writing & dev the paragraph 2

8/10/2019 Writing & Dev the Paragraph 2

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WRITING AND DEVELOPING THE PARAGRAPH: Topic Sentences and ParagraphDeveop!ent

Tips:

• Each paragraph should "egin with a topic sentence

• A topic sentence is an opinion, observation or view directly relevant to the question

i.e. each topic sentence should be a direct ans#er to the tite.

Topic sentences should include words/ phrases from the title or their equivalents.• Each topic sentence should introd$ce one ne# point%

• The view expressed in the topic sentence must be e$cidated: & i%e% '$sti(ied)

e*panded) ana+,ed etc-

• S$"stantiation &e*a!pes) (acts) (ig$res- should be given to support the

elucidation.

• The elucidation and the substantiation should be combined

• The paragraph should clearly advance the essay forward one relevant step.

Practice .

TOPI/ SENTEN/ES

What is the point made in this paragraph?Paragraph A common feature of religions is a past ma!or figure who has established or developedand led the movement. "hether this past representative is now regarded as #od varieswith religions but all regard this person as the powerful teacher and expounder of the faith.$esus %hrist, &ohammed and #autama 'uddha are the representatives in respect of%hristianity, (slam and 'uddhism.

The main point )or the main idea* of the paragraph is often stated in one sentence calledthe topic sentence or state!ent%

The rest of the sentences are called supporting sentences. They provide details )reasons,evidence, facts etc* to support the main idea

+or very competent writers, topic sentences or statements may be at the beginning middleor end of the paragraph. The average student should place the topic sentence at thebeginning of the paragraph.

DEVELOP0ENT O1 POINTSParagraphs can be developed )i.e. topic sentences* can be supported byExplanationsElaboration of +acts%omparisons%ontrastExamples

Study the following paragraphs. Identify the topic sentence. How are they supported?

Paragraph A person with an inferiority complex is unduly sensitive to criticism and resents any director implied evaluation of his personal qualities. -uch a person also tends to apply allcriticism to himself thining that all whispered comments are directed against him. An

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additional characteristic is the desire for seclusiveness, since his inadequacy maes himbelieve he is not wanted. (t is thus quite possible to detect a person with an inferioritycomplex simply by observing his reaction to the incidents in everyday life.

Paragraph People often thin of the tropical forest as an abundant source of food. This has led themto conclude that life in the tropical forest must be simple and easy. The truth is that life in

the tropical forest is a constant struggle for survival. 0arge game is more common in theopen grassland than in the forest. 1omestic animals cannot be ept because of diseaseand lac of food. 0arge terrains have to be crossed in the search for food and the peoplehave to be content to live in the most rudimentary and temporary shelters.

Paragraph 2The truth is that no one simple formula can characteri3e those who emigrated to the4.-.A. (n their rans were to be found the restless, the enterprising, the unfortunate theambitious, the discontented. They came from technically advanced countries lie 'ritainand from primitive agrarian societies lie -icily. -ome were fugitives from !ustice5 othersfrom persecution. People crossed the Atlantic to escape from failed marriages as well as

government tyranny. (mmigrants included nonconformists and misfits, saints and sinners.

Paragraph 64nlie the 4nited -tates farmer, who harvests his rice by using machines, (ndonesianfarmers use human power. #enerally, American farmers use ploughs, combines andharvesters to get their grain. These men are paid good salaries for their wor. (n contrastmost (ndonesian harvesters are women. Their equipment consists of a single tool called7anai8anai9, a small blade attached to a bamboo stic. The women cut the stems of the ricehandful by handful and put the bundles into a baset which they carry on their bacs, Assoon as the baset is full, the harvester goes to the owner. The wages depend on howmany bundles they cut, but normally, they get one bundle out of every eight bundles astheir wages.

Paragraph :;aising houseplants involves nearly as much care and nowledge as raising children.'oth plants and children are sensitive to their environments. +or example, a plant willgrow faster and be much healthier if it is raised in an environment of tender loving care.The same is true for a child, who will be happier and healthier if his parents love andnurture him. -imilarly, proper care of houseplants requires a basic nowledge of plants onthe part of the owner. <e must now, for example, which of his plants need direct sunlightand which need to be ept in shady places, and how much water each plant requires for

the best growth an appearance. Parents too must have a basic nowledge of theirchildren9s needs in order to provide what is necessary for the best physical and mentaldevelopment. +inally, the owner of the house plants must be willing to provide the bestpossible care for his plants. A child needs time and energy from his parents too. 7Theyhave to play with him, tal to him and care for him. #enerally speaing, happy healthyplants and children are the result of extra time, nowledge and energy given on the part of parents.

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Practice 2"rite topic sentences using each of the points below. =ou are to assume that each topicsentence mars the beginning of a new paragraph. &ae sure your topic sentencesanswer the question directly and introduce one new point. >ary your sentence structures.

E.g.

%an the media ever be relied on to convey the truth? )#%E@@* The media cannot always be relied on to convey the truth if they are controlled

by political parties with their own vested interests. A second reason why the media cannot be trusted to be committed to reporting

the truth is because of economic considerations such as the power of theadvertising dollar.

Thirdly, the media does not consistently report the truth as it may give in to theeconomic necessity to sensationalise the news to attract readers/viewers.

2 <owever, there are times when the media can also be relied on to give reportswhich aim to approximate the truth.

6 The media does often tell the truth because the public in democratic countries

demand it.

Account for the popularity of any one sport;easonsi* government supportii* mass mediaiii* commerciali3ationiv* easily accessible facilities/equipmentv* affordabilityvi* charismatic/glamorous stars

ur attitude towards nature is the biggest threat to the environment. %omment. Agreei* apathyii* greed/materialismiii* not willing to sacrifice conveniencesiv* see it as our birthright to use nature as we see fit1isagreei* some are not aware of the problemii* others do not have the opportunity to care about nature as they have to

grapple with poverty, war etc.

Practice 3

"rite a paragraph for one of the following points. Present your paragraph to the class.Explain your topic sentence and how it is supported.

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ADDITIONAL E4ER/ISES

Practice 3What are topic sentences5;ead through the following passage and notice how the topic sentences at the beginningof each paragraph mae the paragraph structured, focused and easy to follow. "hat do

you thin could be the title of this essay?

Thesis

state!ent

TopicSentence

Speci(icS$pport

TopicSentenceSpeci(icS$pport

Speci(icS$pport

TopicSentenceSpeci(icS$pport

Speci(ic

S$pport

1o you reali3e that newborn children are not even aware that partsof their bodies belong to them? ( learned this fascinating fact in mypsychology course from a boo that says a baby Blies on his bac,icing his heels and watching the little fists flying past his face.'ut only very slowly does he come to now that they are attachedto him and he can control them. )&ary Ann -pencer Pulasi,4nderstanding Piaget, p*. %hildren have a lot of learning to dobefore they can see the world Cand themselves 8through grown8upeyes. As children pass through this remarkable process of

growing up, they often do some humorous things, especiallyin learning to speak, in discovering that all objects do nothave human characteristics and in trying to imitate othersaround them.

Not surprisingly, one area in which children are oftenhumorous is in learning to speak . ( remember one time ( wastaling to a friend on the phone while my little sister, 'etsy seemedto be playing inattentively on the floor nearby. After ( hung up,'etsy ased me, B"hy is the teacher going to give $anet an oldtomato?D At first, ( couldn9t figure out what 'etsy was taling about."hen ( ased her what she meant, she said, B=ou said if $anetdoesn9t hand in her homewor, the teacher is going to give her anold tomato.D +inally ( caught on. The word ( had used wasultimatum

Children can also be funny in the way they “humanize theobjects around them. According to my psychology boo, B4p tofour or five years old, the child believes anything may be endowedwith purpose and conscious activity. A ball may refuse to bethrown straight, or a 7naughty9 chair may be responsible for

bumping himD )Pulasi, 4nderstanding Piaget, p26*. ( myself canremember one vivid and scary afternoon when ( was sure the sunwas following me around, !ust waiting for the right moment to getme. ( can also remember a time, not scary, when 'etsy stood atthe top of the stairs and yelled to her shoes at the bottom, B-hoes#et up hereD

Another way in which children are sometimes funny in theirattempts to imitate what they see around them. All children loopretty silly when thy dress up lie their mothers and fathers andplay 7house9. &y psychology boo tells of a more interesting

example, though. The famous psychological $ean Piaget wrote ofthe time his sixteen8month8old daughter quietly watched a visitinglittle boy throw a tantrum to get out of his playpen. Piaget9sdaughter thought it would be fun to try the same thingF BThe next

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Re#ordedThesisState!ent

day, she herself screamed in her play8pen and tried to move it,stamping her foot lightly several times in succession. The imitationof the whole scene was most striingG )quoted in Pulasi,4nderstanding Piaget, p H*.

0ittle children are funny creatures to watch, aren9t they? 'ut as welaugh , we have to admire too, because the humorous mistaes

are but temporary side trips that children tae on the ama3inglycomplicated !ourney to maturity C a long way from the beginningwhere they lay in wonder, silently watching the strange, fingeredspacecraft passing bac and forth before their infant eyes.

Practice 6Ens$ring reevance thro$gh topic sentencesThe following is a summary of the points made in an essay by a student. The question

wasF B"hat value has international sport in the relations between nations?D The essay wasout of point to a great extent. Explain why. Explain how writing topic sentences thatanswer the question at the beginning of each paragraph would help to ensure that thisessay becomes relevant.(ntroduction -ome sentences on the popularity of sports today C a few popular

sports mentioned.+irst Paragraph A description of the value of sports in the development of the

body.-econd Paragraph A description of the value of sports in the development of

character C in the encouragement of such qualities ascooperativeness, endurance, graciousness in the face of defeat, etc

Third Paragraph A description of the lympic #ames C its origin C its value inbringing together competitors of different races and politicalideologies from all over the world C learn to understand oneanother better.

The following is a summary of the points made in another essay. The question wasF 7A filmhas one purpose C to entertain9. 4sing examples, consider this view. )#%E @@*.(s thisessay relevant, totally irrelevant or partially irrelevant? Explain how writing topic sentencesthat answer the question at the beginning of each paragraph would help to ensure that this

essay becomes relevant.(ntroduction -ome sentences about the different types of films and assessment ofhow popular each type is

+irst Paragraph The value of each type of film.-econd Paragraph 1etailed description of suspense films.Third Paragraph <ow suspense films are only entertaining but with not much other

value+ourth Paragraph The need to censor some types of films

Adapted from The #eneral Paper by %atherine 0im

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Practice 7The following are excerpts of paragraphs taen from students9 essays. Assess whetherthey are relevant. Explain the role of topic sentences in ensuring relevance.

What e((ects has co!!erciai,ation had $pon sport?

)Paragraphs from the body of the essay* %ommerciali3ed sports has also led to some businessmen setting up illegal bettingcenters where people can bet on who is going to win or lose. This promotes gamblingwhich is bad for a person who can lose a lot of money if he is addicted to it. ne exampleis the betting centers in England where boomaers tae bets for football matches. 'randed goods have also been affected by commerciali3ation in sports. 1ue toadvertising and endorsement by sport personalities, ordinary people would want to buysporting goods that their idols themselves wear or use. 7=onex9 which speciali3es inbadminton gear has been rather successful in their advertising as people would relatebadminton to 7=onex9 and would buy its gear if they tae up the sport.

What can "e done to aeviate s$((ering in the #ord5)A paragraph from the body of the essay*The absence of wars may reduce much of the sufferings of the people by bringing forthpeace and happiness on earth. "ars are usually associated with destruction and the lossof property as well as lives. -uch losses suffered by countries and nations definitely bringpain. Even news about the outbrea of war upsets a reader who reads about it in anewspaper report.

Sho$d the !edia practice censorship)A paragraph from the body of the essay*(t is evident that the media in many countries practice censorship. ften, scenes that areconsidered too explicit are taen out of films while pictures that are deemed offensive aredeleted from the print media. (n fact, newspapers also control the ind of language used.0anguage that is considered inappropriate is also taen out. This is to protect publicmorals. (n the political arena, censorship is also often practiced as the ruling party tries touphold its vested interests.

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Practice 8Ensuring relevance through topic sentences<ere are some examples of essay topics and questions that seem to be alie in theirrequirements but really are not. (dentify the points that would be relevant for each of the topics in each group.

Present your points clearly to show points that are common to all topics andpoints that are distinct to a particular title.

"rite clear topic sentences for all the points that are relevant to a particular topic.2 &ae sure that topic sentences for overlapping points are twisted to suit each

question.

"hat part do newspapers play in your country? "hat part should newspapers play in your country?

%an terrorism ever be !ustified? )IHJ* 7"hile terrorism is never !ustifiable, it is understandable and inevitable.9 1iscuss.

"hy has terrorism become so common in the past two decades?2 7+or as long as there is in!ustice in the world, acts of terrorism will be committed.9

1o you agree?

B&odern -cience has done more harm than good.D 1iscuss "hat, in your opinion, has been the most significant scientific development of this

century? -cientific advancement must be accompanied by moral awareness and

responsibility? %omment.

7Education does not develop individuality but conformity.9 (s such a statementalways valid? )IIH*

7%onformity should be the main aim of all schools.9 <ow far is this true? )@@*

<ow far do you agree that health is the responsibility of the -tate, not of theindividual? )@@@*

7(f people become ill it is largely their own fault.9 <ow far do you agree? )@@*

(s it ever right for one country to become involved in the internal affairs of another?

)IIJ* To what extent should richer nations help the poorer ones? )@@@*

Adapted from The #eneral Paper by %atherine 0im

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