PARAGRAPH: HOW TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH?

Intermediate

PARAGRAPH WRITING

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?

A paragraph is a group of sentences that focuses on one topic, or one main idea,
which stated in the topic sentence.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON KINDS OF PARAGRAPH?

The common types of a paragraph are

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH – It describes people, animal, things or event.

NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH – It retells the stories or gives background information
of past events.

PERSUASIVE PARAGRAPH – It tries to convince the reader about something and
may make recommendations.

EXPOSITORY PARAGRAPH – It clarifies or explains problems and phenomena
basing strictly on evidence and objective language.

DEFINITION PARAGRAPH – It is written to explain the meaning, origin and
function of things.

CLASSIFICATION PARAGRAPH – It explores the meaning of things as compared to
one another, and as positioned in related contexts.

PROCESS ANALYSIS PARAGRAPH – It usually guides readers through a process or
action to be performed; that is, a how-to paragraph.

WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF A PARAGRAPH?

There are three elements of a paragraph: a topic sentence, supporting sentences,
and a concluding sentence.

TOPIC SENTENCE: It is the main sentence which states or introduces the topic.

 SUPPORTING SENTENCES: They are the sentences that develop, describe, or

explain the topic (in topic sentence).

 CONCLUDING SENTENCE: It is a sentence that summarizes all key points,

restates the topic sentence, makes prediction about the topic, or makes
suggestion about the topic.

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PARAGRAPH: HOW TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH? Intermediate

Note!
There are three
elements of a
paragraph: a topic
sentence [which tell the
topic or main idea],
supporting sentences
[which develop the topic
or main idea], and a
concluding sentence
[which marks an end of a
paragraph].

 Moreover, a paragraph also includes LINKING WORDS or TRANSITIONAL WORDS

to connect ideas or sentences together; as in the table below:

USAGE TRANSITIONS (LINKING WORDS)

for example; for instance;
Giving examples
namely; such as...
and; in addition; as well as; also; too;
Adding information furthermore; moreover;
apart from; besides ...
in short; in brief; in summary; to summarize; all
Summarizing in all; to conclude; in conclusion, as I have
described above ....
at the beginning, after that, at the end....
Sequencing ideas firstly, secondly, finally, lastly....
the first point is...
due to / due to the fact that;
Giving a reason owing to / owing to the fact that;
because; because of ; since; as ....
therefore; so; consequently;
Giving a result
this means that; as a result ....
but; however; although / even though ;
despite / despite the fact that; in spite of / in
Contrasting ideas
spite of the fact that ;
nevertheless; nonetheless; while; whereas...

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WHAT ARE THE CHARISTERISTICS OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH?

A good paragraph shall have unity and coherence.

UNITY: A paragraph should be about one topic or one main idea. All of the
sentences, especially supporting sentences, should develop the topic stated
in the topic sentence.

COHERENCE: The word “coherence” comes from the word “cohere” which
means “to hold together.” So, writers are supposed to link from one idea to
another idea.

HOW DO I ORGANIZE A PARAGRAPH?

PARAGRAPH TOPIC

TOPIC SENTENCE = TOPIC + CONTROLLING IDEA

TRANSITION, SUPPORTING SENTENCE 1 = SUPPORTING IDEA + DETAILS

TRANSITION, SUPPORTING SENTENCE 2 = SUPPORTING IDEA + DETAILS

TRANSITION, SUPPORTING SENTENCE 3 = SUPPORTING IDEA + DETAILS

TRANSITION, CONCLUDING SENTENCE = (see 4 ways below)

HOW DO I DEVELOP A PARAGRAPH?

How to write a topic sentence:

Topic sentence = a topic + a controlling idea

TOPIC – It is what you are going to focus on.

CONTROLLING IDEA – It is the limitation or number of ideas you are going to
present/write.

NOTE: A good topic sentence must be:

COMPLETE – i.e., it must consist of a subject and a predicate. Moreover, it must
express one and only one controlling idea,

LIMITED – i.e., it must contain one and only one controlling idea,

SPECIFIC – i.e., it should be direct, precise and relevant to the topic.

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PARAGRAPH: HOW TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH? Intermediate

How to write supporting sentences:

Supporting sentence = Supporting idea + details

SUPPORTING IDEA – It is the idea that supports topic sentence.

DETAILS – They can be explanations, description, reasons, facts, examples,
evidence, or definitions that you add to your supporting idea.

How to write a concluding sentence:

There are four ways, which you can use either of them, to write a concluding
sentence:

RESTATING THE TOPIC SENTENCE:

You can rewrite the topic sentence but in different words.

 SUMMARIZING THE KEY POINTS:

You can summarize all important points (especially supporting ideas)
which you have described in supporting part.

 MAKING A PREDICTION ABOUT THE TOPIC:

You can make a short prediction about the topic, but do not introduce a
new topic.

 MAKING A SUGGESTION ABOUT THE TOPIC:

You can make suggestion about the topic, but never introduce a new topic.

REFERENCE:

1. Dorothy E. Zemach (2004). Paragraph Writing: From Sentence to Paragraph. MacMillan

2. Keith S. Folse et al (2010). Great Writing 2. Third Edition. Heinle Cenage Learning. USA
3. http://www.suite101.com/content/seven-types-of-paragraphs-a99946

© 2011 tengsaman@yahoo.com Version: March 31, 2011

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