Paragraph-Writing Handout
Paragraph-Writing Handout
What is a paragraph?
It is a group of sentences that introduces, presents and develops one main idea about
the topic. And it can be divided into three major parts.
They are sentences used to support the main idea stated in the topic sentence.
They give more information about the main idea through examples.
They say in detail what the topic sentence says in general.
They should be clear evidence that what the topic sentence says is trustworthy.
They should be strong convincing points on which the topic sentence can rely upon.
I. BEFORE WRITING:
In this stage it is important to specify the topic you are intending to tackle.
Take a sheet of paper and just start jotting down notes that have tight connection with your
topic.
In this stage, mistakes and word-order are to be overlooked momentarily.
After you gathered the data necessary for your topic the next step is to be taken.
Topic Sentence
Choose a topic sentence for your paragraph that states the main idea of your topic.
The topic sentence is a statement that generally introduces the topic and thus it is often
referred to as: the opening statement. Keep in mind that the readers will greatly rely on what it
says so as they can decide if the paragraph is worth reading or not. It gives them a broad view
of what you are writing about because the topic sentence is meant to state the main idea of the
paragraph. It helps readers save time as it tells them what the reset of the paragraph is all
about. It helps the student focus on the main idea and not drift away from it. If it is well put, it
easily helps the students narrow their supporting details, which will follow, into more specific
and subject related examples because the supporting details are there to reinforce the topic
sentence and to do that effectively they should each include at least one example.
Supporting Details
These are sentences that support the topic sentence. They give information that
reinforces the main idea stated in the topic sentence. So there should at least be three
supporting details because one or two make the paragraph less convincing and not worth the
effort done to build it. Thus it is strongly advised to provide at least three strong details which
can support the main idea. One can use all the writing techniques necessary to make the
paragraph sustainable and eligible: descriptions, definitions, examples, elaboration and
exploration. If any of the supporting details doesn’t correlate with the main idea or does not
support it, it will break the unity of the paragraph.
Concluding Sentence
This is the last sentence of your paragraph and it should reflect what you have talked
about in your paragraph and it should echo the topic sentence in a way or another.
Reviewing
This final step can be called the editing step. This is a very crucial stage of your work
process as you should review what you have done and make sure the paragraph is eligible,
technically speaking. Among the things that this stage is about are:
o Coherence and cohesion of the content
o The stability of the form
o The linking words
o Grammar, spelling and punctuation.
o Clear writing.
Connectives
They are used to link words within a sentence and one sentence to another, one idea to
another, or one paragraph to another.