PARAGRAPH WRITING

By

Dr. Rusdiah, M.Hum.

What is Paragraph?
A paragraph is a group of
related sentences that
develop one main idea.
PARAGRAPH ORGANIZATION

Topic Sentence .............................

Supporting sentences........................
Supporting sentences........................
Supporting sentences........................

Concluding sentences.........................
Topic Sentence
A Topic Sentence briefly indicates what the paragraph
is going to discuss
Ex: There are two effects of mobile phone.
A topic sentence should always be a complete
sentence.
- Driving on freeways.
- The importance of money.
• Don’t begin paragraphs with “ I’m going to write
about....” or “This paragraph is about....”
* A complete sentence has three parts:
1. a subject
2. a verb
3. a controlling idea
Violence in Turkey society has several causes.
s v controlling idea
There are several causes of violence in Turkish society.
s v controlling idea
A good architect is both an artist and a mathematician.
s v Controlling idea
Most adults find learning a foreign language difficult.
s  v controlling idea
Supporting Sentence(s)
Supporting ideas (usually 3 -
6), which support the topic
sentence
COHERENCE and UNITY in WRITING
Coherence means that your paragraph is
easy to read and understand because (1) your
supporting sentences are in some kind of
logical order and (2) your ideas are connected
by the use of appropriate transition signals.
(3) Coherence in writing means that all t he
ideas in a paragraph flow smoothly from one
sentence to the next sentence. With
coherence, the reader has an easy time
understanding the ideas that you wish to
express.
Unity is a very important characteristic of
good paragraph writing. Unity means that
you discuss only one main idea in a
paragraph. That is, all the sentences -- the
topic, supporting sentences, the detail
sentences, and (sometimes) the concluding
sentence -- are all telling the reader about
ONE main topic. If your paragraph contains
a sentence or some sentences that are NOT
related to the main topic, then we say that
the paragraph "lacks unity," or that the
sentence is "off-topic."
THE CONCLUDING SENTENCE
Concluding sentence is a sentence at the end of the
paragraph which summarizes the information that has been
presented.

Consider a hamburger that you can buy at a fast-food restaurant. 

A hamburger has a top bun (a kind of bread), meat, cheese,
lettuce, and other elements in the middle of the hamburger, and a
bottom bun. Note how the top bun and the bottom bun are very
similar.  The top bun, in a way, is like a TOPIC SENTENCE, and
the bottom bun is like the CONCLUDING SENTENCE.  Both
buns "hold" the meat, onions, and so on.  Similarly, the topic
sentence and concluding sentence "hold" the supporting
sentences in the paragraph.  Let's see how a concluding sentence
(in bold font) might look in our sample paragraph about
Wheaton:
My hometown is famous for several amazing natural
features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is
very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which
is 175 feet wide, are many willow* trees which have long
branches that can move gracefully in the wind.  In autumn
the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like
golden snow.  Second, on the other side of the town is
Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. 
Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous,
because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can
be used as stairs.  There are no trees around this hill, so it
stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many
miles away.  The third amazing feature is the Big Old
Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably
about six hundred years old.  These three landmarks are
truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.
Willow: söğüt ağacı gracefully: charmingly, büyülüyeci
Here is an example of a paragraph with a topic sentence
stated at the beginning.
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS OF EUROPE AND THE
UNITED STATES
The educational systems of Europe and the United States
are similar in a number of ways. To begin with, elementary
school classes look the same everywhere: There are about
twenty to twenty-two pupils per class, and the classes are
coeducational*. Also, there is one teacher for all subjects for
each grade (except in Scandinavia), and the majority of
elementary school teachers are women. In addition, the
subjects which are taught at the elementary level are
basically the same everywhere: reading and writing,
mathematics, introductions to the sciences, music, sports,
and art. The only major difference in the elementary
curriculum* is that most Europeans study a foreign language
in elementary school, but most American children do not.
Here is an example of a paragraph with the topic
sentence found at the end.
CANCER AFFECTS EVERYBODY
My grandfather contracted* lung cancer a few months
ago. The doctors now say that he only has a few weeks
to live. My family's situation is not unique. Millions of
Americans are going through a similar experience. At
least three members of every extended family will
contract terminal* disease before the age of sixty. At
least one out of every three nuclear families will have a
member who will die of cancer before the age of fifty.
From these statistics and from personal
experience it is obvious that no one is unaffected
by cancer.
Kinds of Paragraph
A. ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES
B. CAUSE and EFFECT PARAGRAPH
C. COMPARE and CONTRAST PARAGRAPH
D. ARGUMENTATIVE PARAGRAPH
E. CLASSIFICATION PARAGRAPH
F. CHOICE / OPINION PARAGRAPH
G. SEQUENCE PARAGRAPH
H. EXPLANATION PARAGRAPH
I. DESCRIPTION PARAGRAPH
J. EVALUATION PARAGRAPH
THANK YOU