1) THE PARAGRAPH

¿What is a paragraph?

It is the basic unit or building block of an essay. It treats a point in your essay. If more than
one point is stated, it may not be clear enough and the reader may be confused. A paragraph
should state the theme or point in a “topic sentence” LINK 1, and explain it by providing
evidence to support it. The topic sentence is usually at the beginning of the paragraph, but can
come at the end or even in the middle of the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph generally
expands the theme contained in the main sentence, and each idea round the main theme is
supported by information and evidence, which may be in the form of examples, and by
argument. Examples– LINK 2

Topic Sentence:

The topic sentence introduces the paragraph by giving the topic and usually the focus or point of
view the paragraph will develop.

Examples:

Very small cell-phones have enormous advantages.

Topic: small cell-phones
Focus: advantages

It is a good idea for teenagers at school to have a part-time job.

Topic: teenagers
Focus: benefits of studying and working at this age.

Examples

The population as a whole was unevenly distributed. The north was particularly thinly settled and the
east densely populated, but even in countries like Warwickshire where there were substantial
populations, some woodland areas were sparsely peopled. There was already relatively dense
settlement in the prime arable areas of the country like Norfolk and Leicestershire. Modern
estimates of England`s total population, extrapolate from Domesday patterns, vary between 1 and 3
million.

Asa Briggs, (1983). A social history of England, p 58

One final cataclysm awaited the English language: the Norman conquest of 1066. The Normans were
Vikings who had settled in northern France 200 years before. Like the Celtic Britons before them,
they had given their name to a French province, Normandy. But unlike the Celts, they had abandoned
their language and much of their culture and become French in manner and speech. So totally had
they given up their language, in fact, that not a single Norse word has survived in Normandy, apart
form some place names. That is quite remarkable when you consider that the Normans bequeathed
10.000 words to English.

Bryson, Bill (1990). Mother Tongue, p 45

> Exercise: Identify the topic sentence:

Except for fools and madmen, everyone knows that nuclear war would he an
unprecedented human catastrophe. A more or less typical strategic warhead has a yield of 2
megatons, the explosive equivalent of 2 million tons of TNT. But 2 million tons of TNT is about the
same as all the bombs exploded in World War II -- a single bomb with the explosive power of the
entire Second World War but compressed into a few seconds of time and an area 30 or 40 miles
across …

The Nuclear Winter

Carl Sagan (1983)

Smoking cigarettes can be an expensive habit. Considering that the average price per pack of
cigarettes is about $2.50, people who smoke two packs of cigarettes a day spend $5 per day on their
habit. At the end of one year, these smokers have spent at least $1,825. But the price of cigarettes
is not the only expense cigarettes smokers incur. Since cigarette smoke has an offensive odor that
permeates clothing, suffused furniture, and carpeting, smokers often find that these items must be
cleaned more frequently than those of nonsmokers. Although it is difficult to estimate the cost of
this additional expense, one can see that this hidden expense does contribute to making smoking an
expensive habit.

From Refining Composition Skills, chapter 2

2) WRITING A GOOD TOPIC SENTENCE:

A topic sentence introduces the topic and the focus of that sentence. However, a topic and focus
may not be enough to have a good topic sentence. The focus should be clear and narrowed down to a
particular aspect. Read this sentence:

Eating chocolate is good.

This sentence has a topic (chocolate) and a focus (the fact that it is good), but it is too vague. It can
be improved by narrowing down both, the topic and the focus:

Chemicals found in chocolate can protect you from a variety of minor illnesses.
(Link 3)

> Exercise: Improve on these weak topic sentences:

Playing computer games is bad.

…………………………………………………………

Doing exercise can prolong your life.

…………………………………………………………

Many improvements are needed in this hospital.

………………………………………………………….

Computers are useful tools.

………………………………………………………….

Watching soap operas is good.

………………………………………………………….