Paragraph writing

In this lesson, you will learn how to write effective paragraphs.  Let us first understand what a

paragraph means and what qualities make paragraphs good.

A paragraph is a group of sentences that tell about a single idea. A good paragraph consists of a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence.

• The topic sentence tells the reader the main idea of a paragraph.  It is usually the first sentence, but sometimes it's found in the middle or the end of a paragraph.  Sometimes, the topic sentence can be more than one sentence.
• The supporting sentences give details or support about the main idea.  These sentences do not talk about other topics, but stay focused on supporting the main idea.
• The concluding sentence sums up the paragraph or gives a closing thought to bring the paragraph to a clear end. 

Examples

Topic sentence

       I had a wonderful time when I visited my grandparents’ farm last weekend.   

Supporting Details

First, Grandma let me milk one of the cows.  After that, Grandpa took me out to plow a field on his tractor.  He even let me sit in the driver’s seat when the engine was off.  On Sunday, we went fishing after doing all the farm chores.

Concluding Sentence

I hated to leave the farm when the weekend was over.

Effective paragraph results from certain steps. You may need to make small changes before you come out with your last draft. Study the following:

·         Think carefully about your topic.

·         Narrow your topic with a clear topic sentence.

·         Brainstorm and write down all ideas related to your topic sentence.

·         Collect the information and organize your paragraph.

·         In a clear sentence, sum up your paragraph with a summary of what you have written.

·         Read your work and decide if there are any changes you want to make.

Read and practise the sample bellow

Topic: Good teachers

Topic sentence: Good teachers have special qualities.

 

Now try to collect the ideas or information and make sentences. Explain or develop each idea you have. For example:

“Good teachers are fair”.  Explain here what you mean by the word fair. Read the following sentence:

 Good teachers are fair. They treat all the students the same.

Let’s make a paragraph about good teachers:

     Good teachers have special qualities. First of all, good teachers are patient. They never rush their students. Good teachers explain things without getting bored. In addition, they are organized. They plan what happens in every class. Good teachers are also encouraging. They help students understand the subject. Finally, good teachers are fair. They treat all the students the same. These are some of the most important qualities of good teachers.

Features of good paragraphs:

Two main features of good paragraphs are:

1-      Unity: It means that all the sentences refer to the main idea, or the topic of the paragraph.

In a unified paragraph, we expect all the sentences to be about the main idea of the paragraph. The main idea in the following paragraph is "the description of the house". If we examine the paragraph, we see that some sentences do not describe the house. Can you underline them?

I live in a flat with my family. We have two bedrooms and a living room. We have a garden and we have some flowers there. In weekdays I arrive home at five o'clock and I have lunch. Then I do my homework and go to bed. I had a computer but now it doesn't work. I have a brother and a sister and I think I am very lucky to live with them. Sometimes our relatives visit us. Our flat becomes very crowded sometimes but I like it.

2- Coherence: It means that the sentences should be organized in a logical manner and should follow a definite plan of development.

I live in a house in Izmit. It isn't old or modern. It's a normal Turkish house. We can say it is near the sea. It takes about 10 minutes to go to the sea side on foot. We have one bedroom, and one living room. We also have two other rooms, too. We use them as a dining room. Naturally, we have a kitchen, a bathroom, and a toilet. I live with my parents. And our house has a little garden; my parents spend their time there to grow vegetables and fruit.

First, let's see the order of the ideas:

1.    Where the house is

2.    Type of the house

3.    The location

4.    The rooms in the house

5.    The fact that he lives with his parents

6.    The garden

The paragraph is well organized until he says he lives with his parents. It looks like this idea interrupted his description of the house. It should be put somewhere else in the paragraph.

EXERCISE  1

EXERCISE  2
EXERCISE   3

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Study or Learn

Study and learn are two different words. We can use them in the same context but the meaning

will change.

We usually study in order to learn. Let's have an example: 

I studied a lot last night. 

I learned a lot last night.

The first sentence means that I read a lot but it does not necessary  mean that I learned something from my study. 

The second sentence means that I gained knowledge, I gained new information and understood it well.

So,

To study means to read, memorize facts , attend school,..... in order to learn something.

To learn means to gain knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, experiencing something, being taught,.... 

Examples: 

• We studied how to solve such mathematical problem .
• We  learned how to solve such mathematical problem .

The people in the first sentence mean that they studied at school how to solve such mathematical problems, but it is not necessary that they can solve it now because they might not understand. 

In the second sentence they mean that they can solve such them because they understood that well and are able to do it now.

• I learned cooking. 

In this sentence, the person tries to say that she/he can cook well because she/he, maybe, watched their mothers cooking and practiced it. They gained the skill of cooking. 

It is better to say I want to learn English than I want to study English because we want to understand it well and use it.

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