Mike Hannay en J. Lachlan Mackenzie - Effective Writing in English

Organizing the text

In Part 1, we described the processes which lead from thought to text. We saw that those processes involved a complex interplay of planning, actual writing and editing. Part 2 will focus on the overall organization of the out put of those processes – the ultimate product, the text itself. As already men tioned, every complete argued text is introduced by a title and consists of three sections: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The three following chapters give detailed guidance on each component. Chapter 3 begins by emphasizing how important it is to make a good initial impression with an effective title. We then go into the three compo nents of a successful introductory paragraph, showing that it should achieve a number of related purposes at one and the same time. Not only should it be attractive and appealing to the reader, but it must also indicate the context in which the subject of the text will be treated and something of your perspec tive on that subject; and it should conclude strongly with a statement of the central concern of your text. Chapter 4 deals with the body of the text (which is likely to comprise at least three-quarters of the whole text). We indicate how you should divide the body into paragraphs of roughly equal length and how to give the body a structure that will be helpful to the reader to allow you to defend a particu lar point of view. We also explain how the individual paragraphs should be constructed, distinguishing seven possible variants, and end the chapter with instructions for editing body paragraphs. Chapter 5 is concerned with the final component of any argued text, the conclusion. Effective conclusions, we will argue, are more than restatements of what has preceded; rather, they continue the argument of the body, pro viding a climax. We suggest that particular care should be given to the last sentence, the one that resounds in your readers’ ‘inner ear’ after they have reached the end of your text. A major theme of Part 2 will be that your text should have, from start to finish, a strong sense of forward dynamics . The body and the conclusion should each clearly build on the preceding section, and within each section, too, your readers should get a definite sense of a progression from a starting point towards some end point. At various points in the three following chap ters, suggestions will be given on how to achieve this effect. Another theme of Part 2 will be that an argued text, however rational and objective its construction, remains the product of an individual. At various points in Chapters 3 to 5, you will find advice on how and where to intro-

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