• Development by space order: left to right, right to left, near to far, far to near, low to high, high to low, etc.
• Pages 26-27 • Read sample 2 and sample 3and finish the following tasks. • 1. Analyze their paragraph structures. • 2. Underline the transitional signals. • 3. Summarize the order of the details in each sample. • 4. What are different writing techniques/ features in supporting descriptive writing? And their different effects?
English Writing II
Warm-up Activities
• Introduce your university/dormitory/classroom... • What’s your overall impression of the university? • Which building or location catches your attention first? • Which place do you want to describe next? And then? • What do you want to describe last? • What order does your description follow? Why do you choose this order?
• Paragraph A is developed according to time sequence, which shows the chronological order through the use of such time signals as 30,000,000 years ago, 2400 BC, 600 BC, AD 200, AD 100. • Paragraph B is arranged according to space, which describes the cultivation of the grape from its original place.
• Sample 2 • Questions: • 1. Which is the topic sentence? • The first sentence is the topic sentence.
• 2. What’s the method used to develop the paragraph? • The paragraph is developed in space order.
• 2. What does the writer describe first? And last? What order does he/she follow? What do you think he/she has followed that particular order? • The first thing the writer describes is the closet, and the last is a dresser. The description is organized according to the spatial order. The writer presents an orderly description just as his eyes might move from right to left around the room.
• Reference : • In a paragraph describing your university, you might develop the paragraph by space in several different ways: • 1) You might use some important landmark, for example, the library, and describe other locations in relation to it. The order in which you discuss each location is not as important as their relationships with the landmark.
• Summarize the pattern of the paragraph: • This paragraph is a description of “my grandfather’s barn.” In order to create a “deplorable” impression, the writer selects very specific words and arranges these descriptive details in a natural order of their physical layout: from the exterior to the interior of the barn. The details concerning the outside of the barn are arranged from the top of the barn to the bottom; those about the inside are arranged from left to right, to the rear, and finally to the overhead. Through this orderly sequence, the reader can visualize the scene very vividly and grasp the relationships of the objects.
• 5) schedule – on the wall above the nightstand • 6) desk – the left wall • 7) medals – on the shelves • 8) window – next to the desk • 9) dresser – between the window and the left corner
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2) You might use an important landmark as the starting point and move from it to the next location, on to another, and so on, perhaps ending back at the original landmark. • 3) Another type of development by space might stress the boundaries of an area. The order in which these are listed is not necessarily important so long as there is a logical progression from location to location. • 4) Still another spatial development might stress the inter-relationships between locations.
• Here are the places mentioned in Paragraph B. • Grape Cultivation • Starting from the Caspian Sea • To Asia Minor • Greece • Sicily • France • Germany • England • India • America
Unit 3 Places
• In this unit emphasis will be laid on the organizational features of description by space or spatial order.
Part II Development by Space
• 3. Please finish the following partial outline according to how the details are arranged. • The central focus is a deplorable barn. • The general arrangement of details is from the outside of the barn to the inside. • There are two other patterns: details concerning the outside are arranged from top to bottom; those concerning the inside are arranged from left to right, to the rear, and finally to the overhead
• Sample 3 • Questions: • 1. What is described in the paragraph? • An athlete’s room is described in the paragraph.
• 3. First match the objects described with the corresponding phrases of location. Then put them in the right order according to the sequence in which they appear in the description. • 1) closet – to my right • 2) cap – on the shelf • 3) bed – the far wall • 4) lamp – on the top of the nightstand to the left of the bed