COMPOSE

EFFECTIVE
PARAGRAPHS
CHOOSE THE
LETTER OF
THE CORRECT 1. A paragraph is:
ANSWER FOR
EACH ITEM.
WRITE YOUR A) an idea B) a unit of text
ANSWERS IN C) a group of sentences D)
all of these
YOUR
NOTEBOOK.
CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT ANSWER
FOR EACH ITEM. WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN YOUR
NOTEBOOK.

•2. TRUE OR FALSE. A PARAGRAPH

CAN BE DEFINED BY THE
NUMBER OF SENTENCES.
•A) TRUE B) FALSE
CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT ANSWER
FOR EACH ITEM. WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN YOUR
NOTEBOOK.

3. SUPPORTING SENTENCES ARE NOT USED TO:

A) SUPPORT THE TOPIC SENTENCE
B) FOCUS ON THE MAIN IDEA IN A PARAGRAPH
C) START A NEW PARAGRAPH
CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT ANSWER
FOR EACH ITEM. WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN YOUR
NOTEBOOK.

WHAT IS THE ABBREVIATION

FOR 'PARAGRAPH'?
A) PAR B) PARAG C) P D) PARA
CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT ANSWER
FOR EACH ITEM. WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN YOUR
NOTEBOOK.

5. TRUE OR FALSE? A USEFUL WAY

OF DEVELOPING A PARAGRAPH IS
GIVING AN EXAMPLE.
A) TRUE B) FALSE
 PREPARING A MANGO TO EAT
FIRST, CHECK THAT THE MANGO IS RIPE. DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE COLOR OF THE
SKIN. THE SKIN MAYBE GREEN, RED, YELLOW-ORANGE OR PURPLE. HOLD THE
MANGO IN YOUR HAND TO SEE IF YOU FEEL ‘SOFTNESS’ OR ‘GIVE’ WHEN YOU
PRESS IT. SMELL THE MANGO. IF THE FRUIT HAS A STRONG PERFUME, IT WILL BE
RIPE.
NEXT, PLACE THE MANGO ON A FLAT SURFACE. REMEMBER THERE IS A LARGE
FLAT SEED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRUIT. TAKE A SHARP KNIFE, HOLD THE MANGO
UPRIGHT, AND SLICE THE FRUIT LENGTHWISE ON EACH SIDE OF THE SEED.
THE NEXT STEP IS TO HOLD EACH SLICE, FLESH SIDE UP. USING A SMALL KNIFE,
CUT A CRISSCROSS PATTERN INTO THE FLESH OF THE MANGO BUT DO NOT CUT
THROUGH TO THE SKIN.
AFTER THIS, TURN THE SKIN INSIDE OUT AND CUT THE MANGO CUBES INTO A
BOWL.
LASTLY, USE A SMALL SHARP KNIFE TO GET THE LAST BITS OF FLESH FROM
AROUND THE SEED. ADD THESE PIECES AROUND THE SIDES OF THE BOWL.
1. WHAT LINKING WORD IN THE TEXT, TELLS THE READER THAT THIS IS THE FIRST
INSTRUCTION?
A) BEFORE YOU START B) FIRST C) BUY A MANGO
2. WHICH LINKING WORD OR PHRASE LETS THE READER KNOW THAT THIS IS THE
LAST INSTRUCTION?
A) LASTLY B) BEFORE YOU FINISH C) NEXT
3. WHAT IS ANOTHER LINKING WORD YOU COULD USE INSTEAD OF 'LASTLY' IN THE
LAST PARAGRAPH?
A) TO SUM UP B) FINALLY C) NEXT
4. INSTEAD OF 'THE NEXT STEP IS...' IN THE THIRD PARAGRAPH, WHAT LINKING WORD
OR PHRASE WOULD YOU NOT USE AMONG THE CHOICES GIVEN?
A) FOLLOWING THIS B) AFTER THIS C) EVENTUALLY
5. WHAT LINKING WORD OR PHRASE WOULD YOU NOT USE WHEN SUMMARIZING
YOUR POINTS IN THE FINAL PARAGRAPH OF A REPORT?
A) TO SUM UP B) ALTERNATIVELY C) TO CONCLUDE
 WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?
“IN ITS SIMPLEST AND MOST BASIC FORM, A PARAGRAPH IS A GROUP OF
SENTENCES ABOUT ONE TOPIC. PARAGRAPHS ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL
BUILDING BLOCKS OF TEXTS.
THEIR PURPOSE IS TO INFORM, GIVE AN OPINION, STATE FACTS OR EXPLAIN.
AN EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPH IS LOGICAL AND WELL-STRUCTURED AND
CLEAR” (COURTALD, 2008).
PARAGRAPHS PROVIDE STRUCTURE AND FLOW TO YOUR TEXT. THEY ALLOW
YOU TO MOVE FROM ONE THOUGHT TO ANOTHER. WHEN YOU START A NEW
PARAGRAPH, YOU ARE TELLING YOUR READER THAT THE TOPIC IS OVER AND
YOU ARE MOVING ON. WITHOUT THIS STRUCTURE, YOUR BRILLIANT IDEAS
AND YOUR SOUND ARGUMENTATION WILL BE DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW.
WRITING EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS

A PARAGRAPH SHOULD BE UNIFIED, COHERENT, AND

WELL DEVELOPED. PARAGRAPHS ARE UNIFIED AROUND
A MAIN POINT AND ALL SENTENCES IN THE PARAGRAPH
SHOULD CLEARLY RELATE TO THAT POINT IN SOME WAY.
THE PARAGRAPH'S MAIN IDEA SHOULD BE SUPPORTED
WITH SPECIFIC INFORMATION THAT DEVELOPS OR
DISCUSSES THE MAIN IDEA IN GREATER DETAIL.
 CREATING A TOPIC SENTENCE
THE TOPIC SENTENCE EXPRESSES THE MAIN POINT IN A PARAGRAPH. YOU
MAY CREATE YOUR TOPIC SENTENCE BY CONSIDERING THE DETAILS OR
EXAMPLES YOU WILL DISCUSS. WHAT UNIFIES THESE EXAMPLES? WHAT DO
YOUR EXAMPLES HAVE IN COMMON? REACH A CONCLUSION AND WRITE
THAT "CONCLUSION" FIRST. IF IT HELPS, THINK OF WRITING BACKWARDS--
FROM GENERALIZATION TO SUPPORT INSTEAD OF FROM EXAMPLES TO A
CONCLUSION.
IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR MAIN POINT WILL BE, WRITE IT AS CLEARLY AS
POSSIBLE. THEN, FOCUS ON KEY WORDS IN YOUR TOPIC SENTENCE AND TRY
TO EXPLAIN THEM MORE FULLY. KEEP ASKING YOURSELF "HOW?" OR "WHY?"
OR "WHAT EXAMPLES CAN I PROVIDE TO CONVINCE A READER?". AFTER YOU
HAVE ADDED YOUR SUPPORTING INFORMATION, REVIEW THE TOPIC
SENTENCE TO SEE IF IT STILL INDICATES THE DIRECTION OF YOUR WRITING.
 PURPOSES OF TOPIC SENTENCES

• TO STATE THE MAIN POINT OF A PARAGRAPH

• TO GIVE THE READER A SENSE OF DIRECTION
(INDICATE WHAT INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW)
• TO SUMMARIZE THE PARAGRAPH'S MAIN POINT
PLACEMENT OF TOPIC SENTENCES

• OFTEN APPEAR AS THE FIRST OR

SECOND SENTENCES OF A PARAGRAPH
• RARELY APPEAR AT THE END OF THE
PARAGRAPH
 SUPPORTING A TOPIC SENTENCE WITH DETAILS
TO SUPPORT A TOPIC SENTENCE, CONSIDER SOME OF THE
POSSIBLE WAYS THAT PROVIDE DETAILS. TO DEVELOP A
PARAGRAPH, USE ONE OR MORE OF THESE:
• ADD EXAMPLES
• TELL A STORY THAT ILLUSTRATES THE POINT YOU'RE MAKING
• DISCUSS A PROCESS
• COMPARE AND CONTRAST
• USE ANALOGIES (EG. "X IS SIMILAR TO Y BECAUSE. . . ")
• DISCUSS CAUSE AND EFFECT
• DEFINE YOUR TERMS
 REASONS FOR BEGINNING A NEW PARAGRAPH

• TO SHOW YOU'RE SWITCHING TO A NEW IDEA

• TO HIGHLIGHT AN IMPORTANT POINT BY PUTTING IT
AT THE BEGINNING OR END OF YOUR PARAGRAPH
• TO SHOW A CHANGE IN TIME OR PLACE
• TO EMPHASIZE A CONTRAST
• TO INDICATE CHANGING SPEAKERS IN A DIALOGUE
• TO GIVE READERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PAUSE
• TO BREAK UP A DENSE TEXT
WAYS OF ARRANGING INFORMATION WITHIN OR
BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS

• ORDER OF TIME (CHRONOLOGY)

• ORDER OF SPACE (DESCRIPTIONS OF A LOCATION OR
SCENE)
• ORDER OF CLIMAX (BUILDING TOWARD A CONCLUSION)
• ORDER OF IMPORTANCE (FROM LEAST TO MOST
IMPORTANT OR FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT)