Writing Paragraphs
1. Definition: a paragraph is a group of related sentences about a single topic. The topic of
a paragraph is one, and only one, idea.
2. Paragraph Structure: The paragraph has three main parts: topic sentence, supporting
details, and a concluding sentence.
Gold
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has a
glowing beauty that is resistant to chemical change. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins,
and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For
example, a Macedonian coin remains as unchanged in color today as the day it was made 25
centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science.
For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as photography and
dentistry. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat
shields for protection when they go outside spaceship in space. In conclusion, gold is treasured
not only for its beauty but also for its utility.
A. Topic Sentences: Look at these examples:
- New York is a fun place to be on New Year’s Eve.
- New York has great entertainment.
- New York is the world’s most famous city.
In the three examples, the topic is the same. The subject of the paragraph is about New York.
These examples have different controlling ideas. Each of these controlling ideas will introduce a
distinct
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paragraph with different information and examples. It is important when you write the topic
sentence to decide what exactly the aspects of the topic that you want to focus on.
- Mahatma Gandi was an influential leader.
- Email is a great way to stay in touch with your family and friends.
- Registering for college classes can be a challenging experience for new students.
- The increase of car accidents is due to several factors.
B. Supporting Details: there are several kinds of specific supporting details: examples,
statistics, and quotations.
1. Examples:
Examples are the easiest kind of supporting detail to use because you can often take examples from your
own knowledge and experience. Examples make your writing lively and interesting, and the reader is
more likely to remember your point if you support it with a memorable example. Words and phrases that
introduce examples include “for example”, “for instance”, and “such as”.
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2. Quotations:
Quotations from reliable and knowledgeable sources are good supporting details. There are two kinds of
quotations: direct and indirect. In a direct quotation, you copy another person’s exact words and enclose
them in quotation marks. In an indirect quotation, you report the person’s words without quotation marks,
but with a reporting expression such as (according to XYZ…. Or XYZ believes that …) Reporting verbs
are (assert, insist, report, suggest, claim, maintain, say, write, declare, mention, state)
3. Statistics: are good supporting details. In this case, you need to read the graph to be
able to report it.
Red-Light Running
Although some people think red-light running is a minor traffic violation that is no worse
than jaywalking, it can, in fact, become a deadly crime. Red-light runners cause hundreds of
accidents, including deaths and injuries as well as millions of dollars in damages. Each year
more than 900 people die, and nearly 200.000 are injured in crashes that involve red-light
running. Motorists run red lights all the time. For example, in Fairfax, Virginia, a five-month-
long survey at five busy intersections revealed that a motorist ran a red light every 20 minutes.
Red-light runners are seldom caught. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety,
“Communities don’t have the resources to allow police to patrol intersections as often as would
be needed to ticket all motorists who run red lights” (“Q&A”).
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C. Relevant & Irrelevant Information
Read the following paragraph. Notice how the paragraph has a single focus because all the
supporting sentences relate to the topic sentence.
My apartment is in a terrible location. First of all, it is too far away from the important
stores and services. It is several miles from a grocery store, post office, library, or pharmacy. To
make matters worse, there is no convenient public transportation in my neighborhood. In
addition, my apartment is in a high-crime area and gangs of teenagers roam the streets,
threatening the neighbors. Last month alone, eight robberies took place on our block. The elderly
woman who lives next door had her purse snatched while she was walking her dog. Finally,
because my apartment is near an industrial area, the pollution is awful. A nearby chemical plant
causes so much smog that is often hard for me to breathe. I agree with people who say that when
you are looking for an apartment, location is everything.
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Read the following paragraph. Identify the irrelevant information.
I love the location of my new house. For one thing, it is a very safe neighborhood, and I
am not afraid to go out alone. There is almost no crime, and most people don’t even lock their
doors. In addition, the neighborhoods is in a convenient location. Lots of stores, schools, and
restaurants are nearby. Within a few miles, there is also a library, health and fitness center, and
movie theater. Most of all, I really like the people who live in this neighborhood. They are
friendly and helpful and seem to want to keep our community safe and clean. My new house is
roomy, comfortable, and sunny, but I need to buy some more furniture.
The last sentence has nothing to do with location. It is not related to the topic. It should not be
included in this paragraph.
D. The Concluding Sentence: a concluding sentence serves two purposes:
- It signals the end of the paragraph.
- It leaves the reader with the most important ideas which can do this in two ways:
By restating the topic sentence
By summarizing the main points of the paragraph
Greeting Cards
Have you noticed how many different kinds of greeting cards you can buy these days? In
the old days, the local store had one rack displaying maybe five or six basic kinds of cards. You
could walk into the store and choose an appropriate card in five minutes or less. Nowadays,
however, the display space for greeting cards is as big as a soccer field, and it may take an hour
or two to hunt down exactly the right card with exactly the right message. There are at least 30
categories of birthday cards alone: birthday cards for different ages, from different ages, for
different relatives, from different relatives, for different genders, and so on. There are cards for
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getting a job or for acquiring a pet. The newest type of card s the “encouragement card.” In
short, there is now a greeting card for every possible life event and for a few nonevents as well.
NB: In this paragraph, the writer summarizes the main points of the paragraph. The writer used
“In short” as a signal word to end the paragraph.
E. The Writing Process
1. Purpose
to inform, to persuade, to describe, to convince, to define, to influence, to review, to argue, to notify, to
recommend, to instruct, to change, to advise, to advocate, to announce, to urge, to explain, to defend, to
illustrate, to support.
2. Audience
Teachers, parents, students, friends, newspaper readers, people in general
3. The Writing Process
a. Pre-writing: brainstorming, researching and outlining your thoughts
b. Drafting
c. Revising
d. Editing
e. Proofreading
4. Prewriting Techniques
a. Brainstorming—let your ideas flow without judging them
b. Listing—make a list of your ideas about a topic
c. Clustering—make a visual diagram of your ideas about a topic
5. Writing the outline
6. Practice
- Choose one of the following topics.
- Write your own topic sentence and supporting details.
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- Do not include irrelevant ideas.
7. Topics
- Advantages of being bilingual (Persuasive Paragraph)
- The disadvantages of using mobile phones during lectures (Persuasive)
- The causes of air pollution (Cause and effect)
- The causes of depletion in the ozone layer (cause and effect)
- The solutions to reduce unemployment (Problem – solution)
- Working in a company or having your own business (Compare and contrast)
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Outlining
1. Topic Sentence
2. Supporting Details
Supporting Point 1
Supporting Point 2
Supporting Point 3
3. Concluding Sentence
Write your first draft
- Make sure you start with a topic sentence.
- Arrange each main idea with the suitable supporting details.
- Include only relevant ideas.
- Arrange your ideas in a logical way.
- Write your conclusion
Editing your writing
- Edit means to check the grammar in your writing.
1. look at each sentence
- Does every sentence have a subject and a verb?
2. Look at each verb
- Do all verbs agree with their subjects?
- Are all of the verbs in the correct tense?
3. Look at the punctuation and capitalization
- Does each sentence begin with a capital letter?
- Does each sentence end with the correct punctuation?
4. Look at the words, is each word spelled correctly?
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