Writing+Skill+6

 Writing Skill 6: WRITE SUPPORTING PARAGRAPHS ON LISTENING PASSAGES A supporting paragraph on the ideas in the listening passage should be much more complicated than the supporting paragraph on the ideas in the reading passage. It should indicate the topic and the main points of the listening passage, and it should also relate the ideas in the listening passage to the ideas in the reading passage. Look at the notes on the listening passage on hindcasting and the supporting paragraph that is based on the notes. TOPIC OF Listening PASSAGE: paintings that are proxies showing weather in 17th-century Holland colder than today main points about the topic:. • huge snow drifts higher than today's drifts • skaters on canals that are not frozen today The listening passage provides an example of a situation where hindcasting was used. This situation involves proxies from the field of art to show what the weather was like in 17th-century Holland.Proxies from the field of art had to be used to. determine the weather in 17th-century Holland because no weather records were kept from the past. The paintings that were used as proxies show that the weather in 17th-century Holland was much colder than it is today. There were details in the paintings that showed how cold the weather was. For example,there were huge snow drifts that were higher than today's snow drifts. and there were skaters skating on canals that are not frozen today. As you read the supporting paragraph on the listening passage, you should note that it contains the topic and the main points of the listening passage and also refers to the main points of the reading passage. The information about hindcasting and proxies comes from the reading passage. The information about the specific example of paintings used as proxies to determine the weather in seventeenth-century Holland comes from the listening passage. WRITING SKILLS 265 Now look at the notes on the listening passage on emotions and the supporting paragraph J that is based on the notes. TOPIC OF LISTENING PASSAGE: situations when emotions differ from culture to culture ,'J main points about the topic: J • difference in triggers for emotion • difference in situations where emotions are used J The listening passage casts doubt on the conclusion in the reading passage by showing that other aspects of emotions differ J from culture to culture. While it is true that the kinds of emotions and the facial expressions used to show emotions are similar in different cultures, as the reading passage states, it is also true that the triggers or emotions and the situations where emotions are used differ from culture to culture, as the listening passage states. Based on the information in the two passages, the conclusion has to be drawn that some aspects of emotion are intrinsic, while other aspects of emotion are acquired. As you read the supporting paragraph on the listening passage, you should again note that it contains the topic and the main points of the listening passage and also refers to the main points of the reading passage. The information about the situations when emotions are similar from culture to culture comes from the ,reading passage. The information about situations where emotions differ from culture to culture comes from the listening passage. , The following chart outlines the key information you should remember about writing sup­porting paragraphs on listening passages. \ 266 WRITING