Paragraph Topic List
Paragraph Topic List My Favorite Sport The Problems of Old Age The Life of a Teenager The Perfect Job The “MUSTS” for a Healthy Body The Best Season of the Year
Pretest SampleAssignment:Describe what your life will be likein two years.In two years, I will be cramming for finalexams while I finish my freshman year incollege. In order that I do well on the exams,I will review my past exams. I will pick mymost important goal, and I will decide on amajor. I will relax and look forward to nextyear.Cue Card #1
Practice SampleAssignment: Describe someoneMy Special FriendEric is very special to me. One reason Eric is special is that he is mybest friend; he is always there for me. When I am upset, he listensand helps me solve my problems. In fact, he is my sunshine on arainy day; he always lifts my spirit when it is down. Another reason heis special is that he always shows me respect. He never forgets myfeelings, and he often puts my feelings first. A third reason Eric isspecial is that he is a very kind person, and he spreads his kindnessgenerously. He is always doing favors for people without being asked.To summarize, Eric is special because he is always there for me,respects my feelings, and is very kind.Cue Card #2
Parts of a ParagraphTitleIntroductionBodyConclusionCue Card #3
Sentence TypesUsed in ParagraphsParagraph PartSentence TypeIntroductionTopic SentenceBodyDetail SentencesConclusionClincher SentenceCue Card #4
The Paragraph WritingStrategy Puzzle: Part ICue Card #5
Topic Sentence Is usually the first sentence Introduces the main idea Sometimes introduces the detailsCue Card #6
Types of Topic SentencesGeneral Topic SentencesClueing Topic SentencesSpecific Topic SentencesCue Card #7
General TopicSentenceNames the main ideaof the paragraph.Cue Card #8
General Topic SentenceCue Card #9
Examples of GeneralTopic Sentences The hot trend in advertising these days is tohire real, live stars. Kevin James would have been 20 years oldthis September. Not much is left of a town known as Nora,Nebraska. Democracy is thriving at Hillsboro HighSchool.Cue Card #10
Clueing TopicSentence Names the main idea. Gives a clue about thedetails.Cue Card #11
Clue iesA number ofCategoriesAdvantagesNumber ferentAssortmentCue Card #12
Examples of ClueingTopic Sentences The four seasons spice up our lives. Tents come in a variety of shapes andsizes. The citizens of Lawrence have severalreasons for building a new high school. Jesse Flynn is my best friend because of hismany fine characteristics.Cue Card #13
Clueing Topic SentenceCue Card #14
Specific Topic Sentence Names the main idea. Names the specific detailsto be covered.Cue Card #15
Specific Topic SentenceCue Card #16
Examples of SpecificTopic Sentences Air pollution is caused by vehicles andindustries. Charles Darwin lived an interesting life as anexplorer, writer, and scientist. Diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies areberi beri, pellagra, scurvy, and rickets.Cue Card #17
Steps for Writing a TopicSentencePick a sentence type and a formula.Explore words to fit the sentence type andformula.Note the words.Search and check.Cue Card #18
The Paragraph WritingStrategy Puzzle: Part IICue Card #19
Detail Sentence Discusses one of the details inthe paragraph Sometimes shows therelationship between a detailand the rest of the paragraphCue Card #20
The Paragraph ExpressCue Card #21
Transition Signals the introduction of anew detail. Shows the relationshipbetween the detail and therest of the paragraph.Cue Card #22
Types of DetailSentencesLead-off SentencesFollow-up SentencesCue Card #23
Lead-off Sentence Introduces a new detail Contains a transitionCue Card #24
Follow-up SentenceProvides more informationabout the detail.Cue Card #25
The Paragraph ExpressCue Card #26
Example Detail SentencesTopic sentence:Turtles could not survive without theirmarvelous shells.Detail sentences:Most importantly, turtles’ shells serve as the base for theirskeletons. Their backbones and ribs are attached to the flatbony plates of their shells. This skeleton provides shape fortheir bodies. Somewhat importantly, turtles’ shells serve astheir portable homes. Turtles can live anywhere because theycarry their homes with them. This is important for turtles sincethey move so slowly. Finally, turtles’ shells are importantbecause the shells protect turtles from their enemies. Turtleswho are in danger can pull their heads and legs into their hardshells to protect themselves from animals who might try to eatthem.Cue Card #27
Requirements for a DetailSentenceEach detail sentence must: Contain related information. Be in a logical sequence with other sentences. Include a transition if it introduces a new detail. Be written from the same point of view as theother sentences Be written in the same tense as the othersentences.Cue Card #28
Detail SentenceSequences Size Sequence– When details are larger/smaller than each other Time Sequence– When some details occur before others in time Space Sequence– When details are arranged in space in relation to each other Importance Sequence– When some details are more important than others Chain-Link Sequence– When details are related in pairs or not related in any of theCue Card #29above sequences
Transitions ChartSize TransitionsThe largestThe next largestThe smallestLarger thanEqual toSmaller thanThe smallestThe next smallestThe largestThe small-sizedThe medium-sizedThe large-sizedThe tallestThe shortestAt the beginning ofIn the middle ofAt the end ofMeanwhileBeforeIn the meantimeDuringAfterAfterwardsBy this timeAt the same time,At that instant,Soon r a short timeImmediately,First,Second,Third,Finally,In the morning,Before noon,In the afternoon,In the evening,Yesterday,Today,Tomorrow,The day after tomorrow,In the past,In the present,In the future,The next day,This year,Two weeks later,Six months later,Time TransitionsFirst,Then,Next,At last,NowSoonThenLaterThe firstA more recentThe most recentThe earliestNext year,In the next few years,The next earliestThe most recentCue Card #30
Transitions Chart (cont.)Space TransitionsBehindOn the edge ofBesideIn frontWest ofHighOverTowardAroundFacingEast ofAgainstUnderThroughoutNearback ofNorth ofAlongsideBelowTo the right ofSide by sideIn the centerSouth ofAhead ofBeneathTo the left ofClose toInsideAt theHereLow downOn top ofNext toOutsideInThereOn the bottomAt the topDownAt the end ofOnBeyondOn the cornerByUpBetweenAboveFarther onImportance TransitionsThe bestThe most importantThe firstThe bestThe next bestEqually importantMore important thanThe next bestThe least bestThe next most importantMost importantThe worstThe least importantCue Card #30
Transitions Chart (cont.)Chain-Link TransitionsOn the one hand,On the other hand,Again,Besides,Moreover,The opposite of isOn the contrary sideTo the contrary,In contrast,In spite ofDespite theOne example ofFor instance,Another example,A further example,For example,For another example,Still anotherIn addition,In the same way,In fact,Additionally,Lastly,Similar to isAnother similar isLikewise,Similarly,A dissimilar isIn the first place,In the second place,In the third place,In other wordsIn fact,Also,The firstThe secondThe thirdOneAnotherA leInsteadFirst,Second,third,Specifically,More specifically,In particular,The lastLastIndeed,AlthoughEven thoughEven ifAs a result,Consequently,Naturally,After all,Nevertheless,Nonetheless,Concluding TransitionsTo conclude,In conclusion,In summary,In sum,In brief,To sum up,To summarize,Thus,In short,As you can see,As a result,Finally,Therefore,Cue Card #30
Points of ViewCue Card #31
Example Sentences Writtenin First Person Point of View I went to the beach for a vacation withseveral friends. We sunbathed, fished, watched the surfers,and swam. I have solved a number of mysteries lately. We recently moved to the country from thecity; we love our new home.Cue Card #32
Example Sentences Writtenin Second Person Point of View You should be sure to pack light when yougo backpacking. You will have a good trip if you are aware ofsome safety tips. Never take heavy objects like extra shoes orcast iron fry pans on a backpacking trip.Cue Card #33
Example Sentences Writtenin Third Person Point of View The boys went to a movie and then to adance; they enjoyed themselves. Scott, Chris, and Wallis became the best offriends. The garden was filled with many fragrant andcolorful flowers. Each detail sentence must be related to thetopic sentence.Cue Card #34
Point of View ChartFirst PersonSecond PersonIYouWeYou (understood)SubjectsSometimes Mein rest of Mysentence MineUsOurOursMyself OurselvesYourYoursYourselfYourselvesThird PersonHeSheItTheyThe houseOne ideaThe boys,Marie,Jamie, rsTheirTheirsCue Card #35
What Point of View? My house is brown and white, and it has abig porch on the front. Your photograph of the mountains isbeautiful. You can come over to my house tomorrownight. Yesterday, I visited my best friend and hisbrother. My sister’s family includes her husband, herdaughter, and her two sons.Cue Card #36
TensesCue Card #38
Tense ChartTensePastVerbpaintedwas paintinghad paintedPresentis paintingpaintsFuturewill paintshall paintCue Card #38
Example Sentences forTensePast Yesterday, the sun rose at 5:30 a.m. On her vacation, Kathy swam in the ocean everyday, and she ran along the beach each evening.Present The sun is rising early this morning. Kathy loves to swim in the ocean.Future Tomorrow, we will watch the sun rise. Next summer, Kathy will swim in the ocean again,and she will stay fit.Cue Card #39
A Finished ParagraphDiagramCue Card #40
Steps for Writing a DetailSentencePick a formula.Explore words to include the detail and a transition word if it introduces a new detail the point of view the tenseNote the words.Search and check.Cue Card #41
The Paragraph WritingStrategy Puzzle: Part IIICue Card #42
Clincher Sentence Is the last sentence in the paragraph Closes the paragraph Names the main idea of the paragraph Sometimes summarizes or names the detailsof the paragraph Is different from the Topic SentenceCue Card #43
The ParagraphExpressCue Card #44
Example ParagraphNonviolent protest has been a major force in the world. Inthe late 1940s and early 1950s, Mahatma Ghandi and hisfollowers used nonviolent protest to gain independence forIndia from Britain. For the first time in decades, Indians hadtheir own country. In the 1960s, Martin Luther King and hisfollowers used nonviolent protest to gain rights for Blacks inAmerica. Through nonviolent protest, they obtained rights thathad been denied to them since the slaves had been freed,such as the right to sit anywhere on a bus, eat in anyrestaurant, and vote in elections. Thus, nonviolent protest hasbeen successfully used by oppressed people to gainindependence from other nations; it has also been used to gainpersonal rights and freedoms.Cue Card #45
ConcludingTransitionsWords that tell the readerthat the paragraph is finished.Cue Card #46
Types of ClincherSentencesGeneral Clincher SentenceClueing Clincher SentenceSpecific Clincher SentenceCue Card #47
General ClincherSentence Summarizes the main ideaof the paragraph. Makes the reader think moreabout the topicCue Card #48
Example GeneralClincher Sentences In summary, these car models are my favorites. To summarize, these are my favorite car models;what are yours? In conclusion, when life gives you lemons, makelemonade. Thus, if a person has approval from others, he maybe less happy than if he has his own approval. To conclude, this woman had many qualities thatpeople should imitate daily.Cue Card #49
General ClincherSentenceCue Card #50
Clueing ClincherSentence Names the main idea Ties the details togetherwith a clue wordCue Card #51
Clueing Clincher SentenceCue Card #52
Example ClueingClincher Sentences In sum, these four events served as the spark thatignited the war. To conclude, life can deal you many cards; it’s howyou play them that counts. In other words, several issues need to beconsidered before a person accepts a job offer. In conclusion, plenty of serious reasons exist forstaying away from drugs; ignoring them canendanger one’s health and life.Cue Card #53
Specific Clincher Sentence Names the main idea Names the specific detailsthat were covered in the paragraph Names the details in the orderin which they were discussedCue Card #54
Specific Clincher SentenceCue Card #55
Example SpecificClincher Sentences To conclude, making a snowman involves rolling theparts of his body, stacking the parts, and creatinghis face and clothes. In effect, the people followed a clear course: Theywrote a petition, held rallies, demanded a vote, andcaused the law to be changed. In summary, the environment is in danger becauseof our vehicles, our mountains of waste, and ourlack of attention to nature’s need to replenish itself.Cue Card #56
Steps for Writing aClincher SentencePick a sentence type and formula.Explore words to fit.Note the words.Search and check.Cue Card #57
Clincher SentencesModel Paragraph 1A football team can score points in several ways. Anytimeduring a game, a football team can make six points by scoring atouchdown. A touchdown occurs when a player carries the footballacross the goal line or when the ball is successfully caught in the endzone. After a touchdown, a team can score additional points. Onepoint can be made by kicking the ball through the goal posts; twopoints can be made by running the ball across the goal line or bysuccessfully passing the ball into the end zone. Another way a teamcan score any time is by kicking a three-point field goal. A field goal isscored when a player kicks the football through the goal posts.Something that happens less often is that a team can score twopoints for a safety. This involves tackling the player who has the ballwhen he is inside his own team’s end zone.Cue Card #58
Clincher SentencesModel Paragraph 2People are endangering the future lives of wild animals onour planet by taking land away from the animals, by taking theanimals away from the land, by polluting the land and water,and by killing too many animals. First, people take land awayfrom the animals to make room for houses and other buildings.They also use the land for farms and ranches. Second, peopletrap many animals each year for pets, and they put the animalsin zoos or circuses. Third, people put tons of waste andgarbage into the land, air, and water. This pollution is killing5,people are killing too many wild animals for food, for sport, fortheir furs, and for other parts of their bodies.Cue Card #59
Clincher SentencesModel Paragraph 3How the dinosaurs died out is one of the greatest mysteries of all time.Some scientists think that a giant meteor from outer space hit the earth about 65million years ago. Its impact could have caused many changes on the earth thatmight have killed the dinosaurs. For example, the meteor’s impact might haveraised tons of dirt and dust into the atmosphere so that sunlight could not reachthe earth, or it might have started the eruptions of many volcanoes or createdtidal waves. Other scientists theorize that when flowering plants appeared in theworld, the plant-eating dinosaurs could not digest these plants and died. In turn,the meat-eating dinosaurs also starved because there were no plant-eatingdinosaurs left to eat. Still other scientists propose that a strange disease wipedout the dinosaurs. Finally, other scientists think that the climate of the worldbecame too cold for the dinosaurs’ survival.Cue Card #60
The Paragraph WritingStrategy Puzzle: Part IVCue Card #61
Steps for Writing aParagraphSet up a diagramCreate the titleReveal the topicIron out the detailsBind it together with a clincherEdit your workCue Card #62
Types of ParagraphsSequential ParagraphExpository Paragraph– Narrative Paragraph– Facts Paragraph– Step-by-StepParagraph– Reasons ParagraphDescriptive Paragraph– Examples ParagraphCompare and ContrastParagraph– Compare Paragraph– Contrast ParagraphCue Card #63– Compare and ContrastParagraph
Steps for Writing a Topic Sentence Pick a sentence type and a formula. Explore words to fit the sentence type and formula. Note the words. Search and check. . Is the last sentence in the paragraph Closes the paragraph Names the main idea of the paragraph Sometimes summarizes o
There seems to be different kinds of paragraph, but here we are going to focus on three basic types of paragraph, which are Narrative Paragraph, Descriptive Paragraph, and Expository Paragraph. Let’s discuss each one of them briefly (Ameri, 2008). 2.6.1. Narrative Paragraph To tell a story in its simplest form is called narrative paragraph.
To keep it simple, write a paragraph about how to write a paragraph. A. ive the topic "The Paragraph". Immediately, have the students write the topic above the word "Prewrite". B. One Main Idea: In one sentence, have the students explain what the paragraph is about. Later, you will explain that they are actually writing the topic sentence.
Kaplan University Writing Center, ELL Resource Library The Topic Sentence and Paragraph September 2011 The Topic Sentence and Paragraph Organization . The Topic Sentence and Paragraph Organization .
The main idea of a paragraph is called the topic sentence Everything in your paragraph must connect and support your topic sentence in order to be cohesive. The topic sentence should appear near the beginning of the paragraph The topic sentence for each paragraph should be directly rel
Section 4 Writing a topic sentence After you decide which ideas to include in your paragraph, the next step in the writing process is to write a topic sentence. As you learned in Section 2, the topic sentence of a paragraph has two functions: to introduce the topic of the paragraph. to stat
Writing a YUMMY Paragraph! A great paragraph is like a really good burger. The burger toppings are the things you add to your paragraph to make it better. The top bun is like the topic sentence. The bottom bun is like the conclusion sentence. They hold the paragraph together. A topic
Writing a YUMMY Paragraph! A great paragraph is like a really good burger. The burger toppings are the things you add to your paragraph to make it better. The top bun is like the topic sentence. The bottom bun is like the conclusion sentence. They hold the paragraph together. A topic sentence tells the reader the _ _ .
Third support paragraph Ex. What are the understory plants? What did you just tell me about? Sequentially recap what you’ve just written Supporting paragraph 2 Build each report section like a hamburger Intro paragraph Support paragraphs conclusion paragraph logical essay Supporting paragraph 3 Second support paragraph Ex.
