Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Lecture 3: Paragraphs

The outline for today's class:

Introduction to Paragraphs
“The Missing Piece to the Gang-Violence Debate” in Essay Writing
Paragraph Review
Paragraph Activity
Paragraph Activity
Paragraph Test
Homework





Paragraphs:

A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic
One idea per paragraph
If you begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs in a new paragraph
You can have one idea with several examples of support in one paragraph, but always only ONE idea


Supporting Details:
  • Use examples and illustrations
  • Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others)
  • Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases)
  • Use an anecdote or story
  • Define terms in the paragraph
  • Compare and contrast
  • Evaluate causes and reasons
  • Examine effects and consequences
  • Analyse the topic
  • Describe the topic
  • Offer a chronology of an event (time segments)


A New Paragraph:

  • Must link with the previous paragraph
  • Use transitional words such as:
  • Meanwhile
  • Furthermore
  • Contrastingly
  • Consequently

See page 459-460 in Essay Writing for more examples


Recap:

Beginning - Introduce your idea
Middle - Explain your idea, support with examples, statistics
Conclusion - Make your point again, summarise, transition to next paragraph



Homework:

For Next Class: Read “Kiddy Thinks” 269 and Chapter 6 in Essay Writing


Note: image from North Coast Institute.

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