WRITING A PARAGRAPH
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A paragraph is a group of related sentences that discusses mainly one idea.
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- It can be long enough
- The number of sentences is unimportant
- It is visually organized
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Three parts of a paragraph:
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- The topic sentence - states the main idea of the paragraph
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- names the topic
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- limits the topic to one specific area
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- The controlling idea - announces the specific area
- Supporting Sentences - develop the topic sentence
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- explain or prove the topic sentence
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- give more information
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- Concluding sentence - signals the end of the paragraph
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- summarizes the paragraph with important points to remember (it can be done in two ways: by summarizing the main points of the paragraph or by repeating the topic sentence in different words)
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- is needed only for stand-alone paragraph.
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Ex 2.39 Agree or disagree with the following points about paragraphs.
1. A good topic sentence:
a) is a complete sentence with a subject, a verb, and a controlling idea
b) states the main idea of the paragraph
c) is neither too general nor too specific
d) the controlling idea limits the topic to one specific area that can be discussed
e) is usually the first sentence in the paragraph
f) the helpful guide to both: the Writer and the Reader.
2. Good supporting sentences:
a) develop the topic sentence (explain or prove the topic sentence by giving more information about it)
b) are specific and factual
c) can be examples, statistics, or quotations.
3. A good concluding sentence:
a) signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to remember
b) summarizes the important points briefly or restates the topic sentence in different.