Modul Bahan Ajar

PARAGRAPH WRITING
ENI MAHARSI, ARIS SISWANTI

PROGRAM STUDI SASTRA INGGRIS

FAKULTAS ILMU BUDAYA
UNIVERSITAS BRAWIJAYA
This module is developed and distributed for
academic purposes and for classroom use only.
 This book is designed for the students of the Study Program of
English, Department of Languages and Literature, Faculty of Cultural
Studies, Universitas Brawijaya, who are taking Paragraph Writing.
Paragraph Writing covers basic skills in writing, in the areas of ideas,
organization, language use, and mechanics. After completing this
course, it is expected that the students are able write different types
of paragraph and ready to develop their skills in the next courses.
Hence, this book presents discussions and practices on each writing
skill. Also, the discussions are such designed on topics that are current
and relevant to the students.
It is expected that there will be further improvement on the
quality of this module. Therefore, criticisms and suggestions for better
editions are highly appreciated.

Malang, 6 September 2016

The Writers

This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

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 Page

Preface ...................................................................................................... I
Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... Ii
List of Appendices ...................................................................................................... Iii

Unit 1 Introduction to Writing.............................................................. 1

Unit 2 Paragraph Format and Elements................................................. 5
Unit 3 Types of Paragraphs..................................................................... 25
Unit 4 Narrative Paragraph..................................................................... 27
Unit 5 Descriptive Paragraph................................................................... 30
Unit 6 Comparison/Contrast Paragraph................................................ 35
Unit 7 Argumentative Paragraph........................................................... 42
References ...................................................................................................... 51
Appendices ...................................................................................................... 53

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 LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page

Appendix 1 Rencana Proses Kegiatan Pembelajaran Semester................ 53

Appendix 2 Glossary......................................................................... 59

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Unit 1
Introduction to Writing

Objective After finishing this unit, the students are expected to

be able to identify and explain characteristics of good
writing in English.
Schedule and Materials Meeting 1 Characteristics of English Writing

A. Are You Ready to Write?

People say that a key to success in doing something is how much you love
doing it. Writing is no exception. So, let’s find out what your attitude is like about
writing.

1) Circle the appropriate responses to the following statements about writing in

your NATIVE language.

Use this scale:

1: Strongly Agree 2: Agree 3: Neutral
4: Disagree 5: Strongly Disagree

a. I enjoy keeping a diary. ……………………… 1 2 3 4 5

b. I like to write letters to my family and friends. 1 2 3 4 5
c. Writing about my feelings helps me relax. … 1 2 3 4 5
d. I enjoy working on reports for school. ……… 1 2 3 4 5
e. I enjoy writing personal essays. ……………… 1 2 3 4 5
f. I like to write poems, stories, or songs. …….. 1 2 3 4 5
g. I enjoy using e-mail. ……………………………. 1 2 3 4 5
h. I like to write for my school newspaper. …… 1 2 3 4 5
i. Writing helps my creativity. …………………… 1 2 3 4 5
j. I feel good about my writing ability. ………. 1 2 3 4 5

Add up the numbers for each of your answer and write the number here: ___________.
Then divide it with 10 (ten), so your average score is _________.

Overall, your average score tells how much you like to write. The closer it is to “1”, the
more you like to write. The closer your score is to “5”, the less you like to write.

2) Based on your answers, what general conclusions can you make about your
attitude in writing in your native language?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

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3) How about your friends? In small groups, discuss these questions.
a) Are you excited about writing in English? Why or why not?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
b) What kinds of things do you enjoy writing about?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
c) What kinds of writing will be required in university classes?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
d) What types of writing will be required in your future profession?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
e) What do you hope to gain from this course?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

B. What Is Academic Writing?

There are many occasions where you should write in English. As a university
student, especially from an English Department, you are expected to be able to
produce a piece of writing that is suitable for the academic context. So, what is
academic writing like? Let’s discuss it by talking about why, how, and to whom
you write in an academic setting, as presented by Boardman and Frydenberg
(2002).

1. Why Do You Write?

Students are asked to write for several different purposes. Some common
purposes are:
• to compare or contrast two topics
• to argue for a solution to a problem
• to describe a project
• to summarize information
• to report on a laboratory experiment or research
Students are asked to write for these purposes in a variety of academic
situations, such as in composition classes and for essay tests, term papers, and
project reports.

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2. How Do You Write?
In all these writing situations, students have to use a certain format and
style of writing. Every student is expected to write clearly and to use correct
grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Two formats for academic writing are the
paragraph and the essay. The paragraph format is used to answer test
questions. The essay format is made up of several paragraphs and is used to
write compositions, term papers, and research papers.
The style of writing is also important. Students are expected to write in a
somewhat formal style. This means that their language should be clear and
direct and that they should not use slang. In addition, it is important to note
that students are often expected to use their own ideas in their writing. Teachers
generally want their students to use original examples and arguments rather than
just repeat the information they have found in their research.
Students at universities often have very little time to do their writing. For
example, some tests may require students to write several paragraphs to answer
one question in a short period of time. When your time is limited, it becomes
even more important not to waste any of it wondering how to say what you want
to say. In addition, the organizational format used when writing in English is
often quite different from the way writing is organized in other languages. For
these reasons, this book focuses on how writing English paragraphs is organized.
(Yes, we will do things little by little by discussing paragraph now and doing essay
in later courses.) You will write and rewrite many paragraphs. Keep in mind that
the best way to improve is to practice!

3. To Whom Do You Write?

Since the ultimate purpose of writing is communication, all writers need to
be aware of their audience, the people who will read what they write. For
textbook authors, the audience is the student. For businesspeople, the audience
may be a colleague or an employer (in the case of memos and reports) or a
potential customer (in the case of letters and advertisements). For novelists, the
audience is the general public.
The question here is: Who is the audience for students? In most cases,
the audience is the teacher or professor and a classmate or classmates. However,
the purpose of writing is still the same: to communicate a message. The
businessperson and the student may utilize different styles and content in their
writing, but they both need to be aware of their audience, and they both must
work to make their message as clear as possible. Problems of clarity,
organization, and even punctuation are the same for both writers.
Therefore, as you complete your writing assignments, keep in mind the
classmate or teacher to whom you are writing, but remember that what you
learn about academic writing will help you with any type of writing in English that
you do in the future.
So, can you grasp the idea of what English academic writing is like? The
following summary by Peha (2002) may help you keep that picture in mind.

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This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

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Unit 2
Paragraph Format and Elements

Objective After finishing this unit, you will be able to:

Write a good paragraph to introduce yourself
with metaphor
Schedule and Meeting - Self introduction using
Materials 2-4 metaphor
- Writing process
- Paragraph elements and
organization

A. Describing Yourself with Metaphor

Emily Dickinson, one of America’s greatest poets, wrote “’Hope’ is the thing
with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and
never stops at all,” (Pettinger, 2006). You may well be familiar with the technique
used in the poem. It uses metaphor, comparing two things that are literally
unalike to suggest a similarity between them. In this case, “hope” is compared to
a bird, although hope is an inanimate, abstract thing, and a bird is a living object,
to show that they have some similarities. The poem suggests that “hope” is like a
bird that stays and sings in a person’s soul. Hope is invisible, but we can feel if
we have some. When we have hope, there is a kind of an inner voice that
comforts us and gives us encouragement. The inner voice may resemble a bird’s
singing, which is usually lovely to listen to.

PRACTICE 1 Understanding Metaphorical Expressions

Metaphor is a great way to express your ideas or feelings. It is
compact yet able to carry the depth of the idea you want to
express. It sounds interesting too! See how this person
describes her/himself in a forum on a psychology website
(Psychlinks Online, 201). Then answer the following
questions.

Thread: How would you describe yourself (metaphor)

February 23rd, 2008 07:31 PM #1

I would describe myself as a badly damaged building after an earthquake. As all of you
know some damaged buildings can be mended and used again, but some buildings are so
damaged that there is no way to rescue them. The only way is to collapse the building
and to rebuild another building. I am the badly damaged building. There is no way to
rescue me. I will collapse soon. I lost my fifth job and had to move out from the house
I’d lived in for 30 years. For now, some people walking around the building are putting
stones under some parts of the building in order to make the building stand a little
more before falling down. The rocks are my kids, whom I take energy from. They
always try to cheer me and ask me not to stop struggling. Other people just try not to
walk near this collapsing building, because they are afraid that when the building falls,
the dust can make them dirty. So the people are scared and go away. That’s what most
of my friends (that’s how they used to call themselves) does. They never invite me to
their houses anymore. Whenever I run into them, they smile a little bit and quickly
turn away. There are no phone calls or text messages whatsoever. It seems they don’t
want to relate with someone poor and failing like me. I’m so miserable I try so hard
not to give up. But I don’t know how long I can survive.

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1) What does this person compare him/herself to?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2) What similarities are there between the person and the thing?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3) What conclusions can you make about this person?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4) What would you write to respond this posting?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

PRACTICE 2 Making Metaphors

Now it’s your turn. How will you introduce yourself with
metaphor? Think about an object that is literally different from
you but have some characteristics that can describe your
condition (feeling, personality, hobbies or interests). Write
down the object and your similar characteristics.

Me _______________ (The other object)

B. Paragraph Format
In Unit 1 it is mentioned that academic writing uses a specific format. What
should academic writing look like? Look at this model and share your opinions.
The model paragraph and the following discussion are summarized and adapted
from Instructor’s Notes for Paragraph Writing: Introducing yourself (2006).
As you can see, there are five points to note about the paragraph format.
1. The first sentence is indented. It usually begins 5-7 spaces to the right. That
way, we know where one paragraph ends and another begins.
2. Sentences always start with a capital letter and end with a period, question
mark, or exclamation point.
3. Each sentence begins where the previous sentence ends. Do not begin on the
next line. Thus, your paragraph will look neat and you can save space.
4. Write on every other line, or use double spacing if you type.
5. There should be margins around a paragraph. There should be around one
inch on each side of the paper.

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Model Paragraph

Name : Sara
Date : 31 January 2011

Something I Am Good at

One of my talents is cooking. I began cooking with my mother when I was a

small child. I was 7 when I first learnt how to make fried rice. When my father tasted

it, he loved it. Now I still make the dishes my mother taught me a long time ago, but I

also try new recipes. I cook with meat, seafood, or vegetable. I can make cakes, too.

My friends even ask me to make my special cheesecake for their birthdays. I also try

recipes from different countries, such as Italy, China, or Morocco. Some of the

recipes, like tajine, a Moroccan dish of meat and vegetable, are quite complicated,

but after some trials I can make those dishes well. My family frequently attends

picnics where serve my cooking and get compliments that make me proud. In brief,

creating great food is something that I am good at.

C. Writing Process: an Introduction

You know that good writing has several standards in ideas, organization,
style, language use, and mechanics. Thus, people usually do not produce such
good work in one seating. Most writers spend a lot of time thinking, planning and
organizing their ideas. They also revise their work several times until they have
the final product that satisfies the writers, and hopefully the readers later on, in
terms of English those aspects of compositions. It takes patience and skills to
write well, including writing a good paragraph in English. So, writing concerns
with its process as much as its product. The process generally looks as follows
(Instructor’s Notes for Paragraph Writing: Introducing yourself, 2006); Boardman
and Frydenberg, 2002).

Step One: Prewriting

Assessing the topic, generating ideas, and planning

Step Two: Writing

Using your organized ideas to write a first draft

Step Three: Revising and Editing

Improving your draft(s)

Step Four: Publishing

Presenting your final draft to your readers

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1. Step One : Prewriting
Many people start writing right away and stop in the middle of the page
running out of ideas. It happens because their brains are not prepared to produce
so many ideas. Prewriting is meant to warm up your brain before you write, just
like you need to warm up your car’s engine before you drive.

a. Assessing the Assignment

If you are given an assignment, you need to understand exactly what you
are expected to do. Here are some questions students might ask about a writing
assignment:
• What is the purpose of this assignment?
• Should I do research?
• How long should I write?
• When must I turn in this paragraph?
• Can I write by hand, or does it need to be typed?

The answers to those questions are usually available in the instructions of the
assignment or depend on the topic of the assignment itself. (For instance, writing
on your personal experience may not need you to do library research.) Also, each
class has its own rules, such as that regarding paragraph format. If the
information is not quite clear, do not hesitate to ask your instructors about it.

b. Generating Ideas
The purpose of this step is to think about a certain topic and generate as
many ideas as possible. There are many techniques to do this. Some of the most
popular methods are freewriting, brainstorming, and clustering.
1) Freewriting
Freewriting is writing as much as you can and as fast as you can, without
worrying about mistakes. Try to write in sentences in which one word lead to
the next. If you get stuck, just pick up one of the previous words and continue
writing about that.
2) Brainstorming
This method can be done individually or in groups. The difference from
freewriting is that you list as many points you think related to the topic as
possible.
3) Clustering
If you prefer to work with information visually, clustering might be a
perfect technique for you. Instead of making list of ideas or writing sentences,
you put your ideas in circles and connect them with lines.

c. Planning
At this stage, you organize the ideas you generated into an outline. The
outline presents your topic and specific, relevant details, starting from the
general idea to the most specific ones. You can use the outline as a guide which
you can refer to while you are composing.
Before Sara, the student whose paragraph is used as a model, wrote her
paragraph, she also gathered as many ideas as possible on how she could
introduce herself. Then she arranged her ideas into an outline. The followings are
her freewriting and outline.

Freewriting
Hi, I want to introduce myself. My name is Sara, I’m student,I’m 18
years old. I study English literature. A good student I study a lot. I
also have many hobies cooking and travelling. mom taught me to
cook when I was little and I still cook until now. I try different
resapees.I can make cakes my friends asked me to make them
birthday cakes. learn to make different foods like from different
countries. I like traveling with my family. When our family have a
picnic I always cook for them and they love my cooking. I’m a good
cook,

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 Apparently, she had more ideas on cooking that on the others (being a
student, traveling). So, she chose to write about that one hobby. She crossed out
the ideas she wouldn’t use and arrange the rest of the ideas in an outline. The
outline is more organized than the freewriting.

Outline
Cooking
Topic sentence : I want to introduce myself.
Support : mom taught me to cook when I was little
Support : I try different resappes.
Support : When our family have a picnic I always cook for them
and they love my cooking.
Conclusion : I’m a good cook

2. Step Two : Writing

You develop your outline into a paragraph. The paragraph should have the
parts of a paragraph that will be explained in the next discussion about
paragraph elements and organization.

3. Step Three : Revising and Editing

Writers are usually not satisfied with the quality of their writing in their first
draft. They need to read the draft, add new ideas or more specific support,
eliminate irrelevant sentences, rearrange ideas, or edit the grammar,
punctuation, spelling, and format. Editing checklist, teacher’s feedback or peer
feedback is useful for the writers to improve their compositions at this stage. It
can take some time and some re-writing. That is why it has been said that writing
is basically revising. There is no good writing, only good rewriting.

4. Step Four : Publishing

Now the final draft is ready to be “published”. In a classroom setting, your
teacher will grade your paragraph. You may present it to your classmates, too.
Or, you can have it publish in your school magazine. All in all, it is time for you to
let people read and enjoy your work.

PRACTICE 3 Writing Practice—Freewriting

In Practice 2 you made metaphor about yourself. In this
exercise you will begin the process of writing a paragraph to
introduce yourself with the metaphor. Write freely to gather
ideas on introducing yourself with the metaphor. You can
include the notes you made in Practice 2.

D. Paragraph Elements and Organization

Besides the physical look of a paragraph, writers must concern with its
content and organization. A good paragraph should present only a single idea,
which is supported with some specific details. Here are the elements of a
paragraph (Boardman and Frydenberg, 2002).

1. The Topic Sentence (TS)

A paragraph usually begins with a sentence that introduces the topic and
main idea of the paragraph. A good topic sentence usually contains the opinion
or attitude of the writer. A statement of fact is not an effective topic sentence
because there is nothing more that can be said about it and, therefore, nothing to
write in your paragraph. Look at these two sentences:
1) Twenty-five people attended the company's Halloween party.
2) The company's Halloween party was a bore, as usual.
Sentence (1) is not an effective topic sentence because it is a fact. It is difficult to
write more about facts because they are either true or false. However, since

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sentence (2) is an opinion, there is a lot the writer could say to convince the
reader that the party was a bore. Therefore, it is an acceptable topic sentence.
A good topic sentence can also divide a topic into different parts. Look
at these sentences. For each of these topic sentences, the writer explains the
division of the topic into parts.
3) Ramadan has three important days within the month of fasting.
4) There are three main kinds of holidays.
5) Planning a good Fourth of July party requires five specific steps.
Anyway, do you know which part of the sentences that expresses the
writer’s opinion or divides the topic into parts? In sentence (b) the writer thought
that the Halloween party was A BORE, while other people who came to the party
might have different opinions. In the paragraph, the sentences that follow this
topic sentence will have to show the readers that the party was actually boring.
In sentence (c), it is said that Ramadan has THREE IMPORTANT DAYS WITHIN
THE MONTH OF FASTING, so the readers can expect that the paragraph will
explain what the three important days in Ramadan are. Another characteristic of a
good topic sentence is that it has as two parts: the topic and the controlling
idea. The topic is the subject of your paragraph, while the controlling idea limits
the topic and thus, controls all the other sentences.

PRACTICE 4 Identifying Topics and Controlling Ideas

Read each sentence. Underline the topic and circle the
controlling idea.

1) Alcohol is harmful to your health.

2) The Western world should have a holiday to recognize senior citizens.
3) The colors of the U.S. flag have unique symbolic meanings.
4) A camping vacation sounds like a punishment to me.
5) Weeds can ruin a vegetable garden.

PRACTICE 5 Evaluating Topic Sentences

Read each sentence and decide if it is a good topic
sentence. Remember that topic sentences should state an
opinion or divide the topic into parts. If the sentence is a
good topic sentence, underline the topic and circle the
controlling idea. If it isn't, cross it out.

1) My brother is older than I am.

2) Jack is Kate's friend.
3) Jack is Kate's best friend.
4) You need four ingredients to make peanut butter.
5) Big business is threatening the environment.
6) Big business has an effect on the environment.
7) Living far from home is good for me.
8) I am from out of town, so I am living in a boarding house.
9) Writing is one of the four language skills.
10) There are some characteristics of good English paragraph.

2. Supporting Sentences (SS)

After you have stated your point in the topic sentence, you need to support
it with reasons, facts, and examples. It is the job of a writer to provide enough
support to prove the point you made in the topic sentence. Reasons are common
support because a typical topic sentence will state the writer’s opinion, so
naturally the next sentences are about the reasons why the writer has such an
opinion. Facts, examples, statistics, or numbers make your ideas sound more real
and precise. Remember, you need to support or explain your main idea with
details, not repeat the idea in different words. Please study the following
paragraphs. In each paragraph, the TS is bold, and the support is underlined

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(Boardman and Frydenberg, 2002).

Paragraph 1
The repairs on my cars were much more expensive than I had
anticipated. When I saw the final bill, I was in shock. It was twice as much as I
had planned on. I had to pay $395 to get the brakes repaired and another $100
to get the wheels aligned. The engine oil change was $30, and the air filter
replacement was another $20.

Paragraph 2
The repairs on my car were much more expensive than I had
anticipated. The mechanic did a good job, but I think I was overcharged for
everything. I never imagined that the final bill would be so high. In fact, I had to
borrow some money from my friend to pay it. The next time my car needs repair,
I’ll go to a different garage.

As you read the two paragraphs you may notice that:

1) Paragraph 1 provides more specific support because it explains the exact cost
the person had to pay to repair which part of the car, proving that the repairs
were really expensive.
2) Paragraph 2 looks good but lacks important details. How much was the writer
overcharged and for which parts of the car? How much this person had to
borrow money to pay it? The readers will still wonder if the repairs were really
as expensive as the writer says.

Now study paragraphs 3 and 4 and take notes of the followings.

1) Underline the TS and circle the support.
2) Which paragraph provides more specific support?

Paragraph 3
My chemistry course is very difficult and time consuming. The professor
doesn’t seem to realize that chemistry isn’t the only course we’re taking. He gives
lots of homework and too much reading. The worst thing is that his lectures are
really boring. I’m not interested in chemistry, so I hate reading the textbook. I
know I’m not the only student complaining about this course.

Paragraph 4
My chemistry course is very difficult and time consuming. First of all, we’re
responsible for two labs every week, which means a minimum of ten hours a
week in the lab. To make matters worse, the professor gives at least three tests
per month. The questions are very tricky, and we have to memorize long,
complicated formulas. Finally, the reading load is also quite heavy—as much as
twenty-five pages a night. I often spend all my free time doing the required
reading.

PRACTICE 6 Recognizing Irrelevant Supporting Sentences

Each of following paragraphs contains one sentence that is
irrelevant. Cross out that sentence and explain why it does not
belong in the paragraph.

1) Cats make wonderful house pets. They are very loving and friendly. They are
also clean. They don’t eat much, so they are not expensive. Many people are
allergic to their hair. They look beautiful.
2) There are several reasons why many American women are waiting until they
are thirty years or older to have their first baby. Some women have good kobs
and want to continue their careers. Many American couples have two children.
Other women don’t want the responsibility of having children until they are
older. Still others are waiting until they are financially secure before they start
a family.

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3) Running has many positive effects on the body. First of all, it increases the
efficiency of the heart and lungs. Running also helps the body develop greater
physical endurance. However, many people prefer swimming. Finally, it helps
the body become more mechanically efficient.
4) The Japanese automobile industry uses robots in many phases of its
production process. In fact, one large Japanese auto factory uses robots in all
of its production stages. Some Japanese universities are developing medical
robots to detect certain kind of cancer. Another automobile factory in Japan
uses robots to paint cars as they come off the assembly line. Furthermore,
most Japanese factories use robots to weld the parts of the finished car
together. (Blanchard and Root, 1994)

PRACTICE 7 Writing Supporting Sentences

Write three supporting sentences for each of the following
topic sentences.

EXAMPLE: TS: I am terrible at doing the laundry.

SS: a. I forget to separate the colored clothes from the white
ones and sometimes end up with gray underwear.
2. I rarely read the cleaning instructions and have ruined
clothes by putting them in the washing machine
instead of drying cleaning them.
3. I often shrink my favorite shirts because I leave them
in the dryer for too long.

1) I love eating food from different countries.

a. ___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________
2) There are several ways to conserve electricity.
a. ___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________
3) There is too much violence on television.
a. ___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________

4) It is almost impossible to study in my dormitory.

a. ___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________
5) My life is like the town square on Saturday nights.
a. ___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________
In terms of organization, especially of expository paragraphs, there are two
types of supporting sentences: major supporting sentences and minor supporting
sentences. The major supporting sentences are the main details that tell us
about the topic sentence. The minor supporting sentences tell us more about
the major supporting sentences. It is important to note that all major supporting

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sentences do not need to have the same number of minor supporting sentences.
(Boardman and Frydenberg, 2002) In fact, sometimes you will not have any minor
supporting sentences at all. Here is the diagram showing the parts of the model
paragraph from this unit.

Title : Something I am Good at

TS : One of my talents is cooking.
Major SS: I began cooking with my mother when I was a small child.
Minor SS: I was 7 when I first learnt how to make fried rice.
Minor SS: When my father tasted it, he loved it.
Major SS: Now I still make the dishes my mother taught me a long time
ago, but I also try new recipes.
Minor SS: I cook with meat, seafood, or vegetable.
Minor SS: I can make cakes, too. – My friends even ask me to make
my special cheesecake for their birthdays.
Minor SS: I also try recipes from different countries, such as Italy,
China, or Morocco. Some of the recipes, like tajine,
Moroccan dish of meat and vegetable, are quite
complicated, but after some trials I can make those
dishes well.
Major SS: My family frequently attends picnics where I serve my cooking
and get compliments that make me proud.
Concluding Sentence : In brief, creating great food is something that I am
good at.

3. The Concluding Sentence (CS)

The concluding sentence of a paragraph is generally a restatement of
the topic sentence. It may not be possible to restate the topic itself, but it is
always possible to restate the controlling idea. Sometimes, the sentence
summarizes the main points of the body of the paragraph. It can be the writer’s
final comment, too. The concluding sentence of the model paragraph, as
indicated in the diagram, is a restatement of the topic sentence. (Boardman and
Frydenberg, 2002)

PRACTICE 8 Writing Concluding Sentences

Write concluding sentences for each Topic Sentence below.
They can be a restatement of the TS, summary of main
points, or a final comment.

1) I love eating food from different countries.

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

2) There are several ways to conserve electricity.

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3) There is too much violence on television.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

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4) It is almost impossible to study in my dormitory.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
5) My life is like the town square on Saturday nights.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

PRACTICE 9 Writing Practice–Outlining

Develop your paragraph outline based on the freewriting you
did in Practice 3. Write the outline below. Remember that

1) The title should be one or a few words that tell about the topic of your
paragraph.
2) The topic sentence must be a complete sentence.
3) The major and minor supports do not have to be sentences. They can be
words or phrases.

Title: ______________________________

Topic Sentence: ___________________________________________

Major Support: ____________________________________________ Minor
support: _______________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Major Support: ____________________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Major Support: ____________________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Minor support: _______________________________________
Conclusion: _______________________________________________

PRACTICE 10 Writing Practice—Draft 1

Now is your time to write your first draft. Use the outline you
made in the previous exercise as a guide. Include the
concluding sentence.

E. Coherence and Cohesion

So far, you have learned about the organization of a paragraph. Good
paragraphs also have two more characteristics in common. The first of these is
called coherence. A coherent paragraph is made up of sentences that are

14
ordered according to a principle. The principle changes depending on the type of
paragraph that you are writing. (Types of paragraphs will be discussed in detail
later in this book.) The three types of ordering are chronological ordering, spatial
ordering, and logical ordering. (Boardman and Frydenberg, 2002)

1. Narrative Paragraphs and Chronological Ordering

For a narrative paragraph, you must use good chronological ordering of
sentences. This means that the supporting sentences must tell the events of a
story in the order that they happened. In other words, the events must be
ordered according to time. The following paragraph tells about an important event
in any child's life. It clearly tells the story of one day as it happened through time—
from waking up in the early morning to finding the birthday present at the end of
the day.

2. Descriptive Paragraph and Spatial Ordering

Descriptive paragraphs also need good coherence, or good ordering of
sentences. However, they do not use chronological ordering. They use spatial
ordering. In other words, they have sentences that are ordered according to
space. Usually, this means that items are described systematically through space.
For example, this could be top to bottom, head to foot, left to right, or front to
back.

3. Expository Paragraph and Logical Ordering

As you might guess by now, expository paragraphs also require good
coherence. The principle, however, is different. With expository paragraphs,
coherence is based on logic or reason. We call this logical ordering of sentences
in a paragraph. Look at the following model of an expository paragraph. The
ordering of the supporting sentences follows a logical pattern in that each
celebration is described before another is mentioned. Also, the religious
celebrations are discussed before the nonreligious ones, and the two are not
mixed.

Another characteristic of a good paragraph is cohesion. When a

paragraph has cohesion, all the supporting sentences "stick together" in their
support of the topic sentence. The methods of connecting sentences to each other
are called cohesive devices. Five important cohesive devices are linking words,
personal pronouns, definite articles, demonstrative pronouns, and synonyms.

1) Linking Words
There are many ways to help give a paragraph cohesion. One way is to use
linking words. There are many kinds of linking words: coordinating conjunctions,
subordinating conjunctions, prepositions, and transitions. Transitions are a very
common type of linking word. They are words or phrases that help to connect
sentences to one another. They may also help the coherence of a paragraph by
indicating the order of the supporting sentences. To some extent, linking words,
including transitions, are particular to the type of paragraph that you are writing.
The next chart lists some common linking words for each type of paragraph.

Paragraph Common linking words

Narrative first, second, third, etc.

at first, next, after that, later on, then, finally
in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, until then

Descriptive to the left, to the right, in front of, behind , on top of, under, above,
next to

Expository first, second, third, etc.

however, on the other hand, in fact, for example, therefore,

15
 furthermore, finally, in short, in conclusion
2) Personal Pronouns
Another way to help a paragraph have good cohesion is by using personal
pronouns. Pronouns usually have antecedents, or nouns that they stand for, in
previous sentence parts or sentences. In other words, a pronoun usually refers
back to a previous noun—its antecedent. For example:

The little boy looked at the birthday cake. He stuck out his finger and took a taste
of it.

Using the personal pronouns he, his, and it in the second sentence connects these
two sentences. In fact, if you didn't use pronouns, you would have an awkward
second sentence that might not seem related to the first one. For example:

The little boy looked at the birthday cake. The little boy stuck out the little boy's
finger and took a taste of the birthday cake.

3) The Definite Article

The third way to connect sentences is to use the definite article the. A noun
with a definite article often relates to a previously mentioned noun. For example:

I bought an anniversary present yesterday. The anniversary present is for my

grandparents.

It's obvious that these two sentences are talking about the same anniversary
present because of the use of the definite article in the second sentence. In fact,
if the definite article were not used, these two sentences would not be related.
Look at these two sentences:

I bought an anniversary present yesterday. An anniversary present is for my

grandparents.

4) Demonstrative Pronouns
Another way to give a paragraph good cohesion is to use the
demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those. Like previous cohesive
devices, demonstrative pronouns require antecedents in order to help connect
sentences to those that came before. For example:

On top of the table was a present.

This present had purple wrapping paper.

You could also use the definite article instead of the demonstrative pronoun
to indicate that the two sentences go together. However, you must use one or the
other. If you don't, then these two sentences aren't connected. For example:
On top of the table was a present. A present had purple wrapping paper.

5) Synonyms
The use of synonyms is also a cohesive device in that the synonyms refer
back to their antecedents. Like using a pronoun, using a synonym also prevents
the frequent repetition of a word or words. Read the first paragraph. It is
awkward because of the overrepetition of words. Then read the revised version
using synonyms for the forms of depress and retire.

Retirement

The sixty-five-year-old employee was depressed at the thought of his

retirement. His boss told him that he had to retire because he was at retirement
age, but he didn't want to retire. Therefore, he became depressed. He thought
that his days would be depressing from then on because he was retired. In fact, he

16
was so depressed that his wife made him find another job with a company that
didn't have a retirement age. He wasn't depressed after that.

Retirement (Revised Version)

The employee was saddened by the thought of his retirement. His boss told
him that he had to stop working because he was sixty-five, but he felt that he still
had a lot of good work years in him. He didn't want to quit working, so he
became depressed. He thought that his days would become boring and useless
from then on because he couldn't work. In fact, he became so distressed that his
wife made him find a company to work for that didn't have a retirement policy.
He felt great after that.

In the revised paragraph, the cohesive devices are useful in relating

sentences in a paragraph to one another. When sentences are related, a
paragraph has good cohesion.

PRACTICE 11 Using Cohesive Devices

This paragraph lacks cohesion because it doesn't have linking
words, definite articles, or demonstrative pronouns. It also
repeats nouns instead of using personal pronouns or
synonyms. Rewrite the paragraph on a separate piece of
paper. Make the cohesion better.

Preparing to Travel

Traveling to a foreign city can be fun, but traveling to a foreign city requires
some planning besides getting a passport. You should buy a phrase book and
learn a few key phrases in a foreign language. Using phrases demonstrates a
willingness to learn about the people who live in a foreign city. Read about a city
beforehand. Read about what places in a foreign city you'd like to see. Get a
feeling for a foreign city and for weather so that you can pack appropriate
clothes. Check your camera. Make sure that your camera is in good working
order and that you have lots of film. Get yourself a good pair of walking shoes,
and break a good pair of walking shoes in for about a month before you leave.
Taking a few precautions before you leave can make your trip to a foreign city
more enjoyable.

PRACTICE 12 Writing Practice—Revising

In this exercise you will check your first draft and improve it
as necessary. Before you do that, look Sara’s first draft before
she revised it into a paragraph that looks more like the model
paragraph from this unit.

First Draft:
Something I am Good at

Hello, I would like to introduce myself. One of my talents is cooking. I also

like to swim and play volleyball. I begin cooking with my Mother when I was a
small child, and I have always enjoyed it I still make the dishes my mother teach
me a long time ago, but I also try new resapees. I also try recipe from other
countries, like Morocco. My family frequently attends picnics where I get
compliments that make me proud. I also try resapees.

In this first draft you can notice that the first sentence does not tell about
the main idea of the paragraph. The supports are there but they need more
details, and the paragraph does not have a conclusion.
Now it’s your turn. Read your first draft. Use this checklist so that you can
improve your paragraph. Give a tick () to indicate your answer. Then revise

17
your paragraph as draft 2.

Revising Checklist for Paragraphs

Revising Checklist for Paragraphs Yes Not yet

1. Is there a clear topic sentence?
2. Do all the sentences support the topic sentence?
3. Is there enough information to support the topic?
4. Are the sentences organized in a logical order?
5. Are there transition words to guide the leader from
one idea to the next?
6. Does the concluding sentence restate the topic
sentence, summarize the main point, or contain a
relevant final comment?
If the answer to any of the questions is "not yet,” you need to revise the paragraph.
Source: Boardman and Frydenberg (2002)

F. Language Focus: Grammar and Mechanics

Content, organization, and format are essential for your writing. Now
let’s talk about the grammar and mechanics, which are as necessary as the
other three in order that you can produce high-quality writing. Boardman and
Frydenberg (2002)

1. Agreement of Subjects and Verbs

You need to check if your sentences in the paragraph you have made
are grammatically correct. In this sense, the sentences must have a subject
and a verb, and both the subject and verb must agree w i t h each other. This
means that if the subject is singular, the verb must is singular. If the subject
is plural, the verb must be plural.
Examples:
a. My friend was late for class.
b. My friends were late for class.

For subject/verb agreement:

1) Find the main verb in each sentence.
2) Match the verb to it s subject.
3) Make sure that the subject and verb agree in number.

Keep the following rules in mind:

1. If subjects are joined by and, they are considered plural. Use a plural
verb. (e.g. My friend and I were late for class.)
2. If subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the closer
subject.
3. Use a singular verb if the subject closer to the verb is singular. (e.g.
Neither Emily nor Ann plans to join the tennis club.)
4. Use a plural verb if the subject closer to the verb is plural. (e.g. Neither
Ann nor her sisters plan to join the tennis club.)

2. Agreement of Pronouns and Nouns

A pronoun must refer back to a noun. You must use the correct pronoun
so your reader knows which noun your pronoun is referring to. A pronoun should
agree in number with the noun it refers to. If it refers to a singular noun,
you must use a singular pronoun. If it refers to a plural noun, you must use
a plural pronoun.

When a student eats in the cafeteria, he/she must show a student ID.
When students eat in the cafeteria, they must show a student ID.

18
For pronoun/noun agreement:
1) Read over your paper, stopping at each pronoun. (Pay special attention to the
pronouns i t , this, they, and them.)
2) Identify the noun that the pronoun replaces. If you can't find the noun, you
must add one or change the pronoun to a noun. If you find a noun, make
sure it agrees w i t h t h e pronoun.

The following pronouns are singular. Use a singular pronoun when you
refer to them.
anybody everybody somebody nobody
anyone everyone someone no one
anything everything something none
either one neither nothing

3. Agreement of Possessives and Nouns or Pronouns

Pay special attention to possessives. Just as a pronoun and the noun
it refers to must agree, a possessive must agree with the word it refers to. If
the word referred to is singular, the possessive adjective or pronoun must be
singular. If the word is plural, the possessive adjective or pronoun must be
plural.
The little boy is holding his mother's hand.
The children are holding their mother's hands.
Each of the girls had her own bedroom in the apartment.
Both of our daughters have their own cars.
Give it to Jane. It's hers.

PRACTICE 13 Practicing Agreements

Choose the correct answer to complete these sentences.

1) Everyone who works hard in t h i s class (do / does) well.

2) Many of my friends ( l i k e / likes) t h e professor.
3) The book and the movie (has / have) the same ending.
4) He said, "Nobody (cares / care) about the game."
5) Both of the students forgot ( h i s / their) notebooks.
6) Neither of my sisters owns (her / their) own house.
7) Matthew l i k e s ( h i s / th e i r ) meat cooked well done.
8) One of the women has retired from (her / their) job.

4. Sentence Fragments
Every English sentence must have a subject and a verb. It must also
express a complete thought. It can stand alone because the sentence makes
sense by itself. If a sentence lacks either a subject or a verb or is not a
complete thought, it is called a sentence fragment.
1) No Subject
Did very well on her math exam. (fragment/F)
Georgette did very well on her math exam. (sentence/S)
2) No Verb
Both Alexander and his younger sister Lisa. (F)
Both Alexander and h i s younger sister Lisa enjoy tennis. (S)
3) No Independent Clause/Incomplete
Before I went to college. (F)
Before I went Io college, I worked part time at a bank. (S)

Although a dependent clause has a subject and verb, it is a

fragment because it is not a complete thought. A dependent clause
must be attached to an independent clause to form a complete sentence
w i t h a complete thought.

19
 Here is a l i s t of the common words that are used to begin a
dependent clause:

after despite since until where

although even if so that whatever wherever
as even though that when whenever
because if though whom which
before in sp ite of unless whose while

Example: Whenever I run into them.

There are two possible ways to correct this mistake:
1. Make the dependent clause a complete sentence by removing the word
whenever. (I run into them)
2. Attach the dependent clause to an independent clause. (Whenever I run into
them, they smile a little bit and quickly turn away.)

5) Comma Splices
A comma splice is an error that occurs when a comma alone is used
between two independent clauses.

Example:
My brother is Ben, he’s five years old.

To correct the sentence, you can do one of the followings, given that you
consider the meaning of the sentence(s) after the correction:

1) Make it separate sentences. (My brother is Ben. He’s five years old.)
2) Replace the comma with a semicolon. (My brother is Ben; he’s five years old.)
3) Insert an appropriate conjunction. (My brother is Ben, and he’s five years
old.)

PRACTICE 14 Identifying Fragments and Comma Splices

There are four fragments and three comma splices in this
paragraph. Find and correct them.

Basketball

I love basketball very much. I have played basketball

since junior high school. I love NBA, too, I always watch
NBA games on TV or the Internet. Last week, was the
first time that NBA games take place in Taipei, Taiwan.
It’s a pity. That I missed the opportunity to watch this
game. My favorite NBA basketball player is Manu Ginobili
who’s from Argentina, he is in Spurs now. He missed lots
of games last season. because of injuries. I hope he
could lead Spurs to win the championship in this season.
I usually play NBA games. When I play computer games
in my free time. Of course, using Ginobili to score two-
hundred points in one game is a piece of cake, I hope my
basketball skills could be as well as his someday.
(Femalefan, 2011)

6) Run-on Sentences
A run-on sentence occurs when two complete sentences are written as
one sentence.
EXAMPLE: Sara loves to cook she is always in the kitchen.

20
There are three ways to correct this problem:
a. Use punctuation, usually a period, to separate the two sentences.
(Sara loves to cook. She is always in the kitchen.)
b. Use a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, so, or, nor, yet) to
connect
the two clauses. (Sara loves to cook, she loves cooking for her family
and friends.)
c. Use a subordinating conjunction to connect the two clauses. (Sara is
always in the kitchen because she loves to cook.)

PRACTICE 15 Identifying Run-on Sentences

Write S in front of each correct sentence. Write R in
front of a run-on. Then correct the run-on sentences.

(___) 1. Scrubbing toilets, cleaning sinks, and washing bathtubs take up a lot of
my time and are not fun at all.

__________________________________________________

(___) 2. I think toilets are one of the hardest things to scrub in the bathroom it is
hard to get up around the rim.

__________________________________________________

(___) 3. Bathtubs are big and deep, and it is hard to get up around the sides.

__________________________________________________

(___) 4. Cleaning my room is OK because I have to organize, and I like

organizing.

___________________________________________________

(___) 5. Making my bed is boring I have to do it every day.

___________________________________________________

4) Punctuation
Punctuation marks, such as commas, periods, and quotation
marks, help readers interpret sentences. They determine how a
sentence should be read and understood. The guidelines below w i l l h e l p
you master the use of some important punctuation marks in
English.

Kinds Usage Examples

Period • To end of a statement
• With most abbreviations
Note:
a question ends with a
question mark, and an
interjection ends with an
exclamation point.
Comma • to separate words or
phrases in a series
• to separate independent
clauses joined by a
coordinating conjunction
• Manu Ginobili plays for the
San Antonio Spurs.
• Mr./Mrs.
• A.M. /P.M.
• apt./assoc./Inc.
• I love Italian, Chinese and
Moroccan foods.
• I worked hard all day, so I
went to bed early.

21
 • a f t e r introductory phrases
or clauses
• with transitions
• before a direct quote
• between the day of the
month and the year
• to separate cities from states
Colon • to introduce a series
• to separate hours from
minutes
• after the salutation in formal
letters
Semicolons to substitute a period for closely
related sentences (independent
clause; transition, independent
clause)
Quotation • to enclose a direct quote
marks
• Because I was tired, I
went to bed early.
• Jonas is very shy.
However, his brother is an
extrovert. (Or: Jonas is
very shy. His brother,
however, is an extrovert.
• Emily Dickinson wrote,
“Hope is the thing with
feathers.”
• February 21, 2011
• Orlando, Florida
• The museum offers tours
on the following
collections: American,
Asian, and European.
• 7:00
• Dear Ms. Brody:
It is raining today; therefore,
my pet snake can’t go
outside.
• Emily Dickinson wrote,
“Hope is the thing with
feathers.”

• to identify titles of songs, • My favorite song is

short stories, poems, articles, “Gypsy” by Shakira.
essays, or book chapters.
(Titles of longer works—
books or newspaper—or art
works are underlined or
italicized)

5) Capitalization
The next table summarizes when to capitalize a word.
Where? Examples
The first word of a sentence Cooking is something I’m good
at.
Names and a t i t l e that precedes a name Sara/Dr. Lourie
the names of racial and ethnic groups African
American/Caucasian/Asian
The names of specific geographical locations Malang/ Mount Semeru
including countries, states, cities, towns,
rivers, streets, and mountains:
the days of the week, months, and holidays Tuesday/September/Christmas
the names of religions: Buddhism/Christianity/Islam
nationalities and languages Arabic/Japanese
a l l words in a t i t l e except articles, Men in Black
prepositions, and conjunctions, unless they
are the first or the last word in the title

22
PRACTICE 16 Using Punctuation and Capitalization
Add the correct capitalization and punctuation to the
sentences that follow.

1) when w i l l professor k l e i n be in his office

2) i'll meet you on tuesday afternoon at 430 in front of the library on liberty
street
3) mrs baker is one of the most inspiring speakers i've ever heard
4) the earliest maps anyone knows of were made by babylonians and
egyptians over 4,000 years ago
5) professor dickens is sick so his tuesday night class w i l l be canceled
6) traffic is causing serious pollution in some cities such as athens mexico
city and los angeles
7) baby whales stay with their mothers for one or two years after that they usually go
out on their own.
8) in conclusion mario vargas llosa is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century

6) Spelling
Here are some good rules for spelling (Peha, 2003).
• Q is always followed by u, except in Iraq.
• Every syllable has a vowel or a y.
• When words end in silent e. Drop the e when adding endings that begin with a
vowel (have → having).
• Keep the e when adding endings that begin with a consonant (late → lately).
• When the singular form ends with consonant + y, change the y to i and add es
(baby → babies). When it ends with vowel + y, add s (boy → boys).
Below are some words and phrases with which spelling can become a
problem and cause confusion in meaning. What does each of the words or
phrases mean? Look up your dictionary if necessary.

1) Accept/Except :
2) Advice/ Advise :
3) Affect/ Effect :
4) Its/it’s :
5) Suppose/be supposed to :
6) Than/Then :
7) To/ Too :
8) Use/Used/Be used to/Used to:

To sum up, a good paragraph…

✓ has the standard paragraph format
✓ presents a single idea that is supported with details
✓ has the Topic Sentence, Supporting Sentences, and
Concluding Sentence
✓ has coherence and cohesion—is made up of well-
ordered sentences that stick together to support the
Topic Sentence
✓ has grammatically correct sentences
✓ uses correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling

23
PRACTICE 17 Writing practice—editing
By now you have written your 2nd draft. It means you’re
almost done with your first writing project. Good job! Before
you submit it, please edit your paragraph. Exchange your 2nd
draft with a classmate, and check each other’s draft using this
checklist below, by putting a tick () to respond each
question. After your draft is returned, check your friend’s
notes and revise as necessary. Then submit the final draft
with all the previous writings that you have made for this
assignment.

Paragraph Editing Checklist (Boardman and Frydenberg, 2002)

Paragraph Editing Checklist Yes Not
Yet
Is the first sentence of the paragraph indented?
Do the subjects and verbs agree?
Do the nouns, pronouns, and possessives agree?
Are all the sentences complete (no fragments)?
Have the run-on sentences been corrected?
Is the punctuation correct in all the sentences?
Does the first word of each sentence begin with a capital
letter?
Are a l l the words spelled correctly?
If the answer to any of the questions is "not yet," go back and try to
improve your paragraph

This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

24
Unit 3
Types of Paragraphs

Objective After finishing this unit, you are expected to be

able to identify and explain the types of
paragraphs

Schedule and Materials Meeting 5 Types of paragraphs

A paragraph is a group of sentences that works together to develop a main

idea. Paragraphs are organized differently depending on their purpose. There are
three main types of paragraphs in English: narrative, descriptive, and expository
(Hogue, 1996 and Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

A. Narrative Paragraph
A narrative paragraph tells a story. You can, of course, tell stories of
shorter or greater length. The most important feature of a narrative paragraph is
that it tells a story.

EXAMPLE
Europe – Here I Come

My first trip abroad was very exciting. When I was planning my trip, I
looked for the cheapest airfare to Europe. Once I booked my flight, I
concentrated on getting the things I needed for my month long adventure,
including a passport and a Eurail pass. I decided that a backpack was the only
luggage that I would need, so I bought a big one and jammed everything into it.
On the day I lef, I was excited and also a bit nervous because this was going to
be my first trip without my parents. The flight there was much longer than I had
expected, but once I arrived, I was hooked on Europe. I landed first in
Amsterdam, and over the next month, I visited ten European cities from London
to Rome. Everywhere I went, there were lots of young people from all over the
world. We often traveled together, and we had some great times. We traveled by
train and sayed in cheap hotels and youth hostels. My parents were horrified
when I returned home and told them some of my stories, but I will never forget
that trip. Although trips like this have become common for people of my
generation, it was an unforgettable adventure for me.

B. Descriptive Paragraph
The second kind of paragraph is a descriptive paragraph. This kind of
paragraph is used to describe what something looks like. It gives the reader a
clear mental picture of what is being described. This is the goal of a descriptive
paragraph.

25
EXAMPLE

My Not-So-Innocent Cat

(Image of a cat, 2013)

My first little kitten has turned into a mischievous and beautiful feline. Her fur is
white, which makes the perky ears on top of her head look a little pink. Her eyes are
big and yellow. When she’s wide awake and in trouble, they can look as bright as the
sun. Her nose is pink, and under this is her mouth. It is usually open and talking or
has a sly smile on it. On both sides of her mouth are whiskers. They are long and
seem to dance in the sunlight.
This seemingly innocent head is attached to a rather plump, but hardly lazy, body.
Her legs are strong and allow her to make an escape in a matter of minutes. At the
end of her body is a long tail that is constantly in motion. In short, I have to say that I
love everything about this troublemaker of mine.
C. Expository Paragraph
The goal of expository writing is to explain something to the reader. You
can explain something in many ways. Some of these are:
1. By comparing two things or people (e.g., buildings, political leaders, economic
theories)
2. By showing the steps in aprocess(e.g., how to increase profits, how to
evaluate a painting)
3. By analyzing something or a problem(e.g., global warming, different theories
of learning)
4. By persuading
a. Trying to make others do something (e.g., stop smoking, sign a petition)
b. Arguing for your opinion (e.g., Indonesian cars vs. foreign cars, the pros
and cons of giving grades in school)

EXAMPLE

Football vs. Rugby

(Image of soccer and rugby balls, 2013)

American football and rugby have more differences than similarities. For instance,
football requires eleven players, whereas rugby requires thirtieen to fifteen. Also, a
football field is longer than a rugby field but is less wide. Football has four quarters of
fifteen minutes each, but rugby has two forty-minute halves. A touchdown in football
is worth six points; however, a goal in rugby is worth four points. There are also a few
basic similarities. Both games are played with a leather, oval-shaped ball, and both
are based on soccer. In short, while football and rugby have some similarities, their
differences help make them two unique games.

26
Unit 4
Narrative Paragraph

Objective After finishing this unit, you are expected to be

able to write a good narrative paragraph.
Schedule and Meeting 5- Narrative paragraph about an
Materials 7 unforgettable moment

(Image of a beach, 2013)

The goal for narrative writing is to tell a story of an experience, event, or

sequence of event while holding the reader’s interest. Narrative writing appears
in and is not limited to poetry, short stories, novels, personal essays, and folk
tales.
A good narrative writing usually has these characteristics.
1) Narrative writing is usually written in first or third-person
2) In a narrative paragraph, you must use good chronological ordering of
sentences. It means that the supporting sentences must tell the events of a
story in the order that they happened.
3) It may include some dialogue
4) There are characters, setting and plot in narrative writing. (Hogue, 1996;
Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

A. Prewriting: Freewriting
Freewriting is a way first to get and then develop ideas. When you freewrite,
you write “freely”- without stopping-on a topic for a specific amount of time. You
just write down sentences as you think of them without worrying about whether
your sentences are correct or not. You also don’t have to punctuate sentences or
capitalize words. You can even write incomplete sentences or phrases. The main
goal in freewriting is to keep your pencil moving across the paper. (Hogue, 1996;
Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

EXAMPLE Freewriting on the topic “A memorable Event in My Life”

I’m supposed to freewrite for ten minutes about a memorable event in my

life. I don’t know what to write about. Maybe about my brother’s boat accident.
We were so scared. We thought he was going to drown. He was trapped under an
overtuned boat and didn’t have any air to breathe. But it ended all right. He was
rescued and only had a broken arm. What else can I write about? Oh! I know. A
day I will remember was the day I left my country to come to the United States.
That was a sad/happy day. I felt sad and happy. Our family vacation last summer
was fun. We drove to the coast and camped for a week on the beach. Then there
was the day the earthquake happened. Now that was definitely a memorable
event. I will never forget it. I was at home with my older sister and little
brother...

This writer freewrote until he found a good topic: the earthquake. If he had

27
wanted to, he could have done further freewriting about his earthquake
experience to develop this topic.

B. Organization: Time Order

Notice the kinds of words and phrases used to show time order. These are
called time order words or phrases because they show the order in which events
happen. Time order words and phrases are usually followed by a comma if they
come at the beginning of a sentence. Then and now are usually not followed by a
comma. (Hogue, 1996; Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

First at first
Then at exactly 5:04 p.m.
Next after a while
Finally after that
Afterward in the morning
Meanwhile in the meantime

EXAMPLE A narrative paragraph that shows time order organization

October 17, 1989, was a day that I will never forget. It was the day I
experienced my first earthquake. I had just gotten home from school and was
lying on the living room sofa watching the news on TV. I was alone because my
parents were still at work. At exactly 5:04 p.m., the earthquake struck. I was
stunned to move, but the shaking was so strong that I soon fell off the sofa onto
the floor. I half rolled, half crawled across the floor to the dining table and got
under it. The earthquake lasted less than a minute, but it seemed like a year to
me. At last, the shaking stopped for a minute or two, I was too scared to move.
I checked the house for damage, but I did not find any. I felt very lucky, for
nothing was broken and I was unhurt. Two hours later, my parents finally
arrived home. I was so happy to see them! My first earthquake was an
experience that I will not forget. (Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

C. Language Focus: Past Tenses

A strong knowledge of tense usage is very important for narrative
paragraphs. Generally, narrative paragraph take place in the past. This is
because writers tend to describe situations that happened in the past. Here is a
quick overview of past tenses to refresh your memory, as well as example
sentences from narrative writing.

1. Past Simple
The past simple is used to express a finished past action which occurs at a
specific moment in the past.

Thomas raised his hand, even though he felt afraid to ask the question...
a. Past Continuous
The past continuous is used to express something that was happening at a
precise moment in the past.

It was pouring down rain, and the boys were feeling rather sad...

Notice how the past continuous is often used together with the past simple to
express an interrupted action. This combination is especially useful for 'painting
the picture' and creating an atmosphere when writing narrative paragraphs.
The wind was howling as the boys knocked timidly on the door.

2. Past Perfect
The past perfect is generally used to describe something which had
happened before something else in the past. The past perfect is especially useful
when providing reasons for something that happened in narrative paragraphs.

28
Alexander had already made his decision before Tom told him the news.

3. Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous is used to express how long something had
been happening up to another point in time in the past. This tense is useful to
convey a sense of frustration when writing narrative paragraphs.

Anthony had been closely examining the case all morning and was ready to quit
when...

The past perfect continuous is often used with the past simple to express how
long something had been going on before something important happened in a
narration.

Sharon had been waiting for three hours, when the man appeared around the
corner...

Tying it together: Sequencing

When narrating a story, it's important to connect sentences by using
sequencing words. These clues help readers understand how events unfolded
during the story. Here's a quick overview of common linking words used to
sequence ideas in narrative paragraphs.

To begin with, / To start off with,

Once upon a time, (for fairy tales and other imaginative stories)
Firstly,
First of all,
Initially,

D. Writing Practice

1) Freewrite about a memorable event or experience in your life for ten

minutes.
2) Organize your paragraph. Use the topic outline format.
3) Develop your outline into a good narrative paragraph.
4) Edit your paragraph using paragraph editing checklist.
5) Revise you paragraph using paragraph revising checklist.

This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

29
Unit 5
Descriptive Paragraph

Objective After finishing this unit, you are expected to be

able to write a good descriptive paragraph.
Schedule and Materials Meeting 7- Descriptive Paragraph on favorite
8 people, objects or places

(Image of an English man, 2013)

Descriptive writing vividly describes a person, place, or thing by using

detailed observations and descriptions. Examples of descriptive writing are
stories, poems, essays, and reports. Descriptive writing uses a lot of flowery
adjective and adverbs to describe what is going on or how something appears.
The characteristics of a good descriptive writing include:
1) Using vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to all of the
reader’s senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste
2) Using figurative language such as similes, metaphors, and personifications to
help paint the picture in the reader’s mind
3) Using specific adjectives, nouns, and strong action verbs to give life to the
picture we are painting in the reader’s mind
4) Using chronological order (time), order of importance, or spatial order
(location)
The following explanation highlights the steps of writing a narrative
paragraph based on Hogue (1996) and Oshima and Hogue (1997).

A. Prewriting: Listing
Listing is a brainstroming technigue in which you think about your topic
and quickly make a list of whatever words or phrases come into your mind. Your
purpose is to produce as many ideas as possible in the short time, and your goal
is to find a specific focus for your topic.
Follow this procedure:
1) Write down the general topic at the top of your paper
2) Then make a list of every idea that comes into your mind about that topic.
Keep the ideas flowing. Try to stay on the general topic; however, if you write
down information that is completely off the topic, don’t worry about it because
you can cross it out later.
3) Use words, phrases, or sentences, and don’t worry about spelling or grammar.

30
 EXAMPLE
Listing on the topic “an old person I know”

An old person I know

Who- name- Nicholas
physical description – age- old - gender- a man
hair –color-white
face- smile- funny
body ?- stomach-?
personality- kind – cheerfull
appearance- funny- cubby
job- what does he do?
Give gifts to children- every year

A paragraph describing someone on the topic “an old person I know”

THE OLD NICHOLAS

Nicholas is an old man, chubby and soft. His belly shakes like a bowl full
of jelly when he laughs, and he laughs a lot. His hair is snow-white, and so is
his beard. When you see him, and hear his loud "Ho, ho, ho!" you feel happy,
as if you are with the world's most loving grandfather. His life's goal is giving
gifts to children all over the world. Most of his time is spent making the gifts,
although nobody really knows where his workshop really is or what goes on
there! It's all a little mysterious, but somehow he manages to give
every child something once a year. Nicholas has a very positive attitude, and
is usually in a good mood, although he can be quite firm if he thinks that you
have been naughty. He smells exactly like Christmas should smell, and
whenever you smell peppermint and evergreens, you think of him. (How Do
You Describe A Person?, 2011)

Tips: When you are asked to describe someone, here are some things you should
include:
1) physical description - age, gender, height, weight, coloring (eyes, hair, skin),
an unusual traits or characteristics
2) background - where they were born, where they live, what their family is like
(siblings, pets, parents, other relatives), where they go to school, what their
house is like
3) community - what organizations do they belong to (church, clubs, other
groups), what jobs they have, what role they play in their neighborhood or
community
4) personality - likes and dislikes, hobbies, amusements, traits they might show
or inner traits that might not show, hopes and dreams, fears, favorite things.
(How Do You Describe a Person?, 2011)

B. Organization: Spatial Order

Just as there are words and phrases to show time order, there are words
and phrases to show spatial organization. They are often prepositional phrases of
location or position. Some spatial order expressions are:

at the top of next to Inside

in the center Between accross from
in the left Behind
in front of in back of
in the front of in the back of

31
 In space order, you might describe something from top to bottom or from
left to right. For example, when you describe a person, you could start with the
person’s head and end with the person’s feet. You could describe a room from left
to right or from right to left.
These are all ways to use space to put the sentences in a description into
meaningful order.

top to bottom bottom to top

right to left left to right

far to near near to far
outside to inside inside to outside

(Image of a house, 2013)

EXAMPLES
Descriptive paragraphs that use spatial order organization

1. Topic: A place from my childhood

The Stairway
by Toshiki Yamazaki

When I was two or three years old, I lived in a house that had a strange
atmosphere. I do not remember anything about the house except the stairway. It
was dark, squeaking, and quite narrow, and its steps were a little high for me to
climb up. From the bottom of the stairway, it seemed like an endless climb to the
top. Beyond the darkness at the top of the stairway, there was a middle-aged,
elegant lady leaning againts the wall. I had to pass her every time I went to my
room, for my room was the first room from the stairs on the second floor. The
lady wore a beautiful dress with a quiet pattern and a tinge of blue, and her
peaceful eyes stared at me every time I went up the stairs. As I carefully climbed
up the last step, her eyes became fixed on me. I was scared, yet I was also
curious about the lady. She did not talk, nor did she move. She just stood there
and watched me climb up the stairs. One day I touched her, but she did not
react. Her face did not change expression, nor did she even blink. She just kept
staring at me with her glittering eyes. Later, we moved out of the house, and I
never saw her again. Now I know that the lady was a mannequin. My aunt, whom
I lived with, used it for her dressmaking class. I did not know my mother. Maybe
I imagined that the mannequin standing at the top of the stairs was my mother.
The stairway with strange atmosphere has an important place in my earliest
memories. (Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

32
2. Topic: A person on a special day

A Beautiful Bride

Sue looked picture-perfect on her wedding day. Her short, dark hair had
been curled for the occasion, and on top of it rested a small veil. Under her
natural arched eyebrows, her warm brown eyes reflected serenity. Her eyes had
only the slightest bit of makeup on them, as usual. Her straight nose seemed to
indicate that she was headed in the right direction. Her cheeks were rosy, and
her lips were naturally red and full. She stood straight as an arrow as she walked
down the aisle on the arm of her father. She wore a short, white, elegant dress
and held a bouquet of white gardenias. Her stride was confident , yet formal, and
made in white sandals. Indeed, Sue looked beautiful as she walked toward her
new husband and her new life. (Hogue, 1996; Oshima and Hogue, 1997)

(Image of a bride, 2013)

C. Language Focus: Adjectives

According to Oshima and Hogue (1997) adjective describe nouns and

pronouns. Adjectives tell what things (or people) look like, what kind they are, or
how many of them there are. Adjectives answer the questions what kind? Which
one? And how many?

what kind? the old car with the broken window

which one? the fourth chapter of the book
how many? twelve students.
Some rules about adjectives are:
1) Adjectives always come in front of nouns, not after them.
threeyoungJapanesehighschool students

2) Adjectives can also follow linking verbs.

be He is happy
seem You seem sad
smell That smells good
look She looks beautiful
feel Silk feels smooth

3) Adjectives are always singular. Never add an –s to an adjective or use a

plural word as an adjective.
a six-foot wall (not a six-feet wall)
a five-dollar bill (not a five-dollars bill)

4) Nouns can be adjectives.

a shoe store
the Japanese students

33
5) Adjectives referring to nationalities and languages are capitalized.
an ancient Egyptian custom
my spanish class
the Cuban goverment

6) –ing (present participles) and –ed words (past participles) can be adjectives.
a swimming suit
my cooking class
the sleeping baby

D. Writing Practice

1) Generate your ideas by listing. (The topic is about my favorite people,

places, or things)
2) Organize your paragraph. Use the topic outline format
3) Develop your outline into a good descriptive paragraph
4) Edit your paragraph using paragraph editing checklist.
5) Revise you paragraph using paragraph the revising checklist.

This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

34
Unit 6
Comparison/Contrast Paragraph

Objective After finishing this unit, you are expected to be able to write
a good comparison/contrast paragraph.
Schedule and Meeting 10 ▪ Comparison/contrast paragraph in Steps:
Materials ▪ Prewriting: Gathering Ideas
▪ Getting Points of Comparison and Contrast
▪ Patterns of Comparison and Contrast
Meeting 11 ▪ Other Patters of Comparison and Contrast
▪ Writing a Comparison and Contrast
Paragraph
Meeting 12 Writing Practice

A. Comparing and Contrasting

Very often in your writing you will need to show how things are similar or
different. When you compare two things, you show how they are similar. When
you contrast two things, you show how they are different. Now, study these two
pictures.

Discuss the two pictures with your

classmates. Make one list of the similarities
and another list of differences. (Blanchard and
Root, 1994)

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

The followings are some tips to write a comparison/contrast paragraph

according to Biays and Wershoven (2007).

1. Limit Your Topic

When you write a comparison or contrast paragraph, you might think that
the easiest topic to write about is broad ones with many similarities or
differences. However, if you make your topic too large, you will not be able to
cover it well. At the end, you will write a paragraph which is full of very large,
boring statements.
Examples of too large topics: two economic or political systems, two presidents,
two kinds of addictions.

35
2. Avoid the Obvious Topic
Some people think it is easier to write about two items if the similarities or
differences between them are obvious. But with obvious topic, you will have
nothing new to say, and you will risk writing a boring paragraph.
Examples of obvious topics: the differences between high school and college, the
similarities between Man in Black 1 and Man in Black 2.

3. Make Your Point

Make your point in the topic sentence of your comparison or contrast
paragraph. Indicate whether the paragraph is about similarities or differences in a
topic sentence like this:
1) Because he is so reliable and loyal, Michael is much better friend to me than
Stefan. (The phrase ‘much better’ indicates differences).
2) My two writing teachers share a love of the environment and a passion for
protecting it. (The word ‘share’ indicates similarities).
The following is a list of possible topic sentences for a comparison or
contrast paragraph. Some would make good topic sentences. The ones that
wouldn’t make good topic sentences have one or more of these problems:
1) They are announcements.
2) They don’t indicate whether the paragraph will be about similarities or
differences.
3) They don’t focus on the specific kind of comparison or contrast to be made.
4) They cover subjects that are too big to write about in one paragraph.

PRACTICE 1 Identifying Suitable Topic Sentences for a Comparison

or Contrast Paragraph
Mark the problem sentences with an X. If a sentence would
make a good topic sentence for a comparison or contrast
paragraph, mark it OK.

1) My children, Fiandis and Elfan, are very different. _______

2) I get all my clothes at two stores, Fashion Unlimited and Style Mart. _______
3) My children, Herry and Devry, are different in their athletic ability and interest
in school. _______
4) Yogyakarta and Solo are similar in their Javanese heritage, revolutionary
power, and cultural growth. _______
5) Juanda Motor Group has better prices and wider choices for car accessories.
_______
6) This essay will discuss the similarities and differences between tea and Coca
Cola. _______
7) Boys and girls have different interests, physical abilities, and emotional
needs. _______
8) On the one hand, there is Jakarta, and on the other hand, there is Medan.
_______
9) Planet Surf has more original and youth-oriented clothes than Matahari
Department Store. _______
10) My first and second semester in college was a big improvement over my first.
_______

B. Writing the Comparison or Contrast Paragraph in Steps

Gathering Ideas: Comparison

Prewriting or Contrast

One way to get started on a comparison or contrast paragraph is to list as

many differences or similarities as you can on one topic. Then you can see
whether you have more similarities (comparisons) or differences (contrasts) and
decide which approach to use. For example, if you are asked to compare or
contrast two restaurants, you could begin with a list like this:

36
 List for two Restaurants: Niki Kopitiam and KL Suki

similarities
both offer lunch and dinner
popular
nearby

differences
Niki Kopitiam KL Suki
tablecloths place mats
food is bland Japanese food
moderate expensive
dark wood, hanging plants statues, fountains, fresh flowers

Whether you compare or contrast, you are looking for points of comparison
or contrast items you can discuss about both subjects. If you surveyed the list of
the two restaurants and decided you wanted to contrast the two restaurants,
you’d see that you already have these points of contrast:

décor food prices

PRACTICE 2 Developing Points of Comparison or Contrast

Do this exercise with a partner or a group. Below are some
topics that could be used for a comparison or contrast
paragraph. Underneath each topic, write three points of
comparison or contrast. Be ready to share your ideas with
another group or with the class.

1) Topic: Compare or contrast two popular singers (or singing group)

Points to compare or contrast:

a. the kinds of songs they sing

b. the kinds of fans they attract
c. how long they have been popular

2) topic: Compare or contrast two holidays

Points to compare or contrast
a. _________________________________
b. _________________________________
c. _________________________________
3) topic: Compare or contrast two heroes
Points to compare or contrast
a. _________________________________
b. _________________________________
c. _________________________________

37
PRACTICE 3 Finding Similarities between Subjects
The followings are pairs of subjects that are different
but have some similarities. List three similarities for
each pair.

1) Subjects: getting married and getting divorced.

similarities:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2) subjects: being a student and being a teacher
similarities:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
3) subjects: love and hate
similarities:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

C. Language Focus: Patterns of Comparison and Contrast (Hogue, 1996)

Study the following patterns of comparison.

1) With BE
EXAMPLE: John is a student. George is a student.
a. John is a student and George is too.
b. John is a student and so is George.

2) With OTHER VERBS

EXAMPLE: Japan exports cars. Germany exports cars.
a. Japan exports cars and Germany does too.
b. Japan exports cars and so does Germany.

3) Negative Sentences With BE

EXAMPLE:
The blue dress isn’t expensive. The green dress isn’t expensive.
a. The blue dress isn’t expensive and the green dress isn’t either.
b. The blue dress isn’t expensive and neither is the green dress.

4) Negative Sentence With OTHER VERBS

EXAMPLE:
Owls don’t sleep at night. Mice don’t sleep at night.
a. Owls don’t sleep at night, and mice don’t either.
b. Owls don’t sleep at night, and neither do mice.

Now let us study other patterns of comparison.

The same _______________as _______________________

Carla speaks the same language as Jose.

This house is the same price as that one.
My house is the same color as yours.

38
 as____________________ as ____________________

Pam is as serious as Anne.

Women’s clothes are as expensive as men’s clothes.
Dick drives as carefully as Mary.
Charlotte dresses as well as Stephanie.

PRACTICE 4 Using the structures of comparison

Rewrite the sentences in structures of comparison like the
examples.

EXAMPLE: Alan runs four miles a day. Peter runs four miles a day.

a. Alan runs four miles a day and Peter does too.

b. Alan runs four miles a day and so does Peter.

1) Mark plays the piano. Dave plays the piano.

a. ____________________________________________________

b. ____________________________________________________
2) The bank opens at 9 A.M. The post office opens at 9 A.M.
a. ____________________________________________________

b. ____________________________________________________
3) Peter doesn’t smoke. Alex doesn’t smoke.
a. ____________________________________________________

b. _____________________________________________________
4) Skiing is an exciting sport. Surfing is an exciting sport.
a. ____________________________________________________

b. ____________________________________________________
5) Children need love. Adults need love.
a. ____________________________________________________

b. ____________________________________________________

EXAMPLE: Danny weighs 185 lbs. Joe weighs 185 lbs.

a. Danny is the same weighs as Joe.

b. Danny is as heavy as Joe.

6) Marry is five feet tall. John is five feet tall.

(height) ________________________________________________

(tall) _________________________________________________

7) My house has twelve rooms. Your house has twelve rooms.

(size) _________________________________________________

(big) _________________________________________________

8) This story is twenty pages long. That story is twenty pages long.
(length) _______________________________________________

(long) _______________________________________________

39
We use –er and more when we are contrasting two things.

Notice these common exceptions:

good better the best

well better the best
bad worse the worst
badly worse the worst

These expressions are used for contrasting:

however more than
on the other hand -er than
less than on the contrary
but the _____ -est
different the most
different from

PRACTICE 5 Expressions for Contrasting

Underline the expressions of contrast in the paragraph below.
When Michael was vacationing in Farmington last month, he ate lunch at
the City Avenue Café and dinner at the famous French restaurant, Chez Robert.
His lunch was the worst meal he had ever eaten, but fortunately hid dinner was
the best meal Chez Robert was clean and quiet. The waitresses at the Café were
rude and the lights were so bright that they bothered his eyes. On the other
hand, the waitresses at Chez Robert were polite and attentive, and the only light
in the dining room came from candles. Michael will always remember his
delicious dinner at Chez Robert, but he can’t wait to forget his terrible lunch at
the City Avenue Café.

PRACTICE 6 Listing of the differences between the two restaurants.

List the differences between the two restaurants in
Practice 5.

_________________________ _________________________

_________________________ _________________________

_________________________ _________________________

_________________________ _________________________

_________________________ _________________________

_________________________ _________________________

D. Writing Practice

PRACTICE 7 Brainstorming for a Comparison/Contrast Paragraph

Choose one of the following topics to write comparison. List
all the differences or similarities of the objects you compare.
Use the list as your guide to write the paragraph.

1) Compare or contrast any of the following:

two pets two relatives two college websites
two gifts two jobs two family traditions
two clubs two talk shows two discounts stores
If your instructor agrees, you may want to brainstorm points of comparison
or contrast with a writing partner or a group.

40
2) Compare or contrast your taste of music, or dress, or ways of spending leisure
time, with that of another generation.
3) Write about the following two vacation plans.
Prewriting You and a friend are planning a trip to Hawaii. You found
these advertisements in the newspaper. (Blanchard and Root,
1994)

Make a list of the differences between the two plans.

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Writing Write a letter to your friend contrasting the two plans and
suggesting the one would be better for you. Use paragraph
checklist to edit your paragraph.

This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

41
Unit 7
Argumentative Paragraph

Objective After finishing this unit, you are expected to be able to write
a good argumentative paragraph.

Schedule and Meeting 13 ▪ Comprehending Argumentative paragraph

Materials through reading
▪ Mapping a reason and the supporting
reasons for an argumentative paragraph in
a reading text
▪ Outlining an argumentative paragraph
Meeting 14 ▪ Transition signals for opinion
▪ Language Focus: Adjective Clause
▪ Pre-writing Practice: clustering
Meeting 15
▪ Writing Argumentative Paragraph

In everyday life, people have opinions and talk about them. For example,
should abortion be legal or illegal? Are you for or against the death penalty for
corruptors? Should college students get more for their tuition fee? Should college
students get discounts on movie tickets? These are issues which people talk
about and say their opinions.
People also write their opinions. If you look at the “Letters to the Editor”
section of any newspaper or magazine, you will find letters from people
discussing their points of view. In class, you will often have to defend your
opinions. In this unit you will learn to do this.

A. READING: BOY DIVORCES PARENTS

1) Read the newspaper story entitled “Boy Divorces Parents” (Hogue, 1996)
several times. Make sure you understand all the words and sentences.
BOY DIVORCES PARENTS
Twelve-year-old Gregory Kingsley is in court
asking a judge to give him a divorce from his
natural mother and father. He wants his
foster parents, ¹ George and Lizabeth Russ,
to adopt ² him.
Gregory’s lawyers say that Gregory’s
natural mother, Rachel Kingsley, has not
taken good care of him. They say that she
abandoned ³ him because she sent him to
live with relatives and foster parents.
Gregory has lived for many years as a
foster child. Gregory tells the judge that his
mother is cold and doesn’t seem to care
about him. He says that for many years, his
mother sent him no cards, no letters, no
Christmas gifts, and no birthday presents.
“I thought she forgot about me,” he says.
Other people describe Rachel Kingsley as
a person who abuses⁴ drugs and alcohol.
They say that she spent more time partying
with male visitors than she spent with
Gregory and his two younger brothers. They
also say that she sometimes hit the children.
Gregory says that she kept marijuana in a brown
box in the living room. He also says, “She stayed out
all night and brought her friends home and drank. We
never had enough money, and sometimes we didn’t
have food.”
Mrs. Kingsley says she tries to be a good mother.
She says she had to send Gregory away for a while
because she didn’t have enough money to take care of
him. At the time, she didn’t have a job. Now she has
two jobs, and she is living near her parents, who can
help her take care of the children.
She thought it would be better for Gregory to live
with a foster family while she was having financial
problems, but she never wanted him to be away from
her and his brothers permanently. She says, “I thought
that if I worked hard, he would be returned to me.”
Her lawyer says that Rachel Kingsley’s problems
were temporary and that she is trying to become a
responsible parent. He also says that the rights of a
natural family to remain together are stronger than the
rights of a foster family.
Her father believes that she has learnt from her
mistakes and should be given a second chance.

42
¹ foster parent : parents who are paid by the government to take care of children
when their own parents cannot.
² adopt : become the legal parents of
³ abandoned : left behind
⁴ abuses : uses in a wrong or bad way

2) Then, look at the grid on the next page and discuss this question with your
partner or group. Should the judge allow Gregory to divorce his parents?
a) Make a list of yes reasons if you agree.
b) Make a list of no reasons if you don’t agree.
c) Support each reason. As support, use information from the newspaper
story or use information from your own knowledge and experience.

Should the judge allow Gregory to divorce his parents?

YES, the judge should allow Gregory to NO, the judge should not allow
divorce his mother. Gregory to divorce his mother.

A. Reason:
______________________
______________________
Support:
______________________
______________________
Reason:
______________________
______________________
Support:
______________________
______________________
B. Reason:
______________________
______________________
Support:
______________________
______________________
A. Reason:
______________________
______________________
Support:
______________________
______________________
Reason:
______________________
______________________
Support:
______________________
______________________
B. Reason:
______________________
______________________
Support:
______________________
______________________

3) Here are some more points to discuss:

a) What kind of parent is Rachel Kingsley?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
b) Does a biological parent have more right to his or her child than an
adoptive parent?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

43
B. ORGANIZATION: FACTS AND OPINIONS
In this unit, you will express an opinion and then support that opinion with
facts. Opinions are statements or someone’s belief. When you say “I believe….”
or “I think that …….,” you are expressing your opinion. Opinions are different
from facts. People can disagree with opinions. Facts are true statements that no
one can disagree with.
Now read these sentences. Which ones are facts, and which ones are
opinions?

The sun rises in the east. The sunrise was beautiful this morning

The temperature of the lake is 55⁰F. The lake is too cold for swimming.

Women have fewer fatal accidents Women are better drivers than men.
than men.

Women could not vote in the United Everyone should vote.

States until 1920.

Mrs. Kingsley says, “I am a good Mrs. Kingsley is a good mother.

mother.”

The sentences on the left side are facts. They are true. Even the last
sentence, “Mrs. Kingsley says, “I am a good mother, “ is a fact. It is a fact that
she says this. What she says - “ I am a good mother, “- is an opinion, but the
fact is that Mrs. Kingsley said something. No one can disagree with the fact that
she said something.
The sentences on the right column are opinions. People can disagree with
them. They may or may not be true.
When you write an argumentative paragraph, your topic sentence is an
opinion. You can support your topic sentence with both opinions and facts. It is
better to use facts, but it is possible to use opinions. Your paragraph will be
stronger if you use more facts.

Model Paragraph Read the model on the next page and

study its organization. Then discuss
these questions with a partner or
group.

1) What does the writer say about capital punishment? Is this a fact or opinion?
2) How many main reasons does he give? What are the reasons? Are all the
reasons facts, or is one or more of them an opinion?
3) Are all the details facts, or is one or more of them an opinion?

44
 Capital Punishment¹

In my opinion, capital punishment is wrong. First of all, I believe that it is

wrong to kill. Only God has the right to take away life. Human beings should not kill

human beings. Even if a criminal has committed horrible crimes, the government

does not have the right to execute him or her. Second, the thread of going to the

electric chair or to the gas chamber does not stop criminals. When people commit a

violent crime such as murder, they are not thinking about their punishment. In fact,

many murders happen when people are angry. They are not thinking about

consequences of their actions. According to the report in the New York Times, the

State of Louisiana executed eight men in nine weeks in the fall 1987. During that

same time period, the murder rate in New Orleans rose to 16.4 percent. This shows

that the threat of capital punishment does not stop crime. The third and most

important reason for abolishing the death penalty is that the government sometimes

makes mistakes and executes innocent people. In fact, this has happened. According

to an article in Time magazine, there were twenty-three executions of innocent

people in the United States between 1900 and 1991. In my view, this makes the

government itself guilty of murder. For these three reasons, I believe that the United

States should get rid of capital punishment, which is really just “legal murder.”

(Hogue, 1996)

¹ capital punishment :the death penalty

² execute : kill legally
³ abolishing : getting rid of; cancelling

45
PRACTICE1 Outlining an Argumentative Paragraph
Complete the outline for the model paragraph based on the article
above.

Capital Punishment
Topic Sentence :
_______________________________________________________________
A. _____________________________________________________________
1. ________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________
B. _____________________________________________________________
1. Criminals don’t think about punishment while committing a crime.
2. ___________________________________________________________
C. _____________________________________________________________
1. ___________________________________________________________
Concluding Sentence: _____________________________________________

C. Transition Signal for Opinions

When you state an opinion, you should indicate that it is an opinion by
using a transition expression. (Hogue, 1996)
In my opinion, ……………………… (sentence)……………………………
in my view, …………………………..(sentence)…………………… ………
I believe (that)………………………(sentence)………………………………
I think (that)…………………………..(sentence)…………………………..

In my opinion, everyone should be allowed to own a gun.

In my view, no one should be allowed to own a gun.
I believe that an Infiniti is better than a Lexus.
I think that a Lexus is better than an Infiniti.

Notice that the first two transition signals are followed by commas. The second
two do not have commas, and you may omit the connecting word that.

According to + comma is used to give information from an outside source (a

book, a newspaper, another person).

According to X, …………………………(sentence)………………………

According to Gregory, his mother never wrote to him or sent him birthday
cards.

According to Time magazine, violence is increasing in the United States.

According to the police, the murder happened at 11:00 P.M.

46
PRACTICE 2 Identifying Transition Signals for Opinions
1. Draw a circle around the transition signals for
opinions in the model paragraph in this unit.
2. Draw a box around the transition signals for giving
information from other sources in the model
paragraph.

D. Language Focus: Adjective Clauses with Who, Which, and That

Adjective clauses are dependent clauses which act like adjectives. That is,
they modify nouns. Adjective clauses begin with words such as who, which,
and that. In adjective clauses, commas are sometimes used, and sometimes
not. Below are some rules about adjective clause. (Hogue, 1996)
1) who is used for people
2) which is used for things
3) that is used for both people and things
4) Use commas before and after an adjective clause if the noun it describes is
a specific person or thing. A noun is specific if it has name.
Rachel Kingsley, who uses drugs, is not a good parent.
Young children shouldn’t see Jurassic Park, which has a lot of violence.
5) Don’t use comma if the noun it describes is general (has no specific name).
A person who uses drugs is not a good parent.
Young children shouldn’t see a movie that has a lot of violence.
6) Don’t use commas if the adjective clause begins with that.
A person that uses drugs is not a good parent.
Young children shouldn’t see a movie that has a lot of violence.

EXAMPLES

Rachel Kingsley is a person who abuses drugs and alcohol.

The foster parents that take care of Gregory want to adopt him.
A box which was the living room contained marijuana.
A box that was the living room contained marijuana.

PRACTICE 3 Sentences with Adjective Clauses

Combine two simple sentences to make a complex
sentence containing an adjective clause. Add
commas if necessary.
EXAMPLE

This is a story. It appeared in the newspaper recently.

This is a story that appeared in the newspaper recently.
This is a story which appeared in the newspaper recently.

1) Michael Fay attended an international high school. He lived in Singapore with

his mother.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2) Singapore has strict laws. Singapore has very little crime.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3) Michael Fay spray-painted some cars. The cars were parked on the street.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

47
4) He went in front of the judge. The judge sentenced him to six strokes with a
cane.

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
5) Some people don’t agree with punishments. Some punishments cause pain.

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

E. Writing Practice: Clustering for Freewriting

Clustering is a type of prewriting that allows you to explore many ideas as
soon as they occur to you. Like brainstorming or free writing, clustering allows
you to begin without clear ideas.
To begin to cluster, choose a word that is central to your assignment. For
example, if you were writing a paper about the value of a college education, you
might choose the word "expectations" and write that word in the middle of your
sheet of paper. Circle "expectations," then write words all around it--words that
occur to you as you think of "expectations." Write down all words that you
associate with "expectations," words that at first may seem to be random. Write
quickly, circling each word, grouping words around your the central word.
Connect your new words to previous ones with lines; when you feel you have
exhausted a particular avenue of associations, go back to your central word and
begin again.
For example, "expectations" might lead you to consider "the social aspects
of college," which may lead you to consider "career networking." You may then
find yourself writing down words that compare the types of jobs you might get
through career networking. You may end up asking yourself questions such as
"What sorts of jobs do I want? Not want?" Have fun with this exercise; even silly
questions can open avenues to explore, such as "What if I ended up waiting
tables at Buddy's?" "Would I rather be a lion-tamer or an accountant?" "What
about my brilliant career as a stand-up comedian? After looking over the
clustering exercise above, you might conclude that you want an exciting career
as a performer of some type, rather than a job in the service sector or behind a
desk.

48
 Now your sample paper about the value of a college education has some
focus: how you expect college to lead to an interesting career that involves
creativity, skill, and performance. You might then want to return to the phrase
"Job Skills" and develop that part of your cluster, noting the skills that you'd need
to reach your ideal career.
Clustering does not take the place of a linear, traditional outline; but, as the
example shows, it allows you to explore ideas before committing them to a
particular order.

Practice 4 Writing Practice: Expressing an Opinion

STEP 1 : First work by yourself, and then edit your paragraph with a
Prewrite to Get partner. Choose one of the topics about youth life and write
Ideas a paragraph about it. Use the paragraph “Capital
Punishment “as the model.
Use the ideas you have already written down from the
previous practice, but add to them. Use the free-writing,
listing, or clustering techniques to brainstorm.

STEP 2 : Make an outline like the one on “Capital Punishment”. Your

Outline to outline should include an opinion sentence, two or four
Organize the main ideas, at least one specific example for each point,
Ideas and a concluding sentence.

STEP 3 : Write the paragraph.

Write the First
Draft

STEP 4 : Edit the first draft with your partner. Use the paragraph
Edit the First checklist below.
Draft

STEP 5 : Write a neat final draft to hand in to your teacher.

Write the
Final Draft

49
 OPINION PARAGRAPH CHECKLIST

ASPECT Check the paragraph Yes No

ORGANIZATION Does the paragraph begin with a clear opinion

statement?
Does the paragraph end with a concluding
sentence?
Is the opinion supported with at least some
facts? (Remember that facts are stronger than
opinion)
Check the capital letter
GRAMMAR AND Check the spelling
MECHANICS Check the commas
Is there a period at the end of all sentences?
SENTENCE Check the sentences. Do they have at least
STRUCTURE one subject and one verb, and do they express
a complete thought?
Check for comma splices, run-ons, and
fragments

This module is developed and distributed solely for academic purposes and
for classroom use only.

50
 REFERENCES

Blanchard, K. and Root, C. 1994. Ready to Write: A First Composition Text. 2nd
Ed. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

Boardman, C.A. and Frydenberg, J. 2002. Writing to Communicate: Paragraphs

and Essays.2nd Ed. White Plains: Longman.

Biays, J. S. and Wershoven, C. 2007. Along These Lines: Writing Paragraphs and
Essays. London: Pearson Education.

Dawson, M. and Essid, J. Prewriting: Clustering. Retrieved February11, 2011 from

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/cluster.html

Femalefan. (2011). [Image of Manu Ginobili]. Retrieved January 31, 2011 from
http://www.femalefan.com/wp-
content/uploads//2011/04/1113292132.jpg

Hogue, A. 1996. First Steps in Academic Writing. Addison-Wesley Longman.

[Image of a bride]. Retrieved October 1, 2013 , from

http://heidycurbelo.blogspot.com

[Image of an English man]. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from

http://www.123rf.com

[Image of a house]. Retrieved October 1, 2013 , from

http://www.turbosquid.com

[Image of a cat]. Retrieved October 1, 2013 , from http://www.vectorstock.com

[Image of a beach]. Retrieved October 1, 2013 , from http://viewallpaper.com

[Image of soccer and rugby balls]. Retrieved October 1, 2013 , from

http://vector.me

Lang-8.com.2009. My English Self-introduction. Retrieved January 31, 2011, from

http://lang-8.com/66436/journals/256532.

lcnv.org.2006. Instructor’s Notes for Paragraph Writing: Introducing yourself.

Retrieved January 31, 2011, from
http://ccnyliteracy.pbworks.com/f/Microsoft+Word+-
+Writing+Packet+to+Share.pdf

Longman. 1987. Dictionary of Contemporary English. Great Britain: Longman

Group UK Limited.

Oshima, A. and Hogue, A.1997.Introduction to Academic Writing. Addison-Wesley

Longman

Peha, S. 2002. What is Good Writing? Retrieved January 31, 2011,

fromhttp://www.ttms.org/PDFs/13%20What%20is%20Good%20Writing
%20v001%20(Full).pdf

Pettinger, T. 2006. Popular Poems of Emily Dickinson: Hope Is The Thing with
Feather. Retrieved January 31, 2011, from www.biographyonline.net

51
Psychlinks Online. 2011. How Would You Describe Yourself (Metaphor). Retrieved
January 31, 2011, from http://forum.psychlinks.ca/

www.answer.com. 2011.How Do You Describe A Person? Retrieved January 31,

2011, from www.answer.com.

52
Appendix 1 Rencana Proses Kegiatan Pembelajaran Semester

RENCANA PROSES KEGIATAN PEMBELAJARAN SEMESTER (RPKPS)

Identifikasi Mata Kuliah :

Mata kuliah : Paragraph Writing
Kode : SBI 4113
SKS/JS : 3 SKS
MK Prasyarat : SBI 4211
Semester : III
Jurusan/Prodi : Bahasa dan Sastra/ S-1 Sastra Inggris
Dosen : Sri Utami Budi, M.A.
Hari/Jam : Kamis/ 07.00-09.10
Ruang : FIB A 2.9
No. Telepon : 082230198682
Jam/Ruang Konsultasi : Sesuai kesepakatan/ Ruang Dosen GFIB Lt.5

Deskripsi Mata Kuliah :

Mata kuliah ini dirancang untuk membekali mahasiswa dengan keterampilan
menulis paragraf dan teks fungsional sederhana dalam bahasa Inggris. Mata
kuliah ini berbobot 3 (tiga) SKS dan bersifat wajib.

Tujian Mata Kuliah :

Pada akhir perkuliahan, mahasiswa diharapkan memiliki kemampuan untuk
menulis berbagai paragraf, yaitu paragraf naratif, deskriptif, dan eksposisi, serta
teks fungsional sederhana seperti resep, obituari, iklan, dan surat dalam bahasa
Inggris yang baik dan benar.

Pelaksanaan Kuliah :
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
MING KEMAMPUAN MATERI KEGIATAN KRITERIA
GU AKHIR YANG PEMBELAJAR PEMBELAJARAN (INDIKATOR)
KE DIHARAPKAN AN PENILAIAN

1 1. Mampu 1. Kontrak 1. Dosen memberi 1. Mampu menyebutkan

memahami Kuliah ceramah tentang tujuan, topik, dan
kontrak 2. Introductio kontrak kriteria penilaian
perkuliahan n to writing perkuliahan matakuliah
2. Mampu 2. Dosen dan paragraph writing
mengidentifika mahasiswa 2. Mampu menyebutkan
si ciri-ciri berdiskusi ciri-ciri tulisan
tulisan tentang kontrak berbahasa Inggris
berbahasa perkuliahan yang baik
Inggris yang 3. Dosen memberi
baik ceramah tentang
ciri-ciri tulisan
berbahasa
Inggris yang
baik
4. Dosen dan
mahasiswa
berdiskusi
tentang ciri-ciri
tulisan
berbahasa
Inggris yang
baik
5. Mahasiswa
menjawab soal
tentang ciri-ciri
tulisan
berbahasa
Inggris yang

53
 baik
2 Mampu menulis 1. Self- 1. Dosen dan 1. Mampu menuliskan
paragraf introduction mahasiswa persamaan antara
dengan topik with a berdiskusi karakeristik pribadi
Self- metaphor tentang format dengan objek yang
introduction 2. Format dan elemen digunakan dalam
with a penulisan paragraf (20 metafora untuk
metaphor paragraf menit) memperkenalkan diri
3. Introduction 2. Mahasiswa 2. Mampu menyebutkan
to writing mengerjakan format penulisan
process soal tentang paragraf Mampu
4. Paragraph format dan menyebutkan tahap-
elements elemen paragraf tahap penulisan
5. Outline (30 menit) paragraf
6. Draft 1 3. Mahasiswa 3. Mampu
melakukan mendefinisikan topic
brainstorming, sentence, supporting
outlining dan sentences dan
menulis draft 1 concluding sentences
dari paragraf 4. Mampu memilih
dengan topik topic sentence yang
Self-introduction baik dari kalimat-
with a metaphor kalimat yang
(100 menit) disediakan
5. Mampu menuliskan
supporting sentences
untuk topic sentence
yang telah disediakan
6. Mampu membuat
concluding sentence
berdasarkan topic
sentence yang ada
7. Mampu menyusun
ide umum dan
khusus yang
mendukung topik
paragraf,
berdasarkan tulisan
bebas yang dibuat pd
pertemuan
sebelumnya
8. Mampu
mengembangkan
outline menjadi
tulisan dalam bentuk
paragraf sederhana
(7-12 kalimat)
3 1. Mampu 1. Coherence Ceramah, diskusi, 1. Mampu menyebutkan
mengidentifikasi & cohesion dan praktek signal words yang
coherence dan 2. Draft menentukan
cohesion sebuah revision coherence dan
paragraf cohesion sebuah
2. Mampu paragraph
mengevaluasi 2. Mampu
ide dan menggunakan signal
organisasi words yang sesuai
sebuah paragraf untuk meningkatkan
sederhana coherence dan
cohesion sebuah
paragraf
3. Mampu
mengtevaluasi ide
dan organisasi draft
paragraf dari
pertemuan
sebelumnya
berdasarkan revision
checklist
4. Mampu merevisi draft
paragraf berdasarkan
checklist

54
4 1. Mampu 1. Grammar Ceramah, diskusi 1. Mampu membuat
mengidentifika & dan praktek kalimat yang sesuai
si grammar mechanics dengan tata bahasa
dan mechanics 2. Editing bahasa Inggris,
yang khususnya tentang
digunakan verb & noun
dalam agreements,
penulisan fragments, run-on
sebuah sentences, dan
paragraf comma spices
2. Mampu 2. Menyebutkan
mengevaluasi penggunaan tanda
penggunaan baca dan huruf besar
grammar & dalam tulisan
mechanics berbahasa Inggris
dalam 3. Mampu
paragraph menggunakan tanda
baca dan huruf besar
dalam penulisan
kalimat berbahasa
Inggris
4. Mampu mengevalusi
penggunaan
grammar &
mechanics penulisan
draft paragraf dari
pertemuan
sebelumnya
berdasarkan editing
checklist
5. Mampu merevisi
penggunaan
grammar &
mechanics dalam
paragraf berdasarkan
editing checklist
5 1. Mampu 1. Ketrampilan C eramah, diskusi 1. Mampu menyebutkan
mengidentifika menentuka dan praktek jenis-jenis paragraf
si jenis-jenis n jenis-jenis yang ada; narasi,
paragraf paragraf deskripsi, dan
(paragraf berdasarka eksposisi.
narasi, n ciri-ciri 2. Mampu menyebutkan
deskripsi, dan nya. ciri-ciri tiap jenis
eksposisi). 2. Narrative paragraf yang telah
2. Mampu Paragraph dipelajari secara
membuat 3. Writing umum.
sebuah process : 3. Mampu memberikan
paragraf narasi pre-writing contoh-contoh tiap
dengan topik (free jenis paragraf.
‘unforgettable writing) & 4. Mampu
moments’ outline mengidentifikasa
jenis paragraf narasi
secara terperinci.
5. Mampu membuat
sebuah paragraf
narasi yang baik
sesuai dengan topik
‘unforgettable
moments’ dengan
melalui proses
menulis.
6. Mampu membuat
pre-writing dengan
melakukan
freewriting tentang
topik ‘unforgettable
moments’.
7. Mampu membuat
outline berdasarkan
prewriting yang telah
dibuat.
6. 1. Mampu Writing C eramah, diskusi 1. Mampu membuat

55
 membuat sebuah process:1st dan praktek draft pertama
paragraf narasi draft & revision paragraf narasi sesuai
dengan topik dengan outline yang
‘unforgettable telah dibuat.
moments’ 2. Mampu merevisi draft
2. Mampu menulis yang telah
surat tentang dikembangkan untuk
pengalaman pribadi menjadi final draft.
3. Mampu menulis surat
tentang pengalaman
pribadi
7. 1. Mampu 1. narrative Ceramah, diskusi 1. mampu mengedit
membuat paragraph: dan praktek paragraf naratif
sebuah paragraf editing Fdescrip utnuk menjadi final
narasi dengan 2. Descriptive draft
topik Paragraph 2. Mampu
‘unforgettable (pre-writing, mengidentifikasa
moments’ outlining, jenis paragraf
2. Mampu drafting,revi deskripsi secara
mengidentifikasi sing dan terperinci.
ciri-ciri paragraf editing) 3. Mampu membuat
deskripsi dengan 3. Transition sebuah paragraf
baik signal deskripsi yang baik
3. Mampu 4. Narrative sesuai dengan topik
membuat writing: nyadengan melalui
sebuah paragarf recipes and proses menulis.
deskripsi manuals 4. Mampu membuat
dengan topik ‘ pre-writing dengan
my favorite ....’ metode listing
(people, place, tentang topik ‘my
or things) favorite......’.
4. Mampu menulis 5. Mampu membuat
resep atau outline berdasarkan
petunjuk prewriting yang telah
pelaksanaan dibuat.
sederhana 6. Mampu membuat
draft pertama
paragraf deskripsi
sesuai dengan outline
yang telah dibuat.
7. Mampu menulis resep
atau petunjuk
pelaksanaan yang
runtut
8 1. Mampu 1. Descriptive Ceramah, diskusi 1. Mampu membuat
membuat paragraph: dan praktek sebuah paragraf
sebuah writing draft 1 deskripsi yang baik
paragraf & revision sesuai dengan topik
deskripsi nyadengan melalui
dengan baik 2. Descriptive proses menulis.
2. Mampu menulis and narrative 2. Mampu merevisi
obituari dengan writing: draft dan mengedit
baik obituary yang telah
dikembangkan untuk
menjadi final draft.
3. Menulis obituary
dalam bentuk
paragraph
9 UTS
10 1. Mampu 1. signals for Ceramah, diskusi, 1. Mampu menyebutkan
mengidentifikasi comparing dan praktek signal words yang
suatu paragraf and menentukan
expository contrasting coherence dan
2. Mampu 2. Language cohesion sebuah
menggunakan Focus for paragraf expository
pola-pola comparison- (comparing and
bahasa contrast contrasting)
persamaan dan 3. Listing and 2. Mampu membuat
perbedaan outline kalimat yang sesuai
3. Mampu dengan tata bahasa
mengidentifikasi bahasa Inggris,

56
 kohesi dan khususnya tentang
koherensi adjectives dan
dalam paragraf adverbs yang
expository berkonteks
4. Mampu comparing and
menggunakan contrasting
teknik listing 3. Mampu mencari
dalam sebnayak mungkin
mengumpulkan ide yang akan
ide penulisan menjadi dasar
paragraf pembuatan
expository penentuan topik
dengan tema paragraf expository
“in the media” 4. Mampu menyusun
5. Mampu ide umum dan
menyusun khusus yang
outline sebuah mendukung topik
paragraf paragraf ke dalam
expository bentuk outline
persamaan dan paragraf
perbedaan dari
list yang sudah
dibuat
11 Mampu menulis 1. signals for Diskusi dan praktek Mampu mengembangkan
paragraf comparing outline menjadi draft
perbandingan and tulisan dalam bentuk
berdasarkan contrasting paragraf expository
outline yang 2. Language
sudah dibuat pada Focus for
pertemuan comparison-
sebelumnya contrast
3. Drafting
12 Mampu 1. Grammar & Presentasi, diskusi, 1. Mampu mengevalusi
mengevaluasi ide mechanics dan praktek penggunaan grammar
dan organisasi 2. Editing and & mechanics penulisan
paragraf revising draft paragraf dari
expository pertemuan sebelumnya
berdasarkan editing
checklist
2. Mampu merevisi
penggunaan grammar
& mechanics dalam
paragraf berdasarkan
editing checklist
13 1. Mampu 1. Argumentativ Ceramah, diskusi, 1. Mampu menyebutkan
mengidentifikasi e Paragraph praktek signal words yang
suatu paragraf :Organization menentukan coherence
argumentatif dan cohesion sebuah
2. Mampu 2. Adjective paragraph
mengidentifikasi Clause argumentatif
organisasi 2. Mampu mencari
paragraf sebanyak mungkin ide
argumentatif yang akan menjadi
3. Mampu dasar pembuatan
membuat topik paragraph
outline expository
paragraph 3. Mampu menentukan
argumentatif ide umum dan khusus
berdasarkan yang mendukung topik
teks bacaan paragraf ke dalam
yang ada. bentuk outline
4. Mampu paragraf,
menggunakan 4. Mampu membuat
penanda kalimat majemuk yang
transisi antar menjadi bekal
kalimat dalam penulisan paragraf
paragraf argumetatif
argumentatif
5. Mampu
membuat
kalimat
majemuk

57
 6. Mampu menulis
iklan sederhana

14 1. Mampu 1. Clustering Ceramah, diskusi, 1. Mampu mencari

menggunakan praktek sebnayak mungkin ide
teknik yang akan menjadi
clustering dasar pembuatan
dalam penentuan topik
mengumpulkan 2. Outlining paragraf argumetatif
ide penulisan melalui teknik
paragraf clustering
argumentatif 2. Mampu menyusun ide
dengan tema umum dan khusus
“in the youth yang mendukung topik
life” paragraf ke dalam
2. Mampu bentuk outline paragraf
membuat
outline suatu
paragraf
argumentative
15 1. Mampu menulis 1. Drafting Diskusi, praktek 1. Mampu
paragraf 2. Revising mengembangkan
argumentatif outline menjadi draft
berdasarkan tulisan dalam bentuk
outline yang paragraf
sudah dibuat argumentatif
pada 2. Mampu mengevalusi
pertemuan penggunaan
sebelumnya grammar &
2. Mampu mechanics penulisan
mengevaluasi draft paragraf dari
ide dan pertemuan
organisasi sebelumnya
paragraf berdasarkan editing
argumentative checklist
3. Mampu 3. Mampu merevisi
menulis iklan penggunaan
pendek grammar &
mechanics dalam
paragraf berdasarkan
editing checklist
4. Mampu menjelaskan
pendapat dengan
persuasif dalam teks
iklan pendek
16 UAS

Kriteria Penentuan Nilai Akhir:

Kuis : 15%
Tugas Terstruktur : 20%
Partisipasi Aktif : 10%
UTS : 25%
UAS : 30%

Catatan :
1) Mahasiswa dengan kehadiran pada perkuliahan <80% tidak dapat mengikuti
UAS.
2) Email: yana_shanti@ub.ac.id
3) Koordinator kelas:
a.
4) Koordinator kelas bertanggung jawab mengkoordinasikan persiapan
perlengkapan perkuliahan dan menyebarkan informasi dari dosen pengampu
kepada mahasiswa lainnya.
5) Mahasiswa wajib membawa modul Paragraph Writing, kamus, dan writing
folder berisi seluruh hasil tulisan yang dihasilkan dalam setiap tugas (buku
kertas folio bergaris). Kelengkapan dan ketepatan waktu mengumpulkan
tulisan menjadi salah satu komponen penilaian setiap tugas. Buku disampul

58
 sesuai dengan kesepakatan kelas, diberi label nama, kelas, NIM, dan foto
mahasiswa.
6) Harap mematikan atau mengatur telepon genggam dalam kondisi getar.
Selama perkulihan berlangsung, perangkat elektronik seperti telepon
genggam, komputer tablet atau kamus elektronik dapat digunakan jika
diperlukan dalam kegiatan pembelajaran.

Referensi :
Blanchard, K. and Root, C. 1994. Ready to Write: A First Composition Text. 2nd
Ed. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
Boardman, C.A. and Frydenberg, J. 2002. Writing to Communicate: Paragraphs
and Essays.2nd Ed. White Plains: Longman.
Biays, J. S. and Wershoven, C. 2007. Along These Lines: Writing Paragraphs and
Essays. London: Pearson Education.
Dawson, M. and Essid, J. Prewriting: Clustering. Retrieved February11, 2011 from
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/cluster.html
Hogue, A. 1996. First Steps in Academic Writing. Addison-Wesley Longman.
lcnv.org.2006. Instructor’s Notes for Paragraph Writing: Introducing yourself.
Retrieved January 31, 2011, from
http://ccnyliteracy.pbworks.com/f/Microsoft+Word+-
+Writing+Packet+to+Share.pdf
Oshima, A. and Hogue, A.1997.Introduction to Academic Writing. Addison-Wesley
Longman
Peha, S. 2002. What is Good Writing? Retrieved January 31, 2011,
fromhttp://www.ttms.org/PDFs/13%20What%20is%20Good%20Writing
%20v001%20(Full).pdf

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Appendix 2 Glossary

GLOSSARY

Unit 1

Academic writing: a piece of writing that is suitable for the academic context

Unit 2

Brainstorming: generating ideas, especially by listing as many points as possible

about a topic

Coherence: the logical ordering of ideas in a piece of writing

Cohesion: the unity of the ideas in a piece of writing

Comma splice: using a comma, instead of a period, between two independent

clauses

Clustering: generating ideas about a topic by writing them in circles and

connecting the circles to show the relationships among the ideas

Freewriting: generating ideas by writing freely about a topic in the form of a

paragraph

Metaphor: a type of figurative language which compares two literally different

things to suggest a similarity between them

Outline: a piece of writing where the ideas produced in the brainstorming stage
have been selected and arranged in order to guide the writer in composing

Run-on sentence: two sentences written as one sentence

Sentence fragment: incomplete sentence (because it is missing the subject

and/or the verb or because it is a dependent clause)

Supporting sentences: the sentences that support the Topic Sentence, containing
relevant reasons, facts, and/ examples

The concluding sentence: the last sentence in a paragraph in the form of

restatement of the topic sentence, summary of the points, or the writer’s final
comment on the topic

The topic sentence: usually the first sentence of a paragraph, to introduce the
topic and main idea of the paragraph

Unit 3,4,5

Narrative paragraph: a paragraph that tells a story

Descriptive paragraph: a paragraph that is used to descrie what something looks

like

Expository paragraph: a paragraph that explains something to the readers

Figurative language: the use of words that go beyond their ordinary meaning, e.g

60
simile, metaphor, personification

Vivid: full of life

Mental picture: a clear and telling mental image /paint the picture in someone’s
mind

Whiskers: hair of the beard

Struck: hit

Crawl: to move slowly on hands and knees

Folk tales: legends of a particular ethnic population

Unit 6
Comparison paragraph: a paragraph which points out similarities
Contrast paragraph: a paragraph that points out differences

Unit 7
Argument: a reason given to support or disprove something
Argumentative paragraph: written piece as an attempt to persuade a reader to
think or act in a certain way; a paragraph in which a writer takes a stand and
support his/her stand with reasons (Biays and Wershoven, 2007: 219)

61