(accurately) into an appropriate school of thought. The paragraph
can then set out what that school of thought or intellectual posi-
tion stands for, and only cite the relevant authors in support of
this characterization. Where references are needed try always to
place them at the very end of sentences, preferably in the Harvard
format or by using endnotes (see next section). You may some-
times need to introduce the names of schools or authors into your
main text outside references, but do so sparingly.
The wrap sentences at the end of paragraphs are often easier
to write than the start, because you now have the paragraph
text to go on. But wrap sentences should not just reiterate what
has already been said. Readers are not goldfish. They will per-
fectly remember what you have written, especially when your
paragraphs are not too ponderous or too long. Instead the wrap
sentence should close the paragraph as a unit of thought, and
clinch or reinforce its main point. It should have at least a little
added value of its own. A last sentence is a good place to give a
more clear-cut evaluative judgement, or to assess the signifi-
cance of what has been established in the paragraph. It is a
chance for a wise author to draw together the phenomena cov-
ered in the paragraph as a whole (stand back and spot the shape
of the wood around here), rather than just itemizing details
(inspecting trees in close-up, one after another).
Writing sentences
Words differently arranged have a different
meaning, and meanings differently arranged
have different effects.
Blaise Pascal^7In English sentences the inner core is a subject linked to a verb
linked to an object: Subject–Verb–Object. Different languages
have different conventions. But if you want to write straight-
forward and accessible English sentences, these three compo-
nents should be closely bonded together. This means that a real
subject, main verb, and real object should always be clearly
identifiable. There must be no equivocation about who or what
is the subject of the sentence. Fake or implicit subjects can arise
114 ◆AUTHORING A PHD