The ParagraphWeek 1, Wed. 8/26/15

Todd Windisch, Spring 2015

Today’s Agenda

• Reviewing paragraph structure

Writing

• LETTER WORD SENTENCE PARAGRAPH COMPOSITION• In this class, we will be writing compositions, but first we must be able to

write good paragraphs

What Is a Paragraph?

• A paragraph is a unit of writing that focuses on and develops one idea

• Paragraphs can be different lengths, but they generally have three parts:• Topic Sentence

• Supporting Details

• Conclusion

Topic Sentence

• Every paragraph has a topic sentence

• It tells the main idea of the paragraph

• It is usually the first sentence of the paragraph

Supporting Details

• Give examples/reasons/facts/details about the topic

Conclusion

• Summarizes the main idea of the paragraph or offers a prediction/suggestion

DCS, p. 8 #1

• Let’s look at an example paragraph

• Can you identify all three parts of a good paragraph?

Topic/Comment

• The topic is the general idea the writer is presenting

• The controlling idea is the writer’s opinion, emotion, or other idea about the topic

• My flight on Breeze Airlines was very enjoyable.

• What’s the topic? What’s the controlling idea?

• Receiving an F on my report card was a humiliating experience.

• What’s the topic? What’s the controlling idea?

More Topic Sentences (DCS, p. 7, ex. 3)

• What’s the topic? What’s the controlling idea?

1. When I was a child, my grandfather’s backyard was a magical place.

2. One reason I admire Nelson Mandela is that he never gave up.

3. The first step in learning how to do word processing is the hardest.

4. The biggest difference in education between the two countries is the number of subjects students must take.

Make Your Topic Sentences Specific

• A topic sentence should be specific, but it should not include a lot of detail (save the detail for the support!)

• Is this a good topic sentence?• Pollution is a problem.

• How can we make it better?

Practice (DCS, p. 8, ex. 4)

• Study the following pairs of topic sentences. Which one is better? Why?• Divorce creates problems for parents and children.

• When their parents divorce, children often feel insecure.

• New Orleans is an interesting place to visit.

• The French Quarter in New Orleans has a quaint European charm.

• Walking is good for your heart.

• Exercise is good for you.

Practice (DCS, p. 8, ex. 4)

• Study the following pairs of topic sentences. Which one is better? Why?• Computers are more important now than ever before.

• Computers make revising an essay easy.

• My parents have taught me to be persistent.

• My parents have had a great influence on me.

Practice (DCS, p. 10, ex. 6)

• Can you write a topic sentence for the two paragraphs on p. 10

• Read the sentences and decide what the main idea is• Be as specific as possible!

Support

• The support in a paragraph shows why the topic sentence is true. The support can be narrative details, facts, examples, explanation, quotations, and/or statistics

• All of the supporting sentences need to connect to the topic sentence

Unity (DCS, p. 14)

• Paragraphs need to be unified

• This means that all the sentences need to relate to the topic and develop the controlling idea

• What will the writer write about with this topic sentence?• The French Quarter in New Orleans is a lively tourist spot.

• Let’s look at the paragraphs on p. 15, Exercise 12 of DCS together. What is the topic sentence? What are the details? Do they connect?

Support (CONT’D)

• You need to add details to your writing to make it more interesting

• The more specific (detailed) you are, the better your writing is• Example: I drove my car on the freeway.

• How can we make this more detailed/interesting?

• I raced my new Honda on the 405 freeway.

• Example: One student was rude to some others.• The high school boy yelled at the younger boys, “You’re stupid!”

Being More Specific

• How do you be more detailed?• Use more specific verbs (raced vs. drove, commented vs. said, etc.)

• Use adjectives (What kind of sky? What kind of car?)

• Use names

• Use grammar (complex and compound sentences)

Practice (DCS, p. 12, ex. 8)

• Can you write three supporting sentences for the two topic sentences?

• Remember to be very detailed!

• Example:• Topic Sentence: Parents can help their children succeed in school by offering

financial support.

• Support #1: If children do not receive financial support from their families, they must find a part-time job, which takes away from their study time.

The Conclusion Sentence

• A conclusion ties together the entire composition and gives closure

• When I reach the last sentence of your paragraph, I should know that the paragraph is finished without looking below for more

• Usually the conclusion is:1. A summary of the main idea or main points of the paragraph

2. A comment (opinion, prediction, suggestion) about the main idea

Summarizing the Main Idea

• Your topic sentence is the main idea

• You do not want to repeat your topic sentence exactly

• How can we do that?• Find the key words in the topic sentence and rephrase them

• Restructure your topic sentence

Summarizing the Main Idea

• Example (p. 12):• Topic Sentence: Parents can help their children succeed in school by

encouraging them.

• What are the key words in this sentence?

• How can we rephrase them?

• Summary of the main idea:• Parents who want their children to do well in school must support and pay

attention to them.

• Encouragement is a key factor in parenting scholastically successful children.

Rephrasing

• One way to rephrase words is by changing the word form (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)

• When you learn a new vocabulary word, you should try to learn the other members of its word family• A word family is all of the word forms of one word

• What are the members of the word family for this word: “collect”?• Collection (noun)

• Collector (noun)

• Collected (adjective)

Rephrasing

• Remember that when a word form changes, the ending of the word often changes

• However, it can also remain the same!• Mail (verb)

• Mail (noun)

Word Forms

• Understanding word forms is very important in order to write coherent sentences in English!

• Let’s practice identifying word forms in your textbook (DCS, p. 5, ex. 1)

Practice (DCS, p. 13, ex. 9)

• Now, let’s write some conclusion sentences using examples in our textbook

• Identify the key words in the topic sentence and try to rephrase the words or restructure the whole sentence

Homework

• Handout, “Being Specific”• How can you make these sentences more specific/interesting?

• Change the underlined word to something more detailed.

• Example: I like Korean pop music and American country music.