Writing Guide

For One Paragraph or Three Adapted from Jane Schaffer

First…Understand What You Are Writing

• a personal narrative?• an opinionated response?• a persuasive essay? • an expository explanation?

What Every Paragraph Needs

• A Topic Sentence (TS)• Concrete Details (CD)• Commentary Sentences (CM)• Concluding Sentence (CS)

Topic Sentence (TS)

The Topic Sentence introduces the main idea and can be…

• an opinion or statement by you• a quote about your subject• a question posed to your reader

but… you must be able to prove it’s true.

Topic Sentence Examples

• Are you thinking of building a house with a thatched roof? Keep reading!

• Some people don’t want to be parents, but they don’t understand why.

• What makes your boss tick may have nothing to do with you and everything to do with him.

Concrete Details (CD)

A Topic Sentence is not believable without the support of Concrete Details. Concrete Details include: • facts that cannot be argued such as

dates, locations, and newsworthy events. • direct quotes• paraphrased, not plagiarized, informationthat compares, contrasts, or supports your Topic Sentence.

Concrete Detail Examples

• The fires were common back then due to the flammability of thatched roofing.

• Upon her birth in 1959 her parents died in an accident and so she grew up an orphan.

• He was born into poverty yet educated through scholarships at excellent schools.

Commentary Sentences (CM)

Your commentary sentences are your personal comments opinions

explanations interpretations analysis insights inferences

Commentary Sentence Examples

• In my opinion, the amount of thatched roof homes that were destroyed by fire forced people to rethink materials for roofing.

• Perhaps she feared being a parent because she had not had parents herself.

• One explanation for his impatience with his lazy staff may be that he became the boss because he had never had the luxury of being lazy.

Concluding Sentence (CS)

Concluding Sentences don’t repeat the Topic Sentence, they restate it using the information supplied by your Concrete Details (CD) and Commentary Sentences (CM).

Examples of Concluding Sentences

• In conclusion, new forms of roofing decreased the number of homes and villages lost to fire.

• Ultimately, she might have decided to be a parent had she grown up with her own.

• In the end, he tried to be less impatient with his staff, but he couldn’t relate to them.