Structure of a Paragraph - LESSON



Structure of a Paragraph

|PART of PARAGRAPH: |DETAILED PARTS: |FUNCTION: |

|I) Topic Sentence |I) Topic Sentence |Motivator - get your reader interested |

|[pic] | |Thesis Sentence - introduce your topic |

| |A) First Main Point |Introduce main point A |

|A) First Main Point |1) Support Detail | |

|[pic] |[pic] |First support detail to explain point A |

|Your main |a) Sub-Detail [pic] |      Give information or an example about detail 1 |

|points should |b) Sub-Detail |      Give more information about detail 1 |

|include your  |2) Support Detail  | |

|support details and |a) Sub-Detail |Second support detail to explain point A |

|any subdetails--> |b) Sub-Detail |      Give information or an example about detail 2 |

| | |      Give more information about detail 2 |

| |B) Second Main Point|Introduce main point B |

|B) Second Main Point| | |

|[pic] |1) Support Detail |First support detail to explain point B |

| |[pic] |        Give information or an example about detail 1 |

| |a) Sub-Detail |        Give more information about detail 1 |

| |b) Sub-Detail | |

| |2) Support Detail  |Second support detail to explain point B |

| |a) Sub-Detail |        Give information or an example about detail 2 |

| |b) Sub-Detail |        Give more information about detail 2 |

|C) Third Main Point |C) Third Main Point |Introduce main point C |

|[pic] |1) Support Detail | |

|  |[pic] |First support detail to explain point C |

|  |a) Sub-Detail |        Give information or an example about detail 1 |

|  |b) Sub-Detail |        Give more information about detail 1 |

| |2) Support Detail  | |

| |a) Sub-Detail |Second support detail to explain point C |

| |b) Sub-Detail |        Give information or an example about detail 2 |

| | |        Give more information about detail 2 |

| |II) Conclusion |Reworded Thesis - tell your reader what you talked about |

|II) Conclusion [pic]| |Clincher - leave your reader with a good feeling,  |

| | |or something to think about. |

This is the sample paragraph we'll be studying:

|Why I want to Learn English |

|There are three reasons why I want to learn English. One reason is that English has become an international language. It is |

|now used by most international companies, including the company where I work, for business communication. Another reason why |

|I want to learn English is so that I can travel to English-speaking countries. The United States, England, Australia and many|

|other countries all use English as their primary language. Finally, I want to learn English because I plan to move to the |

|U.S. in the future. I will become a manager for my company soon. For all these reasons, I am very excited about learning |

|English. |

Topic Sentence

What is a topic sentence?

The topic sentence introduces the paragraph.

What does it do?

It tells the reader what your paragraph will be about.

Example:

There are three reasons why I want to learn English. One reason is that English has become an international language. It is now used by most international companies, including the company where I work, for business communication. Another reason why I want to learn English is so that I can travel to English-speaking countries. The United States, England, Australia and many other countries all use English as their primary language. Finally, I want to learn English because I plan to move to the U.S. in the future. I will become a manager for my company soon. For all these reasons, I am very excited about learning English.

ANALYSIS:

What are you going to tell the reader about?

Topic Sentence: There are three reasons why I want to learn English.

Main Points

What are main points?

Main points come after the topic sentence, to explain your topic sentence.

The main points with their supporting details make up the body of a paragraph.

What do main points do?

They give information to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

How do I write main points?

You should give information, facts, details, and examples.

Main points often answer the question "Why?"

Example:

There are three reasons why I want to learn English. One reason is that English has become an international language. It is now used by most international companies, including the company where I work, for business communication. Another reason why I want to learn English is so that I can travel to English-speaking countries. The United States, England, Australia and many other countries all use English as their primary language. Finally, I want to learn English because I plan to move to the U.S. in the future. I will become a manager for my company soon. For those reasons, I want to learn English.

ANALYSIS:

Why do you want to learn English?

Main point: because English has become an international language

Why do you want to learn English?

Main point: because I want to travel to English-speaking countries

Why do you want to learn English?

Main point: because I plan to move to the U.S. in the future

Checklist:

• Make sure that your main points are specific.

• Make certain that you are writing how your examples support your thesis.

• Have the main points and details link to each other. Make sure that the type of details you give are not too far apart from each other in topic.

Details

What are details?

Details come after the main points, to explain your point, or give extra information about the main point. The details fill out the body of a paragraph and make it more clear.

What do details do?

They give extra information to support your main points.

How do I write details?

You should give details, and examples. Details often answer the question "How?"

Example:

There are three reasons why I want to learn English. One reason is that English has become an international language. It is now used by most international companies, including the company where I work, for business communication. Another reason why I want to learn English is so that I can travel to English-speaking countries. The United States, England, Australia and many other countries all use English as their primary language. Finally, I want to learn English because I plan to move to the U.S. in the future. I will become a manager for my company soon. For those reasons, I want to learn English.

ANALYSIS:

Main point:  English has become an international language

Detail: It is now used by most international companies

Detail: It is used by the company I work for

Main point:  I want to travel to English-speaking countries

Detail: The United States uses English as the primary language.

Detail: England uses English as the primary language.

Detail: Australia uses English as the primary language.

Detail: many other countries use English as the primary language.

Main point:  I plan to move to the U.S. in the future

Detail: I will become a manager for my company

Closing Sentence (Conclusion)

What is the closing sentence?

The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph.

What does it do?

It restates the main idea of your paragraph. It tells the reader what you were writing about.

How do I write a closing sentence?

Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words.

Example:

There are three reasons why I want to learn English. One reason is that English has become an international language. It is now used by most international companies, including the company where I work, for business communication. Another reason why I want to learn English is so that I can travel to English-speaking countries. The United States, England, Australia and many other countries all use English as their primary language. Finally, I want to learn English because I plan to move to the U.S. in the future. I will become a manager for my company soon. For all these reasons, I am very excited about learning English.

ANALYSIS:

What did you tell the reader about?

Closing Sentence: For all these reasons, I am very excited about learning English.

Conclusion

This is your last sentence, therefore the most important. This will be the sentence that is most fresh in the readers' mind after they put the paragraph down. A good way to form your conclusion is to reform the introductory paragraph in reverse form. In other words, have the conclusion contain the following, in the order written:

• Restate your topic sentence, but in different words than before.

• Close with a general statement that reflects insight on your topic.

 

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