5.1 Learning Objectives ‘+ Leaming the art of good writing + Understanding Paragraph writing as the basic writing skill, + Understanding characteristics of good paragraph 5.2, Introduction ‘The significance of writing skills cannot be overemphasised asi is of vital importance to all professionals inall fields of activities. A student needs to leam the ‘writing skills to be able to appear in examination, prepare project reports, write class notes so that they become useful to him ata later stage and he may be required to ‘write summaries, synopsis, précis, abstracts and so on, Similarly, a working professional is required to submit a feasibility report, write notes of a seminar, ‘workshop ofa symposium. Professionals are also required to write official and Demi Official (DO) letters, memos, e-mails, reports, proposals, summaries ete ‘A paragraph may be defined asa distinct section ofa piece of writing. It consists of| several related sentences and deals with one central idea, This central idea is called the theme ofthe paragraph. The main funtion ofthe paragraph isto develop, support, exemplify or explain te theme. Paragraph writing tests your creative as well as communication skills. Creativity can not be taught but one ean become at writing by practicing the raft of writing 5.3 Types of writing Skills ‘A list of writing activities which one most leam as a student and as a professional to ‘be able to excel in their respective areas is given below: 5.3.1 General writing skills Personal requirements of writing eters, sending e-mails Jtters to newspapers, nicles for publishing in magaaines or newspapers, preparing comments or notes etc. 5.3.2 Academic writing skills Class notes, lab reports, thesis , dissertations, notes for declamation contests, for making presentations, project reports, examination ete,5.3.3 Professional writing skills Oficial /DO letters, memos, reports of different types, formal business leters, preparing minutes, notes of conferences and meetings, sending official e-mails, ‘waiting resumes and job applications, ete 5.4 Paragraph Writing ‘A paragraph isa short composition which consists of a number of sentences linked ‘together and all relating to one topic, Writing prose is of utmost importance for ‘communicating one’s ideas , feelings, thoughts and emotions. All great authors write their entite book on any issues, which may consist of a number of paragraphs. ‘To write a good paragraph, one must keep the following in mind: “The paragraph shouldbe shor though there are no rules about the length of a paragraph It should deal with one topic or idea Itis a good idea to state the topic sentence or idea in a single simple sentence eg. its the mad craze for money that has made human beings so greedy. ‘The sentences must be in logical order. The most important ones are the first and the lat. The first sentence is usually the topic sentence. This should be able to rouse the interest ofthe reader. The last sentences should sum up the idea which was developed. ‘The sentences that follow the first ones should generally develop the idea in some kind of logical sequence. “These sentences form the main body of the paragraph, “There should be a variety in construction of sentences. Avoid unnecessary reptilian of words and you should ensure that all sentences are of different types and length, It should be clearly understood that a paragraph follows all the rules of good writing. 5.4.1 Types of paragraphs Broadly paragraphs may be classified in the following two ways: © Descriptive Paragraph In these paragraphs, the writer describes a certain situation or event. For example the writer has visited a hill station in summer, he may explain the details of joury 195 ew-re quay ofthe sentence depends toa large extent onthe st ‘The flowing guideline can help you in doing so: truclute ofthe sentence, «Select most appropriate pattern of the sentence Appropriate pattern is the one which avoids any abstract meaning, ha i, has clarity, is ‘eonerete and specific in natue.. Each paragraph should conta frp purpose of readership. in only one idea for the + Avoiding awkward sentence structure Some times, the writer tries to include everything in one sentence ¢ and end up with an awkward sentence. Ithappens more often when the subject is complex and scientific of technical information is to be used in the sentence. In such situation “writer gets confused and uses wrong word order, phrases et, Avoid fragmentation of sentences Sentence fragments must b avoided and ideas must be expressed in complete ‘sentences. When the sentence is fragmented , it does not convey the meaning and the reader gets confused. ‘© Fused sentences should be avoided Itis the incorrect combination of two sentences, This happens when the writer wants to include the entire thought in one sentence only, rather than using two independent senlences, 5.5.2 Sentence Coherence ‘tis obvious that the sentences formed should be coherent so that the reader ean easly ‘make sense of them. For this purpose suitable connectives should be used to connect ‘words, Connective devices may be over or covert. Overt devices are direct where as the covert devices are indirect and implied. 5.53 Length of sentences ‘Some sentences may contain 25 words but others may contain only 10 words, Should ‘here be some standard length ofthe sentence? The answer is no, the length ofV ‘entence should depend upon the style of the writer as well as the subject mater and the type of reader -Athough there is no hard and fat rle on length of sentence in techmveal writing, there isa general understanding thet it should b a short ponsble, Technical writing i not the same a teary wring where the autor Rapreses vague ideas out of his imagination. Technical writing consists of fs figures and is mor objective in nature. You may use the following guidelines: 193 [* Adjust he length ofthe sentence to suit the readers The reader of the sentence may be seasoned student of BA. Yi Professional with 25 of service ora ‘OU must ensure that the res i ader’s requirement is kept in mind, * Sentence length should als be acordng tothe subject mater ders it should also be according to ually, short sentences may be used in eter and memos, bat long sentences may be used in reports et, * Sentence length should suit the style ofthe writer Allywriters have their diferent style of expression, Some use dificult words and ‘any phrases idioms ete to convey what they want others prefer short sentences ‘Thus, ifthe style demands presentation of elated dts og sentences may be sed, How ever short sentences may be prefered if the style of writing demands division of thoughts, 5.5.4 Outline of Paragraphs LT, Revolution in India, LT. revolution has shrunk the world to global village. Has brought efficiency in work Revolution inthe field of telecommunication. + Internet and its uses Right steps by govt. of India needed to make India super power in Tina few years, Impact of Science on Man ‘Some inventions and discoveries have changed life, Many disease hve been prevented and eradicated. “Means of recreation provided by scence. ‘+ Telecommunication benefits, Destructive use of atomic energy.+ Prudent use of Science is advisable, Drug Addition Drug abuse as a psychiatric, social and psychological problem, Peer pressure in students may lead to drug abuse. Varmful effect of drugs in later ie Govt. should make stringent laws. Parents should make concentrated efor. + NGO's should try to tackle this problem, Sweet are uses of Adversity + Adversity makes us stronger than before. ‘+ We can judge our frends in adversity. + Iebrings out the best creative genius ofthe people # Teteaches us humanity. ‘+ Many people have attained greatness through i Economie Liberalization in India + Its introduced in 1991 Kame at increasing exports. Itnked imports wit availability of frcign exchange. ‘+ Opening up ofthe esonomy. Privatization of Public Sector Understanding. Ith led to many scams. Global terrorism ‘Terrorism has assumed a global from as brought home by September 11 attacks, Impact a Israel-Palestine conflict. Role of America in relation to Afghanistan and Iraq and its implication, Role of religion in global terrorism, 5.6 Summary Written communication has certain advantages over other types of ‘communication, Writing fs an art and Paragraph writing is of specific importance in business communi tion skills as every correspondence is a — |have been discussed, group of paragraphs. In this lesson characteristics of a good paragraph Also, step by step process of writing a paragraph has been provided. Since a paragraph is the bi unit of written communication , all professionals as well as students must attach a lot of importance to be able to ‘good and effective paragraphs. 5.7 Glossary Professional writing Official /DO letters, memos, reports of different types, formal business letters, preparing minutes, notes of conferences and meetings, sending official e-mails, writing resumes and job applications, ete are termed as professional writing Tmagi aragraph Here the writer of the paragraph imagines & particular scene or situation and writes about that 5.8 Answers to check progress/Suggested answers to SAQs 1, Prepare an outline for writing a paragraph on the subject, * The need to reform Examination system in India” 2, Prepare an outline for writing a paragraph on the subject, “The Importance of Discipline” 3, Prepare an outline for writing a paragraph on the subject, “Leisure” 4, Prepare an outline for writing a paragraph on the subject, “Role ‘of youth in Society” Answers: ‘+ Examination a means to evaluate the student's performance. “They resul in pressure on the stud "They allt assess a child’ fuels. ‘Open book tests to end mugging needed. ‘The yearly exams should give way to periodic tests. 135«practical knowledge should be encouraged Discipline is the basis of whole universe, Even nature is governed by discipline, Discipline in educational institution necessary for imparting education, Importance of discipline in the armed forces. Need for discipline in domestic social and pol An individual's success is based on iscipline. © Need of leisure in life, Leisure is a means to relieve stress. Its an opportunity to develop new skills. ‘The right use of leisure like socal service, hobbies. Sitting idle is a waste of leisure. ‘+A valuable human resource, ‘The youth of India have been disheartened by social ills tke corruption. ‘©The youth will have to end social ‘+ Educated youth can spread literacy, + Youth can put to an end pra ‘They can bring fresh hope in polities. dowry. 5.9 References/Bibliography {-Sharma, R € and Mohan, Krishna, Business Correspondence and Report Writing, Fata MeGraw-Uhl Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi 2002 2. Monippal Me iy M. Matthukutty, Business Communication Strategies, Tata sraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi, 2001 5.10 Suggested Reading 1M Publishing Co! Lifectve Techn ~“ompany Ltd, New Delhi 5.1 i 1 Terminal and Model 1. Describe the eh, batacteristics of a parage: SOmBtUNeation depend en ity ee Hm does all written 1 Communication {Lata MeGraw-Hill +2005; 1 Questions 2. What . Are the steps in writing a good Paragraph? What are the Explain with Politics is un You shoula ‘methods of ensuring unity in the sentences and paragraghee? Suitable exal. Write a paragraph on “Criminalization of dermining the very fundamentals of democracy fw facia”, first prepare an outline of the paragraph and then write 3 “Global terrorism has changed the way we live”, prepare the outline of rave topic and write the paragraph keeping all characteristics of « good paewg aye the back of your mind. 4. Write a paragraph on the subject, All higher education invtitations setae prepare knowledge repositories for using the contained knowledge ie Sstwee” Remove the needless repetition in the following paragraph: Ho boning is an energy-saving system for the meat processing lxfuenes. Hot boning has received significant attention in recent years wie increased pressure for energy conservation has accentuated the mee Sar ‘more efficient method of processing the bovine carcass. Bovine carcass when entirely cooled requires a considerable amount of refrigerated space, since bone and trimmable fat are cooled along with muscle. It is also necessary to space the carcass adequately in the refrigerated room for better air movement and prevention of microbial contamination, thus Adding to the volume requirement for carcass chillers, Lewes 6