Unit 2

Organizing Ideas by
Time and Space
Using Time Order
1. The sentences below all belong to the same paragraph, but they are not in the correct
order. Number them so that they follow a logical time order. Put a 1 in front of the
sentence you feel should be first, and so on.
___ As the family became larger and larger, finding names became harder and
harder.
___ Susan and Tom Beck were very eager to start a family.
___ At last, when the tenth child was born, they couldn't think of a name at all.
___ When their first child was born they decided upon a name very easily.

Now write the sentences in paragraph form.

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Follow the same procedure with the following exercises.

2. ___ From his home in Mexico, he flew to New York City.

___ From there he went to Europe and then to the Far East.

___ Jose took a trip around the world.

___ After traveling through the Far East, he went

to South America and finally back home to
Mexico.

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3. ___ Even more of the resolutions were broken as

the year went on.
___ On January 1, Tim made ten New Year's resolutions.
___ When the year ended, he realized that he had
not kept a single resolution.
___ By the time the month was over, he had
broken half of the resolutions.

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Using Signal Words

In order to show time relationships, you will need to use signal words to help guide your
reader from one idea to the next. Study these sentences. The signal words are underlined.
Also note the underlined punctuation.
Jane had a busy morning.
First, she cleaned the kitchen.
Second, she did her laundry.
Third, she cleaned the bathroom.
Finally, she sat down to rest.

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate signal words.

First
Poor me! I've had a terrible day. Everything went wrong. ______________, my alarm
clock didn't go off, so I woke up an hour late. ______________, I was in such a hurry that I
burned my hand when I was making breakfast. I got dressed so quickly that I forgot
to wear socks. ______________, I ran out of the house trying to catch the 9:30 bus, but of
course I missed it. I was very upset because my boss gets angry if anyone is late for
work. I decided to take a taxi, but then I realized that I didn't have enough money.
______________ , I walked the three miles to my office only to discover that it was
Sunday!

Here are some more sentences with other signal words.

Before Jane had lunch, she swept all the floors, and then she waxed them.
Next, she cleaned her closets.
Later, she worked in her garden.

Using Prepositions
It is important to use the correct prepositions to show time order relationships.

DATES: in February/in April/in July

on Monday/on Wednesday/on Friday
on June 30, 1951/on the 30th of June
the end of the year/~ the beginning of August from 1998 to 2010
TIMES: at 5:00/at 7:30/at 9:45
at night
in the morning; in the afternoon; in the evening
from 4:00 to 4:30

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Fill in the blanks with the appropriate prepositions.
1. I lived in Detroit from 1960____ 1968.
2. We lived ________ 141 Cater Street _______ Concord, Massachusetts.
3. Lynn was born ________ 1952.
4. She was born ______ October 31 ____ 4:00 ________ the afternoon.
5. I'll meet you for lunch ______ Tuesday _______ noon.
6. Ruth goes to London every weekend to visit her parents. She takes
the train ____ Saturday ____ 9:00 ____ the morn-ing and arrives in
London ____ 9:30.

 Writing Paragraphs Using Time Order

1. Look at the following schedule for Dr. Harry Alden, the director of the Center
for English Language Programs at the University of Pennsylvania. He had a very
busy schedule yesterday.
Write a paragraph about his day. Be sure to use signal words. Remember to begin
with a topic sentence and to indent it.

Monday April 9

9 – 10 Read applicants’ resumes

_______________________________
11 – 12 meeting with the desk
_______________________________
12 – 1 lunch with Dr. David
_______________________________
1 – 2 interview applicants
_______________________________

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Now do the same with the following:

2. Margaret read a gardening catalog and decided that she wanted to plant a
vegetable garden. She has to do many things before she can enjoy the harvest.
Read the list and put the items in a logical order.
______ Plant the seeds.
______ Pick the vegetables from the garden
______ Order the seeds from the catalog.
______ Prepare the soil.
_______Keep the garden free of weeds.

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 Now write a paragraph. Use the list as a guide.
Remember the first sentence should be a topic sentence.
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3. Vicki is having some friends over for dinner this evening.
She has no food in the house, and she has no cash, either.
Here is a list of things that she has to do, but they are not in
the right order. Number them so they are in a logical order.
___ Buy food for dinner.
___ Go to the bank.
___ Make dinner.
___ Return home.
___ Clean the house.
___ Go to the grocery store.
Using this list as a guide, write a paragraph. Remember to
use signal words.

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Read the paragraph you have just written. Can you combine
any of your sentences? Can you think of any other things
Vicki might have to do before her friends arrive? Rewrite
the paragraph, adding your new ideas.

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4. The following time line gives you information about Babe Ruth, the famous American
baseball player. Use this information to write a paragraph about his life.

February 6, 1895: born in Baltimore, Maryland

1914: joined the Boston Red Sox
1920: sold to the New York Yankees
1921-34: led the Yankees to seven pennants
1936: elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

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5. Now do the same with this time line about the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first
woman doctor in the United States.
February 3, 1821: born in Bristol, England
1832: emigrated to New York City
1849: graduated from Geneva Medical
School in Geneva, New York
1853: opened the New York Infirmary
because, as a woman, she could not get a
job in a hospital
1868: opened the Women's Medical
College of the New York Infirmary
1875: assisted in founding the London
School of Medicine for Women
1910: died in Hastings, England

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 6. Choose a famous person who interests you. Find
information about his or her life. Make a time line based on
the information, and write a paragraph.

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Organizing Ideas
by Space
1. Sometimes you will need to organize details
according to where the) are located in space. Study
this floor plan. Then read the description that
follows. Note the underlined prepositions and
prepositional phrases.

Women's Shoes Hats & Gloves Handbags & Belts

E
Children's Clothing l
Scarves e

Jewelry v
a
t
Cosmetics o

Coats r

Main Entrance

Lourie's is a large department store that sells

clothing for the whole family. As you enter the store
through the main entrance, the jewelry department is
directly in front of you, in the middle of the store. On
your left is the coat department, and the scarf
department is behind the coats. To the right of the
jewelry department is the cosmetics department. The
elevators are on the east wall. In the northwest
corner, you will find the women's shoe department.
Next to it, on the north wall, are hats and gloves. To
the right of the hat and glove department are the
handbags and belts. The children's clothes are
between the handbag and belt department and the
elevators.

2. Here is the floor plan of the second floor of

Lourie's. Fill in the floor plan below using the list
provided.

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a. The elevators are on the east wall.
b. There is a large ladies' clothing department in front of the elevators. It covers the whole
width of the store.
c. The men's clothing department is in the middle of the north wall.
d. To the left of the men's clothing department is the men's shoe department.
e. The college shop is in the southwest corner.
f. The junior shop is between the college shop and the ladies' clothing department on the
south wall.

The location of the departments on the first and second floors of Lourie's is given in space
order. There are two ways to organize a paragraph using space order. One way to organize
by space order is to choose a starting point and give the locations of things in relation to
that place. Another way to organize by space order is to describe the things in one area
first, and then move on to the next area, and so forth.
3. Look at the picture and fill in the blanks in the sentences below with the correct
preposition.

a. The customers are standing ________________________ the counter.

b. The jewelry is _________________________ the case.
c. The little girl is standing _______________________ her parents.
d. The saleswoman is ____________________ the counter.
e. There is a mirror ______________________ the counter.
f. The necklace rack is ___________________the saleswoman.

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 4. The sentences in Exercise 3 above are not in the correct
space order. Reorder the items below by numbering them
from 1 to 6. Use the saleswoman as your starting point.
___ The customers
___ The jewelry
___ The little girl
___ The saleswoman
___ The necklace rack
___ The mirror
Now rewrite the sentences in Exercise 3 in correct space
order.

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Writing A Paragraph Organized by Space

ACTIVITY 1
This is a floor plan of the third floor of Lourie's.

Kitchen Equipment Lamps

E
Carpets l
e
v
Bath Soap
a
Furniture t
o

Electrical Appliances Toys r

Write a paragraph describing the third floor. Use

space order.

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ACTIVITY 2
Think about a recent catastrophe that hit your area or other part of the country. As a class,
write a paragraph about the catastrophe. Your teacher will give you a topic sentence. For
example: Last week we had a big snowstorm.

A. Each student should add one related sentence making sure that it contains at least one
preposition.
B. When you have finished the paragraph, revise it so that the sentences make sense and
are in a logical order.

On Your Own
Choose one of the following and write a description using as many prepositions as you
can:
1. your typical weekday routine
2. your ideal weekend
3. the inside of your car
4. a beautiful flower garden

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