How to Write a Paragraph

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How to write a paragraph [Текст]: методические указания для студентов 3-4 курсов языковых вузов / сост.: Панченко Н.Н., Помешкина Н.А. − Иркутск:

ИГЛУ, 2011. − 27 с.

Настоящие методические указания направлены на формирование и совершенствование коммуникативных умений в письменной речи, а именно, умение реализовывать логико-смысловую структуру письменного текста. «Указания» содержат теоретический материал по написанию абзаца, а также задания, целью которых является совершенствование коммуникативных умений логично и последовательно передавать на письме определённое содержание.

Данные методические указания предназначены для студентов 3-4 курсов языковых вузов и могут использоваться как на уроках практического курса английского языка, так и в рамках самостоятельной работы студентов.

Составители: Панченко Н.Н., кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры английской филологии Иркутского государственного лингвистического университета; Помешкина Н.А., старший преподаватель

кафедры английской филологии Иркутского государственного лингвистического университета

Рецензенты: Щурик Н.В., кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры перевода и переводоведения Иркутского государственного лингвистического университета;

Боброва Е.А., кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков Байкальского государственного университета экономики и права

© Иркутский государственный лингвистический университет, 2011

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Defining and Looking at the Paragraph

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that develops one main idea. It is often from five to twelve sentences long. A paragraph usually occurs with other paragraphs in a longer piece of writing – an essay, an article, or a letter, for example.

Topic Sentence and Body

Most paragraphs contain one main idea to which all the sentences relate.

The topic sentence states this main idea.

The body of the paragraph develops and supports this main idea with particular facts, details, and examples:

I allow the spiders the run of the house. I figure that any predator that hopes to make a living on whatever smaller creatures might blunder into a four-inch-square bit of space in the corner of the bathroom where the tub meets the floor needs every bit of my support. They catch flies and even field crickets in those webs. Large spiders in barns have been known to trap, wrap, and suck hummingbirds, but there's no danger of that here. I tolerate the webs, only occasionally sweeping away the very dirtiest of them after the spider itself has scrambled to safety. I’m always leaving a bath towel draped over the tub so that the big, haired spiders, who are constantly getting trapped by the tub's smooth sides, can use its rough surface as an exit ramp. Inside the house the spiders have only given me one mild surprise. I washed some dishes and set them to dry over a plastic drainer. Then I wanted a cup of coffee, so I picked from the drainer my mug, which was still warm from the hot rinse water, and across the rim of the mug, strand after strand, was a spider web.

– Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

The first sentence of the paragraph above is the topic sentence. It states the main idea of the paragraph: that the spiders are allowed the run of the house.

The rest of the paragraph, the body, fully explains and supports this statement. The writer first gives a reason for her attitude toward spiders and then gives particular examples of her tolerance of spiders.

The topic sentence is more general than the other sentences in the paragraph. The other sentences in the paragraph provide specific information relating to the topic sentence. Because the topic sentence tells what the entire paragraph is about, it is usually the first sentence, as above. Sometimes the topic sentence occurs elsewhere

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in the paragraph, for example, as the second sentence after an introduction or as the last sentence. Some paragraphs contain only an implied topic sentence but no stated topic sentence at all.

PRACTICE 1

Find and underline the topic sentence in each paragraph below. Look for the sentence that states the main idea of the entire paragraph.

Paragraph a: The summer picnic gave ladies a chance to show off their baking hands. On the barbecue pit, chickens and spareribs sputtered in their own fat and in a sauce whose recipe was guarded in the family like a scandalous affair. However, every true baking artist could reveal her prize to the delight and criticism of the town. Orange sponge cakes and dark brown mounds dripping Hershey’s chocolate stood layer to layer with ice-white coconuts and light brown caramels. Pound cakes sagged with their buttery weight and small children could no more resist licking the icings than their mothers could avoid slapping the sticky fingers.

– Maya Angelou, Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Paragraph b: Mental health counselors work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental health. They help individuals deal with such concerns as addictions and substance abuse, parenting, marital problems, suicide, stress management, problems with self-esteem, issues associated with aging, job and career concerns, educational decisions, and other issues of mental and emotional health. Mental health counselors work closely with other mental health specialists, including psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, and school counselors.

– Adapted from Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1992-93

Paragraph c: Eating sugar can be worse than eating nothing. Refined sugar provides only empty calories. It contributes none of the protein, fat, vitamins or minerals needed for its own metabolism in the body, so these nutrients must be obtained elsewhere. Sugar tends to replace nourishing food in the diet. It is a thief that robs us of nutrients. A dietary emphasis on sugar can deplete the body of nutrients. If adequate nutrients are not supplied by the diet – and they tend not to be in a sugar-rich diet – they must be leached from other body tissues before sugar can be metabolized. For this reason, a U.S. Senate committee labeled sugar as an

“antinutrient.”

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– Janice Fillip, “The Sweet Thief,” Medical Self-Care

Paragraph d: In just half a century, television has covered the planet. More than 2.5 billion people watch TV – on more than 750 million TV sets, in more than 150 countries. For every child born in the world, a television set is manufactured – a quarter of a million every day. Surprisingly, more people have access to television than to telephones. And there are more than sixty thousand transmitters either on the earth's surface or in orbit over our heads. Because of all this activity, the earth actually gives off more energy at certain low frequencies than the sun does.

– Adapted from Michael Winship, Television

PRACTICE 2

Each group of sentences below could be unscrambled and written as a paragraph. Circle the letter of the topic sentence in each group of sentences. Remember:

the topic sentence should state the main idea of the entire paragraph and should be general enough to include all the ideas in the body.

Example

a.Rubies were supposed to stimulate circulation and restore lost vitality.

b.Clear quartz was believed to promote sweet sleep and good dreams.

c.For centuries, minerals and precious stones were thought to possess healing powers.

d.Amethysts were thought to prevent drunkenness.

Sentence c includes the ideas in all the other sentences.

1.

a.Albert Einstein, whose scientific genius awed the world, could not speak until he was four and could not read until he was nine.

b.Inventor Thomas Edison had such severe problems reading, writing, and spelling that he was called "defective from birth," taken out of school, and taught at home.

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с. Many famous people have suffered from learning disabilities.

d. Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis was teased and laughed at for his speech delay, stutter, and perceptual problems.

2.

a.Today Americans live longer than ever before.

b.Statistics show that forcing a person to retire can actually impair his or her emotional and physical health.

с Research indicates that workers aged sixty-five to seventy-five perform as well as younger workers in all but heavy physical jobs.

d.Forced retirement according to age does not make sense when we examine the facts.

e.Older workers tend to be more stable than younger workers.

3.

a.In Mexico the folk arts are still thriving.

b.Beautiful bowls and trays made of papier-mache are widely available.

с. Hand-embroidered dresses of pure cotton are common.

d.Throughout the country, pottery making and the fiber arts are alive and well.

e.Every town has its market glittering with hand-wrought silver jewelry.

4.

a.Maggie throws her head back and slaps her thigh.

b.The most amazing thing about Maggie is her laughter.

c.When something strikes her as funny, she first lets out a shriek of surprise.

d.Then she breaks into loud hoots.

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e. When the laughter stops, she shakes her head from side to side and says, “I just love it!”

5.

a.At the University of Michigan, he helped develop a flu vaccine.

b.He served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, a branch of the United Nations that brings medical help to developing countries.

с. Dr. Jonas Salk has contributed much to the cure of disease.

d.After years of research, he finally created the first effective polio vaccine.

e.Dr. Salk is now racing against time to make an AIDS vaccine.

Narrowing the Topic and Writing the Topic Sentence

Before writing a paragraph, go through a process that includes these important steps:

1.Narrowing the topic

2.Writing the topic sentence

3.Generating ideas for the body

4.Selecting and dropping ideas

Arranging ideas in a plan or an outline

Narrowing the Topic

You may be assigned broad writing topics – success, drug use in the schools, a description of a person. Cut the topic down to size and choose one aspect of the topic that interests you.

If you are to write a paragraph describing a person you know, the challenge is to pick someone you would like to write about, someone who interests you and would probably interest your readers. Your purpose is to inform or perhaps entertain them by describing someone.

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Now think about the people you know, and free write, brainstorm, or ask yourself questions. For example, you might ask yourself, “What person do I love, hate, or admire?” “Is there a family member I would like to write about?” “Who is the funniest, most unusual, or most talented person I know?”

Suppose you choose Pete, an unusual person and one about whom you have something to say. But Pete is still too broad a subject for one paragraph; you could probably write pages and pages about him. To narrow the topic further, you might ask yourself, “What is unusual about him? What might interest others?”

Pete’s room is the messiest place you have ever seen; in fact, Pete’s whole life is sloppy. You have now narrowed the topic to just one of Pete’s qualities: his sloppiness.

Writing the Topic Sentence

The next important step is to state your topic clearly in sentence form. The simplest possible topic sentence about Pete might read Pete is sloppy, but you might wish to strengthen it by saying, for instance, Pete’s sloppiness is a terrible habit.

Writing a good topic sentence is an important step toward an effective paragraph since the topic sentence will determine the direction and scope of the body.

The topic sentence should be complete and limited.

The topic sentence must be a complete sentence. It must contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought. Be careful not to confuse a topic or title with a topic sentence. My last job, for example, could not be a topic sentence because it is not a complete sentence but a fragment. However, My Last Job could be a title because topics and titles do not have to be complete sentences.

Each topic sentence is a complete sentence that focuses on one particular aspect of the job. Below are some possible topic sentences for a paragraph entitled My Last Job:

1.My last job in the Complaint Department taught me how to calm down angry people.

2.Working in the Complaint Department left me exhausted by the end of the day.

3.Two years in the Complaint Department prepared me to become an assistant manager.

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PRACTICE 3

Put a check beside each possible topic sentence below. Remember, a topic sentence must be a grammatically complete thought. Rewrite any fragments into possible topic sentences.

Examples

A four-day work week.

Rewrite: Linear Graphics Company should adopt a four-day work week.

Rewrite:

1.Some folk remedies really work.

2.Helping a child learn to read.

3.Police officers who take bribes.

4.The difficult social life of a single parent.

The topic sentence should be limited. It should be carefully worded to express a limited main idea. The more limited the topic sentence, the better the paragraph.

PRACTICE 4

Put a check beside each topic sentence that is limited enough to allow you to write a good paragraph. If a topic sentence is too broad, narrow the topic according to your own interests and write a new, limited topic sentence.

Examples:

This paper will be about my family.

Rewrite: My brother Mark has a unique sense of humour.

Rewrite:

1. Eugene’s hot temper causes problems at work.

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2. Many beer commercials on TV imply that people need to drink in order to have a good time.

3.Child abuse is something to think about.

4.Learning karate increased my self-confidence.

5.Cooking calms my nerves.

PRACTICE 5

Here is a list of broad topics. Choose three that interest you; then narrow each topic and write a topic sentence. Make sure that each topic sentence is a complete sentence and limited enough for you to write a good paragraph.

Generating Ideas for the Body

One good way to generate ideas for the body of a paragraph is brainstorming – freely jotting down anything that relates to your topic sentence: facts, details, examples, little stories. This step might take just a few minutes, but it is one of the most important elements of the writing process.

Brainstorming can provide you with specific ideas to support your topic sentence. Later you can choose from these ideas as you compose your paragraph.

Here, for example, is a possible brainstorm list for the topic sentence – Pete’s sloppiness is a terrible habit: