Writing 4:

Basic Paragraph Parts

A paragraph is a group of sentences that has one main idea. In English, there are three parts to a good paragraph. These parts are written in a special way. If a paragraph is missing one part, it is not complete.

All good paragraphs have three basic parts: 1. Topic sentence

- shows the main idea - is indented (Use the Tab key!)

2. Supporting sentences
- explain the topic sentence - main supporting sentences - details that help explain the main supporting sentences

3. Closing sentence
- restates the topic sentence in different words Example Paragraph: Topic sentence

Main supporting sentences

College students can find many benefits to studying in another country. The first benefit is that it is the best environment to learn another language. Students can have contact with the language they are studying anywhere they go in the country. For example, media such as television, advertisements, music, and magazines all use the language students want to study. Because of the environment, they can naturally absorb more language. Another benefit is that it gives students a different perspective of the world. Since there are usually many students from different countries studying one language, they can learn more than just the language and the culture. They can learn about the cultures of other students. For example, if a Korean student, Costa Rican student, and Israeli student are in a Chinese class together, the Korean student will learn Chinese, but also learn about Costa Rican and Israeli culture as well. Finally, students who study in another country usually make very close friendships. After a year of hard study together, many students have learned a lot about their classmates cultures. Usually they have a very strong connection with one another. For these reasons, college students should think about spending some of their college time studying in another country.
42 Closing sentence Supporting sentences