Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence

Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence You now know the third step in effective writing organizing the specific evidence used to support the thesis of a paper This closing section will expand and strengthen your understanding of the third step in writing You will work through the following series of activities 1 Organizing through time or emphatic order 2 Providing transitions 3 Identifying transitions and other connecting words 4 Completing transitional sentences 5 Identifying introductions and conclusions 1 Organizing Through Time or Emphatic Order ACTIVITY 1 Use time order to organize the scrambled lists of supporting ideas below Write 1 beside the supporting idea that should come first in time 2 beside the idea that logically follows and 3 beside the idea that comes last in time 1 Thesis When I was a child Disney movies frightened me more than any other kind As a five year old I was terrified by the movie Pinocchio about a puppet transformed into a boy Although I saw Bambi when I was old enough to begin poking fun at baby movies the scene during which Bambi s mother is killed has stayed with me to this day About a year after Pinocchio I gripped my seat in fear as the witches and goblins of Fantasia flew across the screen 2 Thesis There are techniques to help you overcome three common pitfalls in making a cheesecake There s only one way to remove the cake cleanly and easily from its pan Plan in advance to have your equipment ready and the ingredients at room temperature Remember to time the baking process and regulate the oven temperature while the cake is baking 3 Thesis Applying for unemployment benefits was a confusing frustrating experience It was difficult to find both the office and a place to park When I finally reached the head of the line after four hours of waiting the clerk had problems processing my claim There was no one to direct or help me when I entered the large office which was packed with people ACTIVITY 2 Use emphatic order order of importance to arrange the following scrambled lists of supporting ideas For each thesis write 1 in the blank beside the point that is perhaps less important or interesting than the other two 2 beside the point that appears more important or interesting and 3 beside the point that should be most emphasized 1 Thesis My after school job has been an invaluable part of my life this year Better yet it has taught me how to get along with many kinds of people Since it s in the morning it usually keeps me from staying up too late Without it I would have had to drop out of school 2 Thesis We received some odd gifts for our wedding The winner in the odd gift category was a large wooden box with no apparent purpose or function Someone gave us a gift certificate for a massage Even stranger my uncle gave me his favorite bowling ball 3 Thesis Donna is my most loyal friend She has taken time to do special favors for me She s always there in real emergencies or emotional crises She once lent me her favorite necklace to wear on a date 2 Providing Transitions ACTIVITY In the spaces provided add appropriate transitions to tie together the sentences and ideas in the following essay Draw from the words given in the boxes above the paragraphs Use each word only once Annoying People President Richard Nixon used to keep an enemies list of all the people he didn t especially like I m ashamed to confess it but I too have an enemies list a mental one On this list are all the people I would gladly live without the ones who cause my blood pressure to rise to the boiling point The top three places on the list go to people with annoying nervous habits people who talk in movie theaters and people who talk on car phones while driving For example First of allAnotherHowever there are the people with annoying nervous habits there are the ones who make faces When in deep thought they twitch squint and frown and they can be a real distraction when I m trying to concentrate during an exam type of nervous character makes useless designs These people bend paper clips into abstract sculptures or string the clips into necklaces as they talk neither of these groups is as bad as the people who make noises These individuals when they are feeling uncomfortable bite their fingernails or crack their knuckles If they have a pencil in their hands they tap it rhythmically against whatever surface is handy a desk a book a head Lacking a pencil to play with they jingle the loose change or keys in their pockets These people make me wish I were hard of hearing On the contrary Then As a result Aftersecond A category of people I would gladly do away with is the ones who talk in movie theaters These people are not content to sit back relax and enjoy the film they have paid to see they feel compelled to comment loudly on everything from the hero s hairstyle to the appropriateness of the background music no one hears a word of any dialog except theirs they have been in the theater for a while their interest in the movie may fade they will start discussing other things and the people around them will be treated to an instant replay of the latest family scandal or soap opera episode These stories may be entertaining but they don t belong in a movie theater In addition But Last of alI there are the people who talk on the phone while they re driving One of the things that irritate me about them is the way they seem to be showing off They re saying Look at me I m so important I have to make phone calls in my car such behavior is just plain dangerous Instead of concentrating on adjusting carefully to ever changing traffic conditions they re weaving all over the road or getting much too close to the car in front of them as they gossip with a friend make an appointment with a doctor or order a pizza So long as murder remains illegal the nervous twitchers movie talkers and car phone users of the world are safe from me if ever I am granted the power of life or death these people had better think twice about annoying me They might not have long to live 3 Identifying Transitions and Other Connecting Words ACTIVITY The following items use connecting words to help tie ideas together The connecting words you are to identify are set off in italics In the space write T for transition RW for repeated word S for synonym or P for pronoun 1 Kate wears a puffy quilted down filled jacket In this garment she resembles a stack of inflated inner tubes 2 Plants like poinsettias and mistletoe are pretty They are also poisonous 3 A strip of strong cloth can be used as an emergency fan belt replacement In addition a roll of duct tape can be used to patch a leaky hose temporarily 4 Newspapers may someday be brought to your home not by paper carriers but by computers Subscribers will simply punch in a code and the machines will display the desired pages 5 I m always losing my soft contact lenses which resemble little circles of thick Saran Wrap One day I dropped both of them into a cup of hot tea 6 The molded plastic chairs in the classrooms are hard and uncomfortable When I sit in one of these chairs I feel as if I were sitting in a bucket 7 One way to tell if your skin is aging is to pinch a fold of skin on the back of your hand If it doesn t smooth out quickly your skin is losing its youthful tone 8 I never eat sloppy joes They look as if they ve already been eaten 9 Clothing intended just for children seems to have vanished Instead children wear scaled down versions of everything adults wear 10 Some successful salespeople use voice tones and hand gestures that are almost hypnotic Customers are not conscious of this hypnotic effect but merely feel an urge to buy 11 The giant cockroaches in Florida are the subject of local legends A visitor according to one tale saw one of the insects thought it was a Volkswagen and tried to drive it away 12 Some thieves scour garbage cans for credit card receipts Then they use the owner s name and card number to order merchandise by phone 13 When the phone rang I dropped the garden hose It whipped around crazily and squirted water through the kitchen screen door 14 There are many phobias other than the ones described in psychology textbooks I have phobias for instance about toasters and lawn mowers 15 My mother believes that food is love Therefore when she offers homemade cookies or cupcakes I hate to hurt her feelings by refusing them 4 Completing Transitional Sentences ACTIVITY Following are brief sentence outlines from two essays In each outline the second and third topic sentences serve as transitional or linking sentences Each reminds us of the point in the preceding paragraph and announces the point to be developed in the current paragraph In the spaces provided add the words needed to complete the second and third topic sentences Thesis 1In order to set up a day care center in your home you must make sure your house conforms to state regulations obtain the necessary legal permits and advertise your service in the right places First supporting paragraph First of all as a potential operator of a home day care center you must make sure your house conforms to state regulations Second supporting paragraph After making certain that you must obtain Third supporting paragraph Finally once you have the necessary you can begin to Thesis 2Cheaper cost greater comfort and superior electronic technology make watching football at home more enjoyable than attending a game at the stadium First supporting paragraph For one thing watching the game on TV eliminates the cost of attending the game Second supporting paragraph In addition to saving me money watching the game at home is more than sitting in a stadium Third supporting paragraph Even more important than and though is the that makes a televised game better than the real thing 5 Identifying Introductions and Conclusions ACTIVITY The following box lists six common kinds of introductions and three common kinds of conclusions Read the three pairs of introductory and concluding paragraphs that follow Then in the space provided write the letter of the kind of introduction and conclusion used in each paragraph Introductions A General to narrow B Starting with an opposite C Stating importance of topic Conclusions G Summary and final thought H Question s I Prediction or recommendation D Incident or story E Question s F Quotation Pair 1 Shortly before Easter our local elementary school sponsored a fund raising event at which classroom pets and their babies hamsters guinea pigs and chicks were available for adoption Afterward as I was driving home I saw a hand drop a baby hamster out of the car ahead of me I couldn t avoid running over the tiny creature One of the parents had taken the pet regretted the decision and decided to get rid of it Such people have never stopped to consider the several real obligations involved in owning a pet A pet cannot be thrown onto a trash heap when it is no longer wanted or tossed into a closet if it begins to bore its owner A pet like us is a living thing that needs attention and care Would be owners therefore should think seriously about their responsibilities before they acquire a pet Pair 2 What would life be like if we could read each other s minds