Composing an Effective Paragraph

• Paragraph


  A group of sentences organized to discuss a topic
• Paragraph


  • The main rule is to focus on one idea or topic
  • To write an effective paragraph, one must have the essential parts
• Parts of a paragraph


  • Topic sentence
  • Supporting sentences
  • Concluding sentence
• Topic sentence


  Presents the topic of the paragraph, serves as a guide for the writer to keep writing under control
• Supporting sentences


  Elaborate the topic by including specific details or evidence, must relate to the topic sentence
• Concluding sentence


  Restates what the topic of the paragraph is all about, comes after all the details have been included
• Transitional devices used in concluding sentences

  • Conclusion: thus, hence, indeed, finally, therefore, consequently, in conclusion, to conclude, as a result, in the end, for all these reasons
  • Summary: so, accordingly, briefly, in brief, in sum, summing up, in summary, to sum up, as can be seen, given this point, to summarize
• Principles in writing a paragraph

  • Unity - all sentences talk about one central idea
  • Coherence - ideas are connected through transitional devices
  • Development - paragraph describes, elaborates, explains, and supports its topic sentence
• Different patterns of paragraph development

  • Narration - tells a story or recounts a series of events
  • Description - uses vivid sensory description to create a mental picture
  • Process - explains how to do something
  • Exemplification - uses a series of examples to support the topic sentence
  • Comparison/Contrast - examines how subjects are similar or different
  • Definition - gives a complete working definition of a term, concept, or idea
  • Classification - presents a topic and classifies it into component parts, types, kinds or categories
  • Cause & Effect - explains the reasons why something happened or the effects of something
• Unity


  all sentences talk about one central idea