By Monday, find a paragraph on the Internet, copy it to the blog as a response to this post, and explain why you think it is a paragraph.
Remember, in many forms of writing, the indentations and other formalized paragraph divisions are meaningless. Find the REAL paragraph and explain why you made the choice you did.
Knowing he was going to be asked about basking in the Cavaliers' humiliation, LeBron should have owned it. He should have said they'd hated him — the players' refusal to shake hands in Cleveland, the owner's crazy post-Decision screed with its own talk of karma — and he was therefore reveling in their struggles. He should have embraced the role that's fueled his phenomenal play this season. He should have shown he's listening to his own inner-villain voice and moving away from letting the sycophants surrounding him impact any more of his decision-making. Instead, LeBron stood, smiled warmly and, when a reporter crowding around him accidentally bumped LeBron's arm, apologized quickly and profusely. Then he got to it. Without anything that sounded like an ounce of candor.
I found this on MSN's sports page and in the article it was broken up into five "paragraphs", but the real paragraph is when you put them together. This is a real paragraph because it has a topic sentence that is followed by an explanation using examples. The end of the paragraph contradicts the topic sentence but the writer uses this to prove a point for the rest of the article so it works.
Ohio Wesleyan’s overall enrollment is approximately 1,850, representing 47 states and 50 countries. The student body is almost equally divided between males and females. About 53% of the students are from Ohio. The University is strongly committed to racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. The multi-cultural enrollment total of 21 percent includes 11 percent US multicultural students and 10 percent international students.
I found this on OWU website, under student profile. This is a paragraph because it starts with a simple topic sentence that clearly addresses the subject matter to be discussed in the subsequent sentences. Following the topic sentence, are specific details about the theme. The paragraph starts broad, and becomes more narrow and more specific as it comes to a conclusion.
"Non sequitur is an argument in which its conclusion does not follow from its premise. An example might be: "If I buy this cell phone, all people will love me." The premise and conclusion are totally unrelated because there is no direct relation between buying a cell phone and the love of all people."
This is a paragraph because it is snowing outside...
But seriously, this is a paragraph for the following reasons: 1. It has a topic sentence which clearly states what the paragraph will be about. 2. It begins general and then slips into detail by providing a specific example. 3. It has unity or in other words it is about one idea, namely, Non sequitur.
Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul, but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance. For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song "O Canaan, Sweet Canaan" spoke of slaves' longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this second meaning in the following lyrics: "I don't expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don't expect to stay." When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North. Slaves even used songs like "Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)" to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings. What whites heard as merely spiritual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say.
This is a paragraph because the topic sentence says exactly what it's about. It has examples and details. It is a complete thought or it is unified.
Although they cover less than 2 percent of Earth's surface, they house an estimated 50 percent of all life on the planet. The immense numbers of creatures that inhabit the tropical rainforests are so great—an estimated 5-50 million species— they are almost incomprehensible. The sheer range of numbers alone suggests the limited extent of our knowledge of these forests. For example, whereas temperate forests are often dominated by a half dozen tree species or fewer that make up 90 percent of the trees in the forest, a tropical rainforest may have more than 480 tree species in a single hectare (2.5 acres). A single bush in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the entire British Isles. This diversity of rainforests is not a haphazard event, but is the result of a series of unique circumstances.
I believe this is a paragraph because it starts off with a topic sentence that introduces what the following sentences will be about. As the paragraph goes on, it branches off from the topic sentence to further explain with more details to create a foundation for the examples. Eventually, it gives specific examples to support the topic sentence and its following details, which as a whole satisfies the paragraph standard. By introducing a single point and developing it, while incorporating the occasional transitional phrase to unify, this paragraph seems to flow.
"Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on a working thesis for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper."
This is a paragraph because it is anchored with a topic sentence, then explained with detail. One point is stated and is then developed without tangents.
This paragraph is well written and contains useful advice. You'll write better paragraphs on these paragraph assignments if you consider the paragraph as part of a larger essay with an argumentative thesis.
However, don't think that you're married to the initial thesis. Notice that the term is "working thesis." As you write the paragraphs of a larger work, you'll notice that your focus shifts and your thesis changes.
Also, not all writers work well using an initial thesis. Often, I will start with a "zero draft," which involves writing hard and fast as ideas on a topic come to you. Eventually, I'll write a sentence that can be revised into a thesis. The rest of the draft can then be rearranged and revised into something that looks like a first draft. I realize at that point that I still have a lot of work to do, but the process beats trying to come up with a thesis when I don't really have a strong opinion on a subject to start with.
Self-actualization is a term that has been used in various psychology theories, often in slightly different ways. The term was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize one's full potential. In his view, it is the organism's master motive, the only real motive: 'the tendency to actualize itself as fully as possible is the basic drive...the drive of self-actualization'.[1] Carl Rogers similarly wrote of 'the curative force in psychotherapy - man's tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities...to express and activate all the capacities of the organism'.[2] However, the concept was brought most fully to prominence in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory as the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are fulfilled and the "actualization" of the full personal potential takes place.
On one corner of my dresser sits a smiling toy clown on a tiny unicycle--a gift I received last Christmas from a close friend. The clown's short yellow hair, made of yarn, covers its ears but is parted above the eyes. The blue eyes are outlined in black with thin, dark lashes flowing from the brows. It has cherry-red cheeks, nose, and lips, and its broad grin disappears into the wide, white ruffle around its neck. The clown wears a fluffy, two-tone nylon costume. The left side of the outfit is light blue, and the right side is red. The two colors merge in a dark line that runs down the center of the small outfit. Surrounding its ankles and disguising its long black shoes are big pink bows. The white spokes on the wheels of the unicycle gather in the center and expand to the black tire so that the wheel somewhat resembles the inner half of a grapefruit. The clown and unicycle together stand about a foot high. As a cherished gift from my good friend Tran, this colorful figure greets me with a smile every time I enter my room.
this is a paragraph because: 1. The beginning sentence clearly describes what is going to be discussed 2. It is a dicripitive paragraph that describes the item completely 3. still shows personal meaning. 4. unifide
Choking under pressure is a familiar phenomenon for most of us—who hasn't occasionally been paralyzed by fear and failure when faced with a seemingly impossible task? But as researchers report in Science, some are more affected by performance anxiety than others. And to test a relatively simple way to release that worry and anxiety, scientists at the University of Chicago turned to an undeniably angst-ridden situation that nearly all of us can understand—taking a test.
I believe that this excerpt from Time Magazine's website is a solid example of a paragraph. The topic sentence is straight-forward. By asking the readers a question, it successfully allows the topic that the author is trying to address become more vivid and relatable. There are not many specific transition words, but, nevertheless, the paragraph flows and transitions nicely throughout.
In 2007-2008, Ohio Wesleyan won the NCAC All-Sports trophy for the second consecutive year, posting top-3 finishes in seven of the nine spring sports and winning championships in baseball, golf, women's lacrosse, men's outdoor track & field; and men's and women's indoor track & field. The Bishops finished in the top 5 in 19 of the 22 sports in which the NCAC offers championships. This year marks the eighth time OWU has won the All-Sports Championship.
This is a paragraph because it starts with a general sentence that sets the topic for what the rest of the paragraph will be about. It goes on to give examples and explanations. Then ends with a final sum up of the proceeding sentences. It has one continuous topic and flow.
After World War II, when sales of superhero comic books generally declined, DC ceased publishing new adventures of Alan Scott as the Green Lantern. In 1959, at the beginning of the Silver Age of Comic Books, DC editor Julius Schwartz assigned writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane to revive the Green Lantern character, this time as test pilot Hal Jordan, who became a founding member of the Justice League of America. In 1970, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams teamed Green Lantern with archer Green Arrow in groundbreaking, socially conscious, and award-winning stories that pitted the sensibilities of the law-and-order-oriented Lantern with the populist Green Arrow. Several cosmically themed series followed, as did occasional different individuals in the role of Earth's Green Lantern. Most prominent of these are John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner.
I chose this paragraph about the superhero, the Green Lantern, because it starts of with the defining problem on comic book sales. The paragraph then moves into giving examples of how the character was revived and more detail about who it developed into.
According to police, Barnes communicated through text messages with her half sister about 12:30 p.m. the day she disappeared. The ex-boyfriend of the half-sister was moving out of the apartment and said he saw Barnes on the couch at about 1:30 p.m., but when he came back to the apartment at about 5:10 p.m., Barnes was not there. The door was reportedly unlocked, and the music in the apartment was extremely loud. Last week, Baltimore police spokesman Anthony J. Guglielmi said the FBI did a profile on the girl and found no reason she would run away. She is a good student with no emotional disturbances in her life, he said.
This is a paragraph because it starts with a topic sentence, provides supporting details, and ends with a conclusion sentence. The body of the paragraph starts off generalizing the situation then gets more specific and provides more details to support the topic sentence!
Here in the English Department, we love the English language and the many things that it can do. Experts estimate that about 750 million people worldwide speak English, and English represents the first language of about half that number. In their 2002 book, The Story of English, Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil, and William Cran report, “English at the end of the twentieth century is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.” In his 1990 book, Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson extolled the richness of the English language, with its 200,000 words in common use—more than twice as many as French. These words are the foundation of pleasurable reading and viewing—of stories, poems, plays, essays, and films that can enthrall and entertain us, move us, engage our intellects, delight our senses, and offer us wisdom and insight into the human condition.
I took this paragraph from the Ohio Wesleyan English Department Website because it starts off with a good clear topic sentence outlining what it would cover and then give examples of how they can support thier belief and love in the English language. This paragraph gives great examples through statistics, quotes, and examples of people who have written whole litterary works on the subject of the love and power of English.
High participation in formal exchange programs constitutes a third target of the school's international focus.[109] Under a Great Lakes Colleges Association agreement, OWU established an exchange program with Waseda University in 1962 to provide approximately 30 American students with opportunities to study in Japan and 30 Japanese students to study at Wesleyan each year.[110] The Salamanca program, founded by Conrad Kent in 1988,[111] conducts the exchange of approximately one hundred students and faculty between OWU and the University of Salamanca in Spain. The academic collaboration frequently extends to joint participation in academic symposia: in 1993, members of the Salamanca faculty participated in a symposium on the Golden Age in Salamanca.
This is a paragraph because it starts off with a topic sentence that describes what the rest of the paragraph is about. It then goes on to provide more details about the international programs with specific examples. It talks about one thing without deviating from it as well.
Violent street demonstrations, followed by the toppling of a dictator, are an exhilarating way to bring democracy to an authoritarian society. They are not, however, the best way to bring democracy to an authoritarian society. While watching Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" unfold, remember this: Street demonstrations can unexpectedly bring extremists into power, as they did in Iran in 1979. They can create unrealistic expectations and then unravel, as did the Orange Revolution that began in Ukraine in 2004. And they can end badly, with reactionary violence, like the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square.
This consists of a collection of sentences that begin with a topic sentence which introduces the topic and provides an argument to persuade the reader. The topic sentence is precise and limited while the sentences that follow are unified and continue to explain the argument. As the paragraph continues the sentences develop the topic by providing specific evidence and examples.
When Sirvet learned last summer that his design was accepted, he had a number of obstacles to overcome. The table would be his first machine-crafted work - he makes most of his art and design pieces by hand. He had to engineer the nine-foot by four-foot table to support weight despite having tens of thousands of holes drilled in it. And he had to get it to the house before Jordan moved in, on Dec. 3.
I found this paragraph while reading an article on Michael Jordan's search for a new table in his new home. This is a paragraph because:
1. The topic sentence captures the readers attentions and lays out the controlling idea for the rest of the paragraph, the obstacles.
2. It is unified and based on one specific topic and doesnt go on tangents
3. Briefly explains each obstacle (the issues) but never goes in an excess to go off in a tangent.
Alpenglow (from German: Alpenglühen) is an optical phenomenon. When the Sun is just below the horizon, a horizontal red glowing band can sometimes be observed on the opposite horizon. Alpenglow is easiest to observe when mountains are illuminated but can also be observed when the sky is illuminated through backscattering.Since the Sun is below the horizon, there is no direct path for the light to reach the mountain. Instead, light reflects off airborne snow, water, or ice particles low in the atmosphere. It is this circumstance that separates a normal sunrise or sunset from alpenglow.Although the term may be loosely applied to any sunrise or sunset light seen on the mountains, true alpenglow is not direct sunlight and is only observed after sunset or before sunrise.
This is a paragraph because it has a topic sentence that clearly states the subject. It is unified and fully explains the phenomenon. It also provides an example while staying on topic.
Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field. Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than ten seconds. Ultimate is governed by Spirit of the Game™, a tradition of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the players rather than referees. Ultimate is played in more than 42 countries by hundreds of thousands of men and women, girls and boys.
This is a paragraph because it deals with a single topic which opens rather generally in the beginning with what Ultimate is, and narrows down more with specific rules and then finishes with a nice ending statistic.
The bulk of Catch-22 concerns Yossarian's relationships with the other officers in his squadron. There are many characters that Yossarian hates and likes. His best friends seem to be Dunbar, the Chaplain, Nately, Hungry Joe, McWatt and Orr. There are two characters with whom Yossarian argues, but he is greatly saddened when, on separate occasions, Clevinger and Orr disappear. He hates the majority of his superiors for continually putting him in harm's way, especially the sadistic Joe McCarthy-like careerist Captain Black and the egomaniacal Colonel Cathcart, who continually raises the number of missions required before the aircrews can rotate back home as well as volunteering his aircrews for the most dangerous missions, in an attempt to make himself look good to his superiors. Yossarian shows particular grief for the men that die during the novel, particularly Snowden, McWatt, Nately, Dobbs and Hungry Joe, or those who appear to disappear; Orr, Clevinger and Dunbar. His relationship with the enlisted gunner Snowden is very vivid and intense, and is the emotional center of the book.
This is a paragraph because it starts with a clear topic sentence about how the book mainly deals with the protagonist's relationships with other people and elaborates on what those relationships are.So there is mention of how he feels of different people.I dislike some of the lenghty sentences in the paragraph.Nevertheless,I feel they still help to boost the content by explaining why he hates or likes them.
On one corner of my dresser sits a smiling toy clown on a tiny unicycle--a gift I received last Christmas from a close friend. The clown's short yellow hair, made of yarn, covers its ears but is parted above the eyes. The blue eyes are outlined in black with thin, dark lashes flowing from the brows. It has cherry-red cheeks, nose, and lips, and its broad grin disappears into the wide, white ruffle around its neck. The clown wears a fluffy, two-tone nylon costume. The left side of the outfit is light blue, and the right side is red. The two colors merge in a dark line that runs down the center of the small outfit. Surrounding its ankles and disguising its long black shoes are big pink bows. The white spokes on the wheels of the unicycle gather in the center and expand to the black tire so that the wheel somewhat resembles the inner half of a grapefruit. The clown and unicycle together stand about a foot high. As a cherished gift from my good friend Tran, this colorful figure greets me with a smile every time I enter my room.
This is a paragraph, specifically a descriptive one, because it begins with a topic sentence and expands outwards into details and finally begins to wind down before ending with a closing sentence.
"Another new aspect of the experience will be a composer’s workshop. Selected students will collaborate in a one-day seminar with Ohio Wesleyan's young new composer, Dr. Clint Needham. Major orchestras and bands from across the country have commissioned and performed works by Dr. Needham, and his most recent commission was announced from the fabled stage of Carnegie Hall. Participating students will have the opportunity to compose with computer music applications; a sampling of these works will be performed during the festival concert."
This is a paragraph from the OWU music department page. It is a paragraph because in the beginning there is a clearly stated point, which is further elaborated on and supplemented with examples, in a cohesive manner.
Fairbanks Gymnasium is built, giving Ohio Wesleyan its first forum for physical education and athletics. The building was located east and slightly south of the current location of Elliott Hall and was named in honor of Charles W. Fairbanks, class of 1872, who later became Vice President of the United States under Theodore Roosevelt. Prior to the opening of Fairbanks Gymnasium, the University's limited physical education facilities were located in the basement of Elliott Hall.
This is a paragraph because it has a topic sentence that adresses importance. It then explains the importance therefore downshifting.
"Lee's story of the events surrounding the trial has been admired for its portrayal of Southern life during the 1930s, not only for its piercing examination of the causes and effects of racism, but because it created a model of tolerance and courage in the character of Atticus Finch. Some early reviewers found Scout's narration unconvincing, its style and language too sophisticated for a young girl. Since then, however, critics have hailed Lee's rendering of a child's perspective—as told by an experienced adult—as one of the most technically proficient in modern fiction. A regional novel dealing with universal themes of tolerance, courage, compassion, and justice, To Kill a Mockingbird combined popular appeal with literary excellence to ensure itself an enduring place in modern American literature."
This is a paragraph simply because it follows the downshift pattern. It thoroughly shows a well discription of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Scarlet Letter opens with a long preamble about how the book came to be written. The nameless narrator was the surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts. In the customhouse’s attic, he discovered a number of documents, among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet, gold-embroidered patch of cloth in the shape of an “A.” The manuscript, the work of a past surveyor, detailed events that occurred some two hundred years before the narrator’s time. When the narrator lost his customs post, he decided to write a fictional account of the events recorded in the manuscript. The Scarlet Letter is the final product
Knowing he was going to be asked about basking in the Cavaliers' humiliation, LeBron should have owned it. He should have said they'd hated him — the players' refusal to shake hands in Cleveland, the owner's crazy post-Decision screed with its own talk of karma — and he was therefore reveling in their struggles. He should have embraced the role that's fueled his phenomenal play this season. He should have shown he's listening to his own inner-villain voice and moving away from letting the sycophants surrounding him impact any more of his decision-making. Instead, LeBron stood, smiled warmly and, when a reporter crowding around him accidentally bumped LeBron's arm, apologized quickly and profusely. Then he got to it. Without anything that sounded like an ounce of candor.
ReplyDeleteI found this on MSN's sports page and in the article it was broken up into five "paragraphs", but the real paragraph is when you put them together. This is a real paragraph because it has a topic sentence that is followed by an explanation using examples. The end of the paragraph contradicts the topic sentence but the writer uses this to prove a point for the rest of the article so it works.
Ohio Wesleyan’s overall enrollment is approximately 1,850, representing 47 states and 50 countries. The student body is almost equally divided between males and females. About 53% of the students are from Ohio. The University is strongly committed to racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. The multi-cultural enrollment total of 21 percent includes 11 percent US multicultural students and 10 percent international students.
ReplyDeleteI found this on OWU website, under student profile. This is a paragraph because it starts with a simple topic sentence that clearly addresses the subject matter to be discussed in the subsequent sentences. Following the topic sentence, are specific details about the theme. The paragraph starts broad, and becomes more narrow and more specific as it comes to a conclusion.
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ReplyDelete"Non sequitur is an argument in which its conclusion does not follow from its premise. An example might be: "If I buy this cell phone, all people will love me." The premise and conclusion are totally unrelated because there is no direct relation between buying a cell phone and the love of all people."
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it is snowing outside...
But seriously, this is a paragraph for the following reasons:
1. It has a topic sentence which clearly states what the paragraph will be about.
2. It begins general and then slips into detail by providing a specific example.
3. It has unity or in other words it is about one idea, namely, Non sequitur.
Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul, but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance. For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song "O Canaan, Sweet Canaan" spoke of slaves' longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this second meaning in the following lyrics: "I don't expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don't expect to stay." When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North. Slaves even used songs like "Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)" to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings. What whites heard as merely spiritual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because the topic sentence says exactly what it's about. It has examples and details. It is a complete thought or it is unified.
Although they cover less than 2 percent of Earth's surface, they house an estimated 50 percent of all life on the planet. The immense numbers of creatures that inhabit the tropical rainforests are so great—an estimated 5-50 million species— they are almost incomprehensible. The sheer range of numbers alone suggests the limited extent of our knowledge of these forests. For example, whereas temperate forests are often dominated by a half dozen tree species or fewer that make up 90 percent of the trees in the forest, a tropical rainforest may have more than 480 tree species in a single hectare (2.5 acres). A single bush in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the entire British Isles. This diversity of rainforests is not a haphazard event, but is the result of a series of unique circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a paragraph because it starts off with a topic sentence that introduces what the following sentences will be about. As the paragraph goes on, it branches off from the topic sentence to further explain with more details to create a foundation for the examples. Eventually, it gives specific examples to support the topic sentence and its following details, which as a whole satisfies the paragraph standard. By introducing a single point and developing it, while incorporating the occasional transitional phrase to unify, this paragraph seems to flow.
"Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on a working thesis for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper."
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it is anchored with a topic sentence, then explained with detail. One point is stated and is then developed without tangents.
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ReplyDeleteThis paragraph is well written and contains useful advice. You'll write better paragraphs on these paragraph assignments if you consider the paragraph as part of a larger essay with an argumentative thesis.
ReplyDeleteHowever, don't think that you're married to the initial thesis. Notice that the term is "working thesis." As you write the paragraphs of a larger work, you'll notice that your focus shifts and your thesis changes.
Also, not all writers work well using an initial thesis. Often, I will start with a "zero draft," which involves writing hard and fast as ideas on a topic come to you. Eventually, I'll write a sentence that can be revised into a thesis. The rest of the draft can then be rearranged and revised into something that looks like a first draft. I realize at that point that I still have a lot of work to do, but the process beats trying to come up with a thesis when I don't really have a strong opinion on a subject to start with.
Self-actualization is a term that has been used in various psychology theories, often in slightly different ways. The term was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize one's full potential. In his view, it is the organism's master motive, the only real motive: 'the tendency to actualize itself as fully as possible is the basic drive...the drive of self-actualization'.[1] Carl Rogers similarly wrote of 'the curative force in psychotherapy - man's tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities...to express and activate all the capacities of the organism'.[2] However, the concept was brought most fully to prominence in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory as the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are fulfilled and the "actualization" of the full personal potential takes place.
ReplyDeleteOn one corner of my dresser sits a smiling toy clown on a tiny unicycle--a gift I received last Christmas from a close friend. The clown's short yellow hair, made of yarn, covers its ears but is parted above the eyes. The blue eyes are outlined in black with thin, dark lashes flowing from the brows. It has cherry-red cheeks, nose, and lips, and its broad grin disappears into the wide, white ruffle around its neck. The clown wears a fluffy, two-tone nylon costume. The left side of the outfit is light blue, and the right side is red. The two colors merge in a dark line that runs down the center of the small outfit. Surrounding its ankles and disguising its long black shoes are big pink bows. The white spokes on the wheels of the unicycle gather in the center and expand to the black tire so that the wheel somewhat resembles the inner half of a grapefruit. The clown and unicycle together stand about a foot high. As a cherished gift from my good friend Tran, this colorful figure greets me with a smile every time I enter my room.
ReplyDeletethis is a paragraph because:
1. The beginning sentence clearly describes what is going to be discussed
2. It is a dicripitive paragraph that describes the item completely
3. still shows personal meaning.
4. unifide
Choking under pressure is a familiar phenomenon for most of us—who hasn't occasionally been paralyzed by fear and failure when faced with a seemingly impossible task? But as researchers report in Science, some are more affected by performance anxiety than others. And to test a relatively simple way to release that worry and anxiety, scientists at the University of Chicago turned to an undeniably angst-ridden situation that nearly all of us can understand—taking a test.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this excerpt from Time Magazine's website is a solid example of a paragraph. The topic sentence is straight-forward. By asking the readers a question, it successfully allows the topic that the author is trying to address become more vivid and relatable. There are not many specific transition words, but, nevertheless, the paragraph flows and transitions nicely throughout.
In 2007-2008, Ohio Wesleyan won the NCAC All-Sports trophy for the second consecutive year, posting top-3 finishes in seven of the nine spring sports and winning championships in baseball, golf, women's lacrosse, men's outdoor track & field; and men's and women's indoor track & field. The Bishops finished in the top 5 in 19 of the 22 sports in which the NCAC offers championships. This year marks the eighth time OWU has won the All-Sports Championship.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it starts with a general sentence that sets the topic for what the rest of the paragraph will be about. It goes on to give examples and explanations. Then ends with a final sum up of the proceeding sentences. It has one continuous topic and flow.
After World War II, when sales of superhero comic books generally declined, DC ceased publishing new adventures of Alan Scott as the Green Lantern. In 1959, at the beginning of the Silver Age of Comic Books, DC editor Julius Schwartz assigned writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane to revive the Green Lantern character, this time as test pilot Hal Jordan, who became a founding member of the Justice League of America. In 1970, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams teamed Green Lantern with archer Green Arrow in groundbreaking, socially conscious, and award-winning stories that pitted the sensibilities of the law-and-order-oriented Lantern with the populist Green Arrow. Several cosmically themed series followed, as did occasional different individuals in the role of Earth's Green Lantern. Most prominent of these are John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner.
ReplyDeleteI chose this paragraph about the superhero, the Green Lantern, because it starts of with the defining problem on comic book sales. The paragraph then moves into giving examples of how the character was revived and more detail about who it developed into.
According to police, Barnes communicated through text messages with her half sister about 12:30 p.m. the day she disappeared. The ex-boyfriend of the half-sister was moving out of the apartment and said he saw Barnes on the couch at about 1:30 p.m., but when he came back to the apartment at about 5:10 p.m., Barnes was not there. The door was reportedly unlocked, and the music in the apartment was extremely loud. Last week, Baltimore police spokesman Anthony J. Guglielmi said the FBI did a profile on the girl and found no reason she would run away. She is a good student with no emotional disturbances in her life, he said.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it starts with a topic sentence, provides supporting details, and ends with a conclusion sentence. The body of the paragraph starts off generalizing the situation then gets more specific and provides more details to support the topic sentence!
Here in the English Department, we love the English language and the many things that it can do. Experts estimate that about 750 million people worldwide speak English, and English represents the first language of about half that number. In their 2002 book, The Story of English, Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil, and William Cran report, “English at the end of the twentieth century is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.” In his 1990 book, Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson extolled the richness of the English language, with its 200,000 words in common use—more than twice as many as French. These words are the foundation of pleasurable reading and viewing—of stories, poems, plays, essays, and films that can enthrall and entertain us, move us, engage our intellects, delight our senses, and offer us wisdom and insight into the human condition.
ReplyDeleteI took this paragraph from the Ohio Wesleyan English Department Website because it starts off with a good clear topic sentence outlining what it would cover and then give examples of how they can support thier belief and love in the English language. This paragraph gives great examples through statistics, quotes, and examples of people who have written whole litterary works on the subject of the love and power of English.
High participation in formal exchange programs constitutes a third target of the school's international focus.[109] Under a Great Lakes Colleges Association agreement, OWU established an exchange program with Waseda University in 1962 to provide approximately 30 American students with opportunities to study in Japan and 30 Japanese students to study at Wesleyan each year.[110] The Salamanca program, founded by Conrad Kent in 1988,[111] conducts the exchange of approximately one hundred students and faculty between OWU and the University of Salamanca in Spain. The academic collaboration frequently extends to joint participation in academic symposia: in 1993, members of the Salamanca faculty participated in a symposium on the Golden Age in Salamanca.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it starts off with a topic sentence that describes what the rest of the paragraph is about. It then goes on to provide more details about the international programs with specific examples. It talks about one thing without deviating from it as well.
Violent street demonstrations, followed by the toppling of a dictator, are an exhilarating way to bring democracy to an authoritarian society. They are not, however, the best way to bring democracy to an authoritarian society. While watching Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" unfold, remember this: Street demonstrations can unexpectedly bring extremists into power, as they did in Iran in 1979. They can create unrealistic expectations and then unravel, as did the Orange Revolution that began in Ukraine in 2004. And they can end badly, with reactionary violence, like the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square.
ReplyDeleteThis consists of a collection of sentences that begin with a topic sentence which introduces the topic and provides an argument to persuade the reader. The topic sentence is precise and limited while the sentences that follow are unified and continue to explain the argument. As the paragraph continues the sentences develop the topic by providing specific evidence and examples.
When Sirvet learned last summer that his design was accepted, he had a number of obstacles to overcome. The table would be his first machine-crafted work - he makes most of his art and design pieces by hand. He had to engineer the nine-foot by four-foot table to support weight despite having tens of thousands of holes drilled in it. And he had to get it to the house before Jordan moved in, on Dec. 3.
ReplyDeleteI found this paragraph while reading an article on Michael Jordan's search for a new table in his new home. This is a paragraph because:
1. The topic sentence captures the readers attentions and lays out the controlling idea for the rest of the paragraph, the obstacles.
2. It is unified and based on one specific topic and doesnt go on tangents
3. Briefly explains each obstacle (the issues) but never goes in an excess to go off in a tangent.
Alpenglow (from German: Alpenglühen) is an optical phenomenon. When the Sun is just below the horizon, a horizontal red glowing band can sometimes be observed on the opposite horizon. Alpenglow is easiest to observe when mountains are illuminated but can also be observed when the sky is illuminated through backscattering.Since the Sun is below the horizon, there is no direct path for the light to reach the mountain. Instead, light reflects off airborne snow, water, or ice particles low in the atmosphere. It is this circumstance that separates a normal sunrise or sunset from alpenglow.Although the term may be loosely applied to any sunrise or sunset light seen on the mountains, true alpenglow is not direct sunlight and is only observed after sunset or before sunrise.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it has a topic sentence that clearly states the subject. It is unified and fully explains the phenomenon. It also provides an example while staying on topic.
Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field. Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than ten seconds. Ultimate is governed by Spirit of the Game™, a tradition of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the players rather than referees. Ultimate is played in more than 42 countries by hundreds of thousands of men and women, girls and boys.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it deals with a single topic which opens rather generally in the beginning with what Ultimate is, and narrows down more with specific rules and then finishes with a nice ending statistic.
The bulk of Catch-22 concerns Yossarian's relationships with the other officers in his squadron. There are many characters that Yossarian hates and likes. His best friends seem to be Dunbar, the Chaplain, Nately, Hungry Joe, McWatt and Orr. There are two characters with whom Yossarian argues, but he is greatly saddened when, on separate occasions, Clevinger and Orr disappear. He hates the majority of his superiors for continually putting him in harm's way, especially the sadistic Joe McCarthy-like careerist Captain Black and the egomaniacal Colonel Cathcart, who continually raises the number of missions required before the aircrews can rotate back home as well as volunteering his aircrews for the most dangerous missions, in an attempt to make himself look good to his superiors.
ReplyDeleteYossarian shows particular grief for the men that die during the novel, particularly Snowden, McWatt, Nately, Dobbs and Hungry Joe, or those who appear to disappear; Orr, Clevinger and Dunbar. His relationship with the enlisted gunner Snowden is very vivid and intense, and is the emotional center of the book.
This is a paragraph because it starts with a clear topic sentence about how the book mainly deals with the protagonist's relationships with other people and elaborates on what those relationships are.So there is mention of how he feels of different people.I dislike some of the lenghty sentences in the paragraph.Nevertheless,I feel they still help to boost the content by explaining why he hates or likes them.
On one corner of my dresser sits a smiling toy clown on a tiny unicycle--a gift I received last Christmas from a close friend. The clown's short yellow hair, made of yarn, covers its ears but is parted above the eyes. The blue eyes are outlined in black with thin, dark lashes flowing from the brows. It has cherry-red cheeks, nose, and lips, and its broad grin disappears into the wide, white ruffle around its neck. The clown wears a fluffy, two-tone nylon costume. The left side of the outfit is light blue, and the right side is red. The two colors merge in a dark line that runs down the center of the small outfit. Surrounding its ankles and disguising its long black shoes are big pink bows. The white spokes on the wheels of the unicycle gather in the center and expand to the black tire so that the wheel somewhat resembles the inner half of a grapefruit. The clown and unicycle together stand about a foot high. As a cherished gift from my good friend Tran, this colorful figure greets me with a smile every time I enter my room.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph, specifically a descriptive one, because it begins with a topic sentence and expands outwards into details and finally begins to wind down before ending with a closing sentence.
"Another new aspect of the experience will be a composer’s workshop. Selected students will collaborate in a one-day seminar with Ohio Wesleyan's young new composer, Dr. Clint Needham. Major orchestras and bands from across the country have commissioned and performed works by Dr. Needham, and his most recent commission was announced from the fabled stage of Carnegie Hall. Participating students will have the opportunity to compose with computer music applications; a sampling of these works will be performed during the festival concert."
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph from the OWU music department page. It is a paragraph because in the beginning there is a clearly stated point, which is further elaborated on and supplemented with examples, in a cohesive manner.
Fairbanks Gymnasium is built, giving Ohio Wesleyan its first forum for physical education and athletics. The building was located east and slightly south of the current location of Elliott Hall and was named in honor of Charles W. Fairbanks, class of 1872, who later became Vice President of the United States under Theodore Roosevelt. Prior to the opening of Fairbanks Gymnasium, the University's limited physical education facilities were located in the basement of Elliott Hall.
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph because it has a topic sentence that adresses importance. It then explains the importance therefore downshifting.
"Lee's story of the events surrounding the trial has been admired for its portrayal of Southern life during the 1930s, not only for its piercing examination of the causes and effects of racism, but because it created a model of tolerance and courage in the character of Atticus Finch. Some early reviewers found Scout's narration unconvincing, its style and language too sophisticated for a young girl. Since then, however, critics have hailed Lee's rendering of a child's perspective—as told by an experienced adult—as one of the most technically proficient in modern fiction. A regional novel dealing with universal themes of tolerance, courage, compassion, and justice, To Kill a Mockingbird combined popular appeal with literary excellence to ensure itself an enduring place in modern American literature."
ReplyDeleteThis is a paragraph simply because it follows the downshift pattern. It thoroughly shows a well discription of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Scarlet Letter opens with a long preamble about how the book came to be written. The nameless narrator was the surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts. In the customhouse’s attic, he discovered a number of documents, among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet, gold-embroidered patch of cloth in the shape of an “A.” The manuscript, the work of a past surveyor, detailed events that occurred some two hundred years before the narrator’s time. When the narrator lost his customs post, he decided to write a fictional account of the events recorded in the manuscript. The Scarlet Letter is the final product
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