PRACTICE: PAUSES AND RHYTHM

Writing is one form of communication in human life. Writing for the purpose of
communication dates back thousands of years ago when ancient people started using symbols
on cave walls. They used symbols from the most simple and random ones to the most
complicated and systematic ones, called alphabets.

Different languages use different writing systems. Different languages also use different
writing styles of organization. English writing organization is simple. It uses a straight line
from beginning to end. That is, when English speakers read an article, they expect the article
to have a beginning, middle, and an end. The beginning should say what the article is going to
be about, the middle should talk about the points of the article, and the end should say what
the article was about.

It does not make any difference whether we want to express our ideas in the form of paragraph
or in the form of essay. The organization will be always the same. Both paragraph and essay
require the beginning, the middle, and the end. When we have limited information about an
issue, we may write it in a paragraph; when we want to write about the issue in detail because
we have lots of information, we may write in an essay.

A paragraph, for example, begins with a sentence that introduces the topic and main idea of
the paragraph, called the topic sentence. The middle part of the paragraph is called the body, and
it consists of sentences that explain, or support, the topic sentence. These sentences are called
supporting sentences. The last sentence is called the concluding sentence, which ends the paragraph
by reminding the reader of the main point of the paragraph. Here is an example of narrative
paragraph with chronological order.

Learning how to ride a bike for the first time was a nerve racking independent moment. I was about five
years old when my sister informed me that I was too old to still be riding a bike with training
wheels. That was the time I decided not to depend on them anymore. Even though I had some
doubt, my sister and I went outside and started to take the little wheels off my bike. After my
bike went through the transformation, I was now ready for the big moment. I slowly got on
the bike, and with my shaky hands, I held the handles tightly. Meanwhile, my sister was
holding on to me to help keep my balance. I was so afraid that she would let go, yet I was
determined to ride this bike on my own. Next, with a little push from her, I started to pedal.
The faster my bike went, the faster my heart raced. Finally, I looked back nervously and
noticed that my sister let go of my bike a long time ago. I was so excited that I accomplished
freedom on my bike that I forgot to pedal. I will never forget the delighting moment and growing up stage
of riding a bike without training wheels.