UNDERGRADUATE II YEAR SUBJECT: English Language & Poetry TOPIC: Paragraph Writing Duration: 23:48 min Paragraph Writing INTRODUCTION:
Communication is the most important function a human being performs in his/her
life social life. Communication helps to build strong relationship and better
understanding which are vital in our personal and professional life. English is
considered as an international language as it is widely spoken language of the
world. English as a language enjoys the status of Lingua Franca. English has been
widely accepted as the most widespread language in the world. By the end of
20thcentury English began to emerge as a global language. English has a great
acceptance at social, economical and political levels.
LSRW skills play a major role in learning and speaking English in day to day life.
They are like the four basic pillars of English language and we all know about it;
they
1.Listening
2.Speaking
3.Reading
4.Writing
WHY IS ‘WRITING’ AN IMPORTANT SKILL?
English is the foremost spoken language in the whole world. That's why it is
absolutely crucial for you to know how to develop good writing skills in English.
Unfortunately, not everything can be learned from the classroom. A little extra
help can go a long way. Here are some ways on how to develop good writing skills
in English.
1) Read Books: If you're an avid reader, then this should not be a problem for you.
Reading books helps you get a better grasp of the English language.
2) Start Writing: If you want to develop good writing skills in English, you're
going to have to write something at some point. A lot of people who keep journals
are able to practice their English very well. I suggest you do the same as well.
3) Put Your Work Out There: Part of the ways on how to develop good writing
skills in English is feedback. How else would you know how good or bad your
work is unless you show it to others? A lot of people fear this stage because they
don't really want to hear others criticize their work.
OBJECTIVES OF PARAGRAPH WRITING:
A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic.
Learning to write good paragraphs helps a writer stay on track during drafting and
revision stages.
Good paragraphing also greatly assists readers in following a piece of writing.
A good paragraph helps in organizing ideas.
The basic rule with paragraphing is to keep one idea to one paragraph. It helps
organizing several bits of supporting evidence within a single paragraph.
SUMMARY:
The lesson will deal with the following aspects of writing good paragraphs. It will
highlight
1. What is a paragraph?
2. Qualities of a good paragraph.
3. Structure of paragraph.
4. Pre writing steps.
5. Guidelines of writing a good paragraph.
6. Editing paragraphs.
7. Guided paragraphs
8. Types of paragraphs.
MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO PARAGRAPH WRITING
A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. All the
sentences in a paragraph should therefore be grouped together so that they serve to
develop or strengthen the idea explained in the first sentence.
Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer to stay on track during
your drafting and revision stages. Good paragraphing also greatly assists your
readers in following a piece of writing. You can have fantastic ideas, but if those
ideas are not presented in an organized fashion, your readers will not understand
you.
The basic rule while writing paragraphs is to keep one idea to one paragraph. If
you begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs in a new paragraph. There are
some simple ways to tell if you are on the same topic or a new one.
1. You can have one idea and several bits of supporting evidence within a
single paragraph.
2. You can also have several points in a single paragraph as long as they relate
to the overall topic of the paragraph.
3. If the single points start to get long, then you should elaborate on each point
and place these in their own paragraphs.
Paragraph writing is indeed an essay on a much smaller scale. Its main purpose is
to explain clearly the given subject without any unnecessary details or digression
of the theme. The skill can be mastered only through constant practice of writing
and revision.
MODULE 2: QUALITIES OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH.
A good paragraph must have theme, unity, order and variety
Theme: the theme or subject is generally covered in the opening sentence. The
topic sentence should not be overshadowed by unnecessary details. A paragraph
must not contain more than one topic in it.
Unity: the subject matter should be developed in the best possible manner. The
given topic must not deviate from the main subject for example if you are asked to
write a paragraph on “The Cow” you should not write about the horse, or include
about the horse in your paragraph. Every part of the paragraph must be the
expression of one idea, fact or topic. Then only paragraph will have unity.
A paragraph is badly constructed if it lacks unity: i.e. if it deals with more than one
central idea or if it leaves the central idea half developed. A good test of a wellwritten paragraph is that you can state the content of the paragraph in one sentence.
Order: in a good paragraph the ideas are arranged in a clear and logical order let
us take the same example, if you start your paragraph by talking about the physical
aspects of the cow complete that part and then move on to how the cow is useful to
us. Each sentence should be written naturally and must have a definite idea. This
interrelation of sentences in a paragraph is known as order.
Variety: a good paragraph contains both short and long sentences. The sentences
or paragraphs of a composition should not always be of the same sentence
construction. They should have a variety to avoid monotony. So proper care should
be given to this aspect of originality
MODULE 3: STRUCTURE OF PARAGRAPH.
There is no hard and fast rule about the structure of a paragraph. However I will
tell you a useful structure.
1. The topic sentence: this is the first sentence and it expresses the main idea.
2. Supporting sentences: details that expand your idea.
3. Concluding sentence: a rounding off, possibly by summarizing what has
been said or drawing a logical conclusion from it.
Another way of explaining the three parts of a paragraph is to describe these parts
like:
1. Say what you are going to say,
2. Say it
3. Say what you have said.
MODULE 4: PRE WRITING STEPS:
1. Think carefully about what you are going to write. Ask yourself: how best
can I answer this question? What is the most important part of my answer?
How can I make the introductory sentence from the most important part of
my answer? What facts or ideas can I use to support my introductory
sentence? How can I make this paragraph interesting? Do I need more facts
on this topic? Where can I find facts on this topic?
2. Open your notebook. Write out your answers to the above questions. You do
not need to spend a lot of time doing this, just write enough to help you
remember why and how you are going to write your paragraph.
3. Collect facts related to your paragraph topic. Look for and write down facts
that will help you to answer our question.
4. Write down your own ideas. Ask yourself: What else do I want to say about
this topic? Why should people be interested in this topic? Why is this topic
important?
5. Find the main idea of your paragraph. Choose the most important point you
are going to present. If you cannot decide which point is most important, just
choose one point and stick to it throughout your paragraph.
5
6. Organize your ideas and facts in a way that develops your main idea. Once
you have chosen the most important point of your paragraph, you must find
the best way to tell the reader about it. Decide which facts and ideas will
best support the main idea of your paragraph. Once you have chosen the
facts and ideas, ask yourself which order to put them in the paragraph.
MODULE 5: GUIDELINES OF WRITING A GOOD PARAGRAPH.
To write a good paragraph we should bear in mind the following points:
1. We should think of the points we wish to write. We should not be in a hurry
to expand the statement without first grasping its meaning or implications.
2. Reading should be followed by thinking. Relevant details quotations,
illustrations etc, should be given serious thought and arrange them logically
and systematically. Sentences should follow each other in a logical order.
Every sentence should come naturally out of the previous sentence.
3. The language used in the paragraph must be simple and easy. It should be
written, if possible, in idiomatic style.
4. The rough draft must be revised and mistakes of spelling, punctuation
marks, etc, should be carefully corrected. We should remember a fact that
the expansion is intended to test whether we can write a well knit paragraph
free from all types of mistakes. Therefore in paragraph writing, grammar
mistakes and digression of thought are to be avoided.
MODULE 6: EDITING PARAGRAPHS:
The editing stage is when you check your paragraph for mistakes and correct
them. The following things should be kept in mind:
1. Check your spelling.
2. Check your grammar.
3. Read your paragraph again.
4. Make sure each sentence has a subject.
5. See if your subjects and verbs agree with each other.
6. Check the verb tenses of each sentence.
7. Make sure that each sentence makes sense.
Regarding Style and Organization:
1. Make sure your paragraph has topic sentence.
2. Make sure your supporting sentences focus on the main idea.
3. Make sure you have closing sentence.
4. Check that all your sentences focus on the main idea.
5. See if your paragraph is interesting.
6. Show your work to your teacher or parents.
7. Ask them for hints to improve your writing.
MODULE 7: GUIDED PARAGRAPHS:
A guided paragraph is one with incomplete sentences and phrases as hints. Based
on these hints you can write a good paragraph using complete and correct
sentences.
Example: (this module must be shown on screen)
Write a paragraph using the following hints. Write the paragraph in the order of
logic and develop it with the help of your points. Suggest a title, a topic sentence
and sum it up.
Education degenerates---into a purposeless accumulation---a useless knowledge--a laborious exercise of mind--- not an aimless digestion of knowledge---wisdom,
character and skills, three necessary aims of education--- free thinking and
developed perspectives---Tagore and Vivekananda not for purposeless and useless
knowledge---not for a laborious exercise of knowledge.
Answer:
Title: “The Purpose of Education/ The Aim Of Education”
We must realize that education should not be degenerated into a purposeless
accumulation of useless knowledge. It should not be reduced to a laborious
exercise of mind. It is not a mechanical process of learning, because it is not an
aimless digestion of knowledge. It is not an end in itself but a means to an end.
Wisdom, character and skills are the three essential aims which end in free
thinking and developed perspectives. The aim of education is to produce great
people like Tagore and Vivekananda, but not people of purposeless and useless
knowledge with laborious exercise of mind.
MODULE 8: TYPES OF PARAGRAPHS:
There are four types of paragraphs. The type of paragraph you choose to write will
depend on whether your purpose for writing is to inform or explain, influence or
persuade, express, or entertain. For example, if your purpose is to influence the
audience, you would most likely write a persuasive paragraph.
1. Narrative Paragraph: A narrative paragraph uses chronological order to
tell a story or relate a sequence of events.
2. Expository Paragraph: The word expository is related to the word expose,
a verb that means “to allow to be seen, or to reveal.” For example,
newspaper reporters try to expose the truth. When writing an expository
paragraph, the writer seeks to reveal information about a subject. An
expository paragraph can list facts, show cause and effect, compare and
contrast, or explain instructions.
3. Descriptive Paragraph: A descriptive paragraph creates an accurate picture
of the subject by including sensory details and adjectives.
4. Persuasive Paragraph: A persuasive paragraph seeks to convince the
reader to agree with an opinion or to take a certain course of action.