Paragraph



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[pic]odule 1 is further practice of the previous material which discusses about some basic elements that should be mastered before starting to write a paragraph. Before writing a paragraph, for example, students should know Kinds of Clauses, Clause Connectors, Punctuations, and Kinds of Sentences (i.e. simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, and compound complex sentence). In this module, you will step up to ‘next level’ in which you will learn how to write a paragraph. As a result, by the end of this module, you are expected to be able to express their ideas in written form especially in the form of paragraph (Basic Competence).

In this module, you will try to use the elements that have been studied in previous modules and learn to integrate them with the basic theory of developing sentences into a good paragraph. Moreover, this material is very important because you have to know characteristics of a good paragraph. It will let you know what aspect should be considered in correcting and scoring the students’ paragraphs. This material, furthermore, provides you teaching technique especially in teaching paragraph writing to your students. Hence, this module has been chronologically arranged by dividing it in two units dealing with paragraph writing.

Unit 1 consist of: 1.1 Definition of Paragraph

1.2 Drawing and Writing a Title

1.3 Writing Style

Unit 2 consist of: 2.1 Characteristics of a Good Paragraph

2.2 Writing Paragraph

2.3 Let’s Practice

Unit

1

➢ Definition of paragraph

The definitions of paragraph are variously and interchangeably used in teaching learning process in which essentially they are the alike. The following are some common definitions about paragraph used in teaching learning process.

▪ Paragraph is a group of related sentence that has or discusses one main idea.

▪ Paragraph is a group of supporting sentences that develops topic sentence as the main idea.

▪ Paragraph can be defined as a group of sentences which relates each other to develop one main idea.

▪ Paragraph is a basic unit of organization in writing in which a group of related sentences develops one main idea (Oshima and Hogue 1983:3).

A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long as ten sentences. The number of sentences is not important; the paragraph, however, should be long enough to develop the main idea clearly in unity and coherence. Thus paragraph can be simply defined as a group of related sentences that develops or discusses one main idea in unity and coherence.

Exercise: can you define what a paragraph is?

1. Drawing and Writing a Title

Oshima and Hogue (1983:6) state single paragraphs do not usually have titles. Giving your practice paragraphs titles, on the other hand, may help you to organize and limit your thoughts. For longer essays or reports, the use of titles will be more necessary. A title tells the reader what the topic of the paragraph is. It is usually a word or phrase but not a sentence. It should be brief, but not so brief that it doesn’t tell the reader what to expect. In other words, title will give us general description about the limitation of discussion or elaboration of the paragraph.

In writing a title, the following rules should be followed:

1. The first, last and all important words in a title are capitalized. Preposition and articles are not important words. Prepositions of more than five letters, however, may be capitalized. Articles that begin the title, of course, are capitalized.

2. The title is not underlined.

3. The title is not enclosed in quotation marks, nor is it ended with a period.

e.g. - How to Choose a Good Used Car

- My Best Experience

- Practice Makes Perfect

- Beauty and the Beast

Exercise: can you mention the rules of writing a title?

2. Writing Style

In writing paragraphs, there are two commonly used writing styles. They are indented style and block style.

a. Indented Style

Indented style is writing style in which the first line of each paragraph is typed further from the left margin of the page than the other lines (indent). The first line of the paragraph is usually typed or written one inch from the left margin. In writing a single paragraph as what we are going to do in this module, it is suggested to use indented style.

▪ Example

____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b. Block Style

Block style is writing style in which the first line and the other lines of the paragraph is typed without further spaces from the left margin of the page; the first and the second paragraphs or the space between paragraphs, in addition, are typed one line from each other.

▪ Example:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise: Can you mention two commonly used writing styles?

SUMMARY:

❖ Paragraph can be simply defined as a group of related sentences that develops or discusses one main idea in unity and coherence.

❖ In writing a title, the following rules should be followed:

- The first, last and all important words in a title are capitalized. Preposition and articles are not important words. Prepositions of more than five letters, however, may be capitalized. Articles that begin the title, of course, are capitalized.

- The title is not underlined.

- The title is not enclosed in quotation marks, nor is it ended with a period.

❖ There are two commonly used writing styles. They are indented style and block style.

Unit

2

1. Characteristics of a Good Paragraph

A good paragraph should have three major structural parts as what have been clearly stated by Oshima and Hogue (1983:3) as follows:

a. Topic Sentence

Topic sentence is sentence which states the main idea of the paragraph. Topic sentence not only states the topic of the paragraph but also controls or limits the topic so that it can be discussed completely in the space of single paragraph. Topic sentence, therefore, can be further divided into two:

- Topic Idea

Topic idea states the topic of the paragraph

- Controlling Idea

Controlling idea limits the topic

b. Supporting Sentences

Supporting Sentences are sentences that develop topic sentence or main idea. They explain the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, facts, and statistics, quotations, etc.

c. Concluding Sentence

Concluding Sentence is a sentence in which the writer concludes the paragraph in order to give the reader with important points to note.

Instead of having these three major structural parts, a good paragraph should also possess two additional elements:

d. Unity

Unity means that all of the supporting sentences develop or discuss the main idea stated in the topic sentence of the paragraph.

e. Coherence

Coherence means that the paragraph is easy to read and understand because supporting sentences are organized in logical order and the use of appropriate transition signals.

In summary, a well-written paragraph contains five elements: a topic sentence, supporting sentences, a concluding sentence, unity and coherence. In this module, you will study and practice each of these elements.

Exercise: Can you mention the characteristics of a good paragraph?

2. Writing a Paragraph

In this sub discussion you will be given step by step processes of writing paragraph:

a. Topic Sentence

Every good paragraph has a topic sentence which clearly states the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph. Oshima and Hogue (1983:6) state that topic sentence is helpful guide to both the writer and the reader. The writer can see what information to include (and what information to exclude) while the reader can see what the paragraph is going about.

There are three important points to remember about the topic sentence:

• A topic sentence is a complete sentence; that is, it contains a subject, a verb, and (usually) a complement.

• A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea. It names the topic and then limits the topic to a specific area to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph.

• A topic sentence gives only the main; therefore, it is the most general statement in the paragraph. It doesn’t give any specific details.

Example: My room is very enjoyable for studying

Topic Controlling

b. Supporting Sentences

After stating the topic sentence of the paragraph, now you try to develop it through providing it with supporting sentences. Supporting sentences should be related each other, and it develops only one main idea.

The following are some supporting sentences which can be drawn from the topic sentences:

Example:

- My lovely room has 4 m2 in width, and it is painted white.

- The light is suitable for studying particularly reading and writing; furthermore, the chair makes me comfortable to sit all day long.

- My room also has a small bookshelf in which all of my books are put.

- The bookshelf is placed on the right side of the door, so it is reachable when I am sitting on my chair.

- It also has good ventilation that makes air in my room always fresh.

c. Concluding Sentence

Now you have known how to write a good topic sentence and its supporting sentences, you should also learn how to write a good concluding sentence. Oshima and Hogue (1983:12) state a concluding sentence is not absolutely necessary, but it is very often very helpful to the reader because it usually signals the end of the paragraph and because it reminds him/her of your important points.

In other words, a concluding sentence serves three purposes:

• It usually signals the end of the paragraph

• It summarizes the main points of the paragraph.

• It gives a final comment on your topic and leaves the reader with the most important ideas to think about.

A concluding sentence can be a paraphrase (i.e. repetition of the topic sentence in different words) of the topic sentence or summary which is not specifically stated in the topic sentence.

Example: In summary, I love my room because it makes me comfortable and it motivates me to study.

After constructing topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentence, these three elements are further arranged into a paragraph. In arranging these elements, we, of course, have to consider the two additional elements (i.e. unity and coherence). The paragraph will be as follows:

Examples:

My Lovely Room

My room is very enjoyable for studying. My lovely room has 4 m2 in width, and it is painted white. The light is suitable for studying particularly reading and writing; furthermore, the chair makes me comfortable. My room also has a small bookshelf in which all of my books are put. The bookshelf is placed on the right side of the door, so it is reachable when I am sitting on my chair. In spite of these, it also has good ventilation that makes air in my room always fresh. In summary, I love my room because it makes me comfortable, and it motivates me to study.

Exercises: Can you describe what you should do in writing a paragraph?

3. Let’s Practice

a. Recognizing Topic Sentence, Supporting Sentences and Concluding Sentence.

To improve your understanding about three major structural parts of a paragraph, now you try to identify and list the topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence of the following paragraphs:

Paragraph 1

Synonyms

Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always have the same emotional meaning. For example, the words “stingy” and “frugal” both mean “careful with money.” However, to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has a much more positive connotation. Similarly, a person wants to be slender but not skinny, and aggressive but not pushy. Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called synonyms are not really synonymous at all.

(Taken from Oshima and Hogue 1983:13)

1. Topic Sentence

▪

2. Supporting Sentences

▪

▪

▪

▪

3. Concluding Sentence

▪

Paragraph 2

Gold

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was minted twenty-three centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields for protection outside the spaceship. In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty, but also for its utility.

(Taken from Oshima and Hogue 1983:13)

1. Topic Sentence

▪

2. Supporting Sentences

▪

▪

▪

▪

▪

▪

▪

▪

3. Concluding Sentence

▪

b. Writing your Own Paragraph.

In order to make you more skillful in writing a paragraph, the following practice steps can be followed (Writing under pressure 15 minutes):

1. Choose the following titles:

- Writing a Paragraph

- Playing Game Online

- Studying Writing

2. Draw the topic sentence from the title chosen.

3. Make at least four supporting sentences for your topic sentence or main idea.

4. Conclude your paragraph.

5. Put your topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentence together in the form of a good paragraph, and try to arrange them in unity and coherence corresponding to the theory that you have learnt. (You can check the result by using paragraph checklist page 11).

Note: Lecturer asks three or five students to present or to write their paragraph in front of the class while the other students try to identify the three major structural parts of a good paragraph.

SUMMARY:

❖ A well-written paragraph contains five elements: a topic sentence, supporting sentences, a concluding sentence, unity and coherence.

❖ After stating the title, the topic sentence is carefully drawn. Based on the topic sentence, supporting sentences are well arranged to make it unity and coherence and to end the paragraph concluding sentence is constructed.

Formative Test 1:

1. What is the definition of paragraph? (10 points)

2. What are the rules of writing a title of paragraph? (10 points)

3. What are writing styles that are commonly used in writing a paragraph?_PC (20 points)

4. What are the characteristics of a good paragraph?_PC (20 points)

5. Please write a short paragraph of your own title. (40 points)

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By the end of this unit, you are expected to be able to:

• identify characteristics of a good paragraph and

• write a good paragraph.

First

Paragraph

Second

Paragraph

PARAGRAPH

First

Paragraph

Second

Paragraph

By the end of this unit, you are expected to be able to:

• define what a paragraph is;

• write a title correctly; and

• use writing styles accordingly.

I Komang Budiarta

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