Chapter Summary
Effective communication is achieved when sentences and paragraphs are developed according to the principles presented in Chapter 3. The development of coherent messages is vital to creating effective business communication.

The four basic sentence structures provide for clarity, variety, and emphasis in your writing. Concentration on paragraph unity, length, emphasis, and coherence will result in paragraphs having an organized, effective message.

By applying the principles covered in the previous chapters, you will learn about assembling words into phrases, connecting those phrases to form sentences, grouping the sentences into paragraphs, and organizing the paragraphs into coherent messages.

The Chapter 3 online resources will reinforce and enhance your study of these concepts.

Online Exercise Links

Newspapers Online

USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com

The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com

Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com

Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com

NewspaperLinks
http://www.newspaperlinks.com/home.cfm

Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Christian Scientist Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/

Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us

Additional Learning Links

Building Sentences
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/bldsent.html

The importance of effective sentence structure and different types of sentences is introduced at HyperGrammar, an electronic grammar course produced by the Writing Centre at the University of Ottawa.

Sentence Level
http://cctc2.commnet.edu/grammar/

Charles Darling, a professor at Capital Community-Technical College in Connecticut, produces an online grammar resource that includes guidelines for writing effective sentences.

Subject Verb Agreement
http://www.lynchburg.edu/public/writcntr/guide/grammar/subjverb.htm

Lynchburg College's Writing Center Online Guide provides rules for subject and verb agreement.

Writer's Web
http://writing.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html

University of Richmond's Writer's Web is an online handbook designed and maintained by UR students and faculty working with the Writing Center and the WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) program. Topics include sentence structure as well as editing for clarity and style.

eFlashcards
Review chapter terms and definitions with eFlashcards.

Crossword Puzzle
Sharpen your knowledge of chapter terms and concepts with an interactive crossword.

Practice Test
Test your understanding of the chapter material with a self-scoring Practice Test.

The interactive activities above require the Macromedia Shockwave plug-in for your browser. If you do not have this feature, you can download it now.

Back to Top