Writing Academic English 4th Edition

._....",. 24 Part 1 IWritingaParagraph

KeyNoun

Substitutes

Consistent

Pronouns

Step 1 Inthetopicsentenceofthefollowingparagraph,underlinethekey

nounthatnamesthetopic.

Step 2 Thencircle(a)repetitionsofthekeynouns,(b)pronounsthatreferto

them,and(c)synonymsthataresubstitutesforthem.Youshouldhave

a totalof 10 circles:3 circlesaroundkeynouns,3 aroundpronouns,

and4 aroundsynonyms.

A MardiGrasCustom

1 "Throwmesomething,mister,"is thecustomarypleafora MardiGras

"throw."21nthefinaldaysofMardiGras,theseasonofparties,parades,and

revelry!thatprecedestheChristianperiodoffastingandpenance^2 calledLent,

crowdsofspectatorslinethestreetsofNewOrleans.3Theyhope;t0catcha

MardiGrassouvenirtossedfromparadingfloats. 4 MardiGraso~ganizations

called"krewes"buildthefloatsandsponsortheparades,and/~hilecruising

alongparaderoutes,costumedkrewemembersthrowplastltrinketstothe

crowdsbelow.5Thetrinkets,whicharecalled"throws,"G0hsistofbead

necklaces,coins,cups,toys,Frisbees,andfigurinesstampedwiththekrewe's

symbolortheparadetheme. 6 MardiGrasthrowsarebigbusinessforthe

companiesthatsupplythem. 7 Krewemembersspendanaverageof$800on

them,andsomespend$2,000ormore. 8 ByfarthemosttreasuredoftheMardi

Grasmementosaregaudybeadnecklaces. 9 Originallymadeofglass,theyare

nowmadeofplastic(Roach).3

Whenyouusepronouns,make surethatyouusethesamepersonandnumber

throughoutyourparagraph.Don'tchangefromyoutoheorshe(changeofperson)

orfromhetothey(changeofnumber).Noticethechangesthewritermadeforcon-

sistencyinthefollowingexample.

Irevelry:celebration,festivities

2penance:punishmentthatyouaccepttosaythatyouaresorryformisbehavior

'Roach,John."TheRichHistoryofMardiGras'sCheapTrinkets."NationalGeographic.com 20 Feb.2004.

24 Feb. 2004 <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0220_040220_mardigras.html>.