Paragraphs

What this handout is about

This handout will help you understand how paragraphs are formed, how to develop stronger paragraphs, and how to completely and clearly express your ideas.

What is a paragraph?

Paragraphs are the building blocks of papers. Many students define paragraphs in terms of length: a paragraph is a group of at least five sentences, a paragraph is half a page long, etc. In reality, though, the unity and coherence of ideas among sentences is what constitutes a paragraph. A paragraph is defined as “a group of sentences or a single sentence that forms a unit” (Lunsford and Connors 116). Length and appearance do not determine whether a section in a paper is a paragraph. For instance, in some styles of writing, particularly journalistic styles, a paragraph can be just one sentence long. Ultimately, a paragraph is a sentence or group of sentences that support one main idea. In this handout, we will refer to this as the “controlling idea,” because it controls what happens in the rest of the paragraph.

How do I decide what to put in a paragraph?

Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on an argument and a working thesis statement for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper.
The decision about what to put into your paragraphs begins with the germination of a seed of ideas; this “germination process” is better known as brainstorming. There are many techniques for brainstorming; whichever one you choose, this stage of paragraph development cannot be skipped. Building paragraphs can be like building a skyscraper: there must be a well-planned foundation that supports what you are building. Any cracks, inconsistencies, or other corruptions of the foundation can cause your whole paper to crumble.
So, let’s suppose that you have done some brainstorming to develop your thesis. What else should you keep in mind as you begin to create paragraphs? Every paragraph in a paper should be:

• Unified: All of the sentences in a single paragraph should be related to a single controlling idea (often expressed in the topic sentence of the paragraph).
• Clearly related to the thesis: The sentences should all refer to the central idea, or thesis, of the paper (Rosen and Behrens 119).
• Coherent: The sentences should be arranged in a logical manner and should follow a definite plan for development (Rosen and Behrens 119).
• Well-developed: Every idea discussed in the paragraph should be adequately explained and supported through evidence and details that work together to explain the paragraph’s controlling idea (Rosen and Behrens 119).

How do I organize a paragraph?

There are many different ways to organize a paragraph. The organization you choose will depend on the controlling idea of the paragraph. Below are a few possibilities for organization, with links to brief examples:

• Narration: Tell a story. Go chronologically, from start to finish. (See an example.)
• Description: Provide specific details about what something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels like. Organize spatially, in order of appearance, or by topic. (See an example.)
• Process: Explain how something works, step by step. Perhaps follow a sequence—first, second, third. (See an example.)
• Classification: Separate into groups or explain the various parts of a topic. (See an example.)
• Illustration: Give examples and explain how those examples prove your point. (See the detailed example in the next section of this handout.)

5-step process to paragraph development

Let’s walk through a 5-step process for building a paragraph. For each step there is an explanation and example. Our example paragraph will be about slave spirituals, the original songs that African Americans created during slavery. The model paragraph uses illustration (giving examples) to prove its point.

Step 1. Decide on a controlling idea and create a topic sentence

Paragraph development begins with the formulation of the controlling idea. This idea directs the paragraph’s development. Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will appear in the form of a topic sentence. In some cases, you may need more than one sentence to express a paragraph’s controlling idea. Here is the controlling idea for our “model paragraph,” expressed in a topic sentence:

Model controlling idea and topic sentence— Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings.

Step 2. Explain the controlling idea

Paragraph development continues with an expression of the rationale or the explanation that the writer gives for how the reader should interpret the information presented in the idea statement or topic sentence of the paragraph. The writer explains his/her thinking about the main topic, idea, or focus of the paragraph. Here’s the sentence that would follow the controlling idea about slave spirituals:

Model explanation—On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul; but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance.

Step 3. Give an example (or multiple examples)

Paragraph development progresses with the expression of some type of support or evidence for the idea and the explanation that came before it. The example serves as a sign or representation of the relationship established in the idea and explanation portions of the paragraph. Here are two examples that we could use to illustrate the double meanings in slave spirituals

Model example A—For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song “O Canaan, Sweet Canaan” spoke of slaves’ longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this second meaning in the following lyrics: “I don’t expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don’t expect to stay.”

Model example B—Slaves even used songs like “Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)” to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings.

Step 4. Explain the example(s)

The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example and its relevance to the topic sentence and rationale that were stated at the beginning of the paragraph. This explanation shows readers why you chose to use this/or these particular examples as evidence to support the major claim, or focus, in your paragraph.
Continue the pattern of giving examples and explaining them until all points/examples that the writer deems necessary have been made and explained. NONE of your examples should be left unexplained. You might be able to explain the relationship between the example and the topic sentence in the same sentence which introduced the example. More often, however, you will need to explain that relationship in a separate sentence. Look at these explanations for the two examples in the slave spirituals paragraph:

Model explanation for example A—When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North.

Model explanation for example B—[The relationship between example B and the main idea of the paragraph's controlling idea is clear enough without adding another sentence to explain it.]

Step 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea or transition into the next paragraph

The final movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of the paragraph and reminding the reader of the relevance of the information in this paragraph to the main or controlling idea of the paper. At this point, you can remind your reader about the relevance of the information that you just discussed in the paragraph. You might feel more comfortable, however, simply transitioning your reader to the next development in the next paragraph. Here’s an example of a sentence that completes the slave spirituals paragraph:

Model sentence for completing a paragraph—What whites heard as merely spiritual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say.

Kinds of Writing

Kinds of Writing

I know this would come as a shock but the most common phrase which sends people over here, is 'kinds of writing.'
I know your jaw just dropped! And don't you deny it.

In any event, when I started this blog and called it All Kinds of Writing, I had a few specific kinds of writing in my head. Mostly fiction and freelance (as in writing articles for magazines).

But there are many more kinds of writing. I really wanted to try to list them here briefly but there are far too many groupings and sub-groupings.
I'll try to explain:

One division of the kinds of writings is as follows:
- Expository Writing - where the writing serves to explain, inform
- Descriptive Writing - writing that serves to show, describe
- Narrative Writing - tells a story
- Persuasive Writing - arguing for or against an issue
- Creative Writing - interestingly, creative writing is a vague term, but it includes (while isn't limited to) fiction (across the genres), poetry, drama, screenwriting, autobiographies and more.

Another way to divide the kinds of writing is from a target audience, or purpose point of view. So there can be:
- Academic writing - includes essays, research papers, reports and so on, each of them may use some of the modes listed above.
- Professional Writing - writing for academic or scientific journals, business reports, position papers, policy statements, and the likes, because these have to follow a standardized form.
- Business writing - includes technical writing, business plan writing, resume writing, letter writing etc.
- Copywriting - writing marketing text, grant writing
- Journalists, columnists, article writers (staff or freelance) - these writers write for newspapers and magazines either news articles, commentary or articles which focus on a certain subject
- Non-fiction book writers
- Fiction - novelists, screenwriters, playwrights, short stories writers, etc.
- Poets

Writing Skills

Writing skills are an important part of communication.  Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or telephone conversations.

You might be called upon to write a report, plan or strategy at work; write a grant application or press release within a volunteering role; or you may fancy communicating your ideas online via a blog.  And, of course, a well written CV or résumé with no spelling or grammatical mistakes is essential if you want a new job.

Today, when anyone can be their own publisher, we see more and more examples of poor writing skills both in print and on the web.  Poor writing skills create poor first impressions and many readers will have an immediate negative reaction if they spot a spelling or grammatical mistake. As just one example, a spelling mistake on a commercial web page may cause potential customers to doubt the credibility of the website and the organisation.

For many of us it will have been a long time since we were taught any writing skills and a refresher may be needed.

This section of SkillsYouNeed aims to make you think about your writing - from grammar, spelling and punctuation, how to plan your writing, and the various processes and checks to go through before pressing print or broadcasting your message online. It also provides guides for specific pieces of writing that you may need to produce, whether at school, university, or in the workplace.

Find more at: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/writing-skills.html#ixzz3HSEqaBuk

Parts of Speech

Introduction

“Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. We will add one more type: articles.
It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can understand grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. Here is a brief explanation of what the parts of speech are:

Noun	A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or action. Examples: cowboy, theatre, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival
Verb	A verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something). Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want
Adjective	An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun. Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important
Adverb	An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also tell you when or where something happened. Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere
Pronoun	A pronoun is used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the noun. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Conjunction	A conjunction joins two words, phrases or sentences together. Examples: but, so, and, because, or
Preposition	A preposition usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. It joins the noun to some other part of the sentence. Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at
Interjection	An interjection is an unusual kind of word, because it often stands alone. Interjections are words which express emotion or surprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation marks. Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!
Article	An article is used to introduce a noun. Examples: the, a, an

Past and Perfect Tenses QUIZ Select the correct answers below, then click on the Get Score button.  Good luck!

 

   

1) Last week our company ___ a new advertising campaign.
a. begun	b. began
c. have begun	d. did begin
e. had begun

2) In the past six months we ___ on three new supervisors and fifty new employees.
a. were hiring	b. have been hiring
c. have hired	d. had hired
e. had been hiring

3) It ___ since early this morning.
a. did snow	b. has snow
c. snows	d. has been snowing
e. was been snowing

4) That company ___ a new product in January.
a. introduced	b. did introduce
c. has introduced	d. have introduced
e. has been introducing

5) The XYZ Company ___ a lot of money in research and product development before they launched their new product line.
a. was spending	b. did spend
c. have spent	d. had spent
e. have already been spending

6) Frank ___ English for 6 years. Now he studies French.
a. studied	b. have been studying
c. studying	d. has been studied
e. have studied

7) Mr. Johnson ___ here since 1972.
a. was worked	b. were working
c. have worked	d. did work
e. has been working

8) My assistant ___ the sales reports all day.
a. are figuring	b. did figure
c. have figured	d. has been figuring
e. have been figuring

9) It took Peter a long time to finish the sales report because the figures ___ correctly.
a. weren't add up	b. hasn't added up
c. have added up	d. haven't been adding up
e. weren't adding up

10) Last month Sara ___ to California on vacation.
a. went	b. have gone
c. had went	d. did go
e. had been going

Score =  Correct answers:

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GRAMMAR QUIZ 'QUESTION TAG' Instruction: complete the sentences with clicking the correct answer...! choose with clicking a, b, c, or d.

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a)
b)
c)
d)

 

   

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Gerunds & Infinitives Quiz

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