UNIT 2: WRITING SKILLS

I-PARAGRAPH WRITING

It is important to know how to write a paragraph. There are certain rules you should follow in order
to write a paragraph and to know how to write term papers. Your first sentence should be a topic
sentence and should contain the topic and an opinion on the topic.

A paragraph is a passage or a set, group or collection of sentences, logically arranged and properly
inter-linked and interconnected, with unity of purpose. It deals with one main idea.

 The topic sentence

The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph. It introduces the main idea of the paragraph.

Example: There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world.

 Supported sentences
They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph. They give details to
develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

Example:
First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at
a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-
trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are
clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live.

 Closing sentence
The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph. It restates the main idea of your paragraph.

Example

As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

Full paragraph

There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world.
First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at
a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-
trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are
clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live.
As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

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 II-There are various categories of linking words in academic paragraph writing.

Time/order At first, eventually. Finally, firstly, in the end, in the first place, in the second
place, lastly, later, second, secondly, later next., to begin with
Comparison/ similar In comparison, in the same way, similarly
ideas
Contrast/ opposite But, despite, in spite of, even so, however, in contrast, in spite of this,
ideas nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still whereas, yet
Cause and effect Accordingly, as a consequence, as a result, because, because of this,
consequently, for this reason, hence, in consequence, in order to, owing to
this, since, so, so that, therefore, thus
Examples For example, for instance, such as, thus, as follows
Generalisation As a rule, for the most part, generally, in general, normally, on the whole, in
most cases, usually
Stating the obvious After all, as one might expect, clearly, it goes without saying, naturally,
obviously, of course, surely
Attitude Admittedly, certainly, fortunately, luckily, oddly enough, strangely enough,
undoubtedly, unfortunately
Summary/ Finally, in brief, in conclusion, in short, overall, so, then, to conclude, to sum
conclusion up
Explanation/ In other words, namely, or rather, that is to say, this means, to be more
equivalence precise, to put it another way
Addition Apart from this, as well as, besides, furthermore, in addition moreover, nor,
not only, but also, too, what is more
Condition In that case, then
Support Actually, as a matter of fact, in fact, indeed
Contradiction Actually, as a matter of fact, in fact
Emphasis Chiefly, especially, in detail, mainly, notably, particularly

EXERCISE
You are a crash investigator for the railway. You were on duty at a nearby station at the time of the
crash. You went to the scene quickly and immediately interviewed the shocked driver.

Write a report of the accident. Your report should include details of the scene you saw on your
arrival and the causes and results of the accident. The report must not be longer than 160.

The driver said he heard a loud bang and then ...

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 II -LETTER WRITING

Informal or personal letters are those you write to people you know – friends, cousins, aunts, uncles,
etc. Informal letters should be friendly, chatty and relaxed as though you're talking to the person.

 Guidelines (Look at the chart for more explanations)

INFORMAL LETTER WRITING FORMAL LETTER WRITING

ADDRESS AND The address and date should be written Your Address should be written in the
DATE in the right hand corner. Note: top right-hand corner of the letter.

After you have written the address, The Address of the person you are
leave a line and write the date. writing to should be written on the left,
starting below your address

THE DATE You can write this on the right or the left
on the line after the address you are
writing to. Write the month as a Word.

SALUTATION OR Dear……/ Hello / Hi Dear sir or madam, If you do not know

GREETING the name of the person you are writing to,
use this. It is always advisable to try to
find out a name

If you If you know the name, use the title

(Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms, Dr, etc.) and the
surname only. If you are writing to a
woman and do not know if she uses Mrs
or Miss, you can use Ms, which is for
married and single women.

INTRODUCTION How are you? I’ am fine/ I hope you

will consist of an are well.
introduction which
will give the Thank very much for you letter of
recipient an idea December 1st.
about what you are I have some good news, I am writing
writing to them with to…(tell you about my last trip to
a short summary of Ghana)
the main topic of
your letter.

BODY that consist One or more paragraphs Reason for writing:

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of the message you Commenting on something
want to get across (Paragraph 1)
along with any I am writing to inform you about
details you may want I'm sorry to hear/learn ...
to convey. • I'm so pleased to hear ... I am writing to provide you with
It's great to hear ... information about
What wonderful news about ...
I am writing to let you know that
Moving the topic on (Paragraph 2)
Providing first point:
Anyway, the reason I'm writing ...
The first thing I would like to inform you
I thought I'd write to tell/ask you
of is…
Anyway, I was wondering ...
The first thing I would like to tell you is..

The first thing I wish to inform you of is..

I would like to begin by informing you….

Providing further points:

I would also like to let you know that…

I would also like to inform you that..

You might also find the following

information useful…

It might also be useful for you to know

that….

Another piece of information that might

be useful…

CONCLUSION Well that’s all my news If you require further information, please
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You can sum up do not hesitate to as
your main idea in
Give my love/ regards to your parents/ If I can be of further assistance, please do
this paragraph,
my mother sends her love. not hesitate to ask

I look forward to hearing from you/ I I will willingly provide further

hope to hear from you soon/ write information on request
soon
I am at your disposal should you require
further information

I am at your disposal should you need

further assistance

Please do not hesitate to ask should you

require further information
ENDING Lots of love, Yours faithfully
If you do not know the name of the
Love, person, end the letter this way.
Best wishes,
Yours sincerely
Regards, If you know the name of the person, end
the letter this way.
All the best
See you soon
Take care
Yours

Well, that's all for now

Write back soon

SIGNATURE Mariana/Jennifer Mrs. Jones, Mr. Jackson

Sign your name,

 Example of informal letter

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An English friend of yours Anne is a student. She has written to you asking for advice. Read Anne’s
email and the note you have made. Then write an email to Anne using all your notes.

Hi,

I’ve got together with six of my friends from college and we are hoping to travel to your country for
about two weeks for a holiday. Can you give us some help please, please? We would like to know
when the best time of year to visit your country is. Also, we want to meet people our own age (17-
18). What‘s the best way to do this? We don’t want to carry too much stuff, so can you tell us what
clothes we should bring?

And while we are there, would you like to join our group and travel round with us? I think it would
be fun. Don’t you?

Many thanks and looking forward to hearing from you

Anne

Assignments to be done

Letter 1

Writing an Informal letter You went on a trip somewhere and you're writing to your friend
telling them about the trip.

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Letter 2

Letter to a friend inviting him for your birthday party.

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Example of formal letter

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 Whitcomb Polytechnic
20-30 Newcastle Road
Whitcombe
Tyne and Wear
WT5 4AH

11 October 2007

The General Manager

Fukuoka Motors (UK) Ltd
PO Box 137
York Road
Loughton
Durham
LT3 5HD

Dear Sir,

I understand from my colleague, Professor William Jones, who visited your Loughton plant last
month, that you sometimes allow groups of students to tour the factory and see for themselves how
Japanese production techniques operate in a European environment. Professor Jones himself was
most impressed by his own visit, and recommended that I write to you.

Would it be possible for a group of 20 Business Studies students - male and female, aged between
18 and 22 - from Whitcomb Polytechnic to visit you before the end of this term, which is on the 21
December? I realize that you must receive many requests for such visits, and that the time available
may already be booked up. If it is not, and you are able to see us, I should be most grateful if you
could suggest a date and let me know of any normal conditions you lay down for visits of this kind.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

B Farrant (Dr)
Senior Lecturer

Assignment to be done

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 1. Asking for Information

You live in an English speaking country and you want to do some voluntary, unpaid work in a
developing country. Write a letter to a company called Cultural Expeditions, which organizes such
trips. In your letter:

 Explain why you want to do the voluntary work.

 State what your skills and experience are.
 Indicate where you would like to volunteer and for how long.

Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir / Madam

You should write at least 150 words.

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