PARAGRAPH WRITING

A paragraph has 3 parts; A topic sentence Supporting sentences A concluding sentence

The Topic Sentence Topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph. It tells the reader what the topic of the paragraph is. It is usually the first sentence in a paragraph. It has two parts; a topic & a controlling idea a) the topic part names the topic b) the controlling idea tells what the paragraph will say about the topic.

Ex.: 1) English borrows words from other languages. -topic controlling idea ) Other languages give words to English controlling idea topic- 3) Istanbul is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. --topic controlling idea

These 3 mistakes should be avoided to be able to write the rest of the paragraph easily. is too general. The topic sentence is too narrow. lacks a controlling idea. Ex: Many people like to exercise. --- Too broad--- I swim laps for 30 minutes everyday. -- too narrow-- The subject of this paragraph is my exercise routine. --lacks a controlling idea--

Supporting Sentences The middle part of the paragraph is called the body, and it consists of sentences that explain, or support, the topic sentence by giving more information. These sentences are called supporting sentences. There are two types of supporting sentences: major supporting sentences & minor supporting sentences. Major supporting sentences tell us about the topic sentence. Minor supporting sentences tell us more about the major supporting sentences.

The Concluding Sentence A concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and reminds the reader of the main idea. To write a good concluding sentence: 1) Begin with a conclusion signal. Conclusion Signals: To conclude,To sum up,In brief, In conclusion,To summarize,In short, Indeed, In summary,All in all, It is clear that.... These examples show that... You can see that...

The Concluding Sentence 2) Remind your reader of the main idea by one of the following methods. Restating the topic sentence in different words. Summarizing the main points. 3) Never end a paragraph by introducing a new idea!