Powerful paragraphs need more than obvious subjects—they
need strong points. Usually stated explicitly at the start, sometimes
implied, the point is a statement of opinion or fact, which you then support
with the other sentences in your paragraph.
The growth of America's capital in recent years
has indeed been remarkable. The District of Columbia bar had
fewer than 1,000 members in 1950, now it has 61,000. The number
of journalists in Washington soared from 1,500 to 12,000 over the
same period. The staff of Congress has roughly doubled since 1979.
On one estimate, 91,000 lobbyists of one sort or another grace the
Washington area with their presence.
By almost any measure, Chile in 1995 has an economy
that it is difficult to find fault with. Inflation is in single
digits and declining. Foreign reserves at $14.8 billion are high
and rising. The government consistently runs a healthy budget surplus.
Exports grew by more than 25% last year. Foreign investment was
$4.7 billion (9.1% of GDF). The unemployment rate, less than 6%,
is one of the lowest in Latin America.
"Ulysses" has a long history of
translation. It was greeted as a great work of literary modernism
when it appeared in its highly original English in 1922. But it
was available in German and French before it was legally for sale
in Britain or the United States. Even the Latvians have their own
version; the Japanese have four. Chinese translators never got around
to it. After the Communist victory in 1949, such a work would have
been dangerous.
