Principles of Effective Writing

Components of a Text or Composition

-It can either be a PARAGRAPH or an ESSAY.

Paragraph – a group of interrelated sentences that talk about one idea.

Essay – group of paragraphs that talk about one central idea.

PARAGRAPH ESSAY

Organized around a topic sentence Organized around a thesis

Contains introductory sentence Contains introductory paragraph

Uses sentences to explain major points Uses paragraphs to explain major points

May use a concluding sentence Always uses a concluding paragraph

What are the parts of a Paragraph?

Topic Sentence – the central idea of the paragraph; it can be a stand or a comment, an objective statement, or a
question.

Body – consist of the supporting details which are the sentences that clarify and prove the main idea.

Closing sentence – concludes the details that have been presented.

Ex:

In their book, Wilbert Mckeachie and Marilla Svinicki describe four types of challenging students. The
first type is composed of the attention – seeking, discussion – dominating students who want to be heard. The
second type is comprised of the inattentive students who doodle and drift off during class discussions. They
often stare into their cell phones and chat with their classmates during lecture. The third type is composed of
the unprepared students who are characterized as the ones who skip doing their assignments prior to the
class They do not have pens or paper even when they know that they are scheduled to take their quizzes and
exams. The last type of challenging students includes the uncivil and disrespectful ones who display rude
behaviors. Knowing these types of challenging students would help teachers manage these behaviors
constructively.
What are the parts of an essay?

Introduction

Lead/Attention getter – the first statement in the essay which aims to hook the readers.

Transitional statement – the sentence which links the lead to the thesis statement. It generally provides a background
on the topic.

Thesis statement – states the main idea or argument of the essay.

BODY

- The meat of the essay. It discusses the thesis statement in detail through its paragraphs.

- This is where the topic is developed and where the arguments are laid out and discussed.

Conclusion

It begins with the restatement of the thesis statement. Followed by the Transitional statement that talks about the
recommendations, benefits of ideas presented, or purpose of writing the essay. Finally, a closing statement is used to
wrap up the essay.