Definition Paragraphs

Organization

Sentence Structure

Appositives

Adjective Clauses

Complex Sentences with Adjective Clauses

Subject Pronouns: who, which, and that

Object Pronouns: whom, which, that, and 0 (no

pronoun)
Clauses with when

Review

Writing Assignment

125
126 Part 1 I The Paragraph

Organization

People who are interested in your culture may ask you to explain a word that they have
heard but do not understand, such as Spanish machismo or German Gemutlichkeit, or
an interesting custom or practice such as casual Friday or Saint Patrick's Day in the
United States, 0-bon festivals in Japan, holi festivals in India, or quinceafiera parties
i n Spanish-influenced cultures.
Tests of general writing abiljty sometimes ask you to define abstract1 terms such
as love, friendship, courage, or happiness. Tests in college classes may contain
questions such as these:
lAW ENFORCEMENT What are Miranda rights?
lANDSCAPE DESIGN What are organic soil amendments, and how do they improve soil?
U.S. HISTORY What was the Underground Railroad?
HEALTH SCIENCES What is the Rh factor, and why is it important to pregnant women and their
babies?

These kinds of questions ask you to define or explain something; for our
purposes, we will simply call them definition paragraphs.

MODELS Paragraph 1
Definition
Paragraphs The Underground Railroad2

1 The Underground Railroad was a secret system that helped slaves escape
from slavery in the United States during the mid-1 800s. 21t was not a real railroad;
rather, it was a loosely organized chain of people and safe houses3 that stretched
from the slave states of the South to the free states of the North and Canada. 3The
escapees traveled mostly on foot at night and hid during the day. 4Free blacks and
some whites helped the escapees, giving them food, clothing, places to hide, and
directions to the next safe house. 5lndeed, the Underground Railroad was a
remarkable system that helped thousands of slaves find safety and freedom.

1 abstract: cannot be touched or seen; exists only in a person's mind

2The picture on page 125 shows slaves escaping to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
3safe houses: houses where people can hide when their enemies are looking for them
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 127

Paragraph 2

Courage

1Courage is the quality of being brave when you are facing something that is
dangerous or that you fear. 2For example, a soldier who goes into battle shows
courage. 3A paramedic4 who crawls into a collapsed building to help an injured
person also shows courage. 4However, you don't have to be a soldier or a
paramedic to be courageous. 5You can display courage in everyday situations,
too. 6For instance, a shy person who is afraid of speaking in public shows
courage when he or she gives a speech at school or at work. 7A teenager who
resists peer pressure to smoke, drink, or try drugs shows courage. 8To give
another example, my friend Angela, who is terrified of flying, recently took her
first airplane flight. 9As she walked onto the plane, she was trembling with fear,
but she didn't give in to her fright. 10To me, Angela entering that airplane was as
brave as a soldier entering battle.

Questions on the Models

1 . In each model paragraph, identify the three parts of the topic sentence:
topic, category or group, distinguishing characteristics. (Read the
information and chart below first.)
2. Which paragraph uses examples in the supporting sentences?
3 . Which paragraph uses facts to answer who, what, where, why, when, and
how questions?

One way to write the topic sentence of a definition paragraph is to give three pieces
of information:
1 . The word or thing you will define or explain (the topic)
2. The large category or group to wh.ich the word or thing belongs
3. The distinguishing characteristics that make it different from other
members of the category

Tertn /Person/Concept Category or Group Distinguishing Characteristics

The Underground Railroad was . . . a secret system . . . that helped slaves escape from the South to
freedom in the North during the mid-1 800s.
Courage is . . . the quality . . . of being brave when you are facing something
that is dangerous or that you fear.
Casual Friday refers to . . . the custom . . . of office workers wearing casual clothes to
work on Fridays.

4paramcdic: a person who is trained to give emergency medical help

128 Part 1 I The Paragraph

I n the supporting sentences, add details that explain the topic more completely. The
supporting sentences may give additional facts telling who, what, where, when, how,
or why, an explanation of a process, examples, or a description.
In the concluding sentence, you may tell why the topic is important, interesting,
or unique.

PRACTICE I Complete each topic sentence for a definition paragraph with ( l ) a category or
group and (2) distinguishing characteristics. Use a dictionary if necessary.
Topic Sentences
for Definition
1 . A dictator is - a
--= ru
'-'-'
= ler"
"" who ....:.h
.:. a=.:: ....:a
s :o.: ll:...th:.:
: ::.:. e_.
:p
>:..::.
ow "-"
.:. e"-
r-'.:.
in..o::
.:.. a:...:=.:
c. o ::.
u=
nt
.:: =
ry
.J.-
Paragraphs __ __ __

2 . An optimist is who -------

3 . A good friend is who ------

4 . An ideal spouse is who _____________

5 . Chess is ______ that _______________

_

Tr!,l lt Out! Choose four words of your own to define in topic sentences for definition paragraphs.
Note: You may want to use one of these topics for your own paragraph at the end of
the chapter.
Ask your classmates or your teacher if there is anything they want to know about
your country or your culture. Think of words or things that someone outside your age
group or your cultural group might not understand. Examples:
ikebana and bonsai (Japan)
Ia passeggiata (Italy)
Dfa de los Muertos and Las Posadas (Mexico)
Groundhog Day and Sadie Hawkins Day (United States)
Stammtisch (Germany)
samovar (Russia, other countries)

Sentence Structure

In this section, you will learn to write appositives and adjective clauses. Appositives
are nouns that rename other nouns, and adjective clauses are another kind of
dependent clause. The ability to use appositives and adjective clauses is the mark of
mature writing style.
As you read the model paragraph, look for sentences that contain the words who,
which, and that. Underline the clauses that begin with these words.
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 129

MODEl Holidays with Pagan1 Origins

Appositives and 1Many cultures have holidays that have pagan origins. Wo Rooz, Iranian
Adjective Clauses
New Year, which begins on the first day of spring, is one of these. 3lranians
celebrate the passing of
the old year with bonfires
and the entrance of the
new year with special
foods. 40n a special table,
they display seven foods
with names that start
with the letter s in Farsi,
the language of Iran. 5The
seven foods represent life,
health, wealth, abundance,
love, patience, and purity.
SOther objects representing
a good year are put on the
table: a mirror, candles, eggs, and a goldfish. 7Another example of a holiday with
pagan origins is Halloween, which is celebrated in the United States on October
3 1 . 80n Halloween night, children dress up in costumes and go from house
to house to get candy. 9The children dress up as witches, ghosts, black cats,
princesses, cowboys, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or a favorite animal. 10People
also carve frightening faces in pumpkins and put candles inside them at night.
11AII these customs started hundreds of years ago in Ireland and England.
12There people celebrated the end of the farming season by lighting bonfires,
large outdoor fires, to keep away bad spirits that might appear in the night.
13The ancient Irish and English people also dressed up as ghosts to frighten
away bad spirits. 14From these examples, we can see that many holidays are
not "holy2 days" at all; rather, they developed from pagan celebrations.

1
pagan: not religious
2holy: religious
130 Part 1 I The Paragraph

1\ppo§itive§ Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that rename a preceding noun or noun phrase.
1 . They set up a special table on which they display seven foods with names
beginning with the letter s in Farsi, the language of Iran.

2. There people celebrated the end of the farming season by.lighting bonfires,
large outdoor fires, to keep away bad spirits who might appear in the night.

In sentence 1 , Farsi and the language of Iran are the same thing. In sentence 2 ,
bonfires and large outdoorfires are the same thing. The language of/ran and large
outdoor fires are appositives.
Appositives are very useful in writing definitions because they give the reader
more information about your topic concisely (without a lot of extra words).
Fudge, a delicious chocolate candy, was invented as a result of a cooking
mistake.

Appositives can be necessary information or extra information.' Consider this sentence:

My friend Tim got married last week.

In this sentence, Tim is an appositive because Tim and my friend are the same
person . Tim is a necessary appositive because it is necessary to identify which friend
got married. If we omit the word Tim, we don't know which friend got married.
Now consider this sentence:
Tim, my friend, got married last week.

In this sentence, the appositive is my friend. It is extra information because the name
Tim already identifies the person who got ma.n·ied. If we omit my friend, we still
know who got mru.Tied. The fact that he is the writer's friend is not necessary to
identify him. It is merely extra information.
If there is only one of an item, it is unnecessary to identify it further, so appositives
of one-of-a-kind items are always extra information. For example, Earth has only
one moon, so any appositive of the Moon. in a sentence would be extra information.
Simi larly, adjectives such as tallest, strongest, oldest, and most interesting
automatically make the following noun one of a kind.
The Moon, Earth's only natural satellite, orbits Earth about once a month.

The highest mountain in North America, Mount McKinley, is in Alaska.

The appositive Mount McKinley is extra information because it fol lows the highest,
and there can be only one "highest."

I have three sons. My son Carlos looks like me.

Carlos is necessary information because there are three sons, and the name Carlos is
necessary to identify which son.

' necessary information or extra information: Most grammar books use the terms resrrictive o r
nonrestrictive.
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 131

My youngest son, Javier, loo ks like his father.

The appositive Javier is extra information because there can be only one youngest son.

Comma Rule
Use commas to separate an extra information appositive from the rest of the
sentence. Do not use commas with necessary appositives.

A. Locate and underline as many appositives as you can find in the model
PRACTlCE 2
paragraph on page 1 29 . Explain the use of commas in each one.
Commas w;th
Appos;tives
B. Identify and punctuate appositives.
Step 1 Underline the appositive in each of the following sentences.

Step 2 Decide whether it is necessary or extra information, and write NI for

necessmy information or EI for extra information on the line.

Step 3 Add commas around unnecessary appositives.

__!:::!L_ 1 . The planet Pluto is more than 2.5 billion miles from Earth.
____EL_ 2 . Pluto, the most distant planet from Earth, is more than 2.5 billion
miles away.
__ 3 . Venus the closest planet to Earth is only 25 million miles away.
__ 4. The largest planet in the universe Jupiter is eleven times larger than
Earth.
__ 5. Astronomers scientists who study the stars discovered a tenth planet
in our solar system in 2005 .
__ 6. The Moon is Earth 's only natural satellite, but the planet Saturn has
at least twenty-two satellites.
__ 7. Since the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1 was launched by Russia i n
1 957, thousands of space probes, satellites, and telescopes have
been sent into space.
__ 8 . Also, millions of pieces of space junk man-made garbage zoom
around Earth at speeds of up to 25 ,000 miles per hour.

A.djective Adjective clauses are dependent clauses. They are called adjective clauses because,
Clauses like adjectives, they modify nouns and pronouns. They begin with the words who,
whom, which , and that, among others. These words are called relative pronouns, and
adjective clauses are also called relative clauses. An adjective clause joined to an
independent clause makes a complex sentence.
132 Part 1 I The Paragraph

Because we use adjective clauses to give more information about a noun, they are
very useful in writing definitions.
Propaganda is a form of communication that tries to influence people's
thinking and actions.

Latino music, which has many different styles and artists, is becoming
increasingly popular in the United States.

Sadie Hawkins' Day is a day when women can invite men to dance or to
go out on a date.

Like appositives, adjectives clauses can be necessary or extra information. Use the
same comma rule.

Comma Rule
Use commas to separate an extra information adjective clause from the rest of
the sentence. Do not use commas with necessary adjective clauses.

NECESSARY Every culture in the world has special days that people observe with
traditional food, customs, and events.

In this sentence, the clause that people observe with traditional food, customs,
and events is an adjective clause modifying the noun days. Since it is necessary
to identify which days the writer is discussing, the clause is necessary and
commas are not used. That always introduces a necessary clause.

ExTRA INFORMATION Another example of a modern holiday with pagan origins is Halloween,
which is on October 3 1 .

I n this sentence, the clause which is on October 31 is an adjective clause

modifying the noun Halloween. The clause is unnecessary to identify
Halloween; it merely gives extra information about it. Therefore , commas are
used. Which, who, and whom introduce extra information clauses.

PRACTICE 3 Identify and punctuate adjective clauses .

Commas with Step 1 Underline the adjective clauses in the following sentences.
Adjective Clauses
Step 2 Draw an arrow to the noun each one modifies.

Step 3 Decide whether each one is necessary information or extra information,

and write NI or EI on the line.

Step 4 Add commas if they are needed.

 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 133

Easter
�
____IL_ 1. Some of the customs of Easter, which is a Christian holiday,
have pagan origins.
__ 2. Before Christianity existed, people in northern and central Europe
worshipped a goddess whom they called Eostre.
___ 3 . Eostre which means east was the goddess of spring.
__ 4. Every spring, people who worshipped her held a festival to give
thanks for the return of the sun's warmth.
__ 5 . They offered the goddess cakes that they baked for the festival.
___ 6. These cakes were very similar to hot cross buns which bakeries sell
at Easter.
___ 7 . Also, the custom of coloring eggs which families do at Easter came
from ancient cultures .
___ 8 . Even the popular Easter bunny who brings chocolate eggs and other
candy to children on Easter Sunday has pagan roots.

Complex We make sentences with adjective clauses by combining two sentences.

Sentences Easter is named for a pagan goddess. + Easter is a Christian holiday.
with Adjective
Clauses ADJECTIVE CLAUSE
Easter, which is a Christian holiday, is named for a pagan goddess.

The clause which is a Christian holiday is an adjective clause that modifies the noun
Easter. The modified noun is called the antecedent.

Here are some important points about adjective clauses.

1 . Place an adjective clause after its antecedent and as close to it as possible to
avoid confusion.
CONFUSING He left the car on the street that he had just bought. (Did he buy a car or
a street?)

CLEAR He left the car that he had just bought on the street.

2 . When a relative pronoun is the subject of the adjective clause, make the
verb in the clause agree with its antecedent.
ANTECEDENT S V
A teacher who teaches young children needs a lot of patience.
ANTECEDENT S V
Teachers who teach young children need a lot of patience.

3. Don't use double pronouns.

Last night we watched reruns of Friends, which X is my favorite TV show.

4. When you make an adjective clause, choose an appropriate relative pronoun.

134 Part 1 I The Paragraph

Subject Pronouns: who, which, and that

When a relative pronoun is the subject of an adjective clause, choose a subject pronoun:
who, which, or that.

People Things

Extra Information who which

Necessary Information who which

that (i nfo rmal) that

• Who is used for people.

• Which is used for things.

• That is used for people and things. Using that for people is informal .

• Use that in necessary clauses only.

Extra I nformation s v
The Nobel Prizes are named for Alfred Nobel. + He was a citizen of Sweden.
s v
The Nobel Prizes are named for Alfred Nobel, who was a citizen of Sweden.
s v
April Fool's Day is a day for playing tricks on your friends. + It is on April 1 .
s v

April Fool's Day, which is on April 1 , is a day for playing tricks on your friends.

Necessary Information 5 v

The student is from Thailand. + She got the best score on the last test.
s v
The student who got the best score on the last test is from Thailand.
s v
The student that got the best score on the last test is from Thailand.
s v
Leap Day is a special day. + It happens only every four years.
s v
Leap Day is a special day which happens only every four years.
s v
Leap Day is a special day that happens only every four years.

PRA.CTtCE 4
A. Make an adjective clause from the sentence in parentheses in each of the
following pairs. Write it on the line to make a complex sentence. Add commas
Adjective Clauses
with Subject
if they are needed.
Pronouns 1 . Many religions have rules about food that were developed for health reasons
(The rules were developed for health reasons.)

2 . Judaism __
____
______
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__

has very strict rules about food. (Judaism is the oldest major religion i n the
world.)

3. Christians ------- do not eat certain foods

during the six weeks before Easter. (Some Christians practice fasting.)
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 135

4 . People _______ cannot eat

beef. (People practice the Hindu religion.)

5. Muslims and Jews cannot eat pork ______

________
_

(Pork is considered unclean.)

6. Muslims cannot eat or drink at all in the daytime during Ramadan _

__

______ (Ramadan is a holy month of fasting.)

.

B. Combine the sentences in each of the following pairs by making one of them
an adjective clause and joining it to the other sentence. Be careful to put the
clause immediately after the noun it modifies. Add commas if they are needed.
l . Three of the world's major religions were started by men. The men were
teachers.
Three of the world's major religions were started by men who were teachers

2 . Gautama Siddhartha was born about 500 years before Jesus. Gautama
S iddhartha started Buddhism.

3. Christianity was started by Jesus. Jesus was born about 500 years before
Mohammed.

4. Mohammed founded Islam. Islam is the second largest religion in the word .

5 . A religion is monotheistic. A religion has one God.

6. The Hindu and Shinto religions are polytheistic. The Hindu and Shinto
religions have many gods.

Object Pronouns: whom, which, that, and 0 (no pronoun)

When the relative pronoun is an object i n an adjective clause, choose the object
pronoun whom, which, or that, or use no pronoun.

People Things

Extra Information whom which

Necessary Information whom which

that (informal) that
0 0
136 Part 1 I The Paragraph

• Whom is used for people. Informally, who is used instead of whom. .

• Which is used for things.
• That is used for people and things. Using that for people is informal.
('
• Use that in necessary clauses only.
\, \
'�\ Q.) }
#
• You may omit an object relative pronoun in necessary clauses only. \ J
J
• Notice that an object pronoun is placed at the beginning of the adjective -4 \.)
•
clause, before the subject.

Extra Information
s v 0
Professor Lee is my chemistry teacher. We saw him at the supermarket.
0 s v
Professor Lee, whom we saw at the supermarket, is my chemistry teacher.
s
Boxing Day is unknown in the United States. People in Canada, Great Britain, and
v 0
many other English-speaking countries celebrate Boxing Day.
Boxing Day, wh�ch pe � ple in Canada, Great Britain, and many other
v
English-speaking countries celebrate, is unknown in the United States.

Necessary
' s v 0
The person 1s my teacher. We saw her at the supermarket.
0 s v
The person whom we saw at the supermarket is my chemistry teacher.
0 s v
The person that we saw at the supermarket is my chemistry teacher.
The person vJe s a w at the supermarket is my chemistry teacher.

s v 0
The film was long. We saw it last week.
Q s v
The film wh1ch we saw last week was long.
0 s v
The film that we saw last week was long.
s v
The film we saw last week was long .
._\t > H 'CJ .t \..J <..,

A . Make an adjective clause from the sentence in parentheses in each of the

PRACTICE 5
following pairs. Write it on the Line to make a complex sentence. Add commas
Adjective Clauses
if they are needed.
with Object
Pronouns 1. People in Thailand have a festival ________________

(They call the festival Loy Krathong, "Festival of the Floating Leaf Cups.")

2. The Thais float little boats ------

down a river in the evening. (They have made the l i ttle boats out of banana
leaves, lotus, or paper.)
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 137

3. The boats __
__ __
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____

float down the river in the moonlight. (They have decorated the boats with
l ighted candles, incense, coins, and flowers.)

B. Combine the sentences in each of the following pairs by making one of them
an adjective clause and joining it to the other sentence. Be careful to put the
clause immediately after the noun it modifies. Add commas if they are
needed.
Pongal is a three-day festival that celebrates the rice harvest in southern India.
1 . On the first day of Pongal, families gather in the kitchen and boil a pot of
new rice. They cook the new rice in milk.

2 . Then they o ffer some of the sweet rice to the sun god. They thank the sun
god for ripening the rice crop. (Use whom.)

3. The second day of Pongal is for the rain . They thank the rain for helping
the rice to grow. (Use which.)

4. A traditional Pongal gift is a clay horse. They paint the horse in bright colors.

5. On the third day of Ponga!, the farmers honor their cattle. They decorate
the cattle with flowers and coins.

Clauses with when

You can begin a clause with when to give more information about a time .

Time

Extra Information when

Necessary Information when

• When replaces a prepositional phrase or the word then.

• When can begin both extra and necessary-information clauses.
138 Part 1 I The Paragraph

Ext ra I nfo rm atio n

A popular day with children is Halloween. They dress up in costumes and get
PREP. PHRASE
candy from neighbors on Halloween.

A popular day with children is Halloween, when they dress up in costumes and
get candy from neighbors.

Necessary Info rm atio n

Ramadan is a ti me + Mus l ims fast then.
.

Ramadan is a time when Muslims fast.

PRA.CTtCE 6 Combine the sentences in each of the following pairs by making one of them a
clause beginning with when and joining it to the other sentence. Be careful to put
Clauses with
When
the clause immediately after the noun it modifies. Add commas if they are needed.

1 . Were you alive on July 20, 1 969? The first human walked on the moon on
that day.

2 . Every mother remembers the wonderful day. Her first child was born on
that day.

3 . Tet is a special time. Vietnamese people celebrate the lunar new year then.

The following cha1t summarizes important information about adjective clauses:

Review Chart: Adjective Clauses

To refer to people

who refers to people subject in its necessary The student who gave the
own clause infonnation best speech won a prize.
OR
extra information Kim Leong, who gave the best speech,
won a prize.

whom refers to people object in its own necessary She loaned her car to someone whom she
clause information did not know.
OR
extra information She loaned her car to Tom, whom she has
known for a long time.
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 139

To refer to animals and things

which refers to animals subject or object extra information She teaches biology, which is m y favorite
and things in its own clause only subject.

Her husband teaches algebra, which I enjoy

the least.

that refers to animals subject or object necessary The class that meets in the next room is very
and things; in its own information noisy.
informally, refers clause; if thai is only
to people an object, it may The subject that I enjoy the least is algebra.
be omitted
The subject I enjoy the least is algebra.

The salesman that sold me my car was fired.

(informal)

To refer to time

when refers to a time necessary I work full time on days when I do not have
information classes.
OR
extra information I did not work at all last week, when I had my
final exams.

PRA.CTlCE 7 A . Write sentences with adjective clauses on your own. Define each of the
following words with a sentence that contains an adjective clause. Use the
Adjective Clauses
words in parentheses to build your definition. Look up the words you don't
know in a dictionary. All your sentences will be necessary.
1. fortune teller (a person) A fortune teller is a person who can see into the future.

2 . coach (a person) -------

3. travel agents (people)

4. MP3 players (devices)

5. fork (a utensil)

6. chopsticks (utensils) ____________________

7 . (day/time)

(Write in a special day or period of several days in your culture.)

(continued on next page)
140 Part l I The Paragraph

B . From the following list of English slang words and phrases, choose five and
write definitions for them. Your definition should include at least one complex
sentence containing an adjective clause. Look in a dictionary or ask a native
English speaker if you need help.

blog nutcase slam dunk

airhead potluck dinner dot com
couch potato sitting duck tightwad
no-brainer geek emoticon
!. __
____
____
________
______
__ __
__ __
____
____
____
____
_____

2. __
____
____
____
____
____
______
______
______________
_____

3. -------

4. __
________
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
___

5. __
______________________
____
____
____
____
____
____
_____

Try 1t Out! Combine the sentences in each group in any logical way to make one sentence. Your
final sentence may be simple, compound, or complex. Look for opportunities to
make adjective clauses. You may add words, delete words, or change words, but you
must not omit any information or change the meaning. Write your final copy as a
paragraph on a separate piece of paper.

The First Thanksgiving

1 . An i mportant family holiday in

the United States is Thanksgiving.
It celebrates the successful
harvest of some of the first
European settlers in North
America.
An important holiday in the United

States is Thanksgiving. which

celebrates the successful harvest

of some of the first European

settlers in North America.

2 . A modern Thanksgiving is similar in many ways to the first Thanksgiving.

The first Thanksgiving took place almost four hundred years ago.
It took place in the English colony of Massachusetts.
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 141

3. In 1 620, the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims were a religious group from England.

4. The Pilgrims came to the New World.

Their religion was different from the main religion in England.
( Use because .)

5. The Pilgrims' first winter was very hard.

Al most half the group died.

6. They died of hunger.

They died of cold.
They died of disease.

7. The Wampanoag helped them. \

The Wampanoag were a tribe of Native Americans in Massachusetts.
They did this during the next year.
(Put the time expression first.)

8 . The Wampanoag taught the newcomers how to hunt.

The Wampanoag taught the newcomers how to grow corn.
The Wampanoag taught the newcomers how to survive in the New World.

9. The next winter came.

The Pilgrims had enough food.

1 0 . They were grateful.

They had a feast to give thanks.

I I . They shared food with the Wampanoag

They shared friendship with the Wampanoag.
They invited the Wampanoag to the feast.
(Use whom.)

1 2 . A modern Thanksgiving is similar in spirit to the first Thanksgiving.

The food is probably different.

1 3 . Today Americans eat turkey.

The Pilgrims and Wampanoag probably ate deer.

Review

These are the important points covered in this chapter:

1 . A definition paragraph explains the meaning and significance of something.
The topic sentence of a definition paragraph gives three pieces of inf01mation:
( l ) the topic, (2) the large category or group, and (3) the distinguishing
characteristics.
142 Part 1 I The Paragraph

2 . An appositive is a noun (or noun phrase) that renames another noun (or
noun phrase). Appositives can be either necessary information (restrictive)
or extra information (nonrestrictive). Extra-information appositives are
separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

3 . An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies (tells more about) a

noun or pronoun.
• Adjective clauses follow the noun or pronoun they modify.
• Adjective clauses begin with the words who, whom, which, and that,
among others. These words are called relative pronouns.
• Use who, which, and that when the relative pronoun is the subject of its
clause.
• Use whom, which, that, or no pronoun when the relative pronoun is an
object in its clause.
• Adjective clauses are either necessary information or extra information.
Use commas around information clauses.

Skill The following exercises will help you review important skills you learned in prior
Sharpeners chapters.

EXERClSE 1 A. On a separate piece of paper, write the following sentences in the con·ect order
to make a definition paragraph.
Scrambled
Der;nwon
Paragraph B. Find and underline three adjective clauses and one appositive.

Walter Gropius

1 . Another major contribution to the building industry was his promotion

of designs that could be mass-produced.

2. In contrast to the ornately decorated stone structures of an earlier era,

Gropius's steel and glass buildings had straight lines and no ornamentation.

3. Gropius was also known for his belief in the value of teamwork, and he
worked together with other architects on many projects.

4. He was influential mainly when he was the director of Germany 's Bauhaus
school of design.

5 . In sum, Gropius and his followers transformed cities from Toronto to Tokyo.

6. Walter Gropius was a German-born architect who designed simple "glass

box" buildings and changed the look of cities worldwide.

7 . At the Bauhaus, Gropius was a leader of the International Style of the

1 920s, a style that greatly changed building design.
 Chapter 8 I Definition Paragraphs 143

EXERCISE 2 Cross out one sentence that breaks the unity of the paragraph .
Unity
Kimchi
1Kimchi, or kimchee, is Korea's national dish. 2lt is made of fermented'
vegetables. :l"fhere are many ways to make kimchi, but it usually contains
Chinese cabbage, salt, garlic, red pepper, green onion, fish sauce, and ginger.
4These ingredients are mixed together, put into a container, and allowed to
ferment for three or four days. 5Nutritionists say that kimchi is very good for you.
I
6ln fact, the U. S. magazine Health says it is one of the five healthiest foods
because it has a lot of vitamins and because it helps digestion. 71t may even
prevent cancer.2 8The other four healthy foods are yogurt, olive oil, lentils, and
soy. 9Kimchi is very spicy and has a very strong taste. 10Most Westerners have
to get used to the taste, but Koreans adore it. 11They eat it with every meal,
either alone or mixed with rice or noodles. 12They also use it in soup, pancakes,
and even as a pizza topping.

Writing Assignment

Choose a word, custom, or holiday from your culture that is probably unfamiliar
to an outsider. Write a paragraph to describe it and explain its meaning and/or
significance. If you wish, you may use one of the topics from the Try It Out! on
page 1 2 8 .
Step 1 Prewrite to get ideas.

Step 2 Organize the ideas by making an outline.

Step 3 W1ite the rough draft. Write ROUGH DRAFT at the top of your paper.
• Focus on using good paragraph structure, with a topic sentence,
supporting sentences that develop (explain) the topic, and a
concluding sentence.
• Try to use at least one appositive and one adjective clause in your
paragraph.

'fermented: allowed to rest for a period of time until chemical changes happen, such as when the sugar
in grapes changes into alcohol
2Raymond, Joan. "World's Healthiest Foods: Kimchi (Korea). Health March 2006. 2 1 May 2006.
http://www.health .com/health/article/0,234 14, 1 149 1 43 ,00.html
144 Part 1 I The Paragraph

Step 4 Polish the rough draft.

• Exchange papers with a classmate and ask him or her to check your
rough draft using Peer-Editing Worksheet 8 on page 2 1 2 . Then
discuss the completed worksheet and decide what changes you
should make. Write a second draft.
• Use Self-Editing Worksheet 8 on page 2 1 3 to check your second
draft for grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.

Step 5 Write a final copy. Hand in your rough draft, your second draft, your
final copy, and the page containing the two editing worksheets. Your
teacher may also ask you to hand in your prewriting paper.