Alexis Joshua D.

Enverga
BSAT - I

TYPES OF PARAGPRAHS

With Definition and Examples

EXEMPLIFICATION

Use exemplification paragraphs to provide instances that clarify your topic statement. In the
following paragraph, the topic sentence is supported in examples that illustrate, support, and
clarify the main point.

Ex.

Vitamins and minerals can be added to enrich (replace nutrients lost in processing) or
fortify (add nutrients not normally present) foods to improve their nutritional quality. Breads and
cereals are usually enriched with some B vitamins and iron. Common examples of fortification
include the addition of vitamin D to milk, vitamin A to margarine, vitamin C to fruit drinks,
calcium to orange juice, and iodide to table salt.
NARRATION

Use narration to establish a series of events that tells the reader what happened. Narration
follows a chronological pattern of development. It is a convincing mode of paragraph
development to the extent that it tells a coherent story. This pattern or time line is usually very
easy to understand. In the following narrative, the first narrative paragraph is followed by two
descriptive paragraphs. Note the use of transitional words such as thereafter, first, next, and after.

A story that is written to explain what, when, and who. It reveals what a reader should learn.
Narration paragraphs are usually written in chronological order. It should make a clear point: it
should bring to life a moral, lesson, or idea.

Ex.

The most embarrassing moment of my sophomore year was how I earned my nick name,
Crash. It all started right after school when I turned on to the busiest street by the school. First I
pulled up right behind this truck at a stop sign. After a second, a fellow older student told me that
I was really close and that I was going to hit the truck in front of me. At the moment I was trying
to tell the kid that I was giving a ride to to get back in the car because he was hanging out the
window. Since I was distracted, I thought the long line of traffic had started to move, but it
hadn’t. In the blink of an eye I hit the back of the truck in front of me. The devastation sunk in. I
was so worried that I damaged the truck, but all that I did was scratch his bumper. Lucky for
him! Then it came time to look at my car. My car was ruined. The hood was buckled, the front
end was pushed back, and my headlights were broken. Humiliated and scared, I still had to drive
my totaled care home. During School that year, I never did hear the end of what had happened
that day.
PROCESS

Use process in paragraphs to develop sequences that describe how an action is carried out or how
something works. The following paragraph shows a typical sequential treatment of a general
physical phenomenon. Note the concentration of process verbssuch as to find, samples, sums,
and provides.

Process writing is useful when writing on history, business, the sciences, psychology, and many
other areas. This tells the reader how a particular event occurred or how something works.

Ex.

To be a good friend, an individual has to spend time working on her friendships, or they
will eventually fade. When two people first meet, they both need to be sure they are acting in
good manor, so they don’t scare the other away. After they meet and start talking a few times,
they will start getting to know each other, calling each other, and spending more time with each
other. That is how a friendship begins. After they call each other “friends”, the friendship has to
be made through the effort of more than just one person, so each has to do her own part.
Friendships shouldn’t take a lot of money but they do take a lot of time and care. Friends should
always listen to what the other has to say, and then should give advice only when asked for it. No
matter how much friends are alike, everyone has differences, so a friend should be able to accept
their differences. After being a friend to a person for a long period of time, one might get tired of
hearing repeated problems every day, but a good friend will always be there for her friend no
matter what.
DESCRIPTION

A descriptive paragraph describes a person, place or object, so the reader can visualize what the
writer is talking about. The writer uses any or all of the seven senses, such as , smell and sound
to describe the subject or the place in mind. Using certain sights and smells gives the reader
something to relate to.

Use descriptive prose to provide a physical picture or a functional view of the subject. Physical
description develops a picture by identifying the shapes, materials, position, and functions of its
subject. Such prose often serves as the raw material for more elaborate forms of analytical prose.

Ex.

As I stand on the front porch of my cabin, a soft smell of sage drifts in my face, while I
gaze in the distance. Off to the right is a narrow valley, crawling with willow brush so thick you
need a machete to walk through it. As I look at the ravine running north and south an echo of
water draining into water creeps towards me. Around the hill at the south end is a pond, and at
the north end sets a little old calving shed surrounded by aspen trees. Across from me is an
enormous football shaped alfalfa field screaming green, and beyond that rests another huge aspen
grove. Just off to the left is a mountain coated in evergreens whisping in the breeze. At the base
of the mountain, is a massive a-frame cabin with large triangular windows stretching to the eve.
Further to my left is a spring trickling down the hill, into a man-made pond the size of a hockey
rink. This overflows into a tiny creek that ripples directly down the slope behind me into the
pond on my right, which is making the echo up the ravine. Staying up at my cabin gives me a
real sense of relaxation.
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

Use comparison and contrast to develop a topic by examining its similarities or dissimilarities to
another thing, process, or state. Comparison emphasizes the similarities, contrast the differences.
A paragraph may use both comparison and contrast. In the following example, two kinds of
electrical cable are compared. The aim here is to convey the superiority of A over B for two
categories of performance.

Ex. Comparison

My hometown and my college town have several things in common. First, both are small
rural communities. For example, my hometown, Gridlock, has a population of only about 10,000
people. Similarly, my college town, Subnormal, consists of about 11,000 local residents. This
population swells to 15,000 people when the college students are attending classes. A second
way in which these two towns are similar is that they are both located in rural areas. Gridlock is
surrounded by many acres of farmland which is devoted mainly to growing corn and soybeans.
In the same way, Subnormal lies in the center of farmland which is used to raise hogs and cattle.

Ex. Contrast

Even though Arizona and Rhode Island are both states of the U.S., they are strikingly
different in many ways. For example, the physical size of each state is different. Arizona is large,
having an area of 114,000 square miles, whereas Rhode Island is only about a tenth the size,
having an area of only 1,214 square miles. Another difference is in the size of the population of
each state. Arizona has about four million people living in it, but Rhode Island has less than one
million. The two states also differ in the kinds of natural environments that each has. For
example, Arizona is a very dry state, consisting of large desert areas that do not receive much
rainfall every year. However, Rhode Island is located in a temperate zone and receives an
average of 44 inches of rain per year. In addition, while Arizona is a landlocked state and thus
has no seashore, Rhode Island lies on the Atlantic Ocean and does have a significant coastline.
ANALOGY

Use analogy to explain one object or process in terms of another. The aptness of the analogy is
generally a point of subtle judgment. Some analogies are more valid than others. Comparing an
apple to the space shuttle is not likely to be an effective analogy. Explaining the Internet by
reference to a highway system might make a better analogy. In the following analogy, a body
infection is compared with an invading army of attack organisms.

Ex.

The immune response of billions of cellular defenders is carried out by different kinds of
white blood cells, all of which are continuously being produced in the bone marrow. Neutrophils,
one type of white blood cell, travel in the blood stream to areas of invasion, attacking and
ingesting pathogens. Macrophages, or "big eaters," take up stations in tissues and act as
scavengers, devouring pathogens and worn-out cells. Natural killer cells directly destroy virus-
infected cells and cells that have turned cancerous. When lymph nodes are actively involved in
fighting an invasion of microorganisms, they fill with lymphocytes.
CAUSE AND EFFECT

Use cause and effect in paragraphs when you are tracking the development of one situation or
event out of another. Cause and effect is an analytical mode of paragraph development that
attempts to show how events are influenced by or caused by others—the linkage of causation. In
the following paragraph the development follows the inductive pattern of reasoning from effects
back to causes.

Ex.

Global climate change resulting from the accumulation of greenhouse gases, for example,
is likely to have significant health effects, both direct and indirect. An average global
temperature rise of 3-4°C, predicted for the year 2100 by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, will greatly increase the number of days in the United States with temperatures
over 38°C(100°F), with a resulting sharp rise in heat-related mortality. Deaths would occur
primarily from heat strokes, heart attacks, and cerebral strokes. The very young, poor, and
elderly, as well as those with chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, are most at risk.
During the two-week heat wave of July 1993 in the eastern United States, 84 people died in
Philadelphia alone as a result of the higher temperatures.
CLASSIFICATION AND DIVISION

Use classification and division to develop material by relating parts to wholes. In classification,
you associate similar things or processes by grouping them into classes. You can classify
organisms, mechanisms, processes according to shapes, magnitudes, effects, and so on. In
division, you develop a topic by breaking it down into smaller parts. Classification is the tutorial
prose strategy. It is an effective approach for showing the terrain of a subject by elaborating upon
its essential types. In the following example, corrosion-resistant ceramics are broken down into
types.

Ex.

There are three different types of rock music, alternative rock, classic rock, and hard
rock, also known as metal. Alternative rock features a steady bass drum laying down the beat,
with easy flowing guitar riffs over the top. The bass line is toned town, and the lyrics are sung
with intensity an authority. Depending on the song, the guitars can either be acoustic guitars or
electric guitars. Classic rock combines a steady driving bass drum sound, with high snare
overtones, steady and often repeating guitar riffs, and an intensive bass line. The guitars are more
often than not all electric guitars, and distortion is rarely used. The lyrics are sung with style and
enthusiasm. Hard rock, or metal, features a hard rolling bass drum with an abundant amount of
cymbal work. This style of rock uses several electric guitars with heavy distortion to bring a very
intense sound. A hard, intense, driving bass line rounds out the style. The lyrics aren’t really
sung so much as screamed. It doesn’t matter what your preference is, each different style of rock
music is unique on its own.
DEFINITION

Develop paragraphs by definition when you want to set working generalizations that will help
control the meaning and scope of important terms. Defining is an effective way of controlling the
scope of terms. In the following paragraph, an extended definition is used as part of the
introduction to a research article. The intention here is both to establish the terms of the
discourse and to establish the importance of the subject. By exploring the meaning of the term
bimetals, the writer creates as hared concept that focuses the discussion that follows. Note the
use of other devices, such as functional description and enumeration.

Ex.

Anger is having a feeling of hatred toward someone or something. It is one of our basic
emotions and can be most dangerous if it is not carefully controlled. A person can become angry
when he cannot fulfill some basic need or desire that is important to him. For example, a child
may become angry when he cannot play outside with his friends. An adult may become angry
when he does not receive a raise in pay that he expected. Mentally, anger can interfere with our
thoughts, making it difficult to think clearly. Physically, it may cause violent reactions in the
muscles and in the nervous system. This causes an angry person to flush and tremble and to show
other signs of disturbance. A person can be dangerous if he is in an angry mood because he can
develop feelings of hostility and hatred toward another person, which can then often turn violent.
ANALYSIS

Analysis examines a subject by evaluating one of its aspects--weighing evidence and possible
causal linkages. It resembles other forms of paragraph development, especially classification and
division. The object of analysis, however, is to get to the center of how something works. The
following paragraph considers the link between cancer, poverty, and stress.

Ex.

One possible explanation for these statistics on cancer can be found in the high levels of stress
associated with poverty. Studies have found that stress can dampen the immune system, the
body's first line of defense against cancer, and experiments with animals have shown that a
stressful environment can enhance the growth of a variety of tumors. The link between poverty,
stress, and cancer mortality in humans has not been proven, but studies have shown a link
between stress and other illnesses.
ENUMERATION

Use enumeration in paragraphs when you want to itemize or list a set of topics or a series of
some kind. Enumeration is a powerful way to establish a series of observations and to emphasize
each element. In the following paragraph, the items are enumerated in a series of itemized
recommendations.

Ex.

A graph can be cut in several ways including 1) minimum cut, 2) normalised cut and 3)
average cut. In our project we have surveyed the Normalised Cut (Ncut) algorithm for image
segmentation.