C10

WRITING GOOD PARAGRAPHS

In English, text organization is very important, and it is expected that you should make your text as
clear and reader-friendly as possible. The main way by which this is done is by using good
paragraphing techniques.

Good paragraphs normally have a topic sentence, which is supported by relevant, well-organised
details. 

1. Topic sentences. The function of the topic sentence is to state or summarize the main idea of the
paragraph. It is often, but not always, the first sentence.
Read the two paragraphs and decide which is the topic sentence:

A. The traditional views of the position of women within society are so deeply ingrained that
they have not really changed. For instance, not only is the view that women should stay at
home and look after their family still widely held, but it is reinforced through images seen on
television programmes and advertisements. An example of this is that few men are ever seen
doing housework on television, since this is traditionally thought of as "a woman's job".

B. Globalisation does not produce homogenisation; quite the contrary. Because globalisation
reveals the inadequacy of sameness, communities make efforts to assert their uniqueness. In
discussing the concept of ‘glocalisation’, Robertson (1996) argues that what is known as the
‘local’ is ‘in large degree constructed on a trans- or super-local basis’ (26) as globalized
products and services are customised for the localities and cultures in which they are sold.
The assertion that global sport can give a greater opportunity to re-image the local seems
crucial to the importance of hosting prestigious sporting events (Black & van der Westhiuzen
2004). As the most fully global example of a localised event, the Olympic Summer Games is
championed as a means to entirely reinventing a city, as has been argued in the cases of
Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 (see Moragas & Botella 1995; Rutheiser
1996; Know 2001).

2. Read the following three paragraphs, and the three alternative topic sentences for each. Decide
which alternative is: 
● too general (covers areas broader than those in the paragraph) 
● too specific (only refers to some of the areas covered in the paragraph)
● correct (summarizes or introduces the main points appropriately).
Write the letter of the correct topic sentence in the space provided. 

1. Mark had not enjoyed his childhood............... He was only five when his parents were forced to
leave the country and had to send him away to boarding school. This was difficult enough, but two
years later his father went bankrupt and Mark was sent to live with his grandparents.' Then, at the age
of sixteen, he had a serious riding accident and had to spend six months in hospital. 
a) It had been an unhappy time for him on the whole.
b) The routines of school life had been particularly unpleasant for him.
c) It had been spoilt by a number of unfortunate incidents.

2 ........................ For one thing, I had to work much longer hours. I often worked from six in the
morning until eight at night. Another thing which was different was my social life. In England I had
had a very active social life, whereas in Africa I found that there was little for me to do after work.
Compared to my previous existence, I suppose my life in Africa was much healthier but it was not so
much fun. 
a) It took me a long time to get used to living abroad. 
b) My job in Africa was a new experience for me.
c) Many things changed when I left England to go and live in Africa. 

3 ................ She hated the way they always found the warmest place in the house. She also disliked
them because of the unnerving way they stared at you. It was almost as if they possessed an uncanny
ability to penetrate the innermost secrets of your soul. Most of all, however; she hated cats because of
the wailing noise they made at night. She had lost count of the number of times she had been woken
up at night by the screeching of a cat in her backyard. 

a) Dora had an almost pathological dislike of cats.

b) In Dora's view all cats were intensely selfish animals.
c) Dora was happy to live alone, without a cat. 

3. Now write topic sentences for paragraphs 4 and 5. First, read the whole paragraph, and the
questions which follow. These will help you focus on the most important information to include in
your topic sentences. 

4. The state should provide help for the elderly. At the very least it should make sure that they all
receive a pension and do not have to spend the last few years of their lives in poverty. It could also
give them special bus and train passes, enabling them to travel cheaply op public transport, and could
offer discounts on many other things. Finally, the state could even provide housing and hospital
facilities for those old people who have no relatives to look after them. 
• Who or what do it and they refer to in the first sentence? 
• What, in general, would the effects of the proposed changes be? 

5 .....................................For example, there is a swimming pool designed for people who are confined
to a wheelchair, and there is also a gym where those who are disabled in some way can work out
safely and under the guidance of one of the sports centre's qualified assistants. Facilities for disabled
people exist for a range of other sports and activities and everyone is given a huge amount of
encouragement and help. I was extremely impressed by what I saw on my visit to the centre last
week. 
• Where are the pool and the gym? 
• Who in particular is the paragraph concerned with? 

3. It is important that all the details you include in a paragraph are relevant and support the
main idea of the paragraph (expressed in the topic sentence). Read the following paragraph and cross
out the sentences and clauses which you consider irrelevant. The topic sentence has been underlined
to help you. 

When I was twelve, my sister went to University and we saw even less of her. Whenever we did see
her., however, we realised that she was no longer the same person . Change is a part of life. Many
things change in our lives, sometimes for the better but sometimes for the worse. Not only had she
started to wear long, flowing dresses and lots of colourful make-up, but her hair was also quite
different. Whereas  previously she had always insisted on keeping it cut short, it was now startlingly
long and rather unkempt. I've always longed to grow my hair myself, but my parents don't approve of
long hair. Her attitude towards me had similarly undergone an enormous change. She now wanted to
spend time with me, even though I was busy studying for my school exams and it was important
for me to do well. She seemed to enjoy telling me all the gossip that was doing the rounds, about her
life at university and her plans for the future, and she also helped me greatly with various problems I
was facing at school, and there were plenty of those, I can tell you! Within a matter of weeks she had
become my closest friend and confidante. 

4. Methods of organizing paragraphs. The details supporting a topic sentence should always be
organised clearly. In the following box there are four common ways of organising details.

Methods of organising paragraphs

A. Comparison/contrast: the writer, provides details which show similarities and/or differences.
B. Examples: the writer uses a list of examples or an illustration in support of the main idea.
C. Emphasis: the writer organises the details in order of their importance, normally with the most
significant detail last.
D. Chronological order: the writer presents details in the order in which they happened. 

5. Choose two of the topics below and write a paragraph of 120-150 words for each one, Organise
the details, linking them with appropriate connectors. For each question, a suitable method of
paragraph organisation from the list A-D above has been suggested to help you.
1 Describe how you first met a close friend. Put the details of your paragraph in chronological order.
(D)
2 Explain how two people you know are similar or different. Provide details which show
these similarities and differences clearly. (A)
3 Explain what makes a good friendship, Put the details in order of emphasis. (C)
4 Describe how parents or teachers could reach a better understanding of young people. Provide 
examples or an anecdote to explain your meaning clearly or put the details in order of emphasis. (B or
C)

Study Tip
Whenever you have to produce a piece of writing, you should plan the sequence of your paragraphs
carefully, making sure one leads on naturally to the next. For each paragraph you should:
1 write a clear topic sentence, which expresses the main idea of the paragraph
2 support the topic sentence with relevant details
3 make sure your details are well-organised
4 use connectors to link the details of the paragraph. 
5 make sure the paragraph structure is balanced – i.e. that your paragraphs are of similar lengths
6 make sure your paragraphs are fully developed – avoid paragraphs that are only one sentence long.

In highschool we had a new girl in class and she ended up being my friend. I walked into class one
morning, around 8:30 am. I sat down at my desk in the back of the classroom, when the new girl
turned around to ask me a question. A very important question that started our friendship. After class
we decided to get coffee together. We talked for hours and hours and that was the start of our
friendhip.