HOW TO DEVELOP A

PARAGRAPH?
WORDS
make up a

2
PHRASE
makes up

3
SENTENCES
make up
a

4
“A solidly written paragraph takes its
readers on a clear path, without
detours.”

- a group of sentences organized

around a central topic.

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 Topic Sentence - tells the reader what the paragraph is

1 going to be about.
- It also helps the writing under control.
- sometimes called the “controlling idea" of a paragraph.

Supporting Sentence – make the topic more interesting

2 or help explain it more clearly .

- It helps support a topic sentence through providing sensory
details, facts, or examples that expand upon, explain, or prove
a paragraph’s main idea or topic sentence.

Clincher/Concluding Sentence –provides a logical conclusion

based on the information found in the supporting
sentences.
-also used to cement the main idea in the reader’s mind. 6
 My mother is neither tall nor heavy, but she’s the biggest
person in my life. There has been no other person with a greater
influence on me. Most mothers feed, wash, and clothe their
children, and my mother is no exception. But more than this, she
made sure that I received the finest education possible. This
education was not at expensive schools or famous universities, but
at home, by her knee, patiently. My mother explained to me the
difference between right and wrong; the virtues of generosity,
honesty, and hard work; and the importance of family and social
ties. From her I understood who I was, where I belonged, and
how I should spend my energy. No matter how big I might grow to
be, I hope to be as great as my mother.

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 My mother is neither tall nor heavy, but she’s the
biggest person in my life. There has been no other person with a
greater influence on me. Most mothers feed, wash, and clothe
their children, and my mother is no exception. But more than
this, she made sure that I received the finest education possible.
This education was not at expensive schools or famous
universities, but at home, by her knee, patiently. My mother
explained to me the difference between right and wrong; the
virtues of generosity, honesty, and hard work; and the
importance of family and social ties. From her I understood
who I was, where I belonged, and how I should spend my energy.
No matter how big I might grow to be, I hope to be as
great as my mother.
Topic Sentence
Supporting Sentence
Clincher 8
 PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT
Developing paragraphs in a variety of patterns
that reflect your thinking about the material.
As you write the topic sentence and its
supporting sentences, look for ways to
structure your thinking. Where one author
advances his or her material by narrating a
series of events, another undertakes a physical
description and another undertakes an
analysis of the topic.

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 Process
Analysis
Paragrap
h
Narration Descriptio
n
Paragrap Paragraph
h
Classificati
on
Paragraph
Expositio Persuasio
n n
Paragrap Paragraph
h
Definitio
n
Paragrap
h

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