4. 3:
Now complete the following paragraph plans below and then write paragraphs about:
1. Diamond and graphite
2. Coal and charcoal.

Table 4.3. Paragraph Plans 1

DIAMONDS GRAPHITE
1. 1. Graphite is black and opaque.

2.Diamonds are a natural form of carbon 2.

3. 3. Graphite is extremely soft.

4.Diamonds are used in cutting tools 4.

5. 5. Graphite is common and cheap to

mine.

6.Diamonds are very valuable 6.

7. 7. Graphite is not used in jewelry.

Table 4.4. Paragraph Plans 2

Coal Charcoal
1. 1.Charcoal is composed mainly of
carbon.

2.Coal is mined. 2.

28
3. 3.Charcoal is wood that has been burnt
in a small supply of air

4.Coal is used as fuel 4.

5.Coal can be used in steam-engine. 5.

6. 6.Charcoal burns quickly.

7. 7.Charcoal is not widely used in

industry

Table 4.5. Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs can be used to express three kinds of comparisons
bigger than This machine is bigger than that one.
smaller than
more versatile than
the biggest This machine is the biggest one of all.
the smallest This machine is the biggest in the
the most versatile factory.
in …………… …
of all
as big as This machine is as big as that one
as small as
as versatile as
not as small as This machine is not as big as that one
less versatile than
the least versatile This machine is the least versatile of all.
This machine is the least versatile in the
factory.

Formation:
Comparison with –er, -est.
Normal for one-syllable words: big, bigger, biggest.
Normal for two-syllable words ending in suffix –y: happy, happier, happiest.
Optional for two-syllable adjectives stressed on the first syllable:
clever, cleverer cleverest
more clever most clever

Comparison with more and most.

Adjectives of three or more syllables:
Expensive more expensive most expensive

Pattern 3. Comparing and Contrasting

1. Bicycles and motorcycles are similar in terms of size.
2. Bicycles and motorcycles are different in terms of speed.

29
Using these examples, compare or contrast the following in terms of their
characteristics.
1. Cows/Horses
2. Aeroplanes/helicopters
3. Durians/pineapple
4. Cars/Buses
5. Ships/canoes
6. Charcoals/graphites

Exercise 4. 4.
You have just received a letter from a friend asking for some information
about English dictionaries and asking you to recommend a suitable one to help
him/her learn English. Look at the Table below: then on the basis of that information
write a letter recommending one of the dictionaries. Give reason for your choice.

Table 4.6.English Dictionaries

Item Oxford Advance Collins English Longman Dictionary
Learner’s Learner’s of Contemporary
Dictionary of Dictionary English
Current English
Published 2008 2010 2015
Entries 75.000 65.000 75.000
Examples 65.000 50.000 80.000
Drawings 1000 800 1000
Indices 15 14 14
Pages 2010 865 2300
Prices (2015) U$. 15 US. 8.5 US 14
Binding Hardback Paperback Hardback

Patterns 4. Contrasting
Contrasting Concrete
Although Although concrete is very valuable to builders, it has one
However disadvantage, and that is a weakness in tensile strength.
To overcome this weakness, engineers reinforces the
concrete with materials such as steel.

Look at these sentences

Although Emus have wings, they cannot fly.
Emus have wings, however, they cannot fly.

Exercise 4.5.
Practice with the sentence below, using although and however.
Although Babies have legs, they cannot walk.
…………………………………………………… ………………………
…………………………………………………… ………………………
Papua New Guinea is a relatively new country. It has an interesting history.
…………………………………………………… ………………………

30
…………………………………………………… ………………………
Papua New Guinea is a high rainfall area. It sometimes has droughts.
…………………………………………………… ………………………
…………………………………………………… ………………………

Exercise 4.6.
Put suitable words of contrast or comparison in the blanks below:
1. …………………. Windmills are simple to make, there are few of them in
actual use. There are several good reasons why this is so. The most obvious
reason is that windmills required strong winds in order to work.
2. …. …… …… …, a windmill is simple to make, there are few of them in
actual use. There are several good reasons why this is so. The most obvious
reason is that windmills required strong winds in order to work.
3. Windmills are simple to make, there are ,….. …… ….. …, few of them in
actual use. There are several good reasons why this is so. The most obvious
reason is that windmills required strong winds in order to work.
4. Windmills are simple to make, ….. …… ……. …… … , there are few of
them in actual use. There are several good reasons why this is so. The most
obvious reason is that windmills required strong winds in order to work.

Exercise 4.7

Look at the information below:

Table 4. 7. Nordic Countries (information 2008)

Information Denmark Finland Norway Sweden
Temperatur in
Fahrenheit:
A.V.an.Max 83 oF 82oF 83oF 83oF
A.V.an.Min. 10oF -10oF -3oF 2oF
Area: sq.miles 16.600 130.165 125.018 173.624
Population 4.978.678 4.988.700 3.989.000 8.560.000
Density: per km2 114 16.6 18 12.8
Forest area 10% 72% 19% 11.8%
Agricultural area 69% 14% 3% 10%

Constitution Constitutional Republic Constitutional Constitutional

monarchy monarchy monarchy

Note: Temperature scale: 32o Fahrenheit=0o centigrade

Av. An. Max =average annual maximum temperature
Av. An.min = average annual minimum temperature

Look at the following examples based on Table 4.7 above.

Similarities:
1. Both Denmark and Norway have a constitutional monarchy.
2. Sweden is similar to Norway in terms of its constitutional constitution.
3. Denmark and Sweden both have the same kind of constitution.
4. Denmark, like Finland, has a population of about 4.5 million.

31
 Dissimilarities.
1. Denmark has a constitutional monarchy, whereas (or: while) Finland is a
republic.
2. Whereas Finland is a republic, Norway has a constitutional monarchy.
3. Denmark has the smallest land area; however, it has the highest percentage
agricultural area.
4. Although Denmark has the smallest land area, it has the highest percentage
agricultural area.
Exercise 4.8.

Write a short paragraph by contrasting and comparing the four Baltic countries
above.

32
 Chapter 5
RELATIVE CLAUSES
5.1 Definition
A relative clause is one that’s connected to the main clause of the sentence by
a word such as who, whom, which, that, or whose. For example:
It reminded him of the house that he used to live in.
The items, which are believed to be family heirlooms, included a grandfather clock
worth around £3,000.
Relative clauses are non-essential parts of a sentence. They may add meaning,
but if they are removed, the sentence will still function grammatically. There are two
broad types of relative clauses in English. It is important to distinguish between them
because it affects the choice of pronoun used to introduce the clause.
There are two types of relative clause: restrictive (or defining) relative
clauses and non-restrictive (or non-defining) relative clauses. The difference between
them is as follows:
A restrictive relative clause provides essential information about the noun to
which it refers. It cannot be left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning.
The highlighted section of the first sentence above is a restrictive relative clause. If it
was left out, the sentence would not make sense:
It reminded him of the house. [which house?]
A non-restrictive relative clause provides information that can be left out
without affecting the meaning or structure of the sentence. The highlighted section of
the second sentence above is a non-restrictive relative clause. If it was left out, the
sentence would still make perfect sense:

The items included a grandfather clock worth around £3,000.

You do not need to put a comma before restrictive relative clauses. On the
other hand, non-restrictive relative clauses should be separated from the rest of the
sentence by a comma or commas.
For example:
A list of contents would have made it easier to steer through the book, which also
lacks a map.
Bill, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, suddenly roused himself.
In British English, restrictive relative clauses can be introduced by that
or which when they are referring to things rather than people:
The coat that/which Dan had on yesterday was new.
In this sentence, the writer is identifying the coat by saying it’s the one Dany
was wearing yesterday, as opposed to any other coats he might own.
Non-restrictive relative clauses must always be introduced by which and never
by that:
The coat, which Dany had on yesterday, was made of pure alpaca and cost a bomb.

33
In this sentence, there’s no need to identify the coat – it’s already been mentioned.
But the writer is providing a bit of background context by telling us that Dan was
wearing it yesterday.

We use relative clauses to give additional information about something

without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your
text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.

5.2. Relative clauses

Relative clauses are clauses starting with the relative pronouns who*, that,
which, whose, where, when. They are most often used to define or identify the noun
that precedes them. Here are some examples:
 Do you know the girl who started in grade 7 last week?
 Can I have the pencil that I gave you this morning?
 A notebook is a computer which can be carried around.
 I won't eat in a restaurant whose cooks smoke.
 I want to live in a place where there is lots to do.
 Yesterday was a day when everything went wrong!
There is a relative pronoun whom, which can be used as the object of the relative
clause. For example: My science teacher is a person whom I like very much. To many
people the word whom now sounds old-fashioned, and it is rarely used in spoken
English.

5.3. How to Form Relative Clauses

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a
friend whether he knows her. You could say:
A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?
That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative
clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most
important thing – you want to know who the girl is.
Do you know the girl …
As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in
the additional information – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first
part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people,
use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

The most common two-verbs sentences in scientific English are sentences

containing relative clauses. A relative pronoun marks a relative clause; it has the
same referent in the main clause of a sentence that the relative modifies.

Examples 5.1.
A plane carries 500 passengers. It is already in service.
A plane which carries 500 passengers is already in service.
The man teaches physics. He is a graduate of the State University of Medan.
The man who teaches physics is a graduate of the state University of Medan.

34
Relative pronouns are usually used to combine two sentences.
The relative pronouns are:
Subject Object Possessive
who who(m) whose
which which whose
that that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things.
Or we can also use that for people or things.

We use relative pronouns:

• after a noun, to make it clear which person or thing we are talking about:
the town that Jack built
the man who discovered radium
an ten-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
• to tell us more about a person or thing:
My uncle, who was born overseas, has always been a great adventurer.
Gerald, who is 76, has just retired.
We had fish and potetous, which is my favourite meal.

But we do not use that as a subject in this kind of relative clause.

We use whose as the possessive form of who:
This is Michael, whose brother went to school with me.

We sometimes use whom as the object of a verb or preposition:

Examples 5.2
This is Michael, whom you met at our house last year.
This is Michael ’s brother, with whom I went to school.
But nowadays we normally use who:
This is Tom, who you met at our house last year.
This is Tom’s brother, who I went to school with.

When whom or which have a preposition the preposition can come at

the beginning of the clause...

Examples 5.3.
I had an uncle in England, from who[m] I inherited a bit of money.
We bought a jigsaw, with which we cut up all the wood.
… or at the end of the clause:
I had an uncle in England who[m] I inherited a lot of money from.
We bought a jigsaw, which we cut all the wood up with.

We can use that at the beginning of the clause:

I had an uncle in the USA that I inherited a lot of money from.
We bought a jigsaw that we cut all the wood up with.

35
DESCRIPTION
Table 5.1.Description of a system
Key language The British educational system
Consist of The British educational system consists of three levels or
stages.
Is divided into The primary stage is divided into two parts: infant schools
for children aged 5 to 7 and junior schools for the 8 – 11 age
group.
Is concerned with The secondary level is concerned with children aged 11 to
18, although many pupils leave school at 16 years of age.
Called The tertiary stage, which is sometimes called Higher
Offers education, offers training for a variety of competitions as
include well as different academic courses. Tertiary educations
include technical; college, polytechnics and universities.

Exercise 5.1.
Write a brief description of the Indonesian Educational system using the Key
language and patterns in the model.

Table 5.2. Key Language

Key language: A tapeworm
Is a/an
Are The Tapeworm is a parasite which lives in the intestines
Which/that of vertebrata animals. Its body is flat and ribbon-like. The
The ….. is head is small and spherical. It has four evenly-spaced
It …. Is suckers which are circular in shape. On top of the head
Its … is there is a curved projection. Around this, there is a ring
Which …. are of hooks.
There is
On top of
Around this

Exercise 5.2.
1. Rewrite the above paragraph. Begin with “Tapeworms”.
2. Discuss with your classmate in groups and write a short composition about :
a. ”Rattle Snakes”.
b. Substance
c. Living things (plant or animal)
d. Machine
e. Person

5.4. Defining relative clause

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive
relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression.
Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.

36
 Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you
ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of
the five girls you mean.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.
A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a

relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)
The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.
A defining or identifying clause tells us which specific person or thing we
are talking about in a larger group of people or things. If a defining relative clause is
removed, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly. A defining relative
clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or parentheses.

Examples 5.4.
 The woman who visited me in the hospital was very kind.
 The umbrella that I bought last week is already broken.
 The man who stole my backpack has been arrested.
 The weather that we had this summer was beautiful.

5.5. Non-defining clauses

A non-defining or non-essential clause gives us more information about the
person or thing we are talking about. If a non-defining relative clause is removed from
a sentence, we lose some detail, but the overall meaning of the sentence remains the
same. Non-defining relative clauses are always set off from the rest of the sentence
with commas or parentheses.

Examples 5.5.
 The farmer, whose name was Fred, sold us 10 pounds of potatoes.
 Elephants, which are the largest land mammals, live in herds of 10 or more
adults.
 The author, who graduated from the same university I did, gave a
wonderful presentation.
 My mother, who is 86, lives in Paris.

Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative

clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something,
but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each
other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative
clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you
mean.
Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

37
Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.
Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.
Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.
How to Shorten Relative Clauses?
Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with
a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.
I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the
woman living next door.
Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on
the roof?

Exercise 5.3.
Do a quiz on this grammar topic.
Some native speakers, particularly those from the USA, consider it a mistake to
use which in a defining/restrictive relative clause.
Q1. Which is the usual order of adjectives?
a. She was wearing red beautiful shoes
b. She was wearing beautiful red shoes
Q2. Which is the usual order of
adjectives?
a. He is just an old silly man
b. He is just a silly old man
Q3. Which is the usual order of
adjectives?
a. She bought a new
powerful computer
b. She bought a powerful
new computer
Q4. Which is the usual order of
adjectives?
a. They have just moved into
a modern big house
b. They have just moved into
a big modern house

Q5. Which is the usual order of

adjectives?
a. Last night I watched an
interesting German film
b. Last night I watched a
German interesting film

Q6. Which is the usual order of

adjectives?
a. I need a new electronic
dictionary

38
 b. I need an electronic new
dictionary

Q7. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. My cellar is full of black big
spiders
b. My cellar is full of big black
spiders
Q8. Which is the usual order of adjectives?
a. She was carrying a new beautiful
bag
b. She was carrying a beautiful new
bag

Q9. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. I hate this awful wet weather
b. I hate this wet awful weather
Q10. Which is the usual order of adjectives?
a. I like that small glass coffee table
b. I like that glass small coffee table
c. I like that coffee glass small table

Q11. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. there is a red horrible insect on your back
c. there is a horrible red insect on your back

Q12. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. Sim City is a new exciting computer game
b. Sim City is a new computer exciting game
c. Sim City is an exciting new computer game

Q13. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. I ate hot delicious soup for lunch
b. I ate delicious hot soup for lunch

Q14. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. They live in a wonderful old wooden house
b. They live in an old wonderful wooden house
c. They live in a wooden wonderful; old house

Q15. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

a. They are a heavy loud metal band
b. They are a loud heavy metal band
c. They are a metal heavy loud band

39
5.6. Relative pronouns are associated with their preceding noun:

Preceding noun Relative pronoun Examples

a person who(m)/that, whose - Do you know the girl who ..
- He was a man that ..
- An orphan is a child whose parents ..
a thing which†/that, whose - Do you have a computer which ..
- The oak a tree that ..
- This is a book whose author ..
Note 1: The relative pronoun whose is used in place of the possessive pronoun. It
must be followed by a noun. Example: There's a boy in grade 8 whose father is a
professional tennis player. (There's a boy in grade 8. His father is a professional
tennis player.)

Note 2: The relative pronouns where and when are used with place and time nouns.
Examples: FIS is a school where children from more than 50 countries are educated.
2001 was the year when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers in New York.

Some relative clauses are not used to define or identify the preceding noun but to
give extra information about it. Here are some examples:
 My ESL teacher, who came to Germany in 1986, likes to ride his mountain
bike.
 The heavy rain, which was unusual for the time of year, destroyed most of the
plants in my garden.
 Einstein, who was born in Germany, is famous for his theory of relativity.
 The boy, whose parents both work as teachers at the school, started a fire in
the classroom.
 My mother's company, which makes mobile phones, is moving soon from
Frankfurt to London.
 In the summer I'm going to visit Italy, where my brother lives.

Note 1: Relative clauses which give extra information, as in the example sentences
above, must be separated off by commas.

Note 2: The relative pronoun that cannot be used to introduce an extra-information

(non-defining) clause about a person. Wrong: Neil Armstrong, that was born in 1930,
was the first man to stand on the moon. Correct: Neil Armstrong, who was born in
1930, was the first man to stand on the moon.

There are two common occasions, particularly in spoken English, when the relative
pronoun is omitted:
1. When the pronoun is the object of the relative clause. In the following sentences the
pronoun that can be left out is enclosed in (brackets):
 Do you know the girl (who/m) he's talking to?
 Where's the pencil (which) I gave you yesterday?
 I haven't read any of the books (that) I got for Christmas.
 I didn't like that girl (that) you brought to the party.

40
  Did you find the money (which) you lost?

Note 3: You cannot omit the relative pronoun a.) if it starts a non-defining relative
clause, or, b.) if it is the subject of a defining relative clause. For example, who is
necessary in the following sentence: What's the name of the girl who won the tennis
tournament?
When the relative clause contains a present or past participle and the auxiliary verb to
be. In such cases both relative pronoun and auxiliary can be left out:
 Who's that man (who is) standing by the gate?
 The family (that is) living in the next house comes from Slovenia.
 She was wearing a dress (which was) covered in blue flowers.
 Most of the parents (who were) invited to the conference did not come.
 Anyone (that is) caught writing on the walls will be expelled from school.

Table 5. 3. Relative Pronouns

relative
use example
pronoun
who subject or object pronoun for people I told you about the
woman who lives next door.
which subject or object pronoun for animals and Do you see the cat which is
things lying on the roof?
which referring to a whole sentence He couldn’t read which
surprised me.
whose possession for people animals and things Do you know the boy whose
mother is a nurse?
whom object pronoun for people, especially in non- I was invited by the
defining relative clauses (in defining relative professor whom I met at the
clauses we colloquially prefer who) conference.
that subject or object pronoun for people, animals I don’t like the table that
and things in defining relative clauses stands in the kitchen.
(who or which are also possible)

5.7. Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun?

Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who,

which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish
them as follows: If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is
a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.
the apple which is lying on the table
If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun),
the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining
relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses the apple (which) George lay
on the table

41
5.7. Relative Adverbs
A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition.
This often makes the sentence easier to understand.
This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

Table 5.4. Relative Adverb

relative
meaning use example
adverb
when in/on which refers to a time expression the day when we met him
where in/at which refers to a place the place where we met him
why for which refers to a reason the reason why we met him

Exercises 5.4.

Relative Clauses
Subject Pronouns or Object Pronouns?
Decide whether the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun or an object pronoun.
1. Do you know the girl who I danced with? - ………………………
2. Do you know the girl who danced with me? - ……………………..
3. The apples that are lying on the table are bad. - …………………..
4. The apples that we bought in the shop are bad. - ………………..
5. We will stay at a hotel which is not far from the beach. - …………
6. We will stay at a hotel which my friend has recommended to us. …………
7. That is a museum which I like very much. - ………………………
8. That is a museum which lies in the heart of the town. …………………
9. This is the man who Barbara visited in Scotland. ………………..
10. This is the man who lives in Scotland. …………………….

Exercise 5.5.

Relative Pronouns - necessary or not?

Decide whether the relative pronouns must be used or not.
1. A calendar is something which tells you the date.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
2. Strikers are soccer players who try to score goals for their team.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
3. Jane is a person who everybody likes.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
4. A stamp is something which you put on a letter if you want to send it.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
5. The Thames is a river which runs through London.

42
 a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
6. Cheese is food which mice like eating.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
7. A racket is something which you use to hit a ball when you play tennis or
badminton.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b.relative pronoun is not necessary
8. Socks are things which you wear on your feet.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b.relative pronoun is not necessary
9. A guide is a person who shows tourists around a place.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
10. Love is a feeling which nobody can describe.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary

Exercise 5.6.
Relative pronouns – necessary or not?

Decide whether the relative pronouns must be used or not.

1. The book which is on the table belongs to Brandon.

a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
2. The museum which we visited last month is closed now.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
a. relative pronoun is not necessary
3. The man who you saw in the house is my cousin.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
4. Bob, who I know very well, is going out with Mary.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
5. I cannot forget the song which they played last night.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
6. The woman who is talking to Sue is my aunt.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
7. I cannot remember the hotel that we stayed at.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
8. Lucy, who I haven't seen for ages, rang me last night.
a. relative pronoun is necessary

43
 b. relative pronoun is not necessary
9. A person that you don't trust won't trust you either.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary
10. My father, whom I helped to install his computer, always forgets his password.
a. relative pronoun is necessary
b. relative pronoun is not necessary

Exercise 5.7.

Relative Adverbs
Choose the correct relative adverb, where, when, or why

1. This is the station ….. Emily met James.

2. July and August are the months ….. most people go on holiday.
3. Do you know the reason….. so many people in the world learn English?
4. This is the church ….. Sue and Peter got married.
5. Edinburgh is the town ….. Alexander Graham Bell was born.
6. 25 December is the day ….. children in Great Britain get their Christmas presents.
7. A famine was the reason ….. so many Irish people emigrated to the USA in the 19th
century.
8. A greengrocer's is a shop ….. you can buy vegetables.
9. The day ….. I arrived was very nice.
10. A horror film was the reason ….. I couldn't sleep last night.

44
 STONEHENGE
Stonehenge is a mystical place. Its stone circles are probably more than
4,000 years old. The huge stones come from an area about 30 km north of
Stonehenge. The smaller stones possibly are from the Preseli Mountains in Wales,
almost 400 km away from Stonehenge.

Nobody knows for sure what the function of Stonehenge was. Maybe it was a
ruin temple. Maybe it was a sacrificial altar. Maybe it was some kind of observatory.

Exercise 5.8. Write a short story about the Stonehenge and find out data from
internet.

Exercise 5.9.
who / which
Use who for people; for everything else use which.
Decide whether to use who or which.
1. The people …… built Stonehenge lived several thousand years ago.
2. The huge stones ….. are more than 6 metres high weigh about 45 tons.
3. The smaller stones weigh about 4 tons and are from an area in Wales ….. is 400
kilometres away from Stonehenge.
4. As Stonehenge lies in a large field, tourists ….. come to this place can already see
the stones from a distance.
5. Everybody ….. has visited Stonehenge says that it is very impressive.

Exercise 5. 10.
Relative Clauses - Formation
Complete the sentences using relative clauses. Use who and which.

1. A Scot is a person lives in Scotland.

2. Nessie is a monster ,,,,,,,,,, lives in Loch Ness.
3. A fridge is a thing ……… keeps food cool.
4. A DJ is someone ……… plays music in a disco.
5. A bee is an insect …….. makes honey.

45
6. A lemon is a fruit …….. is yellow and sour.
7. A watch is a thing …….. tells the time.
8. A ferry is a ship ………. carries people across the water.
9. A shop assistant is someone …….. works in a shop.
10. A key is a thing …….. can open and lock doors.

5. 8. Adjective phrase
A word group that has an adjective as its head is called an adjective
phrase. Note that the adjective in this phrase may be accompanied by other words
such as determiners, modifiers etc.
Adjective phrases can go before a noun (attributive position). They can also go
after a linking verb like be (predicative position).
 He was wearing a dark brown suit. (Here the adjective phrase ‘a dark brown’
modifies the noun suit.)
 The fish tasted awfully funny. (Here the adjective phrase ‘awfully funny’ says
something about the fish. It goes after the copular or linking verb tasted.
A copular verb does not take an object and it cannot be modified by an adverb.
The word or phrase that follows a copular verb typically says something about the
subject of the sentence.
 The fish tasted awful. (NOT The fish tasted awfully.)
Here the adjective awful says something about the fish. It doesn’t modify the
verb tasted.
Note that the adjective in an adjective phrase may be modified by an adverb. When it
is modified by an adverb, the adverb goes before the adjective. The adjective may also
be modified by other determiners like articles, possessives and demonstratives.

Consider the phrase ‘my cute little daughter’

Here the adjective phrase ‘my cute little’ consists of a possessive (my) and two
adjectives (cute and little). Sometimes the idea expressed by an adjective can also be
expressed using a noun phrase. Consider the examples given below.
 Baily is an honorable man. (Here the adjective honorable modifies the noun
man.)
The same idea can be expressed using the phrase: a man of honor
 Baily is a man of honor.
Another example is given below.
 Donald Trump was an eminent man. (Here the adjective eminent modifies the
noun man.)
 Donald Trump was a man of eminence. (Here the noun phrase ‘a man of
eminence’ means the same as the phrase ‘an eminent man’.)

Exercise 5.11.
Adjectives exercise
Complete the following sentences using the appropriate form of the adjective
given in the brackets.
1. He is ………………… than his neighbors. (rich)
2. The brides were much ……………… than the grooms. (young)
3. He is too …………………… to be taught. (intelligent)

46
4. He is ………………… than I thought him to be. (clever)
5. When the old woman became ……………………, she began to move about.
(strong)
6. He is much ………………… now. (good)
7. The offer was too ………………… to be true. (good)
8. He fishes with …………………… success than I do. (great)
9. Shakespeare is the …………………… playwright in English. (great)
10. The pain was …………………… than he could bear. (much)
11. The ………………… thing of all was that his son was rude to him. (bad)
12. Jane was the ………………… player of the two. (good)

Exercise 5.12.
Adjective or adverb?
Adjectives are words used to modify nouns. They usually go before nouns.
Adjectives may also go after be (is, am, are, was, were) and copular verbs
like become, seem, look, feel etc.
 I feel happy. (NOT I feel happily.)
 She seemed excited. (NOT She seemed excitedly.)
 They were upset.
Adverbs are words used to modify verbs. They usually express the manner in
which something is done. Adverbs are also used to modify adjectives and other
adverbs. An adverb used to modify an adjective or another adverb usually goes
before it. Enough is an exception to this rule. It goes after the adjective or adverb it
modifies.

Complete the following sentences using the correct words from those given in
brackets.
1. Our team played …………………………. (good / well) last week.
2. We have not gathered ………………………… (near / nearly) enough flowers.
3. The old woman was walking …………………………… (slow / slowly) past.
4. Come to my office as ………………………. (quick / quickly) as possible.
5. We had a ……………………….. (really / real) great time at the party.
6. Sophia won the first prize …………………………. (easy / easily)

5.9. Absolute adjectives

Some adjectives express ideas that cannot be graded. For example, a person
can’t be more or less dead. In the same way, a sphere can’t be more or less round.
In grammars these adjectives are called non-gradable or absolute adjectives. Non-
gradable adjectives do not have comparative or superlative forms. There are very few
non-gradable adjectives, so you can learn them by heart if you really want. Here is a
list of common non-gradable adjectives in English. Note that this is not a
comprehensive list.
Absolute, impossible, principal, adequate, inevitable, sufficient, complete, main,
unanimous, unavoidable, entire, minor, fatal, unique, final, universal, ideal, whole,
preferable, dead etc.

47
Exceptions
Although the adjectives given above are not normally used in comparative and
superlative forms, you might still hear expressions like more complete or most
perfect. Though incorrect, these expressions are quite common in speech and they
have become sort of acceptable, too. However, if you are a careful user of the
language, you must avoid them especially in writing. Also be careful, not to
use more along with a comparative adjective ending in –er and most with a
superlative adjective ending in -est. Do not write more taller or most
smartest. These are examples of double comparatives and superlatives. They are
always wrong and must be avoided.
 She is prettier than her sister. (NOT She is more prettier than her sister.)

Some compound adjectives have two possible comparatives and superlatives.

Positive: good-looking
Comparative: better-looking or more good-looking
Superlative: best-looking or most good-looking
Positive: well-known
Superlative: best-known or most well-known
In this case, you can decide which form you want to use, but don’t write most best-
known or more better-looking.
Superlative: best-looking or most good-

48
 Chapter 6

W RITING A SHORT
COMPOSITION
6.1. Guidelines on Writing Short Essays
There are some fundamental principles and rules on how to write a short essay
that students have to know about. The major parts that comprise a short essay are
introduction, body, and conclusion. While introduction and conclusion are one
paragraph long each, the number of paragraphs in the body is usually dictated by the
topic of the short essay. If essay topic is difficult, most you will have more paragraphs
since you would need more space to discuss all the details of the topic. If the essay
topic is very narrow, one or two paragraphs should usually be enough. However,
having an outline is a must for starting short essay writing process regardless of the
number of paragraphs you are going to have in your paper.
A short essay can often prove to be more difficult to write than a longer essay. While
in longer essays, you have ample space to explain and clarify all your points, in a shorter
essay you might feel like you do not have enough space to make a strong argument. The key
to writing a short essay is including only the most pertinent information necessary to make
your point.

6.2. Components of a Short Essay

6.2.1. Thesis statement
There are two things to consider when writing a short essay: placement and
complexity. The shorter your essay, the earlier your thesis should appear. If you are
writing a 3-4 paragraph essay, your thesis should be one of the first three sentences. If
you are writing 1-2 paragraph essay, your thesis should be in the first sentence and
should also function as an acting hook. The thesis must be both interesting and all-
encapsulating. The shorter your essay is, the less time there is for nonsense, and the
greater the need to cut straight to the chase.
It is also important to be aware of the complexity of your topic. Pick topics for which
you have enough room to elaborate. Do not cite three or four pieces of supporting
evidence in an elaborate thesis if you are only allowed 500 words. If you only have a
few paragraphs to write your essay, you will likely only have room for one main point
of supporting evidence. Keep your thesis short and limit your supporting points, since
you always need to set aside plenty of room in your essay for introspection.
The thesis statement
The thesis statement is the sentence that contains the focus of your essay and
tells your reader what the essay is going to be about. Although it is certainly possible
to write a good essay without a thesis statement (many narrative essays, for example,
contain only an implied thesis statement), the lack of a thesis statement may well be a
symptom of an essay beset by a lack of focus. Many writers think of a thesis
statement as an umbrella: everything that you carry along in your essay has to fit
under this umbrella, and if you try to take on packages that don't fit, you will either
have to get a bigger umbrella or something's going to get wet.

49
 The thesis statement is also a good test for the scope of your intent. The principle
to remember is that when you try to do too much, you end up doing less or nothing at
all. Can we write a good paper about problems in higher education in the United
States? At best, such a paper would be vague and scattered in its approach. Can we
write a good paper about problems in higher education in Connecticut? Well, we're
getting there, but that's still an awfully big topic, something we might be able to
handle in a book or a Ph.D. dissertation, but certainly not in a paper meant for a
Composition course. Can we write a paper about problems within the community
college system in Connecticut. Now we're narrowing down to something useful, but
once we start writing such a paper, we would find that we're leaving out so much
information, so many ideas that even most casual brainstorming would produce, that
we're not accomplishing much. What if we wrote about the problem of community
colleges in Connecticut being so close together geographically that they tend to
duplicate programs unnecessarily and impinge on each other's turf? Now we have a
focus that we can probably write about in a few pages (although more, certainly,
could be said) and it would have a good argumentative edge to it. To back up such a
thesis statement would require a good deal of work, however, and we might be better
off if we limited the discussion to an example of how two particular community
colleges tend to work in conflict with each other. It's not a matter of being lazy; it's a
matter of limiting our discussion to the work that can be accomplished within a
certain number of pages.
The thesis statement should remain flexible until the paper is actually finished. It
ought to be one of the last things that we fuss with in the rewriting process. If we
discover new information in the process of writing our paper that ought to be included
in the thesis statement, then we'll have to rewrite our thesis statement. On the other
hand, if we discover that our paper has done adequate work but the thesis statement
appears to include things that we haven't actually addressed, then we need to limit that
thesis statement. If the thesis statement is something that we needed prior approval
for, changing it might require the permission of the instructor or thesis committee, but
it is better to seek such permission than to write a paper that tries to do too much or
that claims to do less than it actually accomplishes.
The thesis statement usually appears near the beginning of a paper. It can be the
first sentence of an essay, but that often feels like a simplistic, unexciting beginning.
It more frequently appears at or near the end of the first paragraph or two. Here is the
first paragraph of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s essay The Crisis of American
Masculinity. Notice how everything drives the reader toward the last sentence and
how that last sentence clearly signals what the rest of this essay is going to do.

What has happened to the American male? For a long time, he seemed utterly
confident in his manhood, sure of his masculine role in society, easy and definite in
his sense of sexual identity. The frontiersmen of James Fenimore Cooper, for
example, never had any concern about masculinity; they were men, and it did not
occur to them to think twice about it. Even well into the twentieth century, the heroes
of Dreiser, of Fitzgerald, of Hemingway remain men. But one begins to detect a new
theme emerging in some of these authors, especially in Hemingway: the theme of the
male hero increasingly preoccupied with proving his virility to himself. And by mid-
century, the male role had plainly lost its rugged clarity of outline. Today men are

50
more and more conscious of maleness not as a fact but as a problem. The ways by
which American men affirm their masculinity are uncertain and obscure. There are
multiplying signs, indeed, that something has gone badly wrong with the
American male's conception of himself.

The first paragraph serves as kind of a funnel opening to the essay which draws
and invites readers into the discussion, which is then focused by the thesis statement
before the work of the essay actually begins. You will discover that some writers will
delay the articulation of the paper's focus, its thesis, until the very end of the paper.
That is possible if it is clear to thoughtful readers throughout the paper what the
business of the essay truly is; frankly, it's probably not a good idea for beginning
writers.
Avoid announcing the thesis statement as if it were a thesis statement. In other
words, avoid using phrases such as "The purpose of this paper is . . . . " or "In this
paper, I will attempt to . . . ." Such phrases betray this paper to be the work of an
amateur. If necessary, write the thesis statement that way the first time; it might help
you determine, in fact, that this is your thesis statement. But when you rewrite your
paper, eliminate the bald assertion that this is your thesis statement and write the
statement itself without that annoying, unnecessary preface.
Here are the first two paragraphs of George Orwell's classic essay, "Politics and
the English Language" (1946). Which of these sentences would you say is or are the
thesis statement of the essay which is to follow? Everything that follows in this essay,
then, would have to be something that fits under the "umbrella" of that thesis
statement.

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English
language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious
action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent, and our language—so the
argument runs—must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any
struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring
candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-
conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we
shape for our own purposes.

Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political
and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that
individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and
producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may
take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more
completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the
English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish,
but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.
The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English,
is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is
willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more
clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration: so
that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of

51
professional writers. I will come back to this presently, and I hope that by that time
the meaning of what I have said here will have become clearer. Meanwhile, here are
five specimens of the English language as it is now habitually written.

If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to
think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration: so that the
fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of
professional writers.

<="" font="" width="75" height="71">

6.2.2. Tips on Writing a Thesis Statement

What is a Thesis Statement?
The thesis statement is the sentence that states the main idea of a writing
assignment and helps control the ideas within the paper. It is not merely a topic. It
often reflects an opinion or judgment that a writer has made about a reading or
personal experience. For instance: Tocqueville believed that the domestic role most
women held in America was the role that gave them the most power, an idea that
many would hotly dispute today.

6.2.3. What Makes a Strong Thesis Statement?

1. A strong thesis statement gives direction to the paper and limits what you need
to write about. It also functions to inform your readers of what you will discuss
in the body of the paper. All paragraphs of the essay should explain, support,
or argue with your thesis.
2. A strong thesis statement requires proof; it is not merely a statement of fact.
You should support your thesis statement with detailed supporting evidence
will interest your readers and motivate them to continue reading the paper.
3. Sometimes it is useful to mention your supporting points in your thesis. An
example of this could be: John Updike's Trust Me is a valuable novel for a
college syllabus because it allows the reader to become familiar with his
writing and provides themes that are easily connected to other works. In the
body of your paper, you could write a paragraph or two about each supporting
idea. If you write a thesis statement like this it will often help you to keep
control of your ideas.

6.2.4. Where Does the Thesis Statement Go?

A good practice is to put the thesis statement at the end of your introduction
so you can use it to lead into the body of your paper. This allows you, as the writer,
to lead up to the thesis statement instead of diving directly into the topic. If you
place the thesis statement at the beginning, your reader may forget or be co nfused

52
about the main idea by the time he/she reaches the end of the introduction.
Remember, a good introduction conceptualizes and anticipates the thesis statement.

6.2.5.Tips for Writing/Drafting Thesis Statements

1. Know the topic. The topic should be something you know or can learn about.
It is difficult to write a thesis statement, let alone a paper, on a topic that you
know nothing about. Reflecting on personal experience and/or researching
will help you know more information about your topic.
2. Limit your topic. Based on what you know and the required length of your
final paper, limit your topic to a specific area. A broad scope will generally
require a longer paper, while a narrow scope will be sufficiently proven by a
shorter paper.
3. Brainstorm. If you are having trouble beginning your paper or writing your
thesis, take a piece of paper and write down everything that comes to mind
about your topic. Did you discover any new ideas or connections? Can you
separate any of the things you jotted down into categories? Do you notice any
themes? Think about using ideas generated during this process to shape your
thesis statement and your paper.

6.2.6. Thesis Statement Examples to Inspire Your Next Argumentative Essay

Have you ever watched a great film trailer and thought, “I have to see that
movie!”? A good trailer gives you the basic premise of the movie, shows you the
highlights, and encourages you to want to see more. A good thesis statement will
accomplish the same thing. It gives readers an idea of the most important points of an
essay, shows the highlights, and makes them want to read more.
A well-constructed thesis serves as a lighthouse for your readers, offering
them a guiding light in the stormy sea of claims and evidence that make up your
argumentative essay. It will also help keep you, the writer, from getting lost in a
convoluted and directionless argument.
Most importantly, a good thesis statement makes a statement. After all, it’s
called a thesis statement for a reason! “This is an interesting statement!” you want
your reader to think, “Let’s see if this author can convince me.” This blog post will
dissect the components of a good thesis statement and will give you 10 thesis
statement examples that you can use to inspire your next argumentative essay.

6.2.7. The Thesis Statement Dissected

Before I give you a blanket list of thesis statement examples, let’s run through
what makes for a good thesis statement. I’ve distilled it down to four main
components.

53
1. A good argumentative thesis is focused and not too broad.
It’s important to stay focused! Don’t try to argue an overly broad topic in your essay,
or you’re going to feel confused and unsure about your direction and purpose.

Don’t write, “Eating fast food is bad and should be avoided.”

This statement is too general and would be nearly impossible for you to defend. It
leaves a lot of big questions to answer. Is all fast food bad? Why is it bad? Who
should avoid it? Why should anyone care?
Do write, “Americans should eliminate the regular consumption of fast food
because the fast food diet leads to preventable and expensive health issues, such as
diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.”
In this example, I’ve narrowed my argument to the health consequences related to a
diet of fast food. I’ve also chosen to focus on Americans rather than everyone in the
universe. (Because, as we all know, inhabitants of the faraway planet Doublepatty 5
require the starches and fats inherent in fast food to survive).

2. A good argumentative thesis is centered on a debatable topic.

Back in the ‘80s, teens loved to say “that’s debatable” about claims they didn’t agree
with (such as “you should clean your room” and “you shouldn’t go to that movie”).
This age-old, neon-colored, bangle-wearing, peg-legged wisdom holds true today—in
your thesis statement.
Don’t write, “There are high numbers of homeless people living in Berkeley,
California.”
No one can argue for or against this statement. It’s not debatable. It’s just a fact.
An argument over this non-debatable statement would go something like this:
“There are lots of homeless people in Berkeley.”
“Yes, there sure are a bunch of them out there.”
“Yup.”

54
As you can see, that’s not much of an argument.
Do write, “Homeless people in Berkeley should be given access to services, such
as regular food donations, public restrooms, and camping facilities, because it would
improve life for all inhabitants of the city.”
Now that’s debatable.
Opponents could easily argue that homeless people in Berkeley already receive
adequate services (“just look at all those luxurious sidewalks!”), or perhaps that they
shouldn’t be entitled to services at all (“get a job, ya lazy loafers!”).
3. A good argumentative thesis picks a side.
I went into a lot of detail about the importance of picking sides in my post The Secrets
of a Strong Argumentative Essay. Picking a side is pretty much the whole entire point
of an argumentative essay.
Just as you can’t root for both the Yankees and the Mets, you can’t argue both sides of
a topic in your thesis statement.
Don’t write, “Secondhand smoke is bad and can cause heart disease and cancer;
therefore, smoking should be outlawed in public places, but outlawing smoking is
unfair to smokers so maybe non-smokers can just hold their breath or wear masks
around smokers instead.”
A wishy-washy statement like this will make your reader scratch his head in
puzzlement. Are you for smoking laws or against them? Yankees or Mets? Mets or
Yankees?
Pick a side, and stick with it!
Then stick up for it.
Do write, “Secondhand smoke is just as harmful as smoking and leads to a higher
prevalence of cancer and heart disease. What’s worse, people who inhale secondhand
smoke are doing so without consent. For this reason, smoking in any public place
should be banned.”
4. A good thesis makes claims that will be supported later in the paper.
As I explained in my blog post How to Create a Powerful Argumentative
Essay Outline, Your claims make up a critical part of building the roadmap to your
argument. It’s important to first include a summary of your claims in your thesis
statement. During the course of your essay, you will back each of your claims with
well-researched evidence.
Don’t write, “Humans should relocate to Mars.”
This statement doesn’t include any supporting claims. Why should humans
move to Mars? What are the benefits of moving to a planet without oxygen or trees?
Do write, “It is too late to save earth; therefore, humans should immediately set a
date for their relocation to Mars where, with proper planning, they can avoid issues of
famine, war, and global warming.”
This statement includes some thought-provoking claims. The reader will
wonder how the author plans to defend them. (“Famine, war, and global warming can
be easily avoided on Mars? Go on…”)
Now that you understand the four main components of a good thesis
statement, let me give you more thesis statement examples.

55
Finally, I’ve come up with 10 debatable, supportable, and focused thesis statements
for you to learn from. Feel free to copy these and customize them for use in your own
argumentative essays.
There are a couple of things to be aware of about the following examples:
1. I have not done the research needed to support these claims. So some of the
claims may not be useable once you dig into them.
2. Be careful not to use these thesis statements word-for-word; I wouldn’t want
you to get in trouble if your teacher did a copy/find Google maneuver on you!

#1. Why Vaccinations Should Be Mandatory

Today, nearly 40% of American parents refuse to vaccinate their children due
to a variety of unfounded fears. Vaccinations against diseases such as polio, rubella,
and mumps, should be mandatory, without exception, for all children of the U.S. who
wish to attend school. These vaccinations are critical to the control and eradication of
deadly infectious diseases.
#2. Government Surveillance Is Harmful
Government surveillance programs do more harm than good because they
invade civil liberties, lead innocent people to suffer unfair punishments, and
ultimately fail to protect the citizens that they are designed to safeguard. For these
reasons, programs such as PRISM operated by the NSA should be discontinued.
#3 Financial Compensation for Organ Donors
People who sign up for organ donation freely give their hearts and other
organs, but this free system limits the number of available donors and makes it
difficult for recipients to access lifesaving transplants. Thus, organ donors should be
financially compensated to produce more available organs and, at the same time, to
decrease profitable, illegal organ harvesting activities in the black market.
#4. Our School Is Too Dependent on Technology
Our school’s dependence on technology has caused students to lose the ability
to think independently. This dependence has caused a greater prevalence of mood
disorders, memory loss, and loneliness. Educators should combat these issues by
requiring students to participate in regular technology detoxes.
#5 School Officials’ Should Fight Cyberbullying
Bullying has extended far beyond school and into cyberspace. Even though
these acts of aggression take place outside of school boundaries, school officials
should have the authority to discipline students who engage in cyberbullying without
fear of reprisal. Doing so will help improve the online behavior of students and
decrease incidences of cyberbully-related suicide attempts.
#6 The U.S. Media Should Update the Depiction of Traditional Families
The U.S. media depicts the traditional family as being comprised of a mother,
father, and children; however, this notion of the traditional family is outdated and can
be harmful to children who look to this as the gold standard. The U.S. media should,
therefore, expand and redefine the definition of the traditional American family to
include divorced and remarried parents, extended families living together, and
families with same-gender parents. This will increase the overall sense of happiness
and well-being among children whose families don’t necessarily fit the mold.
#7 Student Loans Should Be Forgiven

56
 Crippling student debt is stifling the growth of the U.S. economy because it
inhibits graduates from being able to spend money on consumer goods and home
purchases. To alleviate this, lenders should be required to forgive student loans in
cases where students are unable to repay their debts. Doing so would benefit the
growth of the economy by increasing tax revenues, unfreezing credit markets, and
creating jobs.
#8 Marijuana Should Be Legalized
Marijuana has numerous medical applications, such as treating symptoms of
epilepsy, cancer, and glaucoma. Legalizing the use of marijuana in the U.S. will
greatly benefit the medical sector by giving physicians access to this lifesaving drug.
#9 Foreign Aid to Africa Does Not Work
Sending foreign aid to African countries is doing more harm than good, and it
should be discontinued; the practice has caused African countries to become
vulnerable to inflation, currency fluctuations, corruption, and civil unrest.
#10 China’s One-Child Policy Should Be Reversed
China’s one-child policy was intended to help control population growth.
Instead, it has led to unintended and negative consequences, such as a diminishing
labor force, an aging population, the neglect of basic human rights, and an unbalanced
gender population. To improve China’s situation, the policy should be reversed.

Any one of these thesis statement examples will get you started on the road to writing
an awesome argumentative essay. Once your essay is finished, feel free to send it to
a Kibin editor who can check it for grammar, sentence structure, and the strength of
your thesis.
Good luck with your essay!

Exercise 6.1.
Write a thesis sentence concerning with:
a. Indonesian foreign policy
b. Drug trafficking
c. Child abuse
d. Drug abuse

6.3. Topic Sentences

It is important to delineate the entirety of your argument at the very beginning
of the paragraph. You want your message to be extremely accessible, so make it
snappy! Do not wait until the end of the paragraph—and definitely not until the end of
the essay—to present your argument. Present, support, and introspect.

Exercise 6.2.
Write a topic sentence and a thesis statement about the following:
b. Forestry
c. Humidity
d. Dry season

Topic sentence is a sentence that captures the meaning of the entire paragraph
or group of sentences. It tells what the passage is mainly about.

57
First, try to find a topic sentence in the paragraph or section of the text to use as a
topic sentence. If you cannot find one, then write your own topic sentence by
combining important ideas from several sentences. In the following example, the
underlined sentence forms a good topic sentence for this passage:

The Egyptian civilization was one of the most important cultures of the ancient
world. This civilization flourished along the rich banks and delta of the Nile River for
many centuries, from 3200 B.C. until the Roman conquest in 30 B.C. ...

A topic sentence is a sentence, sometimes at the beginning of a paragraph, that states

or suggests the main idea (or topic) of a paragraph.
Not all paragraphs begin with topic sentences. In some, the topic sentence appears in
the middle or at the end. In others, the topic sentence is implied or absent altogether.

Examples and observations

 "Salva and the other boys made cows out of clay. The more cows you made,
the richer you were. But they had to be fine, healthy animals. It took time to
make a lump of clay look like a good cow. The boys would challenge each
other to see who could make the most and best cows."
(Linda Sue Park, A Long Walk to Water. Clarion, 2010)
 "Momma bought two bolts of cloth each year for winter and summer
clothes. She made my school dresses, underslips, bloomers, handkerchiefs,
Bailey's shirts, shorts, her aprons, house dresses and waists from the rolls
shipped to Stamps by Sears and Roebuck. . . ."
(Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969)
 "You discover what it is like to be hungry. With bread and margarine in your
belly, you go out and look into the shop windows. Everywhere there is food
insulting you in huge, wasteful piles; whole dead pigs, baskets of hot loaves,
great yellow blocks of butter, strings of sausages, mountains of potatoes,
vast Gruyère cheeses like grindstones. A snivelling self-pity comes over you at
the sight of so much food. You plan to grab a loaf and run, swallowing it
before they catch you; and you refrain, from pure funk."
(George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London. Victor Gollancz, 1933)
 "The flavor that salt imparts to food is just one of the attributes that
manufacturers rely on. For them, salt is nothing less than a miracle worker in
processed foods. It makes sugar taste sweeter. It adds crunch to crackers and
frozen waffles. It delays spoilage so that the products can sit longer on the
shelf. And, just as importantly, it masks the otherwise bitter or dull taste that
hounds so many processed foods before salt is added."
(Michael Moss, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Random
House, 2013)
 "The very idea of retirement is a relatively new invention. For most of human
history, people worked until they died or were too infirm to lift a finger (at
which point they died pretty fast anyway). It was the German statesman Otto
von Bismarck who first floated the concept, in 1883, when he proposed that
his unemployed countrymen over the age of 65 be given a pension. This move

58
 was designed to fend off Marxist agitation—and to do so on the cheap, since
few Germans survived to that ripe old age."
(Jessica Bruder, "The End of Retirement." Harper's, August 2014)

 "Grandma's room I regarded as a dark den of primitive rites and practices.On

Friday evenings whoever was home gathered at her door while she lit her
Sabbath candles. . . ."
(E.L. Doctorow, World's Fair. Random House, 1985)
 "Genealogy is an ancient human preoccupation. The God of Hebrew Scripture
promised Abraham descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and
the sand on the seashore. The apostles Matthew and Luke claim that
Abraham's lineage went on to include King David and eventually Jesus,
though the specifics of their accounts are contradictory. Muslims trace
Mohammed's line back through Abraham, to Adam and Eve."
(Maud Newton, "America's Ancestry Craze." Harper's, June 2014)
 "Once, in a restaurant in Italy with my family, I occasioned enormous
merriment, as a nineteenth-century humorist would have put it, by confusing
two Italian words. I thought I had, very suavely, ordered for
dessert fragoline—those lovely little wild strawberries. Instead, I seem to have
asked for fagiolini—green beans. The waiter ceremoniously brought me a
plate of green beans with my coffee, along with the flan and the gelato for the
kids. The significant insight the mistake provided—arriving mere
microseconds after the laughter of those kids, who for some reason still bring
up the occasion, often—was about the arbitrary nature of language: the single
'r' rolled right makes one a master of the trattoria, an 'r' unrolled the family
fool. . . ."
(Adam Gopnik, "Word Magic." The New Yorker, May 26, 2014)
 "In seventeenth-century Europe, the transformation of man into soldier took
on a new form, more concerted and disciplined, and far less pleasant, than
wine. New recruits and even seasoned veterans were endlessly drilled, hour
after hour, until each man began to feel himself part of a single, giant fighting
machine.
“(Barbara Ehrenreich, Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of
War. Henry Holt and Company, 1997)
 "What is the appeal of train travel? Ask almost any foamer, and he or she will
invariably answer, 'The romance of it!' But just what this means, they cannot
really say. It's tempting to think that we are simply equating romance with
pleasure, with the superior comfort of a train, especially seated up high in the
observation cars. . . ."
(Kevin Baker, "21st Century Limited: The Lost Glory of America's
Railroads." Harper's, July 2014)
 "Because science fiction spans the spectrum from the plausible to the fanciful,
its relationship with science has been both nurturing and contentious. For
every author who meticulously examines the latest developments in physics or
computing, there are other authors who invent 'impossible' technology to serve
as a plot device (like Le Guin’s faster-than-light communicator, the ansible) or
to enable social commentary, the way H. G. Wells uses his time machine to

59
 take the reader to the far future to witness the calamitous destiny of the human
race."
(Eileen Gunn, "Brave New Words." Smithsonian, May 2014)

 "I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could never
pass botany. . . ."
(James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times. Harper & Row, 1933)
 "What is there about this wonderful woman? From next door she comes
striding, down the lawn, beneath the clothesline, laden with cookies she has
just baked, or with baby togs she no longer needs, and one's heart goes out.
Pops out. The clothesline, the rusted swing set, the limbs of the dying elm, the
lilacs past bloom are lit up like rods of neon by her casual washday energy and
cheer, a cheer one has done nothing to infuse."
(John Updike, "One's Neighbor's Wife." Hugging the Shore: Essays and
Criticism. Knopf, 1983)
 "Television. Why do I watch it? The parade of politicians every evening: I
have only to see the heavy, blank faces so familiar since childhood to feel
gloom and nausea. ."
(J.M. Coetzee, Age of Iron. Random House, 1990)
 "Anyone who has made the coast-to-coast journey across America, whether by
train or by car, has probably passed through Garden City, but it is reasonable
to assume that few travelers remember the event. It seems just another fair-
sized town in the middle--almost the exact middle--of the continental United
States. . . ."
(Truman Capote, In Cold Blood. Random House, 1966)
 "Rodeo, like baseball, is an American sport and has been around almost as
long. . . ."
(Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces. Viking Penguin, 1985)
 "What a piece of work is a book! I am not talking about writing or printing. I
am talking about the codex we may leaf through, that may be put away on a
shelf for whole centuries and will remain there, unchanged and handy. . ."
(William Golding, A Moving Target. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982)

6.3.1. Characteristics of an effective topic sentence

"A good topic sentence is concise and emphatic. It is no longer than
the idea requires, and it stresses the important word or phrase. Here, for
instance, is the topic sentence which opens a paragraph about the collapse of
the stock market in 1929:
The Bull Market was dead.(Frederick Lewis Allen)

Notice several things. (1) Allen's sentence is brief. Not all topics can be
explained in six words, but whether they take six or sixty, they should be
phrased in no more words than are absolutely necessary. (2) The sentence
is clear and strong: you understand exactly what Allen means. (3) It places the
key word—'dead'—at the end, where it gets heavy stress and leads naturally
into what will follow. . . . (4) The sentence stands first in the paragraph. This
is where topic sentences generally belong: at or near the beginning."

60
 (Thomas S. Kane, The New Oxford Guide to Writing. Oxford Univ. Press,
1988)

Exercise 6. 3.
Write s topic sentence in a short composition concerning with:
a. The world economy
b. Food additives
c. Poisoning seawater
d. The world war three

6.3.2. Positioning a topic sentence

"If you want readers to see your point immediately, open with
the topic sentence. This strategy can be particularly useful in letters of
application or in argumentative writing.
. . .
"When specific details lead up to a generalization, putting the topic sentence at
the end of the paragraph makes sense. .

"Occasionally a paragraph's main idea is so obvious that it does not need to be

stated explicitly in a topic sentence."
(Andrea Lunsford, The St. Martin's Handbook. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008)

6.3.3.Guidelines for Composing Topic Sentences

"The topic sentence is the most important sentence in your paragraph.

Carefully worded and restricted, it helps you generate and control your
information. An effective topic sentence also helps readers grasp your main
idea quickly. As you draft your paragraphs, pay close attention to the
following three guidelines:

1. Make sure you provide a topic sentence. . . .

2. Put your topic sentence first.

3. Be sure your topic sentence is focused. If restricted, a topic sentence

discusses only one central idea. A broad or unrestricted topic sentence leads to
a shaky, incomplete paragraph for two reasons: The paragraph will not contain
enough information to support the topic sentence. A broad topic sentence will
not summarize or forecast specific information in the paragraph."
(Philip C. Kolin, Successful Writing at Work, 9th ed. Wadsworth, 2010)

6.3.4 Testing for topic sentences

"When testing your article for topic sentences, you should be able to
look at each paragraph and say what the topic sentence is. Having said it, look
at all the other sentences in the paragraph and test them to make sure they
support it. . . .

61
 "If you find that you have come up with the same topic sentence more than
once, you have two paragraphs doing the same work. Cut one of them out.
"If you find a paragraph that has several sentences that don't support the topic
sentence, see if all the outlaw sentences support some other topic sentence and
turn the one paragraph into two." (Gary Provost, "How to Test Your Articles
for the 8 Essentials of Nonfiction." Handbook of Magazine Article Writing, ed.
by Jean M. Fredette. Writer's Digest Books, 1988)

6.3.5 Frequency of topic sentences

"Teachers and textbook writers should exercise caution in making
statements about the frequency with which contemporary professional writers
use simple or even explicit topic sentences in expository paragraphs. It is
abundantly clear that students should not be told that professional writers
usually begin their paragraphs with topic sentences." (Richard Braddock, "The
Frequency and Placement of Topic Sentences in Expository Prose." Research
in the Teaching of English. Winter 1974)

6.3.6. Methods for Adding Information to Topic Sentence Paragraphs

There are several ways by which one can insure that your Topic
Sentence Paragraphs are, in fact, giving the reader enough information to
understand your message.
1. Illustrations, Examples, and Details. Your textbooks are excellent references
for this type of writing. You may choose virtually any section of a textbook to
find where the author, following an overview or Introduction to the subject
matter, then follows with illustrations and examples for the readers to follow.
2. Description. This particular method for adding information is certain to get the
reader directly involved as it appeals to the five senses. When one uses
description, it is usually to answer questions for the reader such as "What did
it sound like?" "What did it smell like?" In describing, the writer works to
develop word pictures, to image the scene for the reader whether it be an
object, person, or event.

6.3.7. Supporting Evidence

Try to limit the amount of sentences dedicated to supporting evidence.
If possible, have one sentence rather than two citing a story, anecdote, or
example. This may seem difficult, but it is important to provide only the
details that are necessary for understanding the main idea of your essay. If you
cannot find a way to fit supporting evidence in just one or two sentences, use a
different example altogether. There are certain topics that require a lot of room
for explanation, so be careful not to choose a topic for your essay that will
require too much evidence to support.

6.3.8. Introspection
Whether your essay is 200 words or 5,000 words long, introspection
will always be the most important aspect of your college application essay.
Only by examining how you reflect on your qualities can college admissions

62
 officers gain an understanding of how well you think critically and how well
you can present an argument.
It is not your stories that get you into college, but how they have
affected your character and your thinking. You should strive to portray
yourself in the best possible light and keep your essay focused on answering
the prompt.
While we always recommend not getting sidetracked in a 5-6
paragraph essay, it is even more crucial that you do not allow yourself to stray
away from the point in a short essay. Any sentence that is not directly relevant
to your thesis not only weakens your argument but also takes up valuable
space.

6.4. Introduction
Introduction is extremely important in terms of a paper organization since it
provides the effective opening line for the whole essay defining the further path for
writing. If it is possible, the topic of a short essay should be arguable and provocative
in order to make the discussion engaging. You need to think of an effective thesis
statement that will draw readers’ attention and keep them interested throughout the
entire essay.
The importance of a well-written introduction is emphasized by the fact that it
influences readers’ understanding of the topic as well as provides a clear
understanding of the structure of the writing and how the content is going to unfold.
Although the major point of the essay has to be presented in the introduction, namely
in the thesis statement, it should not be too detailed not to bore the readers from the
very first paragraph. An effective way to make your introduction more appealing and
engaging is to include some quotations that will provide some hint about the topic of
your essay and how it can be developed.
The introduction is needed to draw attention of the reader into the body of
material to follow. It starts with a general statement or question, which is called the
“thesis statement” or “thesis question,” followed by a quick narrowing down to the
main theme to be developed in the body. Set the stage quickly, give appropriate
background, then move right into a transition sentence that will set up the reader for
the body.
The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is
also known as the "thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective
introductory paragraphs are so much more than that. Before you even get to this thesis
statement, for example, the essay should begin with a "hook" that grabs the reader’s
attention and makes them want to read on. Examples of effective hooks include
relevant quotations ("no man is an island") or surprising statistics ("three out of four
doctors report that…").
Only then, with the reader’s attention "hooked," should you move on to the
thesis. The thesis should be a clear, one-sentence explanation of your position that
leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind about which side you are on from the beginning
of your essay. Following the thesis, you should provide a mini-outline which previews
the examples you will use to support your thesis in the rest of the essay. Not only does

63
this tell the reader what to expect in the paragraphs to come but it also gives them a
clearer understanding of what the essay is about.
Finally, designing the last sentence in this way has the added benefit of
seamlessly directing the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper. As a
result, we can see that the basic introduction does not need to be much more than
three or four sentences in length. If yours is much longer you might want to consider
editing it down a bit!
Here, by way of example, is an introductory paragraph to an essay in
response to the following question: "Do we learn more from finding out that we
have made mistakes or from our successful actions?"

"No man is an island" and, as such, he is constantly shaped and influenced by his
experiences. People learn by doing and, accordingly, learn considerably more
from their mistakes than their success. For proof of this, consider examples from
both science and everyday experience.

DO - Pay Attention to Your Introductory Paragraph

Because this is the first paragraph of your essay it is your opportunity to give
the reader the best first impression possible. The introductory paragraph not only
gives the reader an idea of what you will talk about but also shows them how you will
talk about it. Put a disproportionate amount of effort into this – more than the 20% a
simple calculation would suggest – and you will be rewarded accordingly.

DO NOT - Use Passive Voice or I/My

Active voice, wherein the subjects direct actions rather than let the actions
"happen to" them – "he scored a 97%" instead of "he was given a 97%" – is a much
more powerful and attention-grabbing way to write. At the same time, unless it is a
personal narrative, avoid personal pronouns like I, My, or Me. Try instead to be more
general and you will have your reader hooked.
In studying the etymology of the word paragraph, we find that it originated in
Greece. The term paragraphs meant a mark in the margin of a manuscript to set off
part of a text. (Para = "beside"; graph = "mark"). As scholars have pointed out, since
these early writers didn't indent the way we do today, or actually write in paragraphs
as we know them, they used these marks in the margins to draw the reader's eyes to
certain points. The contemporary use of paragraphs is very closely related to this
practice.
There are two (2) kinds of paragraphs: the Topic Sentence Paragraph and the
Function Paragraph. As pointed out by Neeld (1980), the "Topic Sentence Paragraph
takes one main idea and develops it. The topic sentence (sometimes stated, sometimes
implied) tells the readers what you are about to discuss, focuses the reader's mind on
that particular thing, and then provides enough information to prove or explain or
illustrate or otherwise develop that main idea." The author of Writing/2nd Edition, Dr.
Neeld adds that "thus it is possible to break a Topic Sentence Paragraph down into
two parts: the topic sentence itself (the main idea, either stated or implied) and the
additional sentences (directly related to the topic sentence and developing it)."(
Johnie H. Scott)

64
 Any essay must have several good Topic Sentence Paragraphs; it is these
paragraphs that allow you, the writer, to focus and define the reader's attention to the
particular message or unit of information that you want the reader to think about. In
addition, the Topic Sentence Paragraph provides your reader with that all important
sense of value . This comes from the substance of that particular message you are
communicating. To do this effectively, it is important that one be aware of certain
guiding principles with respect to exactly where the Topic Sentence can or should be
placed in a Topic Sentence Paragraph.
The Topic Sentence can go in any one of three (3) places in a paragraph:
1. At the beginning (a form of Deductive Order , that is, going from the General
or Main Idea to the Specific Support Sentences of that Main Idea in your
organizing the paragraph);
2. At the end (a form of Inductive Order , that is, going from Specific Supporting
Sentences that provides examples, details, illurations, statistics, and other
forms of information to the General or Main Idea); or
3. Nowhere -- it's just "understood" (this is only done when you believe that the
reader will know the main idea in the paragraph without being told and doing
so renders your paragraph artificial and stiff. But please understand the
difference between a paragraph with an implied or understood topic sentence
and a paragraph that is simply a collection of unconnected, unrelated
sentences!).
In writing Topic Sentence Paragraphs, you want to always make certain that
(1) you tell the reader clearly what the paragraph is about; (2) you make certain that
every sentence in the Topic Sentence Paragraph is related to the Topic Sentence, even
if it is "implied;" and (3) that you always give your reader enough information to
cognate your message. This final admonition is especially important given that the
Topic Sentence Paragraph is the smallest unit of writing in which one can disseminate
a complete message.

6.5. Essay Body Paragraphs

The major part that the essay revolves around is the body, which should open
all the facts, arguments, supporting evidence, and viewpoints on the subject. All
information needs to be appropriately and coherently listed so that readers could enjoy
smooth reading and actually understand your claims. If in the course of your research
and preparation of your essay you found nice quotes, dates, names that could help you
discuss the topic better, use them in the main body section to illustrate the facts and
provide examples. However, keep in mind that all the paragraphs in the body of the
short essay should be logically connected, thus use transitions for smooth flow of the
text. In case you feel that your paragraphs do not follow the general flow of your
thoughts, you may want to go back to the outline for your essay to get a better
perspective on how you can fix some things.

In order to be understood by the readers, you need to keep your arguments

separate and develop each one of them in different paragraphs. In fact, such division
will help you stay focused without losing the line of thought. Thus, you need to try
making each argument objective, narrow, and specific. Although there are no strict

65
guidelines on how to write each body paragraph, you may use some advice from the
experienced writers:
First things go first – you need to discuss the strongest points in the first
paragraph of the essay body. Arguments with less strong supporting evidence should
be presented in a descending order. The weakest arguments should be discussed and
presented in the closing paragraphs of the essay body.
Such organization of arguments from the strongest to the weakest will help
your readers better understand your point as well as it will convince them in to take
your side on the issue/topic.
In general, the body of a written piece is where you elaborate, defend, and
expand the thesis introduced in the introduction. The body should support your main
contention with supporting evidence and possible objections. A good body should
contain both sides of a case, pro and con. As you make your case, save your best
argument for last. When presenting contrary views, be sure to set forth the strongest
arguments so you can avoid being charged with erecting a “straw man.” The body
includes three components:
The middle paragraphs of the essay are collectively known as the body
paragraphs and, as alluded to above, the main purpose of a body paragraph is to spell
out in detail the examples that support your thesis. For the first body paragraph you
should use your strongest argument or most significant example unless some other
more obvious beginning point (as in the case of chronological explanations) is
required. The first sentence of this paragraph should be the topic sentence of the
paragraph that directly relates to the examples listed in the mini-outline of
introductory paragraph.
A one sentence body paragraph that simply cites the example of "George
Washington" or "LeBron James" is not enough, however. Following this, an effective
essay will follow up on this topic sentence by explaining to the reader, in detail, who
or what an example is and, more importantly, why that example is relevant. Even the
most famous examples need context. For example, George Washington’s life was
extremely complex – by using him as an example, do you intend to refer to his
honesty, bravery, or maybe even his wooden teeth? The reader needs to know this and
it is your job as the writer to paint the appropriate picture for them. To do this, it is a
good idea to provide the reader with five or six relevant facts about the life (in
general) or event (in particular) you believe most clearly illustrates your point. Having
done that, you then need to explain exactly why this example proves your thesis. The
importance of this step cannot be understated (although it clearly can be underlined);
this is, after all, the whole reason you are providing the example in the first
place. Seal the deal by directly stating why this example is relevant.

Here is an example of a body paragraph to continue the essay begun above:

Take, by way of example, Thomas Edison. The famed American inventor rose to
prominence in the late 19th century because of his successes, yes, but even he felt
that these successes were the result of his many failures. He did not succeed in his
work on one of his most famous inventions, the lightbulb, on his first try nor even
on his hundred and first try. In fact, it took him more than 1,000 attempts to make
the first incandescent bulb but, along the way, he learned quite a deal. As he
himself said, "I did not fail a thousand times but instead succeeded in finding a

66
thousand ways it would not work." Thus Edison demonstrated both in thought and
action how instructive mistakes can be.

DO: Tie Things Together

The first sentence – the topic sentence - of your body paragraphs needs to have
a lot individual pieces to be truly effective. Not only should it open with a transition
that signals the change from one idea to the next but also it should (ideally) also have
a common thread which ties all of the body paragraphs together. For example, if you
used "first" in the first body paragraph then you should used "secondly" in the second
or "on the one hand" and "on the other hand" accordingly.

DO NOT: Be Too General

Examples should be relevant to the thesis and so should the explanatory details
you provide for them. It can be hard to summarize the full richness of a given
example in just a few lines so make them count. If you are trying to explain why
George Washington is a great example of a strong leader, for instance, his childhood
adventure with the cherry tree (though interesting in another essay) should probably
be skipped over.
A Word on Transitions
You may have noticed that, though the above paragraph aligns pretty closely
with the provided outline, there is one large exception: the first few words. These
words are example of a transitional phrase – others include "furthermore,"
"moreover," but also "by contrast" and "on the other hand" – and are the hallmark of
good writing.
Transitional phrases are useful for showing the reader where one section ends
and another begins. It may be helpful to see them as the written equivalent of the
kinds of spoken cues used in formal speeches that signal the end of one set of ideas
and the beginning of another. In essence, they lead the reader from one section of the
paragraph of another.
To further illustrate this, consider the second body paragraph of our example essay:

In a similar way, we are all like Edison in our own way. Whenever we learn a new
skill - be it riding a bike, driving a car, or cooking a cake - we learn from our
mistakes. Few, if any, are ready to go from training wheels to a marathon in a
single day but these early experiences (these so-called mistakes) can help us
improve our performance over time. You cannot make a cake without breaking a
few eggs and, likewise, we learn by doing and doing inevitably means making
mistakes.

Hopefully this example not only provides another example of an effective body
paragraph but also illustrates how transitional phrases can be used to distinguish
between them.

Elaboration: Spell out the details by defining, or by clarifying and adding relevant,
pertinent information.

67
Illustration: Paint a verbal picture that helps make or clarify your point(s). Well
illustrated pieces are easier to read and follow than abstract ones.

Argumentation: Give the reasons, justifications, and rationales for the position or
view you have taken in the introduction. Draw inferences for the reader and explain
the significance or assertions or claims being made.
When moving from one sub-point or argument to another, use connecting or
transitional words and phrases that enable your reader to easily follow the flow of
your thinking. The following is a partial list of logical connectors that you can use:
exceptions – but, alas, however, etc.
illustrations – for instance, for example, etc.
conclusions – thus, so, therefore, consequently, etc.
comparisons – similarly, by contrast, etc.
qualifications – yet, still, etc.
additions – moreover, furthermore, etc.

6.6. Summary:
The basic fundamental of every composition is the Topic Sentence Paragraph.
It is the smallest unit of writing that allows the writer to present a complete message
or thought. In writing the Topic Sentence Paragraph, you want to do three things: (1)
Tell the Reader Clearly What the Paragraph Is About; (2) Make Sure That Every
Sentence in the Topic Sentence Paragraph Is Related to the Topic Sentence; and (3)
Always Give the Reader Enough Information. With respect to the topic sentence, it
can go in one of three places: (1) at the beginning of the paragraph as a form of
deductive order going from your main idea to the supporting sentences; (2) at the
ending of the paragraph as a form of inductive order where you begin with your
support sentences that lead to the main idea; or (3) have it "nowhere," with the
understanding that the reader will understand what your main idea is so that the topic
sentence is implicit in the writing.
There are eight ways by which you as the writer can make certain that the
reader will get enough information in developing the Topic Sentence Paragraph: (1)
Illustrations, Examples, and Details; (2) Description; (3) Definition; (4) Explanation
and Analysis; (5) Facts and Figures; (6) Repetition; (7) Comparison and Contrast; and
(8) Narrative. In concluding, one might make special note that these eight ways hold
true for the entire composition as, once mastered, the student writer gains confidence
and competence.
The Five Paragraph Essay in high school or college essay i.e.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Body 1
Paragraph 3: Body 2
Paragraph 4: Body 3
Paragraph 5: Conclusion

6.7. Conclusion
It is concluded that the main body is the largest part of your essay, but when you are
done with that it doesn’t mean you are done writing. Now you need to provide a clear
summary of all points and arguments in a concluding paragraph. The conclusion

68
should contain the restatement of the thesis statement, the summary of the discussion,
and the wrapping up point. A clear conclusion will make your readers think and
analyze what they have learned from your essay.
Make your final appeal to the reader, a finishing, all-encompassing statement
that wraps up your presentation in a powerful or even dramatic fashion. Normally a
single paragraph, brief and concise, will suffice. The purpose of the conclusion is to
leave the reader with an idea or thought that captures the essence of the body while
provoking further reflection and consideration.
Although the conclusion paragraph comes at the end of your essay it should
not be seen as an afterthought. As the final paragraph is represents your last chance to
make your case and, as such, should follow an extremely rigid format.
One way to think of the conclusion is, paradoxically, as a second introduction
because it does in fact contain many of the same features. While it does not need to be
too long – four well-crafted sentence should be enough – it can make or break and
essay. Effective conclusions open with a concluding transition ("in conclusion," "in
the end," etc.) and an allusion to the "hook" used in the introductory paragraph. After
that you should immediately provide a restatement of your thesis statement.
This should be the fourth or fifth time you have repeated your thesis so while
you should use a variety of word choice in the body paragraphs it is a acceptable idea
to use some (but not all) of the original language you used in the introduction. This
echoing effect not only reinforces your argument but also ties it nicely to the second
key element of the conclusion: a brief (two or three words is enough) review of the
three main points from the body of the paper.
The strongest way to end a short essay is to include a brief summary of your
main argument and a statement that includes the implications of your thesis on your
future. This will depict you as a goal-oriented and forward-thinking person without
veering you too far from the main idea of your essay.
Limit your conclusion to no more than three sentences. Conclusions are important, but
you do not waste time and space rehashing points that were already made.

Having done all of that, the final element – and final sentence in your essay – should
be a "global statement" or "call to action" that gives the reader signals that the
discussion has come to an end.

In the end, then, one thing is clear: mistakes do far more to help us learn and
improve than successes. As examples from both science and everyday experience
can attest, if we treat each mistake not as a misstep but as a learning experience the
possibilities for self-improvement are limitless.

DO: Be Powerful
The conclusion paragraph can be a difficult paragraph to write effectively but,
as it is your last chance to convince or otherwise impress the reader, it is worth
investing some time in. Take this opportunity to restate your thesis with confidence; if
you present your argument as "obvious" then the reader might just do the same.

69
DO NOT: Copy the First Paragraph
Although you can reuse the same key words in the conclusion as you did in the
introduction, try not to copy whole phrases word for word. Instead, try to use this last
paragraph to really show your skills as a writer by being as artful in your rephrasing
as possible.

We can conclude that the overall structure of a five paragraph essay should look
like this:
Introduction Paragraph
 An attention-grabbing "hook"
 A thesis statement
 A preview of the three subtopics you will discuss in the body paragraphs.
First Body Paragraph
 Topic sentence which states the first subtopic and opens with a transition
 Supporting details or examples
 An explanation of how this example proves your thesis
Second Body Paragraph
 Topic sentence which states the second subtopic and opens with a transition
 Supporting details or examples
 An explanation of how this example proves your thesis
Third Body Paragraph
 Topic sentence which states the third subtopic and opens with a transition
 Supporting details or examples
 An explanation of how this example proves your thesis
Concluding Paragraph
 Concluding Transition, Reverse "hook," and restatement of thesis.
 Rephrasing main topic and subtopics.
 Global statement or call to action.

Exercise 6.4.
Discussion Question
The following paragraph violates all three principles about writing good Topic
Sentence Paragraphs. Explain how it does so and then explain how each error might
be corrected.
Minorities are going to have to wake up and smell the coffee. We have all
been brainwashed into thinking we are inferior. Motion pictures and television stand
out as the biggest contributor of the propaganda, followed by the government, the
schools, the belief that "Money Is Everything and Those Without Money Don't
Count," your friends and neighbors, private industry and the labor unions, and maybe
even your own family.

Key Concepts and Terms

Define the following:
1. Admonition
2. Competence

70
 3. Credibility
4. Deductive Order
5. Disseminate
6. Etymology
7. Excessive Pronoun Usage
8. Inductive Order
9. Paragraph
10. Paragraphs
11. Redundancy
12. Topic Sentence Paragraph
Scott, J.H., http://www.csun.edu/~hcpas003/topic.html. download on 25th August
2017.

Exercise 6.5
Based on the explanation above, write a full composition about the following:
a. The Himalayan
b. The discovery of gold mine
c. The moon
d. The Sigura-gura water falls

6.8. More tips to make your essay shine

Planning Pays
Although it may seem like a waste of time – especially during exams where
time is tight – it is almost always better to brainstorm a bit before beginning your
essay. This should enable you to find the best supporting ideas – rather than simply
the first ones that come to mind – and position them in your essay accordingly.
Your best supporting idea – the one that most strongly makes your case and,
simultaneously, about which you have the most knowledge – should go first. Even the
best-written essays can fail because of ineffectively placed arguments.

Aim for Variety

Sentences and vocabulary of varying complexity are one of the hallmarks of
effective writing. When you are writing, try to avoid using the same words and
phrases over and over again. You don’t have to be a walking thesaurus but a little
variance can make the same idea sparkle. If you are asked about “money,” you could
try “wealth” or “riches.” At the same time, avoid beginning sentences the dull pattern
of “subject + verb + direct object.” Although examples of this are harder to give,
consider our writing throughout this article as one big example of sentence structure
variety.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

The least but not the last, remember that good writing does not happen by
accident. Although we have endeavored to explain everything that goes into effective
essay writing in as clear and concise a way as possible, it is much easier in theory than
it is in practice.

71
As a result, we recommend that you practice writing sample essays on various topics.
Even if they are not masterpieces at first, a bit of regular practice will soon change
that – and make you better prepared when it comes to the real thing.
Now that you’ve learned how to write an effective essay, check out our Sample
Essays so you can see how they are done in practice.

6.9. Common writing mistakes

6.9.1. UK vs. US Spelling

British and American spellings are different in many ways. It doesn’t really
matter which spelling you use while writing. However, you have to remain consistent
throughout your writing. So for example, if you intend to use American spelling, stick
to it. Do not use American spellings for some words and British spellings for other
words.

6.9.2. Avoid excessively long sentences

In a bid to impress the examiner, students often try to write excessively long
sentences that contain numerous main and subordinate clauses. Unfortunately, this is
not a good practice. When your sentences are too long, your chances of making
mistakes are pretty high. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to write only
simple sentences. Actually, that is not recommended either. If all of your sentences
are of the same length, they will make your text boring. Therefore, it is always a good
idea to strike a balance between simple and complex sentences. Use them both in your
writing, but make sure that your complex sentences are of a manageable length.
Although there are no hard and fast rules regarding the length of a sentence, it is
always a good idea to limit the number of subordinate clauses to two or three. And at
the same time, do not use more than two main clauses in a sentence. By using
different sentence patterns, you can add variety and sophistication to your writing.

6.9.3. Bottom-line: Do not use too many conjunctions in a sentence. If you feel that
your sentences are too long, re-read them to see if they can be broken up. Your
readers will also like shorter sentences because they are easier to understand.

6.9.4.Avoid excessively long paragraphs

Pay attention to the size of your paragraphs. They should be neither too long,
nor too short. If you are writing an essay, you can try paragraphs of different lengths.
For example, you can write a short paragraph after a long one or vice-versa. This will
add variety. Avoid excessively long paragraphs at any cost. For one thing, they will
immediately put off the reader. Studies have proved that people are more likely to
read shorter pieces of text. They wouldn’t mind reading a long essay or document if it
is neatly broken into paragraphs of reasonable length. But if your paragraphs are too
long, few people will bother to read in the first place.
In general, you can include three to five paragraphs on an A4 paper. Also
make sure that only one main idea or topic is discussed in each paragraph.

72
6.9.5. Condensing Strategy: Starting Big
Some people find it especially difficult to write a short a piece right off the bat,
so they write a longer piece that includes everything that they find relevant, and only
then do they start to trim their essay down. If you choose to use this approach,
remember that it might become necessary to remove information that you had initially
deemed important. Here are some tips on how you might cut down your essay.

6.9.6. Get out the highlighter

If your essay is significantly longer than the suggested word count, read
through it and highlight everything that is most important—this includes important
points of introspection and supporting evidence. Have a peer or parent do the same.

6.9.7. Condense
Read through your writing and make sure that every sentence has a specific
and unique contribution to the essay. If two sentences convey two only slightly
differing ideas, try to find a way to combine them. Use semi-colons, em dashes, or
compound sentences if necessary. Check for wordiness as well. For example, do you
have any sentences that start with, “It is” or “It seems that”? These are extraneous
words that can be taken out without altering the sentence’s meaning.

6.9.8. The Necessity Test

If you are stuck and cannot find a way to shorten your essay, try the necessity
test. Take out every sentence in your essay to test whether your point has become
weaker without it. If there is no noticeable difference in your essay after removing the
sentence, then the sentence is not integral to the rest of the essay, and it can be
removed.

6.9.9.Simplify the Argument

If there is no way to cut down your essay without keeping your argument clear
and strong, you must simplify your argument. In short essays, it is often better to have
a broader thesis that you can support with one or two specific examples. This way,
readers can infer implications from your thesis that you did not explicitly state.

6.9.10. In Summary
These points should prove useful in guiding you through composing a short
essay. Here are a few dos and don’ts in summary of this article.

Do
 Make the essay snappy: present, support, introspect. Only include the details
necessary for understanding the main idea of your essay.
 Put your thesis in one of the first three sentences of the introduction if you are
writing a 3-4 paragraph essay, and in the first sentence if you are writing a 1-2
paragraph essay.
 Limit supporting evidence. You need to leave room for introspection.
 Answer the prompt and showcase your best qualities.

73
 Condense when possible. Use semi-colons, em dashes, or compound sentences if
necessary.

Don’t
 Assume that longer is better. Be sure that your essay meets the word and page
length requirement of the prompt.
 Pick an overly complex topic. Pick a topic for which you have enough room to
elaborate.
 Write a lengthy introduction or conclusion.
 Become too attached to your ideas. Be ready to cut unnecessary segments out in
order for your essay to meet the word count.
Remember that a short essay should have all of the same components as a
larger essay, but in less space. Try to include all of the necessary introspection and not
present too many different points. It is better to have one or two well-articulated and
supported points than many good points that are poorly supported.

Short essays must abide by a logical pattern. If you follow some basic guidelines you
can be very successful in writing short essays. Here are 6 rules you can follow:
1. The 5 paragraphs must be made from an introduction, the body and a
conclusion. The introduction will be the first paragraph. There will be 3
paragraphs in the body and the final paragraph will be the conclusion. This is
the accepted format.
2. The introduction should accomplish some specific goals. The main goals are
to capture the reader’s interest, tell the reader what the essay is about and give
the thesis statement. Don’t start with a boring sentence or you will lose your
readers right at the beginning. Start with a sentence they can’t resist. The last
sentence in the introduction must be the thesis statement.
3. The body is made up of 3 paragraphs. Each one will cover a main supporting
point that gives credence to your thesis (topic) statement. Each of these 3 ideas
are independent of each other yet you will have to tie them all together and
show the reader why each is essential in its own right. You can do this in the
transition from one paragraph to the next.
4. The fifth and final paragraph is the conclusion. It is a summary of the body of
the essay. It shows the reader how your body of evidence supported your
thesis statement. It’s the last and most memorable part of the essay, so make it
count!
5. Check for flow of logic. The ideas should go smoothly from one to the next.
There shouldn’t be any parts of the essay where the reader pauses and wonders
what they just read. It is very beneficial to ask someone else to read your essay
and then tell you what it was all about. If they are confused, you need to bring
more clarity to your writing.
6. Proof read and edit. Never skimp on this step. It’s one of the most important of
all. Many a great essay failed because of poor editing.

6.10. Word formation in English

The English language has a genius for the formation of expressive compound
words. Common examples include sun-stroke, pick-pocket, elbow-room, land-lord,

74
humming-bird etc. The two parts of a compound word are usually separated by a
hyphen. However, in the case of many common compound words, the component
parts have become so closely connected that they are now written as one word without
any hyphen between them.
Examples are: sunstroke, landlord, pickpocket, overload etc.
And in the case of some other compound words, complete integration has been
achieved by modifying one or both of the component parts.
For example, pass time is now written as pastime. In the same way, holy
day has become holiday and prime rose has become primrose.

There are different types of compound words

Noun + noun
Examples are: master-piece, table-cloth, maid-servant, bread-winner, shoe-maker etc.
Noun + gerund
Examples are: wool-gathering, snake-charming, bull-baiting, sooth-saying etc.
Noun + adjective
Examples are: court-martial, knight-errant
Gerund + noun
Examples are: piping-hot, walking-stick, drawing-room, laughing-stock, skipping-
rope etc.
Adverb + noun
Examples are: out-patient, over-load, fore-sight, under-tone, in-sight etc.
Verb + noun
Examples are: dare-devil, cut-throat, break-fast, spend-thrift, pass-port etc.
Adjective + noun
Examples are: short-hand, free-thinker, lay-man, hard-ware, strong-hold etc.
Present participle + noun
Examples are: humming-bird, flying-fish, loving-kindness etc.
Pronoun + noun
Examples are: he-goat
Possessive noun + noun (In this case, the apostrophe is usually omitted)
Examples are: sportsman, craftsman, statesman, hair’s-breadth, stone’s-throw

6.11. Idiomatic expression

Idiomatic expressions with eye

Here is a list of idiomatic expressions formed around the word eye.
Eye someone up
To eye someone up is to look at them with romantic or love interest.
At the party, Samuel eyed many girls up, but none showed any interest in him.
Be all eyes
When you are all eyes, you are watching something eagerly.
When the match started, we were all eyes.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
This expression suggests that doing the same thing in return is the appropriate way to
deal with a crime.

75
 He avenged his sister’s murder by killing the sister of her murderer. An eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Have an eye for
When you have an eye for something, you are able to recognize and judge something
wisely.
She has an eye for detail.
Have your eye on
When you have your eye on something you aim to acquire it.
He has his eye on the throne.
With an eye to
Have as your objective
They are inciting communal tension with an eye to winning minority votes.
Make eyes at
To make eyes at someone is to look at them with sexual interest.
He made eyes at her but she ignored him.
See eye to eye
When you see eye to eye with someone you are in full agreement.
My manager and I don’t see eye to eye.

6.12. Most common idiomatic expressions in English

The English language is full of idiomatic expressions. While it is nearly
impossible to learn all of these expressions, you should be familiar with the most
important ones. Here is a list of the most widely used idiomatic expressions in
English.

A penny for your thoughts

This expression is another way of asking what somebody is thinking.

Add insult to injury

To add insult to injury is to make a bad situation worse.

A hot potato
A hot potato is a topic or an issue that is widely discussed.

Once in a blue moon

If something happens once in a blue moon it happens very rarely.

Caught between two stools

When you are caught between two stools, you have difficulty choosing between two
alternatives.

See eye to eye

When two people see eye to eye, they agree on something.

Hear it on the grapevine

To hear it on the grapevine is to hear a rumor.

76
Miss the boat
To miss the boat is to miss your chance at something.

Kill two birds with one stone

To kill two birds with one stone is to do two profitable things at the same time.

On the ball
When you are on the ball, you understand the situation very well.

Cut corners
To cut corners is to do something badly to save money.

Costs and arm and a leg

If something costs and arm and a leg, it is very expensive.

Sit on the fence

When you sit on the fence, you don’t make a decision.

Expressions with speak

Here is a list of idiomatic expressions using the word speak. Each expression is
followed by its meaning or definition. Example sentences are also given.

Broadly speaking / generally speaking

This expression is used when you talk about something in general.
Generally speaking, people are nice when you are nice to them.

no…to speak of
This is used for saying that something is not important.
She has no experience to speak of.

Not on speaking terms

When you are not on speaking terms with another person, you are very angry with
them and won’t talk to them.
He and his wife are not on speaking terms.

Speak for itself

If something speaks for itself, it is clearly so good.
Her success as a writer speaks for itself.

Speak for yourself

Use this expression to suggest that your opinion is different from that of others.
No one wants to go to the theater tonight.’ ‘Speak for yourself! I do.
’
Speaking of
This expression is used to introduce something new.
Speaking of money, have you paid the utility bill?

77
Speak your mind
To speak your mind is to say what you think even if it hurts or offends others.
I like her because she speaks her mind.
She was a strong-willed woman who always spoke her mind.

Speak volumes
If something speaks volumes it provides a lot of information.
His silence on the issue speaks volumes.

6.13. Commonly confused expressions

Here is a quick overview of some phrases and expressions that are commonly
confused.

Supposed to / used to
You are not supposed to break the rules. (NOT You are not suppose to break the
rules.)
I am used to living alone. (NOT I am use to living alone.)
It is wrong to drop the ‘d’ in supposed and used. However, this is a mistake that
many people make.

Beside the point

If something is beside the point, it is not relevant to the point. It is wrong to write
‘besides the point’. Beside means ‘next to’ or ‘at the side of’. Besides means ‘in
addition to

Couldn’t care less

The expression ‘I could care less’ is always wrong.
I couldn’t care less means ‘I don’t care at all’. However, ‘I could care less’ does not
mean that you care a lot.

Whet your appetite

To whet your appetite is to sharpen your appetite. Even mouth-watering delicacies
can’t ‘wet your appetite’. The correct expression is ‘whet your appetite’.

Nip it in the bud

To nip something in the bud is to prevent it from growing into something bigger.
Don’t nip it in the butt. That will not solve your problem.

Toe the line

To toe the line is to adhere to a standard or rule. Don’t write ‘tow the line’.

For all intents and purposes

‘For all intents and purposes’ means ‘pretty much’ or ‘almost completely’. It is wrong
to write ‘for all intensive purposes’.

78
Bald-faced lie
A bald-faced lie is an audacious lie. The person who tells a bald-faced lie does not
make any attempt to disguise it as truth. However, this does not make it a ‘bold-faced
lie’.

6.14. Sentences: simple and compound

There are mainly three kinds of sentences in English: simple,
complex and compound.
Simple sentence
A simple sentence consists of just one clause. Examples are given below.
 The dog barks.
 The kettle boils.
 Birds live in nests.
 The boys are singing.
In its simplest form, a simple sentence consists of a subject and a verb.
We can add more meaning to the sentence by including qualifiers, objects,
complements etc.
 Sitting on a branch, the monkey gibbered.
 The little girl was carrying a basket on her head.

Compound sentence
A compound sentence is made up of two or more independent clauses.
 The boys sang and the girls danced.
This compound sentence consists of two simple clauses connected by the coordinating
conjunction and.
Another example is given below.
 Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.
This compound sentence consists of three independent clauses.
We make compound sentences by joining independent clauses with the help of
coordinating conjunctions.
More examples of compound sentences are given below.
 You may watch TV or you can go out to play.
 You should either sit quietly or go out.
 The old man could neither see nor hear.
 He took the test several times but he couldn’t pass.
 He is famous, yet he is very humble.
 She was angry, still she kept her cool.
 The thieves not only robbed the man of his possessions, but also inflicted
injuries on him.

Notes
The words however, therefore and nevertheless are not conjunctions. They
cannot be used to connect two independent clauses.
 My car broke down on the way; therefore, I hired a taxi. (NOT My car broke
down on the way, therefore I hired a taxi.)
 He lost all his money; nevertheless, he is cheerful.

79
Two independent clauses need to be connected with a coordinating conjunction or
separated with a full stop or a semicolon.

STUDENT COMPOSITION: 1
Three Passions I Live For
(See Teacher's Comments and Revised Composition Below.)

Looking back on my past twenty years full of passions (1) and enthusiasm, I
feel grateful and (2) to live a healthy and happy life. There are a lot of qualities I have
learnt from ordinary life that guided me through. If I am asked to list the first three, I
will put health, happiness of my family and enough financial support (3) as the
passions I live for.
Health comes first for me. Without health, everything is meaningless. It is
indispensable to everyone (4). Only when one is healthy can he start his own career,
set up his own family and achieve any accomplishment (5). I always value health and
regard it as the preliminary step (6) to possess a happy family and earn enough
money.
Happiness of my family (7) is very important to me because I love my family
wholeheartedly. I get pleasure in their joys and suffer what they suffer. Their infinite
love and support motivate me to overcome any trouble or obstacle (8) I may meet. To
make those I love happy is the biggest wish for me. What would millions of money
(9) mean to me if I saw my family suffer from pain and agony (10)? Now that I’ve got
a healthy body, I have plenty of time and opportunities to entertain my family. Then
money comes third. (11)
Everyone must admit that they could never do without money (12). Money
enables us to get food, a house for shelter, clothes to wear and furthermore (13)
enjoyment. For example, with money, we can get a good education, travel around the
world and receive fine medical treatment. Money is essential to satisfy our basic
needs as well as further self-development.
As long as I am healthy, I’ll work hard to earn as much money as I can, then
with it I buy substances (14) or services to make (15) my family live more
comfortably. If everything goes on (16) smoothly, I’ll be absolutely the happiest girl
in the world!

Teacher Joe's Comments

(1) "Passion" is normally a non-count noun, especially in this expression, "full of
passion". In any case, the word "passion" itself is not really appropriate
considering the three ideas being expressed. Health and wealth are mentioned as
necessities which add to the writer's quality of life, but they are not really
"passions". If the writer loved to go the gym every single day of the week and
practiced yoga, weight training, along with various other sports, then it might be
called "a passion". "Wealth" is also "a passion" for some people who really do
seem to live for money. They want all the money they can get - more, more,
MORE! That's passion. This writer doesn't live for money, however, she only
uses money to help her live a better life. For her, money is a tool, not a passion.

80
(2) Perhaps the word "and" was added by mistake. I think the writer wanted to write
something like "I feel grateful for the chance to have lived a healthy and happy
life". If the writer wants to keep "and", then a sentence such as "I feel grateful
and happy to have lived a healthy life". "And" should connect two similar words
or ideas.
(3) "Support" is what somebody, or some thing, gives to you. When I read "enough
financial support", I think the writer wants support from her parents or maybe
from the government. "Enough finances" or "sufficient finances" would be better,
but the writer could even use the simple expression "enough money". It's better to
use a simple word such as "money" correctly than to use a more formal word
such as "finances" incorrectly.
(4) This sentence just repeats the same idea as the previous two sentences, only using
different words. The writer's message is "Health is important. Health is important.
Health is important." It seems the writer is just trying to show off her knowledge
of English without communicating any message. In the revised essay below,
notice how the first two sentences are combined to show cause and effect, while
the third sentence is cut out completely.
(5) This is far too general. It's not bad grammatically but is quite boring. The reader
must wonder if the writer is capable of describing a real achievement or not. The
writer should give examples of achievements that she has achieved or hopes to
achieve.
(6) The writer seems to be emphasizing health by writing "THE preliminary step", so
"the first step" would be more clear. There might be many "preliminary" steps,
which all might be necessary, but not so important.
(7) The first time this is mentioned, in the first paragraph, it may be okay to write it
this way. However, the second time it is used, "my family's happiness" is much
more natural. If the writer insists on using this awkward expression again, she
should at least use an article: "The happiness of my family...".
(8) Again, the writer would show her ability to communicate in English if she gave an
example or two instead of just using the general words "trouble" and "obstacle".
(9) "Money" is a non-count noun. We could say "millions of dollars", "millions of
pounds", or "millions of yuan". Another possibility would be "a large amount of
money".
(10) We suffer from a disease or some other bad situation. Writing "suffer from pain
and agony" is like writing "suffering from suffering and suffering". The writer
could change this to "living in pain and agony" or "experiencing pain and agony".
(11) This is a fair attempt at a transition to the next paragraph, but it could be better.
See the revised essay for examples of smooth transitions between paragraphs.
(12) This sentence communicates nothing and should be cut.
(13) It is not clear what the writer is trying to say by using the word "furthermore"
here. Maybe she means, "beyond these necessities", or something similar. The
word "furthermore" could also be cut with no replacement, and the meaning
would come through more clearly.
(14) "Substances" sounds like raw materials, especially chemicals or drugs. The writer
should use specific goods and services in order to communicate her message.
(15) The word "make" sounds like the family will be forced to live more comfortably,
against their will. "Allow" is a more appropriate word.

81
(16) This should be simplified to "goes smoothly" to make it idiomatically correct. It's
still too vague. The writer would do even better to express what she means by "go
smoothly" by giving examples.

Exercise 6. 9.
Rewrite the Joe’s Essay Based on the Teacher Joe's Comments above

STUDENT COMPOSITION: 2
Self confidence, you help me a lot

My friends often ask me the same question “why are you so (1) blithe all
day?” I think the answer is simple --- (2) it owns a great debt to self-confidence. (3)
When it comes to self confidence, someone will call it (4) “conceited” and I guess it
is, but it really makes me feel at ease (5) I am doing something.
I still remember my first experience of an English Competition: 3 years ago, I
was (6) singled out by my classmates to take part in a Speaking-English competition.
When I went up to the stage, I had butterflies in my stomach. All at once, my
mother’s words came to me. “If you want to do something with style, it costs nothing
but self confidence.” Since I had the chance to stand here, it meant that I had the
ability. (7) “Restore to balance.” I said to myself. “Don’t you forget that you have (8)
drawn yourself in preparing this competition for a long time? You are the best.”
Strangely, my nervousness vanished after I flattered myself. I began to speak. The
feeling was wonderful. All the (9) audiences applauded after my speech. I was
successful!
The self confidence helped me (10) win the success. My courage and
optimism are all based on it. We will be faced with different difficulties occasionally
and unavoidably in the future. If we come to terms with them, we are (11) bound to
fail. Taking it for granted that we are capable of handling them will (12) benefit to
build up confidence and succeeded.
My friends, why not have self confidence?. We are not (13) the most excellent, but we
always do our best to achieve our aims, don’t we? Self confidence will add happiness
(14) into our own lives.

Exercise 7. 7
c. Write your comments about the student’s composition 2 above by
considering the Teacher’s Joe composition.

Hints:
1. Consider about the writer’s sentence structure and misuse of some
words and expressions.
2. Consider the used of “blithe” whether it is normally used in written or
spoken English.
3. Consider the expression of “owns a great debt” whether it is correctly
used.
4. Consider whether the whole phrase “When it comes to self
confidence, someone will call it (4) conceited” is necessary or not

82
 5. Consider whether the noun form of “conceited” is correctly spelled. .
6. Consider whether a clause connector is missing or not in “I am doing
something".
7. Consider the word “be singled out” whether it is appropriate used in
this context.
8. Consider the phrase “restore to balance” whether it is known in
English.
9. Consider about the word “unbalance” whether it is appropriate use in
the sentences.
10. Consider the use of word” drawn yourself” whether it is appropriate
used in the paragraph.
11. Consider about the use of "audiences” whether it is correctly written
12. Consider the word "win the success" whether it has the right
expression for this statements.
13. Consider the expression "bound to fail" whether it is appropriate used
in the sentences.
14. Consider the expression "Benefit to build up confidence and
success" whether it is appropriate used in the sentences.
15. Consider the expression "We are not the most excellent" whether it is
normally used in the sentences.
16. Consider the expression "add happiness into" whether it is normally
used in English.

Exercise 6. 10.
Having completed your comments, rewrite the essay

STUDENT COMPOSITION 3
Conflict and the Quest for Identity in the Middle Ages
Although the major premise of our course thus far has been the elaboration of
the world view between 1050 and 1550, it can be said that an adjunct theme has been
the question of identity. It can be argued that human beings determine their identity
through conflict, a conflict which is at times hidden, and thus manifests itself in subtle
ways. At other times, this conflict is out in the open and it is there that individuals
find themselves. Consider the following excerpt from Malcolm Barbers’s excellent
study, The Two Cities (1992):

Explicitly or implicitly, the activities and thoughts of human beings in the centuries
between c.1050 and c.1350 were moulded by two powerful forces: on the one hand,
the pressures and the temptations of the material world, made all the more manifest
by economic development, and on the other, the deeply held belief in the need to
aspire towards a higher, spiritual life, itself displayed with increasing clarity by
contemporary social changes.

I think Barber is on to something. I also think his model of conflict (implied in

his use of the expression, two powerful forces) can shed some light on future
developments in the intellectual history of Europe, specifically the Renaissance and

83
Reformation. History abounds in conflict and each age has had to reconcile its
conflicts in its own way: that is, we can only discern the significance of conflict if it is
understood in its historical context. The ultimate reconciliation of conflict within the
individual and society, produces identity and without identity, one cannot seriously
fashion a world view.
This much said, I would like you to write an essay which discusses conflict
and the creation of identity as it was worked out in the period c.1050-1550. Your
answer, of course, depends on your view or image of the period. You may see the
period as a whole (eg. the Medieval world) or perhaps as distinct episodes (eg. 12th
Century Renaissance, Renaissance, Reformation). With this in mind, what forces were
present which produced conflict and how was that conflict reconciled (if it indeed
ever was) to fashion a new identity (or world view)? You may wish to consider
individual thinkers as representative of their age (the Abelard, Petrarch, Erasmus
gambit) or, you may wish to view the period in its totality and so talk in more general
terms.
Now, as you can see from this example, I have not only supplied an
introduction to the topic, but also a quotation taken from a modern historian. I then
elaborate on the passage and finally, in the last paragraph, I raise a series of questions
which the student ought to consider but not necessarily answer. The student should
have few problems obtaining the required five to ten pages on such a topic.
The short essay assignment above was given in the fourth week of a fifteen
week semester. My students had heard four three hour lectures and had already done
some substantial reading from a text of primary sources. They had several in-class
discussions as well. Although I never discussed Barber's quotation in class, I knew
that the quotation highlighted some of the central themes we had developed up to that
point in time. The students had one full week to complete the assignment.
The problem with such a topic, as I soon discovered, is that some students
were not prepared to handle such a question. Many submitted "essays" that were less
than five pages on a topic which could have easily demanded more. I was a bit
surprised by this because I did expect more. After all, this was a small class and no
one would take the class simply because it "fit their schedule." In other words, the
students in the class wanted to take the class. Well, what happened?
They were intimidated. I gave them a topic which demanded work and some
of them did not take the assignment seriously. They thought they could write a few
paragraphs and call it a day. Bad move! Speaking for myself, I give the short essay
because I want my students to focus on an issue or theme. I always ask my students:
"What do you want to write an essay about? The three field system of crop rotation?"
They laugh at that one but I'm dead serious. "What do you want, something easy? Or
something that gives you a challenge?" I prefer the challenge myself. That's what
education is all about.
Okay, fine you say. But what about the instructor who, without warning,
announces that he is assigning a short essay. Without handing you anything, he says
the topic is Fascism. A student raises their hand, "What are we supposed to write
about?" And the instructor simply says, "Write an essay about Fascism. Explain its
appearance and importance in the 20th century." That's it? Well, where do you begin?
Obviously, your professor would not have assigned such a topic unless you or
he had already discussed it in class. Therefore, you need to go back to your lecture

84
notes and consider those comments he may have made in reference to Fascism. Begin
to take notes on your notes. What seems important? Are there any names that keep
springing up? Did he ever list the causes of Fascism? Next, go to your texts and
reread and review the appropriate sections. Again, take notes. You may be tempted to
drag out an encyclopedia. Go ahead, that's a good move. It may help fill in gaps.
Above all, begin to think!
To give force to the above statement about the importance of the first sentence
of your essay, consider the following: "When this century was still young, a brand
new ideological force which came to be known as "fascism" burst upon a Europe just
recovering from the body-blows of the First World War and the Russian
Revolution." Now that is an excellent opening line. Of course, it was written by a
historian (Roger Griffin, ed., Fascism, Oxford, 1995, p. v). But you can do the same
thing! Trust yourself. Confidence. If you know what you are talking about, then say
what you really want to say. JUST DO IT!
Following your killer opening salvo, you should write a paragraph or two
which further explains the importance of Fascism. Mention names -- Mussolini for
one. Mention events--the First World War and the Russian Revolution? Mention
dates. The twentieth century didn't occur last night. There's a lot of years to consider.
Use dates! You should also outline, in barest form, the remainder of your essay. Got a
good quotation? Use it here. A quotation as the first sentence of your essay is also an
excellent way to grab the attention of your reader.
On to the hardest part - -the body of the essay. It is in the body of your essay
that an outline will become necessary. Without an outline you will have the tendency
to roam over a lot of material without any coherent plan of attack. Your professor will
tire easily. "Get to the point!" he may write in the margin. Outline every single
paragraph. Your outline can consist of numbered points, each one of which is a
paragraph or, you can develop a complex outline in which each point of each section
is a sentence unto itself. Whatever works best for you.
I can't stress enough the need for outlining your essays. I know this for a fact because
I almost never used an outline as an undergraduate student. Even in graduate school I
had to learn this technique. After two years of reading my essays, my advisor finally
"advised" that I take an essay that I already had written and outline it. In other words,
I was outlining in reverse. Know what I soon discovered? Simple. My writing had
very little logical order or consistency. And if your essays are illogical or inconsistent,
well, then, you're going to have problems. So, my advice is to outline, outline, outline.
If you're daring, try outlining your lecture notes without looking at the outline your
instructor may have given you or written on the board. Can you do it?
Okay, you've written the body of the essay. You're feeling good. You believe
you have demonstrated the essential focus of your opening sentence. Now it's time to
conclude. This is not the place for the "I believe...," "I think that...," "in my opinion..."
and so on. Your professor knows that it's you who are writing so there's no need to
remind him. Again, just say what's on your mind. A conclusion ought not simply
repeat arguments, although there are ways to do this without simply resorting to the
list format. Instead, use the information you have established in the rest of your essay
to fashion a general statement about the topic. Was Fascism important, for example,
only within the context of European history, 1914-1945? Or, does Fascism perhaps
have a history that lay outside the war and interwar years? Is there a relationship

85
between Fascism and the Roman Empire? What is the difference between fascism and
totalitarianism? Be daring. Be bold. If you have some point to make, perhaps a
different way of thinking about the topic, then by all means say it. Your professor will
commend you for it.
A short essay can include references to other works and if you frequently use
quotations from these works, then they ought to be included in your essay as footnotes
or as endnotes. Your professor should tell you what he is after. If you are discussing
one book and all your quotations are to that book, then simple page numbers cited
within the body of the text are all that is required. But, if for some reason, your essay
is based on the reading of several books, then you will have to come up with some
kind of system of notation that is in agreement with your instructor. The rule with
footnotes and bibliographies in general is: be consistent. There are a great many style
manuals to choose from so make sure that if your professor wants perfection that you
use the style manual that is recommended.
You need to keep in mind that a short essay is just that---short. You may think ten
pages or 2500-3000 words is a great deal to write, and for some students it is, but if
you know your topic well and enjoy your topic, then you ought to be able to complete
the assignment handily. Like anything else, good writing takes patience and practice.
Some people are born writers---the majority are not. It is difficult to express verbally
what we can at times only intuit silently.
If you find yourself stuck on that first sentence, move on. Write what comes to
mind. You can always edit away later. And stick to that outline---you'll be glad you
did. Ask your professor if he will read rough drafts of your essays. I have always done
so and you may surprise to learn that your instructor does as well. It can't hurt to ask.
If you are taking a class which utilizes a teaching assistant, you may even be required
to submit a rough draft. The bottom line is this: ask questions and obtain answers. If
you simply write your papers with some vague awareness of what is required the
result will be mediocre at best. Why be mediocre? Strive for excellence!
Your instructor may demand that your essays be typed. Other professors
would prefer a typed paper but do not require it. In general, you should make every
effort to submit your essays typed rather than handwritten. For example, I receive two
essays on the same topic. Both are probably very good. But, do you know which one
is easier to read? Do you know which one I will read first? Psychologically, your
professor is prepared for typed text and so the handwritten essay usually falls to the
bottom of the pile. So, for your own sake, submit all written work typed rather than
handwritten ( http://www.historyguide.org/guide/essay1.html)

Exercise 6.11
Write a summary of the student composition 3 above and your comments

86
References
1. Comparing and Contrasting in English,. Phrases used to clearly
express likeness and differences
https://www.thoughtco.com/comparing-and-contrasting-in-english-
1212049
2. https://www.englishgrammar.org/comparing-contrasting/
3. http://writingcenter.prompt.com/writing-short-essay/
4. http://www.iamcardboard.com/6-basic-guidelines-for-writing-a-
successful-short-essay.htm
5. http://www.historyguide.org/guide/essay1.html.
6. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/thesis.htm#
7. https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/thesis_statements.php
8. Nordquist, R. Topic Sentence (Composition) Glossary of Grammatical
and Rhetorical Terms.(2017) https://www.thoughtco.com/topic-sentence-
composition-1692551
9. Scott, J.H., http://www.csun.edu/~hcpas003/topic.html. download on 25th
August 2017.

87