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Week 12

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任务 B-1: Why …教学要旨：主题展开

Last week’s input reading:

Why I Came to College

Have you done your homework?

Please open your homework “Why…”Please write the main idea of each paragraph in class. Then, develop the main idea of each paragraph to a topic sentence. Do you know what is a topic sentence?

Let’s review the sample writing Why I came to College in your last week’s handout first.

The first sentence of the first paragraph in the sample writing is a question “Why have I chosen to attend college?”, which is the thesis statement of the whole composition. This question again appears at the beginning of the last paragraph to respond to the thesis statement. Therefore the thesis statement threads the whole composition together.

Except the first and the last paragraphs, the paragraphs in the middle become the main body, where the author develops his argumentation. The arguments in different paragraphs can be parallel or go forward one by one. Usually every paragraph is independent. The first sentence of the first paragraph is often the tenor, that is, the topic sentence.

In the sample writing, the first sentence of each paragraph in the main body is respectively：Originally, my parents did influence my opinions about education in general.Later, I began to recognize in myself a strong drive to obtain knowledge.The fact that I enjoy learning and gaining knowledge was my main reason for choosing to enter college, but I must admit that it was not the sole reason.A third reason that I am attending college is that I have always hoped that I could, in some way, make a contribution to the world.Finally, I chose to attend a diversified college, as opposed to a purely technical institute, because I feel that college should allow a person to grow in areas other than pure academics.Thus, I came to college not for one reason, but for several different ones.

As we can see, the whole paragraph develops around the first sentence. Understanding this, students begin to design the topic sentence for each paragraph according to the main idea they have written. The topic sentence is not necessarily the sum-up of the main idea. Sometimes it is the introduction to the main idea, which appears in the form of questions; or it carries on the previous paragraph and opens up the following, where the main idea appears in the latter part, such as the topic sentence in the fourth paragraph “The fact that I enjoy learning and gaining knowledge was my main reason for choosing to enter college, but I must admit that it was not the sole reason.”

Have you composed the topic sentences for all paragraphs?Then please consider how to rewrite the paragraphs in the main body and revise the beginning and ending to make it respond to each other. Before revision, let’s appreciate an article written by a student of Grade 2001.

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Student’s best works

Why I Came to College

Grade 01 Du Suming 杜素明

William Jennings Bryan once said, “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.” For me, it was the admission notice sent by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies that gave me the right to improve my lot. That little piece of paper fulfilled the dream of entering college which I kept pursuing in the past years. But, why did I choose to attend college? I had always claimed that I wanted to attend college, but I never truly knew why in my high school. Nevertheless, after one year’s campus life, I have finally reached the conclusion that I have come to college not for one single reason, but for many.

hook(=lead-in)

thesis statement

The fact that I felt a need to receive further education and know more about the world may be the main reason. Since I had finished my high school, a strong desire to continue my study seemed to be natural. I became keen on English unconsciously when I was in middle school. Unlike math, English was the very subject that I put the least time into but gained the most in return. In other words, English was my most productive subject. Once I made headway, I felt even more enthusiastic about English. I formed a virtuous circle. As a result, giving English up halfway seemed not to be a wise choice. None would improve your lot if you yourselves did not, wasn’t it?

topic sentence

Next, I was always convinced that university could give me free rein to exploit my potentialities. In addition, knowing more about the world we live in would help us live a wonderful life with more highlights. Knowledge is power. It surely offers us power to cope with mountains of difficulties and finally conquer them. Tomorrow’s world is sure to be full of challenge and pressure. Talented people are to come out like mushrooms after rain. Therefore, I felt a need to become a learned and versatile person.

topic sentence

Moreover, I didn’t want to step into society that early. The fact that the world outside was sophisticated was what I cared about in my mind: Money becomes the most important thing after which people are running all along; Colleagues tend to be materialistic, jockeying for position, power and fame. What’s worse, you have to face numerous problems and solve them by yourself, because you are now an adult in the eyes of people around you. Besides, you are to lose your innocence and let slip some lovely and moving scenes. You are busy running about for maintaining your monotonous life every day… Maybe it sounds as if I were too pessimistic, but it secretly made one reason why I came to college, to be frank.

topic sentence

Another reason was that I would like to go out to enjoy the fresh circumstances, to broaden my horizon, and to make more friends. Among the youth of the new century, I felt a sense of mission to accept new things, to be tempered in great storms and to be bold in blazing new trails. Thus, I did not allow myself to be like a frog at the bottom of a well. I called up all my courage to stride into college, ready to enrich my experience. In my opinion, a life without entering college is not a perfect one, especially in today’s world.

topic sentence

Finally, I could not come to college without the all-out support given by my dear parents. They are always considerate and expecting me to be a well-trained and well-rounded person. I have the duty not to let them down.

Now roaming on the campus with breeze wafting the fresh scent of flowers, I smile at the world. I finally know why I came to college—to see, to learn, to conquer.

response to the thesis statement

topic sentence

Now please start to re-write your own article.New rule:

Please leave some margin on the left of your article, where you can mark the structural arrangement such as hook, thesis statement, topic sentence, response to the thesis statement, and so on. (similar to the format of today’s handout)