Course Details

• Course Title: English ll

• Course Code:

• Degree Program:

• Semester: 2nd

• Day: Tuesday

• Timing:

• Class strength:
 Lecture 3
Paragraph

Saadia Mahmood ul Hassan

Faculty of Allied Health Science
University of Lahore
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• What is paragraphing?
• Understand the features of well-formed and
coherent paragraphs
• Gain a deeper understanding of how body
paragraphs function in academic writing
• Transitional devices
A paragraph (from the Ancient Greek
παράγραφος paragraphos, "to write beside"
or "written beside") is a self-contained unit
of a discourse in writing dealing with a
particular point or idea.
A paragraph consists of one or more
sentences.
Paragraphs
One of the most important aspects of
producing effective writing is knowing
how to:

organize individual paragraphs

into meaningful and logical
sequences to create a coherent
piece of writing
 Paragraphs

All paragraphs have similar features,

though there are some exceptions.

Paragraphs usually consist of three

parts:
• a topic sentence
• supporting sentences
• a concluding sentence
Discussion
Most of the problems students have
with paragraphing arise because:
•more than one major idea is being
presented within the paragraph

•the supporting sentences do not

relate to and hence do not support the
topic sentence

•paragraphs do not relate to each other

 Paragraphs
WHEN YOU WRITE A NEW PARAGRAPH YOU
MUST CONSIDER…

• a topic sentence P
The structure of
the paragraph: • 2-3 supporting
sentences
E
• a concluding sentence
• Correct punctuation
The quality of (full stops / capital letters /commas
the E
/question marks)
paragraph: • Correct grammar
(word order / choice of vocabulary)
• Correct style
(formal / serious / entertaining)
 Paragraphs

START A NEW PARAGRAPH WHEN THERE’S A CHANGE IN…

Ti P To P
TIme Person TOpic Place
 Paragraphs
START A NEW PARAGRAPH WHEN…

You move to a new period in time

TIme
AFTER THE PARTY / THAT EVENING

Person You move to a different place

THE ROAD WAS ICY / IN THE DISCO

TOpic You move to a new topic or point

ANOTHER REASON FOR MY VIEW IS…

Place You bring in a new person or change

from one person to another
(especially in conversations)
I HEARD A VOICE IN THE DISTANCE
 Correction Exercise
We are going to look at an extract from The Iron
Man, by Ted Hughes.
Your task is to decide when a new
paragraph must begin.
•How many paragraphs does this extract need?
•Which word starts each paragraph?
•Which changes (Tip Top) show that we need a
new paragraph?
Hogarth joined the farmers. Slowly they drove
back down the lane, and slowly, with all his
cogs humming, the Iron Man stepped after
them. They led through the villages. Half the
people came out to stare, half ran to shut
themselves inside bedrooms and kitchens.
Nobody could believe their eyes when they saw
the Iron Man marching behind the farmers. At
last they came to the town, and there was a
great scrap-metal yard. Everything was there,
old cars by the hundred, old trucks, old railway
engines, old stoves, old refrigerators, old
springs, bedsteads, bicycles, girders, gates,
pans – all the scrap iron of the region was piled
up there, rusting away.
from The Iron Man, Ted Hughes, Faber,
Discussio
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
• What is paragraphing?
• Understand the features of well-formed and
coherent paragraphs
• Gain a deeper understanding of how body
paragraphs function in academic writing
• Transitional devices
REFRENCES

Writing
3. Writing. Intermediate by Marie-Christine Boutin, Suzanne Brinand and Francoise
Grellet. Oxford Supplementary Skills. Fourth Impression 1993. ISBN 0 19 435405
7 Pages 20-27 and 35-41.
c) Reading/Comprehension
4. Reading. Upper Intermediate. Brain Tomlinson and Rod Ellis. Oxford
Supplementary Skills. Third Impression 1992. ISBN 0 19 453402 2.