ES OF A

WELL-
WRITTEN
TEXT
Paragraph
Essay

2
 PARAGRAPH ESSAY
• Interrelated • Interrelated
SENTENCES PARAGRAPHS
• Topic Sentence • Thesis Statement
• Concise Structure • Elaborated
Structure

3
PARAGRAPH
◈ First word is indented.
(1)Topic sentence; (2)Supporting
details;
(3) Concluding Statement
◈ a single unit in an Essay 4
PARTS OF A
PARAGRAP
H
TOPIC SENTENCE
◈ controlling idea
◈ clear and accurate
◈ neither too general nor too
specific
6
TOPIC SENTENCE
Studying overseas was
deemed to be very difficult.

7
TOPIC SENTENCE
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. 8
TOPIC SENTENCE
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.
9
Supporting Sentences
◈ research, experiences
◈ writer's own analysis
◈ variety of sources

10
Concluding Sentence
◈ signals the end
◈ important points to
remember

11
ESSAY
◈ Series of PARAGRAPHS
◈ Each paragraph must adhere to the rules
of paragraph writing.
◈ (1) Introduction;
◈ (2) Body;
◈ (3) Conclusion 12
PARTS OF
AN ESSAY
I
N Lead/Attention-getter
T
R
O
D
Transitional Statement
U
C
T
I
Thesis Statement
O 14

N
 Major Point
B 1 Minor Detail 1
OMajor Point
2
D Minor Detail
2 3
Major Point
Y Minor Detail 15

3
C Reiteration of thesis
O
N
statement
C
L Transitional Statement
U
S
I Closing Statement
O 16
N
Lead / ATTENTION-
GETTER
◈ aims to hook the readers
◈ Provocative rhetorical
questions
◈ Statistics
◈ Startling statement 17

◈ Anecdote
Lead / ATTENTION-
GETTER
◈Quotation
◈ Humor
◈ Analogy
18
 Nanay Nunal approached Kap Nunal
and asked,“Anong sabi ni Baby Potato kay
Uncle Potato?”. Kap Nunal responded with
“Ano?”. Nanay Nunal continued, “Hi po
Teyto!”. Then, the Nunal couple bursted
with laughter. The Nunals are the famous
barangay jokers of Eat Bulaga.
19
“Everything is OK in the end.
If it’s not OK, then it’s not the
end.”
- Anonymous
20
21
Transitional paragraph
◈ does not directly provide
support to a thesis
statement
◈ “bridge”
◈ establish connection 22

between the lead and the

Transitional paragraph
◈Definition of
Terms
◈ Background 23
Body
◈ “Meat” of the essay
◈ Development of the
topic
◈ Detailed explanation of
24
the thesis
Conclusion
◈ Restatement of the thesis
statement (reword)
◈ Transitional statement
(recommendation)
◈ Closing statement (wrap up)
25
26
27
EXPLANAT
ION ESSAY
EXPLANATIO
N ESSAY
Aims: To explain something to your reader. 

A key to writing successfully is maintaining

awareness of the audience, which will influence your
tone and word choice.
30
A Mansion of Language
 By: Danton Remoto
lingua franca
: Adopted as a common language.

In 1977, my mentor, the National Artist for

Literature and Theater Rolando S. Tinio, said: “It
is too simple-minded to suppose that enthusiasm
for Filipino as lingua franca and national
language of the country necessarily involves the
elimination of English usage or training for it in
schools.
 Proficiency in English provides us with all the
advantages that champions of English say it does – access to
the vast fund of culture expressed in it, mobility in various
spheres of the international scene, especially those dominated
by the English-speaking Americans, participation in a quality
of modern life of which some features may be assimilated by
us with great advantage.”
Linguistic Nationalism
:Dominant culture’s use of language to exercise its dominance.

Professor Tinio continues: “Linguistic nationalism does

not imply cultural chauvinism. Nobody wants to go back to
the mountains. The essential Filipino is not the center of an
onion one gets at by peeling off layer after layer of vegetable
skin. One’s experience with onions is quite telling: Peel off
everything and you end up with a pinch of air.”

Cultural Chauvinism
: Belief in national superiority and glory.
 Written 40 years ago, these words still echo especially
now, when by some quirk of history and economics,
enrollment In English courses are rising because (1) there
are many vacant positions for teachers of English and
literature in the private and public schools, and (b) there are
many vacancies, still, for jobs in call centers with entry-level
pay of P18,000 plus signing bonus, and a career that will make
you earn twice your present salary in just a few years.
 With the opening of the doors of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to everyone in
the region, more and more Filipinos are being hired
to teach English in Indonesia, Thailand and yes, even
our best friend, China.
WHY?
 Why?

First, Filipino teachers will accept a pay scale lower than

their Western counterparts. Second, they are conversant with
American popular culture, a happy (or unhappy) results of
decades of American colonialism and neo-colonialism. Third,
they are still Southeast Asians beneath their skin, and are thus
familiar with Asian cultural practices, whether said or unsaid.

Conversant
: Knowledgeable as in American culture.
 One is the importance of saving face, the meaning of
“maybe” or “I will try” to an invitation means he or she does
not want to hurt you, be he or she will not show up. Another is
the primacy given to family. Already in his 50s, one is still
called Totoy or Baby or Blue Boy, and still lives with one’s
parents and extended family. You can see that, as well, in the
other Southeast Asian countries, where families are nuclear and
not split, where food is communal and not eaten in siloed
cubicles.

Siloed Cubicles
: Where feed is produced and stored .
 Three long decades of teaching English and
Journalism to students (together with four years of
teaching Filipino) have shown me that the best
students in English are also the best students in
Filipino. And HOW DID THEY MASTER THE
TWO LANGUAGES?
 One, they had very good teachers in
both languages. Two, they inhabited the
worlds of both languages. Three, they have
gone beyond the false either-or mentality that
hobbled their parents.
Let me explain.
crème de la crème
: Best people in group.

Let me explain.

My best students in English and Filipino were

tutored by crème de la crème, many of them
teaching in private schools. At the Ateneo de Manila
University, we have classes in Remedial English,
since renamed Basic English or English 1.
 These are six units of non-credit subjects. The
enrollees are mostly intelligent students from the
public schools and the provinces. Lack of books
and untrained teachers prevent them from having a
level playing field with the other freshmen. A year
of catching up is necessary for them to have the
skills to have a mano-a-mano with the other
students.
mano-a-mano
: Hand to hand duel with other students
 Moreover, I introduce them to the worlds
of the language they are studying – be it in
the formal realm of the textbook or the
popular ones of film, graphic novel,
YouTube or anime.
 I encourage them to keep a journal as well,
which is not a diary where you write what time you
woke up and why. A journal, or its postmodern
cousin, the Web log or blog, aims to capture
impressions or moods on the wing. If at the same
time it sharpens the students’ knowledge of English,
then that is already hallelujah for the English
teacher.
 And the third is that today’s generation of
students is no longer burdened by the guilt of
learning English – and mastering it. I still remember
those writing workshops I took in the 1980s, when I
was asked why I wrote bourgeois stories in the
colonizer’s language.

bourgeois stories
: A reference to middle class.
 The panelists said I should write about
workers and peasants – and that I should write
in Filipino. Without batting a false eyelash, I
answered that I don’t know anything about
workers and peasants, and to write about
something I don’t know would be to
misrepresent them..
batting a false eyelash
: Not surprise as in not knowing .
 To the charge that I write only in English, I
showed them my poems in Filipino, because
the modern Filipino writer is not only a writer
in either English or Filipino, but a writer in both
languages, or in Bisaya or Bikolano or Ilocano
or Waray, languages that are like colorful balls
he juggles with the dexterity of a seasoned
circus performer
 So it’s not a choice between English
and Filipino, but rather, English and
Filipino, plus the language of one’s
grandmother, be it Bikolano, Waray,
or Tausug..
 And in college, another language of one’s
choice, be it Bahasa Indonesia, German, or French
– the better to view the world from many windows,
since to learn a new language is to see the world
from another angle of vision. In short, one no
longer has to live between two languages, but to
live in a mansion of many languages.
 To end in a full circle, we must return to Rolando
S. Tinio, who said: “Only the mastery of a first
language enables one to master a second and a
third. For one can think and feel only in one’s first
language, then encode those thoughts and feelings
into a second and a third.”
 In short, as a friend and fellow professor
has put it, “The Philippines is a multi-
lingual paradise.” The earlier we know we
live in a paradise of many languages, the
better we can savor its fruits ripened by the
sun.
Reference:
Remoto, D. (2017). A mansion of
languages. Retrieved from 
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2017/
01/21/1664048/mansion-
languages.August 15, 2019
54
 ACTIVITY
The reading selections is an example of an
explanation essay. Sharpen your
understanding of the text by answering the
following questions.

55
 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. How does the author introduce the topic of his
essay?
2. In paragraph 4, the author asks the questions
“Why” This signals that he is explaining
something. What exactly is the phenomena he is
explaining?

56
 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
3. What are the explanations he provides for the
phenomenon you identified in no.2 above? Give three
answers.

4. In paragraph 7, the author writes, “Let me

explain.” What exactly is the phenomenon he is
explaining?
57
 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
5. What are the explanations he provides for the
phenomenon you identified in no.4 above?
Give three answers.

6. How does the author end his essay?

58
 Based on your reading of essay by Remoto, answer the
following questions.

1. The author asserts that the Philippines is a

“multi-lingual paradise.” He believes that having
many language is an advantage for the
Philippines and to Filipinos. Do you agree with
the author? Discuss your agreement and
disagreement.

59
 Based on your reading of essay by Remoto, answer the
following questions.

2. Was the author able to fully explain the

phenomenon he chose to explain? Discuss
your answer. Make sure to provide support
for your answer with specific strategies used
by author in making his explanation.

60
 Essay Writing
Write an explanation essay about current issues in the
Philippines. The essay must be at least 500 words long and is
organized as follows:

Introduction- one or two paragraphs

Body- at least three paragraphs
Conclusion-one or two paragraphs

61
 Rubric
Your essay will be marked using the following rubrics:

Content :10 points

Organization :5 points
Language and Mechanics : 5points
Total of 20 points
62
 TEXT
PROPERTI
ES
1.Organization
◈ “arrangement”
◈ logical and accurate
◈ definite order
◈ helps to achieve unity, coherence
and cohesion
64
2.UNITY
◈ “oneness”
◈ one focused idea
◈ All supporting ideas must be
relevant to the main thought.
◈ To avoid confusion
65
UNITY
Things to check:
◈ Lead
◈ Topic Sentence
◈ Thesis Statement
66
3.Coherence
◈ overall understandability
◈ logic of ideas
◈ each phrase, sentence and
paragraph contribute to the overall
meaning
◈ Idea level/conceptual level
67
◈ text unity
Coherence
◈ Is the first topic related to
the next?
◈Is this sentence connected
to the topic sentence?
68
4.Cohesion
◈ sentence level
◈ multiple references
◈ 3 techniques: (1) Pronouns; (2)
Transitional Devices; (3)
repetition of key words
69
 70
Transitional
Devices
TRANSITIONS
◈ SEQUENCE
- again, also, and, and then,
besides, finally, first . . . second . . .
third, furthermore, last, moreover,
next, still, too
71
TRANSITIONS
◈ 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
72
TRANSITIONS
◈ Comparison

- again, also, in the same way,

likewise, once more, similarly

73
TRANSITIONS
◈ 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
74
TRANSITIONS
◈ Examples
- after all, for example, for
instance, indeed, in fact, of course,
specifically, such as, the following
example, to illustrate
75
TRANSITIONS
◈ Cause and Effect
- accordingly, as a result, because,
consequently, for this reason, hence,
if . . . then, since, so, then, therefore,
thereupon, thus, to this end
76
TRANSITIONS
◈ Place
- above, adjacent to, below,
beyond, closer to elsewhere, far,
farther on, here, near, nearby,
opposite to, there, to the left, to the
right 77
TRANSITIONS
◈ Concession
- although it is true that, granted
that, I admit that, it may appear
that, naturally, of course

78
TRANSITIONS
◈ 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
79
Repetition of key words
◈ Synonymy
- ‘elegant variation’
◈ Antonymy
- share more elements of meaning
◈ Pro-forms
- pronoun, pro-verb, or another pro-
form 80
Repetition of key words
◈ Collocation
- commonly paired
◈ Enumeration
- overt markers of sequence
◈ Parallelism
- Repeat a sentence structure
81
 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 blue sky when I am stressed. For
this reason, I'd have to say my
favorite color is blue.
82
PRINCIPLE
S
1.Formality
◈ Informal/Personal
◈ Formal/Standard/Academic
◈ Business/Technical

84
◈Bes ◈BRB ◈ J/K
◈Yow ◈ ^^ ◈ yass
◈Sup ◈ 1TG, ◈ PM
◈Nigga 2TG *facepalm*
◈OTW ◈ 10X
◈ GNyt ◈ 2MORO
◈Dude ◈ 404 ◈ SBC 85

◈ WOT
Note to the Professor:
Sir, I deeply apologize for missing last
meeting’s class. I would like to make up
for the activities I missed; thus, sent my
paper to your e-mail. Please consider my
paper. I will personally explain myself to
you the next meeting, Sir. Thank you very
much and God bless.
86
 “In vitro and in vivo
assessment of Endothelin as a
biomarker of iatrogenically
induced alveolar hypoxia in
neonates”
87
2. Clearness and Conciseness

◈ 18 words long (average)

◈ unambiguous

88
 Image is a very important factor in
politics because once the reputation of a
person is smeared by accusations, the
people’s perception of the person is
forever tainted and it may cause him to
lose credibility and trust even when the
truth behind allegations is not yet
verified. 89
3. Avoid
◈Highfalutin words
Although offsprings are
taught not to obtain free gifts
from strangers, at the present
moment many still do.
90
Highfalutin words
 Habbercock  Endeavor
 Hang-gallows  Catastrophe
 Hedgehogged  Nostalgia
 Mutual  Torrent

91
Avoid
◈Clichés  once upon a time
 All for one, and one
 Time will tell
for all
 opposites attract
 What goes around
 all is well that ends
comes around
well
 Head over heels in
love
92
Avoid
◈Clichés  Laughter is the best
medicine
 Scared out of my  The time of my life
wits  Kiss and tell
 Time heals all
wounds
 When life gives
you lemons, make 93

lemonade
Avoid : Wordiness
in order to To
due to the fact that Because
will be able to Can
in the event that If
until such time as Until
in the near future Soon
at the present time Now
at this point in time This moment
94
Avoid : Wordiness
In some cases Sometimes
With regard to Regarding
For the purpose of For
At the same time While
Blue in color Blue
As to whether Whether
95
Avoid :Redundancies
◈ Cut it out ◈ each and every
◈ ATM Machine ◈ empty space
◈ Ask a question ◈ Exactly the same
◈ Attached herewith ◈ First and foremost
◈ Basic necessities ◈ Free gift
◈ Brief moment ◈ Still remains
◈ Current trend ◈ Past history 96
Avoid :Redundancies
◈ 9 am in the ◈ Compete with
morning each other
◈ Bald-headed ◈ Classify into
◈ Bouquet of groups
flowers ◈ former graduate
◈ Brief summary ◈ gather together
◈ Circulate around ◈ future plans 97
Avoid
◈ excessive use of “there”
and “it”

98
◈ There's a book on the table.
◈ A book is on the table.
◈ It seems as though we might need
some more money.
◈ We might need more money.
◈ Out of the darkness, there rode a
knight, mounted on a fine horse.
99
Avoid
◈ sexist language
◈ use gender-neutral
nouns
100
Non-sexist words
◈ Mailman ◈ Man-made
(Postal worker) ◈(Synthetic)
◈ Businessman ◈ Person
(Business ◈(Individual)
executive) ◈ Policeman
◈ Congressman ◈(Police Officer) 101

(Representative)
Non-sexist words
◈ Guys ◈ Cameraman
(Folks, Friends) (Camera Operator)
◈ Englishman ◈ Manly
(English) (brave/
◈ Housemaid courageous)
(Housekeeper) 102
◈ The Chairman is the head of a
department.
◈ The Chair is the head of a
department.
◈ Each student makes up his own
schedule.
◈ Each student makes up his/her own
schedule. 103
Diction
◈ precise vocabulary
◈ be accurate
◈ use fewer words
104
◈ The biota exhibited a one hundred
percent mortality response.
◈ All the fish died.
◈ I’ll see you roughly around 4:00.
◈ I’ll see you at 4:00.
◈ Kayden walked slowly along the road,
swinging his school bag as he went.
◈ Kayden strolled along the road,
swinging his school bag as he went. 105
Point of view
◈ Be consistent
◈ Pronoun

106
Point of view
We should simply accept 
the fate is simply an illusion;
you must not leave our
decisions something that does
not exist. 107
6.Mechanics
◈ technicalities of the
structure
◈ Grammar
- subject-verb agreement
- prepositions 108
 - tenses
◈ spelling
◈ capitalization
◈ abbreviations and acronyms
◈ use of numbers as part of the
statement
◈ punctuation marks
109
Capitalization
RULES
◈ He said, “Treat her as you would
your own daughter.”
◈ I live in Pampanga.
◈ Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte
◈ Rodrigo Roa Duterte, president of
the Philippines. 111
RULES
◈ The governors gathered for a special
meeting.
◈ Will you check my pulse, Doctor?
◈ We have had three relatives visit
from the South.
◈ Go south and then turn left. 112
RULES
◈ Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire
◈ Department of Student Welfare and
Character Development
◈ I hate winter.
◈ Dear Sir; Sincerely yours
◈ I must take English and math. 113
 RULES
◈ I must take history and Algebra 2.
◈ These are my favorite foods:
chocolate cake, noodles, and Happy
Cup.
◈ I love Paulo Coelho’s writing: his
book, The Devil and Miss Prym, 114

was quite sensible.