WRITING

PARAGRAPHS
OBJECTIVE
 Atthe end of this writing
workshop students will be able
to write a well-structured
paragraph.
What’s a paragraph?
A groupof sentences that are
about one topic or one idea .
 What’s a sentence?

A group of words that are

about one idea.
It expresses a complete thought

or idea.
 What are the
parts of sentence?

SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT

SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT

Maria plays the piano.

She practices it everyday.
She has one at home.
She is a good player.
 It is the first sentence of a
paragraph.
 It gives the main idea or the topic
of the paragraph.
 A good topic sentence helps
readers understand the
paragraph.
 It is always indented.
A TOPIC: what the paragraph is
about.
 A CONTROLLING IDEA: what

the writer is going to focus on

in the paragraph.
David Ferreira is a good father.
s e n t e n c e t el ls
The topic
a t t h e p a r a g ra p h
us th
b e a b o u t D a v i d
will
e ira a s a fa th e r .
Ferr
w r i te r w i l l n o t
The
i n fo r m a t i o n o f
include
s a fr i e n d o r h i s
David a
r e p l a n s o r h i s
futu
education.
I like my room for many reasons.
i c s e n t e n c e t e l ls
The top
a t t h e p a r a g r a p h
us th
e a b o u t t h e r o o m
will b
t h e r e a s o n s w h y
and
the writer likes it
h e w r i t e r w i ll n ot
T
i n f o r m a t i o n o f
include e
h e d o e s n ’ t l ik
the things
t h i n g s h e w a n t s
or the
to change.
 Either the topic or the controlling idea
can come first in the topic sentence.
Take a look at these two topic sentences.

I like my room for many reasons.

There are many reasons why I like my

room.
A betta makes a good pet.

It is easy to use an ATM.

The man in the photo has a terrible job.

There are two ways to tell the temperature.

A betta makes a good pet.

It is easy to use an ATM.

The man in the photo has a terrible job.

There are two ways to tell the temperature.

 It tells the reader the main idea of the
paragraph.
 Every sentence in the paragraph relates to it.
 It should not be too general or too specific.
 It should not use phrases such as I am going to
write about… or This paragraph is about…
 It is indented.
 Sentences with information that
supports the topic sentence.
 They must be connected to the

topic sentence.
 They can give examples, reasons or

facts to explain the topic sentence.

 Global advertisers must consider
differences in laws and customs. Some
countries do not allow TV advertisements
on Sunday. Other countries never allow
advertisements for children’s products. In
some parts of the world, dogs and jeans
cannot be shown on television. The global
P L E S TO
advertiser who does not E X
understand
E A M such
C E S G I V
S E N T E N E TA I L.
HESE
Tlaws and customs Nwill
M soon
O R D
E have problems.
E TO PI C I
IS ( C U S
Betta S H
Tet al., 1998, p. 16).
D
 A betta makes a good pet.
a) Just feed it every day, and give it clean water once a
week.
b) First, it is a beautiful fish, especially in the sunlight.
c) The fish became popular for their aggressive
tendencies towards each other.
d) Second, it is easy to take care of a betta.
 It is easy to use an ATM.
a) Then follow the directions on the screen.
b) You put in your ATM card and press the
buttons for your PIN.
c) You can use an ATM to get cash from your
bank account.
d) Sometimes there are problems if you forget
your PIN.
The man in the photo has a terrible job.
a) His name is Bob and he’s married with
three kids.
b) He works for Bigg Computers.
c) Every day,customers call him on the phone
to complain about their computers.
d) He does not like to listen to them.
 It is the last sentence in a
paragraph.
 It summarizes the information

presented in the paragraph.

 It is the same as the topic

sentence written using different

words.
 Global advertisers must consider
differences in laws and customs. Some
countries do not allow TV advertisements NS
. I T M EA
E
ENCallow
on Sunday. Other countries P I C Snever
EN T
W R IT TE N
E S T H E TO S EN T ENCE
TAT P IC
advertisements
NTENC
E RE S for children’s
A A S TH
E TO products.
D S.
In
THIS SE S A ME
HE of the
I DE
F ER EN T WOR
someI T I S T
parts G D I F
world,
jeans dogs and
THAT USIN
cannot be shown on television. The global
advertiser who does not understand such
laws and customs will soon have problems.
(Betta et al., 1998, p. 16).
 Some butterflies are great travelers. For example, butterflies called Painted Ladies
fly all the way from Europe to Africa. They also fly from Australia to New Zealand.
Monarch butterflies fly from Canada to Mexico. That trip can be 3000 miles long.

a) Butterflies are really beautiful.

b) As you can see butterflies live in many parts of the world.
c) It is amazing how far some butterflies can fly.
 My fried Kai is good at sports. He played two sports in high school. He was the captain of
the wrestling and tennis team. He is also a good swimmer and fast runner. He runs every day
to stay in shape. Sometimes Kai and I play Ping-Pong together.He usually wins.

a) He is good at Ping-Pong, too.

b) Kai loves practising different sports.
c) He also plays soccer three times a week.
 Chocolate is made from three kinds of cocoa beans. The best beans come from criollo trees.
These trees grow only in Central and South America. Most beans come from forastero
trees.These trees grow in West Africa. Finally the third kind of bean comes from trinitario
trees.They grow in Africa and America.

a) All three kinds of cocoa beans are used to make chocolate.

b) All these trees are all around the world.
c) Chocolate is very delicious.
 In addition, Veggie Delight serves
potatoes that are baked, not fried in egg.
 They can enjoy the tasty Veggie Burger,

which contains no meat.

 They can also enjoy fresh juices instead

of soft drinks.
 Busy families love to eat at Veggie

Delight.
 Eating these foods is a healthy pleasure

for busy families.

Busy families love to eat at Veggie
Delight. They can enjoy the tasty
Veggie Burger, which contains no
meat. They can also enjoy fresh
juices instead of soft drinks. In
addition, Veggie Delight serves
potatoes that are baked, not fried
in egg. Eating these foods is a
healthy pleasure for busy families.
 REFERENCES
 Baker, L., Hartmann, P., Jack, D., Kirn, E., Most, P., O’Sullivan, J., Pavlik, Ch.,
Keenan, S. & Tanka, J. (2003). Interactions 1. Low Intermediate. New York:
McGraw Hill.
 Betta,L. & Dupaquier, C. (1998). Nothstar: focus on reading and writing. New
York: Longman.
 Butler, L. (2007). Fundamentals of Academic Writing. New York: Pearson
Longman.
 Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest Intro-Reading and Writing. New York:
McGraw Hill
 Pavlik, Ch. & Keenan, S. (2007). Interactions 1. New York: McGraw Hill.
 Folse, K.,Muchmore-Vokoun, A. & Vestri, E. (2005). Great Sentences fro Great
Paragraphs. Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning.