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This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations. March 9, 2004 Looking for connections INTRODUCTION

About 20 years or so ago, I stumbled on a writing text that made a lot of sense to me. It was called Writing to the point. In this book, writers William Kerrigan and A.A. Metcalf set out to explain in a simple, six-step procedure how to write a readable and convincing essay. One of their main themes was writing connected prose, thereby helping the reader move effortlessly from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. I remember being most impressed by steps number five and six which read: (5) In the first sentence of each new paragraph, starting with paragraph 2, insert a clear reference to the idea of the preceding paragraph. (6) Make sure every sentence in your essay is connected with, and makes a clear reference to, the preceding sentence. The writers went on to explain what they meant by "a clear reference". It might be a word repeated from the previous sentence or paragraph. Or, instead of a direct repetition, it might be a synonym, a comparative, an antonym or a pronoun referring to a word in the previous sentence or paragraph. Then again, the writer might use a commonly paired word like "wet" and "slippery" or the writer could repeat a sentence structure (Identifying problems Solving them…..). Then there are a host of connective words (and, but, therefore, etc.) that can be used to help readers see the relationships between ideas. The book’s authors then encouraged their readers to look at examples from professional writers to see if they actually follow these two steps. Sure enough, they do. In fact, that’s a big reason they have become good enough to write professionally in the first place. Let’s try it Let’s take an example of connected prose from the Outlook section and see if it is really connected. I have chosen an excerpt from a very interesting feature entitled Trading Memories, by Nissara Horayangura which was published on February 28. It’s about a group of Dutch expatriates who recently set out to retrace the journey of Theodorus Jacobus van den Heuvel in the year 1737 as he traveled as part of the entourage of His Majesty King Bormmakot on his annual pilgrimage to Wat Phra Phutthabat. The feature is a mixture of observations from the trip and a history of the period, some of it as seen through the writings of van den Heuvel himself. For this exercise, let’s focus mainly on the connections between paragraphs. What explicit references has the writer made to each paragraph to the one preceding it? Start with paragraph two. The most obvious connections with paragraph one are the repeated words: "Dutch", "Ayutthaya" and "trading post." And notice it is not just "trading post" but "new, larger trading post" making the connection even tighter. There is also a time connection in 1608 and 1634. Finally, the first paragraph talks about "contacts between the Dutch and Siamese" and the second paragraph gives a specific example. That’s impressive! Now go through the rest of the excerpt paragraph by paragraph. If you have the time, go sentence by sentence as well. And don’t forget to use similar connections in your own writing. OUR STORY FROM THE BANGKOK POST

TRADING MEMORIES Present-day journey reflects on 400 years Thai-Dutch relations The ruins of the Dutch East India Company's trading post in Ayutthaya, where a lively Dutch community thrived from 1634 to 1767. The Department of Fine Arts is currently excavating the site, and the Dutch government is funding a museum and an information centre to be built in the future. Story by NISSARA HORAYANGURA Know these words and phrases excavate to dig in the ground to look for old things artefacts man-made objects shards pieces of broken pottery, etc. yore long ago entourage a group of people who travel with an important person gilded covered with a thin layer of gold heyday the time of most power or success monopoly complete control of trade in a particular product accession the act of becoming a ruler deteriorated worsened consolidate to strengthen contravening doing something not allowed by a law or rule The first contacts between the Dutch and Siamese date back to 1604 during the reign of King Naresuan. The Dutch were originally interested in following Siamese traders to China, but ended up staying to trade in Ayutthaya. In 1608, two Siamese ambassadors travelled aboard a VOC merchant ship to the Netherlands the same year the Dutch established a trading post for the VOC. In 1634, King Prasat Thong gave the Dutch land for a new, larger trading post after the VOC sent ships to help Ayutthaya fight a war against Pattani. The remains of the trading post are now being excavated by the Ministry of Culture’s Department of Fine Arts as part of the celebration of Thai-Dutch friendship. The dig has uncovered artefacts like European pipes, tiles and either Chinese, Vietnamese or Dutch pottery shards, which hint at the trading activities of yore. Parts of the original structure have also been uncovered. Standing amidst the brick ruins, it is possible to imagine the compound that consisted of a warehouse, port, as well as residential halls that once housed more than a thousand Dutch men, women, and children. An even more vivid reminder is a copper plaque erected on a partially reconstructed brick monument which reads in Dutch and Thai, ``Here stood the trading post of the VOC, 1634-1767". The trading post was the first stop on our trip, as it was the starting point of Van den Heuvel’s own journey. Accompanied by a few of his assistants, he first set out on boat along with the awesome entourage of the king, which consisted of 120 large rowing vessels, the smallest one manned by no fewer than 40 oarsmen. He describes the boats as "beautifully carved in the shape of dragons and other creatures ... and [they] were heavily gilded all down to the ware-line and were rowed with likewise gilded paddles." The boats docked at the tha rua (port) in Saraburi, from where the entourage travelled by grand caravans of elephants and horses to Wat Phra Phutthabat. Van den Heuvel’s journey took days; ours took mere hours. The pace of Van den Heuvel’s trip may have been leisurely, but it happened during a tense and uncertain time. He was the only VOC chief ever to have been invited by the king to accompany him on his annual pilgrimage, but it was not necessarily such a straightforward honour. According to Dutch historian Remco Raben and Thai historian Dhiravat na Pombejra, who studied Van den Heuvel’s journal, "The king’s invitation was part of a diplomatic game over trade policies and profits during a fairly grim episode in Siamese-Dutch commercial relations." During the heydey of Dutch trade in the early to mid 1600s, Ayutthaya was an important stop in a lucrative triangular trade. From Japan, the Dutch obtained bullion which they used to purchase textiles and silverwork in India, which they sold to Siam. Dutch paintings of ships were also in high demand by Siamese kings as gifts for their nobles. From Siam, the Dutch took deerskins and cowhides, which were much prized in Japan, along with sappanwood, elephant tusks and tin. Treaties gave the company great advantages over other foreign traders, such as the freedom to trade at will with all merchants in the Kingdom, and a monopoly on deerskins and cowhides. However, by the end of the 1600s, the Dutch lost their chief source of profit when Japan closed the market for Siamese deerskins. With the decline in Dutch export of monopoly items, the Siamese crown became less dependent on Dutch trade and leaned more towards the Chinese traders, ignoring Dutch monopoly rights in favour of the Chinese. With accession of King Borommakot in 1733, Siamese trade policies towards the Dutch deteriorated further. Wanting to consolidate his control over trade, King Borommakot further reduced the special privileges of the VOC. Meanwhile, the Dutch were also guilty of contravening treaty obligations by rearranging the composition of export commodities against Siamese preferences. There was thus a great deal of mistrust on both sides at the time of Van den Heuvel’s journey, and the king’s invitation was believed to be a political ploy to compel Van den Heuvel and his colleagues to observe the king’s power, wealth and his cultural significance to his people. • This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a second and foreign language and Assistant Manager and Webmaster for Learning Post at the Bangkok Post. Read our other feature focus columns here. Return to our home page. | © The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 2004 | Last modified: March 8, 2004