Virtual University Course ENG101- English Comprehension Lecture No 37 Dr. Surraya Shaffi Mir

1. ENG 101
Lesson -37

2. In today’s lesson and in the next few lessons we
shall examine the main body of the essay in
detail and give you practice firstly, in using
many common ways of organizing texts as a
whole. Secondly, you will be provided with
plenty of examples of different types of texts
which will by help you to see the principles on
which the organization of these texts is based.
Learning to write in English is not as difficult as
it seems. Of course no one expects you to write
like a Shakespeare in a language which is not
your own. You are not aiming at writing great
literature. Your need is to write clear, accurate
Lesson – 37 - Ways of Organizing Texts
Linear Relationships: Line & Process

3. English which has a central idea and other
related information, and which gets the
meaning across to your readers. Here I
would like to add a note of warning.
Writing is such a complex activity that it
cannot easily be broken down into a series
of skills and sub - skills for teaching.
Although no writing course can ever teach
you everything you need to know in order
to become a competent writer, there is no
reason why you cannot learn all there is to
know about effective writing.

4. In the last couple of lessons we have been looking
at introductions and conclusions of essays. Good
introduction and conclusions hold up the ideas and
keep the evidence in order. Take away either the
introduction or the conclusion and the whole
structure will fall. But introductions or conclusion
do not make up the whole essay or composition.
They only give directions and a sense of finale or
finality. Between these two ends of an essay, we
use a system. The body of the essay is written
according to a system or a pattern. And once you
choose a pattern, you must stick to it. It is possible
to combine the patterns in any one essay.

5. Para 1 general statement Introduction
thesis statement
Para 2 Topic sent
A. support
B. support
C. support
Concluding Sent
Para 3 Topic sent Main Body
4,5,6… A support
B support
C support
concluding sent.
Concl Restatement/Summary
Para opinion: final comment Conclusion

6. There are three main patterns for organizing the
body of the essay. Writing showing relationships:
(i) Linear (ii) Spatial relationships
(iii) Comparison and contrast.
I- Linear relationships ( 4 types) describing
a) Chronological b) process in linear sequence.
c) Process in cyclic sequence d) cause-effect
II- Spatial relationships:classifications & definition
III- Comparison in contrast

7. I- Chronological / Events based in Time. This is
one of the most often used ways to rganize the
body of an essay. This arrangement begins with
what happens first and ends with what happens
last. This organization is very common in fiction
which is straight narration. This order is also used
in autobiographical essays, process themes and
history reports. Historians frequently use this
pattern of organization. But whether or not you
are a historian you will occasionally want to
describe a sequence of events in your writing.
Chronological sequences can be written in
different ways.

8. We normally think of time as moving forward in a straight
line, and a chronological sequence follows this view of time.
This is a linear relationship.
Practice 1. Read the following text and complete the diagram
which follows.
As long ago as 1779, John Frere, an English country
gentleman, discovered, at Suffolk several bones from extinct
animals associated with stone age flint tools. He published
his findings in 1800. Frere’s report was not appreciated for
another 60 years. But now Frere is known as the founder of
prehistoric archaeology. New Scientist, London
1779 1800 1860 now
Phrases that show chronological order - “as long ago as
1779, in 1800, another 60 years, now.”

9. Practice 1. Read the following text and complete the
diagram which follows.
As long ago as 1779, John Frere, an English country
gentleman, discovered, at Suffolk several bones from
extinct animals associated with stone age flint tools. He
published his findings in 1800. Frere’s report was not
appreciated for another 60 years. But now Frere is known
as the founder of prehistoric archaeology.
New Scientist, London
1800
List the words and phrases that demonstrate the
chronological order of the above paragraph

10. How to Write Chronologically:
In our daily lives, we see time as moving in
one direction only forward. What goes past
us we see as history - because it appears to
us that we are moving forward into the
future. Now there is nothing that we can do
to change our relationship to time.
However, when we write we can play
around with time as we wish and we can
move the writing backwards and forwards
in time according to our purpose in writing.

11. Practice 2: Put the following information in an
acceptable order. (sent. 5 should come last)
1
In 1930, the first analog computer was built by an
American named Vannevar Bush. 2
This device was
used in World War II to help aim guns. 3
Mark I, the
name given to the first digital computer, was
completed in 1944. 4
This was the first machine that
could figure out long lists of mathematical problems,
all at a very fast rate. 5
Author important
advancement in computers came in 1947, when John
Von Newmann developed the idea of keeping
instructions for the computer inside the computer’s
memory. 6
In 1946 two engineers at the University of
Pennsylvania, J. Eckert and J. Mauchly, built the
first digital computer using parts called vacuum

12. Practice 2: Put the following information in an
acceptable order.
1
In 1930, the first analog computer was built by an
American named Vannevar Bush. 2
This device was
used in World War II to help aim guns. 3
Mark I, the
name given to the first digital computer, was
completed in 1944. 4
This was the first machine that
could figure out long lists of mathematical problems,
all at a very fast rate. 5
Author important
advancement in computers came in 1947, when John
Von Newmann developed the idea of keeping
instructions for the computer inside the computer’s
memory. 6
In 1946 two engineers at the University of
Pennsylvania, J. Eckert and J. Mauchly, built the
first digital computer using parts called vacuum

13. Practice 3. Read the following text and see if
you can answer the questions given at the end.
A Kashmiri Emigrant’s Story
In 1947, Ahmed Din butt, a poverty-stricken
twenty year old farm worker left Kashmir for
Pakistan. What the future held in store for
him, he did not know. However, he did not
that it could not be any worse than the past.
He had grown up during the cruel rule of the
Dogras in Kashmir and had known what it was
to be hungry and jobless.

14. He had watched his mother die of
tuberculosis a month before; his father had
died a year after Ahmed Din was born.
There was nothing now to keep him in
Kashmir and so, on a cold march morning,
he got into a bus bound for Rawalpindi. In
years to come he would remember this
moment.
a) Why do you think the passage starts with
1947 and then goes back into the past rather
than starting in the past and ending with
1947?

15. (This use of unexpected time sequence
allows the writer to show the relationships
between events more strongly, making the
text more dramatic).
b) If the text were in the expected sequence,
what verb tense would you expect to find
used? (past simple)
c) Which of the following tenses are used in
the text? Present / present perfect / past /
past perfect? (past simple & past perfect).

16. The writer of the above passage develops an
unexpected sequence before he wants to
highlight the fact that Ahmed din Butt was
forced to leave Kashmir for Pakistan. The
way his leaving is highlighted it captures
the reader’s attention and makes the reader
want to find out why he was leaving and
why he was poverty stricken. In general,
writers use unexpected chronological
sequences when they want to emphasize
something other than time.

17. Practice 4. Look at another version of the same
story. Compare the two versions. Which is more
interesting?
Ahmed Din Butt was a bright but poverty stricken
twenty year old farm worker who grew up during
the Dogra rule in Kashmir. He knew what it was to
the hungry and jobless. His father had died in 1928,
he had watched his mother die of tuberculosis in
February 1947. There was nothing to keep him in
Kashmir, so, on a cold march morning in 1947, he
got into a bus bound for Rawalpindi. In years to
come he would remember this moment.

18. What you have looked at is time-based sequence.
There are many time-based sequences which you
have studied or are familiar with e.g. making a
cake, the life cycle of a butterfly; the life of a
famous movie star or politician sportsperson. We
will now look at another linear pattern of
organization which is known as ‘process’ order.
A process, like a chronological sequence involves
linear relationships. Again, like time, we think of
processes as moving forward in a logical, step-by-
step process. A process is usually presented as a
flow diagram. e.g.

19. Practice 5. How to mend a punctured
football.
Take bladder out of its cover
inflate it a little
dip into tub of water, press to find out the hole
mark spot with marker
let air out, dry bladder
rub marked place and a rubber piece with sand paper
apply rubber solution to both, let them dry
place rubber piece on bladder press the two very hard

20. Practice 6. Convert the following process as a flow
diagram by filling in the boxes.
STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING.
Next the programmer must construct an algorithm
flowchart or a block diagram. The relationship
between the events is shown by means of a connecting
arrow. This is followed by translating the algorithm /
flow chart into a computer program. The program is
usually written on coding sheets which have a specific
format drawn on them. The programmer must then
keypunch the program. Or key it in at a terminal. The
program must then be tested. Next a print out show if
the works or if it has errors (bugs). The last step is to
add the data to the program and run the program.

21. define the prog formulate an translate
algorithm algorithm into
flowchart a computer prog
Add data test the prog keypunch program
run the correct the bugs key it in at a
program terminal
When you write up a process in a text, it will
normally be in natural time order, i.e. starting
at the beginning of the process and continuing
step-by-step to the end, as in the example you

22. How to Write a Process Description
One way of writing up a process is to produce
one sentence for each step in the process. This
would give you a text of six sentences for the
text on ‘Steps in Problem Solving’. However,
such a text would be very boring as every
sentence would state one step, and every
sentence would have

23. the same shape as the others. One solution
is to put several steps into one sentence,
and you can mark the steps to make them
clear for the reader. When you are writing,
you must not only always ask yourself, the
question. “Am I getting the information
across? But you must also ask yourself Am
I getting the information across in a clear
and interesting form?” To help you answer
these questions, keep in mind the following
principles of communication.

24. 1.Make everything clear to your reader /
listener.
2. Your reader does not need to be told
everything - you assume he has a knowledge
of the world.
To check whether you have been successful in
conveying information about a process, your
choice of transition words will be important.
Words that convey a sequence such as then,
next, after this make clear the sequence in
which events, or shapes in a process occur.

25. The following table gives some sequencing
words that are used when describing a process:
Beginning Middle steps End
-First -second (ly) -last (ly)
- firstly - third (ly) etc. - finally
- to begin with - next -at the end
- initially - then
- subsequently
- after this
- before this
- at the same time

26. These sequences are usually placed at the
beginning, or near the beginning of a sentence.
Words showing only sequence work as signal
or sign posts for the reader. If they give
advance warning of the relationships being
used. It is up to the writer to decide which
sequencer to use to make each step of the
process clear. Or the writer might decide that
sequencers are not needed because the process
is described in natural time order, and the
reader’s knowledge of the world will make the
sequence clear to him or her.

27. You will now see a text that departs from the
usual order or sequence. This is done to
highlight a certain feature or stage of the
process. Here the writer does not follow the
usual pattern. He uses no sequencers till the
fourth sentence when he specifically uses,
the sequencer before and first. You should
notice that the writer does this to highlight
the storage stage of the process.

28. 1
Many scientists have worked on solar heating.
2
One such attempt was made in 1949 when a
house was designed which was heated by using
the energy from the sun. in this house energy
from the sum was absorbed by a large area of
blackened metal sheets which were covered by
double plates of glass. 3
The air circulating
behind the metal sheets carried away the heat.
4
Before the heat could be blown around the
house it was first stored in large tanks containing
Glauber’s salt, a given volume of which can
hold eight and a half times more heat than water.

29. Grammar in Writing Process Description
When writing a text about a process the
present simple tense of the passive voice is
often used. This is especially true in
objective scientific descriptions where who
does the action (the agent) is not considered
important enough to be mentioned or where
there is not specific agent or doer; Moreover,
when a description of a process is given, it is
usually assumed that the process will be the
same no matter who does it.

30. The passive voice is usually used as it allows
the choice of not mentioning the agent of the
action. But even here sometimes, for the sake
of clarity an agent has to be stated. Now you
shall work at a number of sentences where
you will have to state if there is an agent or
not.

31. Practice 7
a) Rice is harvested out in the fields. (no)
b) Hired laborers load the rice onto bullock
carts. (laborers)
c) The truck cart drivers bring the rice to
the factory. (drivers)
d) The laborers put the rice into the
threshers. (laborers)
e) The rice is threshed by machines. (no)
f) These machines are regularly
maintained. (no)

32. Practice 7
a) Rice is harvested out in the fields. ( __ )
b) Hired laborers load the rice onto bullock
carts. ( __ )
c) The truck cart drivers bring the rice to
the factory. ( __ )
d) The laborers put the rice into the
threshers. ( __ )
e) The rice is threshed by machines. ( __ )
f) These machines are regularly
maintained. ( __ )