Developing an Instances and Examples Paragraph

Developing an Instances and Examples Paragraph In a writer's own words: “ Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” -Anton Chekhov In our daily conversations, we often provide examples – that is details, particulars, specific instances – to explain statements that we make. Backing up your statements with clear, specific illustrations is the key to a successful examples paragraph. Read the following paragraphs. Then underline the topic sentence, specific examples, and transitions in each paragraph before answering the questions. In each case, the examples help us see for ourselves the truth of the statement that has been made. In paragraphs, too, explanatory examples help the audience fully understand a point. Lively, specific examples also add interest to a paper. This week in your writing assignment, you will be asked to provide a series of examples to support a topic sentence. Providing examples to support a point is one of the most common and simplest methods of paragraph development. First read the paragraphs below; they both use examples to develop their points. Then answer the questions that follow. Paragraphs to Consider Inconsiderate Drivers Some people are inconsiderate drivers. In the city, they will at times stop right in the middle of the street while looking for a certain home or landmark. If they had any consideration for the cars behind them, they would pull over to the curb first. Other drivers will be chatting on their cell phones and then slow down unexpectedly at a city intersection to make a right or left turn. The least they could do is use their turn signals to let those behind them know in advance of their intention. On the highway, a common example of inconsiderateness is night drivers who fail to turn off their high beams, creating glare for cars approaching in the other direction. I never use the high beams on my car. Other rude highway drivers move to the second or passing lane and then stay there, making it impossible for cars behind to go around them. Yet other drivers who act as if they have special privileges are those who do not wait their turn in bottleneck situations where the cars in two lanes must merge alternately into one lane. Perhaps the most inconsiderate drivers are those who throw trash out their windows, creating litter that takes away some of the pleasure of driving and that must be paid for with everyone's tax dollars. Office Politics Office politics is a destructive game played by several types of people. For instance, two supervisors may get into a conflict over how to do a certain job. Instead of working out an agreement like adults, they carry on a power struggle that turns the poor employees under them into human Ping-Pong balls being swatted between two angry players. Another common example of office politics is the ambitious worker who takes credit for other people's ideas. He or she will chat in a "friendly" fashion with inexperienced employees, getting their ideas about how to run the office more smoothly. Next thing you know, Mr. or Ms. Idea-Stealer is having a closed-door session with the boss and getting promotion points for his or her "wonderful creativity." Yet another illustration of office politics is the spy. This employee acts very buddy-buddy with other workers, often dropping little comments about things he or she doesn't like in the workplace. The spy encourages people to talk about their problems at work, how they don't like their boss, the pay, and the working conditions. Then the spy goes straight back and repeats all he or she has heard to the boss, and the employees get blamed for their "poor attitude." A final example of office politics is people who gossip. Too often, office politics can turn a perfectly fine work situation into a stressful one. About Unity 1. Which sentence in "Inconsiderate Drivers" is irrelevant to the point that some people are inconsiderate drivers? ________________________________________________________________________ About Support 2. In "Inconsiderate Drivers," how many examples are given of inconsiderate drivers? ________ 3. After which sentence in "Office Politics" are specific details needed? ______________________________________________________________________________ About Coherence 4. What are the four transition words or phrases that are used to introduce each new example in "Office Politics"? ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Which paragraph clearly uses emphatic order to organize its details, saving for last what the writer regards as the most important example? ______________________________________________________________________________ When Charlene, the writer of "Office Politics," was assigned an instances and examples paragraph, she at first did not know what to write about. Then her teacher made a suggestion. “Imagine yourself having lunch with some friends,” the teacher said. “You're telling them how you feel about something and why. Maybe you're saying, „I am so mad at my boyfriend? or „My new apartment is really great.? You wouldn't stop there- you'd continue by saying what your boyfriend does that is annoying, or in what way your apartment is nice. In other words, you'd be making a general point and backing it up with examples. That's what you need to do in this paper.” That night, Charlene was on the telephone with her brother. She was complaining about the office where she worked. "Suddenly I realized what I was doing," Charlene said. "I was making a statement-I hate the politics in my office-and giving examples of those politics. I knew what I could write about!" Development Through Prewriting Charlene began preparing to write her paragraph by freewriting. She gave herself ten minutes to write down everything she could think of on the subject of politics in her office. Charlene read over her freewriting and then spent some time asking questions about her paragraph. "Exactly what do I want my point to be?" she asked. "And exactly how am I going to support that point?" Keeping those points in mind, she worked on several scratch outlines and wound up with the following: Office politics are ruining the office. 1. Bradley reports people's complaints. 2. Melissa steals ideas. 3. People gossip. 4. Ms. Bennett and Mr. Hankins make workers choose sides. Working from this outline, she then wrote the first draft. Development through Revising After completing her first draft, Charlene put it aside until the next day. When she reread it, this was her response: "I think the paragraph would be stronger if I made it about office politics in general instead of just politics in my office. The things I was writing about happen in many offices, not just in mine. And our instructor wants us to try some third-person writing. Also, I need to make better use of transitions to help the reader follow as I move from one example to another." With these thoughts in mind, Charlene began revising her paper, and after several drafts she produced the paragraph that you read. It's hard to criticize your own work honestly, especially just after you've finished writing. If at all possible, put your paragraph away for a day or so and then return to it. Better yet, wait a day and then read it aloud to a friend whose judgment you trust. Read the paragraph with these questions in mind: Examples Checklist: The Four Bases 1. Unity Does my topic sentence clearly state whom I am writing about, what that person's relationship is to me, and what quality of that person I am going to focus on? Do the examples I provide truly show that my subject has the quality I am writing about? 2. Support Have I provided enough specific details to solidly support my point that my subject has a certain quality? 3. Coherence Have I organized the details in my paragraph into several clearly defined categories? Have I used transitional words such as also, in addition, for example, and for instance to help the reader follow my train of thought? 4. Sentence Skills Have I used a consistent point of view throughout my paragraph? Have I used specific rather than general words? Have I avoided wordiness and used concise wording? Are my sentences varied? Have I checked for spelling and other sentence skills? Writing Assignment 1 In this examples paragraph, you will write with a specific purpose and for a specific audience. Imagine that you are a television critic for a daily newspaper. Your job is to recommend to viewers, every day, the programs most worth watching. You've decided that there is nothing particularly good on TV today. Therefore, your plan is to write a one-paragraph article about TV commercials, supporting this point: "Television advertisements are more entertaining than the programs they interrupt." To prepare for this article, spend some time watching television, taking detailed notes on several ads. Decide on two or three ways in which the ads are entertaining; these ways will be the main supporting points in your outline. Then choose at least one ad to use as a specific example to illustrate each of those points. Here are some entertaining qualities that may be seen in ads: Humor Cleverness Music Beauty Drama Emotion Suspense Writing Assignment 2 Write a paragraph that uses examples to develop one of the following statements or a related statement of your own. 1. _____________________is a distracting place to try to study. 2. The daily life of a student is filled with conflicts. 3. The Internet cannot always be a trusted source of information. 4. Despite modern appliances, many household chores are still drudgery. 5. One of my instructors, ______________, has some good (or unusual) teaching techniques. 6. Wasted electricity is all around us. 7. Life in the United States is faster-paced today than ever before. 8. Violence on television is widespread. 9. Today, some people are wearing ridiculous fashions. 10. Some students here at do not care about learning (or are overly concerned about grades). Be sure to choose examples that truly support your topic sentence. They should be relevant facts, statistics, personal experiences, or incidents you have heard or read about. Organize your paragraph by listing several examples that support your point. Save the most vivid, most convincing, or most important example for last. Writing Assignment 3 The diet of many Americans is not healthy. We eat too much junk food and consume far too much cholesterol. Write a paragraph with a topic sentence like one of the following: The diet of the average American is unhealthy. The diet of many American families is unhealthy. Many schoolchildren in America do not have a healthy diet. Writing Assignment 4 Write a paragraph about using the Internet as a tool for research. To support your argument, provide examples of specific sites that you found useful. What kinds of information has the Internet made available? Remember to be specific. Source: Exploring Writing by John Langan, copyright 2008, pages 146-156