RWS REVIEWER

I. Analogies

- A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or

clarification.
- An analogy is an extended comparison between two things usually thought of as
unlike. Analogies illustrate and explain by moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar,
comparing several points, each of which has a counterpoint.
- Analogy can be useful to explain an unfamiliar concept or idea. Using an analogy to
link this idea to something that is familiar can help the reader better comprehend what
you're trying to say. It's also a catchy and clever way to help get a point across.

For example, “Life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you're gonna
get.”

II. Paragraph Organization

- Paragraph organization refers to the way sentences are structured and ordered to
create a unified and cohesive body of text. The principal features to consider in
paragraph organization are the topic sentence and controlling idea, supporting details,
organizational patterns, and signal words.

- Types of paragraph organization: sequence, description, cause and effect, compare

and contrast, and problem and solution may help you consider how to organize your
essay or story. Sequence uses time or spatial order as the organizing structure .

Paragraph Organization Techniques:

1. Find the topic sentence. It usually contains the main idea or the main topic

2. Next find the supporting sentences that support that topic sentence.

3. Find the concluding sentence or the closing sentence. It usually the final thought or
conclusion and marks the end of the article, paragraph or story.
III-Explicit and Implicit information

Implicit - refers to something that is suggested or implied but not ever clearly said.

Example:
Your mother shows you an angry face when you leave your socks on the floor.

(Showing the angry face means she does not like you leaving your socks on

the floor. So, instead of scolding you verbally, she just shows you an angry

face.)

Explicit - means communicating directly in a clear and exact way.

Example:

Someone gives a very straightforward direction to a location.

▪As you write an analysis about what you have read, make a claim.

IV-Identifying claims

▪ A claim is the main argument of an essay.

▪ It is the most important part of an academic paper.

▪ A claim defines the paper’s goals, direction, and scope

▪ It is supported by evidence.

▪ A claim must be argumentative.

▪ A good claim makes a focused argument (Because of the growing obesity epidemic,
elementary schools should ban junk food from their cafeterias.) rather than a general
one (Junk food is bad.).

▪ Academic claims are complex, nuanced, specific, and detailed.

Types:
claim of fact;
- A claim of fact makes an assertion about something that can be proved
or disproved with factual evidence. However, keep in mind the basic quality of claims,
that they have to be debatable, and offer an assertion about an issue.
- So, a claim of fact for a logical argument cannot simply consist of a
statistic or proven fact. It needs, instead, to focus on an assertion which uses facts to
back it up, but for which the evidence might still be debatable.
~ FOR EXAMPLE

Inappropriate claim of fact – a statistic or fact that is not debatable:

“the month of March 2017 was 1.03°C (1.9°F) above the 20th century average—this
marked the first time the monthly temperature departure from average surpassed 1.0°C
(1.8°F) in the absence of an El Niño episode in the tropical Pacific Ocean.” (from the
U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
NOAA, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201713 )

Appropriate claim of fact – makes a claim that is debatable using factual

Evidence.

Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from car exhaust, manufacturing processes,

fertilizers, and landfills, while slowing deforestation, may help slow the process

of global warming.

claim of policy;

- A claim of policy argues that certain conditions should exist, or that

something should or should not be done, in order to solve a problem.

Sample claims of policy:

The city’s board of education should institute an honors program not only

for elementary and junior high school students, but for senior high school

students as well.

Just as smoking ads have been banned in order to decrease the urge to

engage in an unhealthy behavior, soda ads should be banned for the same

reason.

claim of value;

- A claim of value argues that something is good or bad, or that one thing is better than
another thing.
Sample claims of value:

- It’s better to apply good nutritional choices at home than teach them at school,
because good nutrition then becomes ingrained in the child’s experience.

- Although immunotherapy has produced some good results in fighting cancer, overall

it is less effective than chemotherapy.

V-Reading Comprehension

- Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its

meaning. It relies on two, interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decode

the symbols on the page) and language comprehension (being able to understand the

meaning of the words and sentences).

- Reading comprehension is the ability read and understand the meaning of the text

and subtext.

- Visual processing, processing speed, and logic and reasoning skills all have an impact

on reading comprehension.

- Due to the abundance of reading in most profession, reading comprehension is a

critical skill to have.

- Improve your reading comprehension by expanding your vocabulary and using

context clues

- Reading aloud and re-reading are great ways to improve comprehension.

VI-Editing of paragraphs

- While editing your paragraph, make sure that it follows correct paragraph structure. It
should have a topic sentence with a clear focus, and include details that support the
topic sentence. Your paragraph should also be free of spelling, punctuation and
grammar errors.

What is the editing stage?

- The editing stage is when you check your paragraph for mistakes and correct them.

Grammar and Spelling

1. Check your spelling.

2. Check your grammar.
3. Read your paragraph again.
4. Make sure each sentence has a subject.
5. See if your subjects and verbs agree with each other.
6. Check the verb tenses of each sentence.
7. Make sure that each sentence makes sense.

Style and Organization

1. Make sure your paragraph has a topic sentence.

2. Make sure your supporting sentences focus on the main idea.
3. Make sure you have a closing sentence.
4. Check that all your sentences focus on the main idea.
5. See if your paragraph is interesting.