TOEFL WRITING: QUALITIES OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH

PARAGRAPH 1

Hurricanes, which are also called tropical cyclones, exert tremendous power.

These violent storms are often a hundred miles in diameter, and their winds can

reach speeds of seventy-five miles an hour, and more. Furthermore, the strong

winds and heavy rainfall that accompany them can completely destroy a small

town in a couple of hours. The energy that is released by a hurricane in one day

exceeds the total energy consumed by mankind throughout the world in one year.

PARAGRAPH 2

Does a hot, humid summer’s day make you feel grumpy? Does a rainy day make

you feel depressed? The weather seems to affect people’s moods. Hot weather

makes some people irritated while others love the heat, and are very happy and

cheerful on a summer’s day. Others don’t mind the heat but say they hate it when

its humid because the humidity makes them tired.

PARAGRAPH

TOPIC SENTENCE

TOPIC CONTROLLING IDEA

EXPLAINEXPLAIN

EXAMPLES AND EVIDENCE

Unity: Paragraph has one main idea, topic sentence and rest of the sentences support the topic sentence

Coherence: Repeat key words, use synonyms and pronouns, use transitional words

Development: Use of details and evidence to support topic sentence