INTRODUCTION

Think back to the most impressive monuments and structures that you have heard of. The
Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the Banaue Rice Terraces of the Philippines—all of
these are considered by many to be the manmade wonders of the world. They are awe-inspiring,
not just because of their majesty, but also because of how much work was involved in creating
them.
Have you ever heard of the saying, “Rome was not built in a day?” Whenever we see something
as massive and marvelous as the aforementioned structures, we may not realize just how long
they took to be built, how many people were involved, how many resources were used, and how
much effort was put in. All we see is the finished product. But as you see, these structures began
with a brick or stone that eventually became a beautiful building. The structure underwent a
process before it was finished.
Writing is similar to constructing a building. We may not see right away how putting two bricks
together can form a wall, or how this wall will be part of a taller structure. But as you saw in the
previous lessons, metacognitive readings strategies, using pre-writing strategies, and the first part
of the writing process are as helpful as you continue to write your critique paper. They function as
a blueprint to guide you in your writing. A blueprint alone does not make a building—its design
needs to be executed on the raw materials with which the building is built. As such, paragraphs
are the building blocks of writing.

PROPERTIES OF A WELL-WRITTEN TEXT

A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized, coherent, and are all related to a single
topic. For a paragraph, or for any composition, to be effective, it must always consider the
Properties of a Well-Written Text. These properties are: Organization, Coherence and Cohesion,
Unity, Language Use, and Mechanics.

The first line of a paragraph is usually indented. This indentation of a paragraph indicates where
the paragraph begins. Remember that you must capitalize the first word in each sentence and end
each sentence with a punctuation mark, most often a period (.).

Parts of Paragraph
1. Introduction. The first section of a paragraph; it should include the topic sentence and any
other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or
provide a transition.
2. Body. Follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments,
analysis, examples, or other information.
3. Conclusion. The final section; summarizes the connections between the information
discussed in the body of the paragraphs and the paragraph's controlling idea.

Types of Sentence in a Paragraph

1. Topic Sentence. This states the main topic of the paragraph and the controlling idea. When
writing the topic sentence, try to state the main point of the paragraph ad clearly and as
accurately as possible. Do not make the topic sentence too general or too specific.
Too general Studying overseas was deemed to be very difficult.
Too specific Studying overseas was deemed to be very difficult for 63% of the people
surveyed who cited a range of difficulties including homesickness,
loneliness, difficulty making foreign friends, changes to diet, health
problems, weight gain and difficulties with money and
jobs.
Better Studying overseas was deemed to be very difficult for 63% of the people
surveyed due to the impacts of culture shock, financial concerns and health
concerns.
 2. Supporting Sentences. These develop the topic sentence. Supporting details should be
drawn from a variety of sources and based on research, experiences, etc. plus the writer's
own analysis. Using a combination of different supports is the most common and effective
way to strengthen the paragraph.
3. Concluding Sentence. This signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with
important points to remember, but is often unnecessary.

I. ORGANIZATION. Also known as arrangement, is achieved when ideas are logically and
accurately arranged with focus on the arrangement of ideas, incidents, evidence, or details in a
definite order in a paragraph, essay, or speech. It can be done with a recognizable plan that defines
one sentence connection to the other sentence and paragraph to the other paragraph.

Check the following paragraph arrangements and the words which are useful in securing in each
of them:
1. Chronological Order - first, second, later, before, next, as soon as, after, then, finally,
meanwhile, following, last, during, in, on, until
2. Order of Importance - less, more, primary, next, last, most important, primarily, secondarily
3. Spatial Order - above, below, beside, next to, in front of, behind, inside, outside, opposite,
within, nearby
4. Definition Order - is, refers to, can be defined as, means, consists of, involves, is a term
that, is called
5. Classification - classified as, comprises, is composed of, several, varieties of, different
stages of, different groups that
6. Process - first, next, then, following, after that, last, finally
7. Cause and Effect - Causes: because, for, since, stems from, one cause is, one reason is,
leads to, causes, creates, yields, due to, breeds, for this reason // Effects: consequently,
results in, one result is, therefore, thus, as a result, hence
8. Comparison and Contrast - Similarities: both, also, similarly, like, likewise, too, as well as,
resembles, correspondingly, in the same way, to compare, in comparison, share//
Differences: unlike, differs from, in contrast, on the other hand, instead, despite,
nevertheless, however, in spite of, whereas, as opposed to
9. Listing - the following, several, for example, for instance, one, another, also, too, in other
words, first, second, numerals (1, 2, 3...), letters (a, b, c...)
10. Clarification - in fact, in other words, clearly
11. Summary - in summary, in conclusion, in brief, to summarize, to sum up, in short, on the
12. Example - for example, for instance, to illustrate
13. Addition - furthermore, additionally, also, besides, further, in addition, moreover, again

When ideas are organized well, a text can achieve Coherence, Cohesion, and Unity.
 Coherence – occurs when ideas are connected at the conceptual level
 Cohesion – connection of ideas at the sentence level
 Unity – achieved when a composition contains one focused idea

II. A. COHERENCE. Refers to the overall sense of unity in a passage, including both the main
point of sentences and the main point of each paragraph. A coherent passage focuses the reader’s
attention on the main ideas and the specific people, things, and events you are writing about.

II. B. COHESION. It is also a very important aspect of academic writing because it immediately
affects the tone of your writing. Cohesive writing does not mean just “grammatically correct”
sentences; cohesive writing refers to the connection of your ideas both at the sentence level and
at the paragraph level. Cohesion is important because it allows writers to make multiple references
to people, things, and events without reintroducing them at each turn. If we had to repeat every
time we wanted to refer to them, the text would be very tedious to read.
Techniques to improve paragraph cohesion:

A. Transitions. Use a conjunction or conjunctive adverb to link sentences with particular logical
relationships.
 To Specify Sequence > again, also, and, and then, besides, finally, first . . . second . . . third,
furthermore, last, moreover, next, still, too
 To Specify Time > after a few days, after a while, afterward, as long as, as soon as, at last,
at that time, before, earlier, immediately, in the meantime, in the past, lately, later,
meanwhile, now, presently, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, then, thereafter, until,
when
 To Specify Place > above, adjacent to, below, beyond, closer to elsewhere, far, farther on,
here, near, nearby, opposite to, there, to the left, to the right
 To Specify Comparison > again, also, in the same way, likewise, once more, similarly
 To Specify Contrast > although, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of,
instead, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the contrary, on the one hand . . . on the other
hand, regardless, still, though, yet
 To Specify Examples > after all, for example, for instance, indeed, in fact, of course,
specifically, such as, the following example, to illustrate
 To Specify Cause and Effect > accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this
reason, hence, if . . . then, since, so, then, therefore, thereupon, thus, to this end
 To Specify Concession > although it is true that, granted that, I admit that, it may appear
that, naturally, of course
 To Specify Summary, Repetition, or Conclusion > as a result, as has been noted, as I have
said, as mentioned earlier, as we have seen, in any event, in conclusion, in other words, in
short, on the whole, therefore, to summarize

B. Synonymy. If direct repetition is too obvious, use a synonym of the word you wish to repeat.
This strategy is called 'elegant variation.'

C. Antonym. Using the 'opposite' word, an antonym, can also create sentence cohesion, since in
language antonyms actually share more elements of meaning than you might imagine.

D. Pro-forms. Use a pronoun, pro-verb, or another pro-form to make explicit reference back to a
form mentioned earlier.

E. Collocation. Use a commonly paired or expected or highly probable word to connect one
sentence to another.

F. Enumeration. Use overt markers of sequence to highlight the connection between ideas. This
system has many advantages: (a) it can link ideas that are otherwise completely unconnected, (b)
it looks formal and distinctive, and (c) it promotes a second method of sentence cohesion.

G. Parallelism. Repeat a sentence structure. This technique is the oldest, most overlooked, but
probably the most elegant method of creating cohesion.

Check these examples:

Coherent but not "My favorite color is blue. I'm calm and relaxed. In the summer I lie
cohesive on the grass and look up."
Cohesive but not “My favorite color is blue. Blue sports cars go very fast. Driving in this
coherent way is dangerous and can cause many car crashes. I had a car
accident once and broke my leg. I was very sad because I had to miss
a holiday in Europe because of the injury."
 Coherent and cohesive "My favorite color is blue. I like it because it is calming and it relaxes
me. I often go outside in the summer and lie on the grass and look
into the clear sky when I am stressed. For this reason, I'd have to say
my favorite color is blue."

III. UNITY is achieved when a composition is focused on one idea. Unity is the idea that all parts
of the writing work to achieve the same goal: proving the thesis. Just as the content of a paragraph
should focus on a topic sentence, the content of an essay must focus on the thesis. The
introduction paragraph introduces the thesis, the body paragraphs each have a proof point (topic
sentence) with content that proves the thesis, and the concluding paragraph sums up the proof
and restates the thesis. Extraneous information in any part of the essay which is not related to the
thesis is distracting and takes away from the strength of proving the thesis. In a unified text, all
supporting ideas are relevant to the main thought. Without unity, text will be confusing.

IV. Use of Language is one of the clearest indicators of a well written text. It enables writers
to effectively communicate ideas without confusing the reader. An effective language is: Specific,
Concise, Familiar, Correct, and Appropriate

Levels of in Language Use

1. Informal/ Personal - slang, local expressions, text messaging.
Hey Bes Yow Sup OTW GNyt Dude BRB SML KUTGW
2. Standard/Academic - widely accepted words and phrases found in books, magazines, and
newspapers
Note to a professor: I missed last night’s class and will e-mail my paper later.
The problem was on garbage management as it greatly affects the students who are
occupying the SHS
building.
3. Business/Technical - scientific terms, jargons, and special expressions Psychiatrist’s report:
“Dissociative rage order is not indicated by the ER assessment.”

Principles in Language Use

1. Use clear and concise sentences, usually about 18 words long.
2. Avoid redundancies, cliches wordiness, and highfalutin
3. Use precise vocabulary. Be accurate. Condensed.
4. Be consistent in pronoun POV
5. Avoid sexist language.
6. Use appropriate level of formality.

V. MECHANICS focuses on the technicalities of the structure. It determines errors on subject-

verb agreement, prepositions, tenses, the grammar, spelling, capitalization, abbreviations and
acronyms, the use of numbers as part of the statement, and the punctuation marks.
 Spelling
 Capitalization
 Abbreviation and Acronyms
 Numbers
 Punctuation Marks
 Grammar
-- END –

Online Sources/Reference:
travelsomechic. (2021, July 19). Properties of a Well-written Text. Retrieved July 19, 2021, from Blogspot.com website:
https://studentniche.blogspot.com/2016/08/properties-of-well-written-text.html
Cutie Patootie. (2019). Properties of a Well-Written Text - Reading and Writing. Retrieved July 19, 2021, from Slideshare.net
website: https://www.slideshare.net/aliciamargaretjavelosa/properties-of-a-wellwritten-text-reading-and-writing
Tan, M. (2016). READING AND WRITING First Quarter Period PROPERTIES OF A WELL-WRITTEN TEXT. Retrieved July 19, 2021, from
Academia.edu website:
https://www.academia.edu/34256187/READING_AND_WRITING_First_Quarter_Period_PROPERTIES_OF_A_WELL_WRITTEN_TEX
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