1: Introduction to Paragraph Writing

1. What is a word? A single unit of language which has meaning and can be spoken or written. Example: Man, car, eat, good, a, I, room, fly

2. What is a phrase? Phrase - A group of words, which makes sense, but not completes sense, is called a Phrase. It is a group of related words without a Subject and a Verb. Example: The italic parts are the phrases 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The sun rises in the east. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. She wore a hat with blue edge. The accident on the bridge was not serious. The girl with red hair is an artist.

3. What is a sentence? Not every group of words is a sentence. To be a sentence, a group of words must make a complete thought AND contain at least a subject and a verb. Example: She cries. I run. He sleeps. I go to school John works. We study about the environment.

4. What is a paragraph? A paragraph is a number of related sentences focused on an idea. 5. What does a paragraph contain? A paragraph has three elements: a topic sentence, supporting details/ sentences and a concluding sentence. - Topic sentence: The topic sentence is the first sentence (can be in the middle or at the end) in a paragraph. It introduces the main idea of the paragraph. - Supporting sentences: They come after the topic sentence; support the TOPIC SENTENCE making up the body of a paragraph. They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph. - Concluding sentence: sum up the paragraph and tell the reader that you have finished your discussion. Example : TOPIC SENTENCE: 1. There are many different ways of using eggs in cooking. SUPPORTING SENTENCES: 2. They can be boiled lightly and eaten with toast. 3. Hard boiled eggs are good for picnics, sandwiches or use in salads.

4. Fried, poached and scrambled eggs are commonly eaten at breakfast, while an omelet provides a light and nourishing meal at any time. 5. For an exotic touch, eggs can be curried or used in sauces such as mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce. 6. To give lightness and substance, eggs are usually added to cakes and pastries. CONCLUDING SENTENCE: 7. There are few foods that are as nourishing and versatile as eggs. When you put these sentences together you will have a complete paragraph: There are many different ways of using eggs in cooking. They can be boiled lightly and eaten with toast. Hard boiled eggs are good for picnics, sandwiches or use in salads. Fried, poached and scrambled eggs are commonly eaten at breakfast, while an omelet provides a light and nourishing meal at any time. For an exotic touch, eggs can be curried or used in sauces such as mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce. To give lightness and substance, eggs are usually added to cakes and pastries. There are few foods that are as nourishing and versatile as eggs. Homework Write a paragraph about Your first day in RUA 100-150 words. The questions below may help you think about what you can write. What did you see along the way? Did you know anyone when you enter the class? How did you feel of being a student in the university for the first time? What did you think after your first day in RUA?

2: Sentence
As youve already known that a sentence is a group of words that have a complete thought and contains at least a subject and a verb, but sometimes only a word also can make a complete thought especially in commands. We will talk about it in more detail. Sentence = Subject + Predicate Subject Simple Subject Complete Subject

1. Usually only one word. 2. Always a noun or pronoun. 3. Tells what or who the sentence is about.

1. Can be several words or only one word. 2. Always contains a noun or pronoun. 3. Always includes the simple subject.

Predicate (the part of a sentence which contains the verb and gives information about the subject ) SIMPLE PREDICATE COMPLETE PREDICATE Always a verb (A verb is a word that tells what the subject is doing or being.) There are two kinds of verbs: 1. Action verbs: run, jump, sit, sleep. 2. Being verbs (helping verbs): am, is, are, was, were, seem and look. Building sentences A sentence: begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (period), a question mark, or an exclamation mark. has two parts: a subject (noun or pronoun) and a predicate (a verb or a phrase) as explained below. EXAMPLE: That new car. (This is a subject but there is no predicate, so it is not a complete sentence.) Complete sentence: That new car runs fast. (Predicate in bold) expresses a complete idea as a statement or asks a question. EXAMPLE: The sun rises in the East. / What is your name?

Always contains the simple predicate (a verb) Can be one word or several words.

may be a word or short sentence used to express a strong feeling such as surprise, excitement or anger.

EXAMPLE: You did it!

can also be a combination of two or more clauses. One of the clauses must be an independent clause, and the other clause can either be an independent or a dependent clause. It is important to know about clauses in order to construct complete sentences. can be one word or two words, and as long it can stand alone, its meaning is clear, and does make sense, it is accepted as a sentence.

EXAMPLE: One-word sentence: Stop! Go! Fire! Two-word sentence: Look out! Sit down! One-clause sentence: I cannot sleep. Two-clause sentence: She cooks and I eat. (Joined by conjunction and)

can be joined to another sentence without the use of a conjunction. We do it by using the present participle which is the ing form of a verb: look looking.

EXAMPLE: I saw the blue sky. I decided to jog in the park. I saw the blue sky and I decided to jog in the park. (Conjunction is used.) Seeing the blue sky, I decided to jog in the park. (No conjunction used.) can be made a negative sentence using ing form of the verb, we put not in front of it. EXAMPLE: Not finding a place to park, I decided to go elsewhere. The forms of a sentence There are four forms of a sentence as follow: A statement: That hotel restaurant serves a buffet breakfast. A question: Do you expect me to believe everything you said? A command: Don't just stand there. Do something. An exclamation: What a terrible waste of time!

Homework 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Write Write Write Write Write Write 5 one-word sentence 5 two-word sentence 5 One-clause sentence 5 statements 5 questions 5 exclamations 4

3: Sentence (Continue)
This time we will study about types of sentences Subject and Predicate table Predicate Noun Pronoun him

Subject Noun Jack Jill Pronoun She They Noun Phrase This lady That man

Verb sleeps loves is crying play is lives

Adjective

Adverb

football weak here

Types of Sentences There are three types of sentences: Simple Sentence Complex Sentence Compound Sentence

a) SIMPLE SENTENCE A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following are simple sentences. A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon. C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day. The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs. b) COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. B. Jonny played football, so Maria went shopping. C. Jonny played football, for Maria went shopping.

The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." C) COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which.

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying. When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong. Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required.

Test Exercises Choose the correct sentence type of each sentence below: 1: The teacher walked into the classroom, greeted the students, and took attendance. Simple Compound Complex 2: Juan played football while Juanita went shopping. 6

Simple Compound Complex 3: Juan played football, yet Juanita went shopping. Simple Compound Complex 4: Although Mexico has the better football team, it lost. Simple Compound Complex 5: The Island was filled with many winding trails, a small lake, and dangerous wild pigs. Simple Compound Complex 6: Naoki passed the test because he studied hard and understood the material. Simple Compound Complex 7. Pauline and Bruno have a big argument every summer over where they should spend their summer vacation. A. Simple Sentence B. Compound Sentence C. Complex Sentence 8. Pauline loves to go to the beach and spend her days sunbathing. A. Simple Sentence B. Compound Sentence C. Complex Sentence

Homework Write sentences: - 10 simple sentences - 5 compound sentences - 5 complex sentences 7

4: Paragraph Writing
What is a paragraph? It is a group of sentences that introduces, presents and develops one main idea about the topic. And it can be divided into three major parts. A. The Topic Sentence: usually first sentence (can be in the middle or last), expresses the overall point, helps the writer focus on the idea written about and helps the reader know what t is all about. The topic sentence contains the topic and the controlling idea. B. The Supporting Details: are the sentences used to support the main idea stated in the topic sentence: can be definitions, explanations, examples or clear evidences or facts. C. The Concluding Sentence: it often restates or summarizes the paragraph, warning, prediction or opinion. Format of a Paragraph Margin: A paragraph must have margin on the right and the left. It means the paragraph begin 1 inch (2.5 cm, or less) from the edge of the paper. Spacing: It should be double-spaced. Indenting: The first paragraph must be indented (British rule). Connected sentences: The sentences in the paragraph should follow each other. It is not a paragraph if every sentence begins a new line. Title: A paragraph usually has a title. It is one word or group of words that tells what a topic is. Example:

How to write a paragraph Paragraph writing consists of many necessary elements to be taken into consideration before, while and after writing. I. Before writing: - Choose a topic to write about - Brainstorming: listing, mapping, tree problem, free-writing, or discussion
In this stage, mistakes and word-order are to be overlooked briefly. After you gathered the data necessary for your topic the next step is to be taken.

II. While writing

Topic Sentence: Choose a topic sentence for your paragraph that states the main idea of
your topic.

Supporting Details: These sentences support the topic sentence. There should be at
least three supporting details because one or two make the paragraph less convincing and not worth the effort done to build it. The students can use all the writing techniques necessary to make the paragraph sustainable and eligible: descriptions, definitions, examples, and explanation.

Concluding Sentence: This is the last sentence of your paragraph. It should reflect what
you have talked about in your paragraph and it should repeat the topic sentence in another way. III. After writing:
Reviewing:

This final step can be called the editing step. This is a very crucial stage of your work process as you should review what you have done and make sure the paragraph is qualified, technically speaking. Among the things that this stage is about are:
- Unity and Coherence of the content -The stability of the form -The linking words -Grammar, spelling and punctuation. - Clear handwriting.

Homework Choose one of the following topics, do brainstorming, and write a paragraph about it. 1. Pesticides 2. Soil erosion 3. Irrigation

5: Paragraph Writing (continue..)

1. Unity of the paragraph A paragraph must have unity. A paragraph has unity when all the sentences support a single idea. - The paragraph must have one controlling idea in the topic sentence. Otherwise it loses focus. - The supporting sentences must support or explain the controlling idea with examples, details, steps, or definitions. If not, the paragraph will not be about one single idea - The concluding sentence should restate the idea in the topic sentence. Otherwise the main idea might not be clear 2. Coherence A paragraph must also have coherence. It means that the supporting details are organized so that information that goes together appears together. Writer often use time, space, or order of importance to present the supporting information in a paragraph. Exampl1: The following paragraph is organized by space. When you drive into the airport, you will see many signs for the different terminals. After you pass the signs, you will drive over a hill. The airport is on the other side of the hill. On your right, you will see the international terminal. This terminal is two stories tall. The front is all glass. On the left, you will see the domestic terminals Example2: The following paragraph is organized by. My favorite restaurant is in an old house. My husband and I enjoy eating there on summer evenings. We usually walk from our house so we can enjoy our neighbors gardens and take a little bit exercise. The afternoon sun shines through the trees but it is not too bright. We arrive at dusk, and if we are lucky we can sit outside. A waiter brings a basket of warm bread and a cold drink. We have an appetizer or a salad while the sun goes down Example3: The following paragraph is organized by. The best way to meet new friends is to take a class. First, all the people in a class have something in common. They all want to learn about the subject, so there is something to talk about. Second, everyone sees each other every time the class meets, so there are many opportunities to get to know others. Third, there are often activities and group projects so students can work together, and this is the best way to get to know people. By the end of the class, it is hard not to know your classmates.

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