Chapter 3 The Process of Writing a Paragraph

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览:2845次 ] As you have learned that paragraph writing is a process, the immediate question you might ask is what the process of writing a paragraph is and how many steps there are in a paragraph writing. The process of writing a paragraph is to write a paragraph according to a series of steps, including narrowing down the topic, writing the topic sentence, coming up with ideas, organizing ideas, arranging ideas in a plan, and writing and revising the paragraph.

3.1 Narrowing Down the Topic

As a student, you may be assigned broad writing topics by your teacher, such as TV, Your Favorite Place or My Classmate. If you start with a broad topic, you should concentrate on narrowing down your topic first.

Broad topics Narrowed topic

Food Why I like Daniang Dumping

Pollution Control An Effective Way to Control Air Pollution Examination Two Kinds of Tests

Childhood A Bitter Experience in My Childhood Self-education The Importance of Self –education Stamp Collecting The Advantages of Stamp Collecting Money The Right Use of Money

Traveling The Disadvantages of Traveling Individually

If you don't narrow down the topic, you may find that you could not bring in specific details. If you do so, you can discuss it in several sentences. In other words, if your topic is suitable for a paragraph, it is a narrowed topic.

3.2 Writing the Topic Sentence

The next step is to write the topic sentence of your paragraph. Remember that the topic sentence is a statement that tells the reader what the paragraph will be about. The topic sentence must be a complete sentence, which must express a complete thought. Be careful not to use any sentence fragment.

Sentence Fragment: Backpacking in the mountains

Topic sentence: Backpacking in the mountains last year was an exciting experience for me.

Sentence Fragment: The expense of maintaining a car

Topic sentence: Maintaining a car is expensive.

Sentence Fragment: The advantages of getting a part-time job

The topic sentence: Getting a part-time job has several advantages.

The topic sentence must be limited. Usually, the more limited the topic sentence, the better the paragraph.

Narrowed topic: Why I like Daniang Dumping

Topic sentence: I love Daniang dumpling for several reasons.

Narrowed topic: An Effective Way to Control Air Pollution

Topic sentence: An effective way to reduce air pollution is to limit the number of

private cars.

Narrowed topic: Two Kinds of Tests

Topic sentence: There are mainly two kinds of tests in modern exams.

Narrowed topic: A Bitter Experience in My Childhood

Topic sentence: I can’t forget a bitter experience in my childhood.

Narrowed topic: The Importance of Self –education Topic sentence: Self-education is important to students.

Narrowed topic: The Advantages of Stamp Collecting Topic sentence: There are several advantages to collect stamps.

Narrowed topic: The Right Use of Money

Topic sentence: One should use his money properly.

Narrowed topic: The Disadvantages of Traveling Individually Topic sentence: Traveling individually has several disadvantages.

3.3 Coming up with Ideas

After you have written the topic sentence, the next step is to jot down anything you can think of that relates to your topic —— facts, examples, little stories and so on. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Just let your ideas flow onto paper.

Here is a possible list for your favorite place with the topic sentence Los Angeles is a pleasant place to live.

nice climate

tall buildings downtown beaches are close

diverse multicultural population easy to find an apartment gangs and crime have to own a car

easy access to Mexico and Latin America many colleges and universities to choose from the 1984 Olympics were held there

Of course, you can also use other methods to come up with ideas, such as questioning, tree diagram, flow charts etc. For example, you can use questioning.

1. How about climate there?

Great!

2. What about its appearance?

Many tall buildings and it is close to the sea.

3. Are there many people there?

Yes. It has many people from different cultures.

4. Are there many universities and colleges?

Yes. You can have more choices.

5. How about living in that city?

You can easily find an apartment but you have to own a car. In addition, there are crimes and gangs too.

3.4 Organizing Ideas

The next step is to read over your random list and select those that relate to your topic sentence and drop any ideas that do not.

Here is the list for the topic sentence: Los Angeles is a pleasant place to live.

nice climate

tall buildings downtown beaches are close

diverse multicultural population easy to find an apartment gangs and crime have to own a car

easy access to Mexico and Latin America many colleges and universities to choose from the 1984 Olympics were held there

Now, you go back over the list of points and decide which should be selected and which should be dropped out. Of course, when you are reviewing these points, you should have sound reasons for each point.

1. Los Angeles has a great climate.

Good weather certainly influences your opinion about a place. √

2. Los Angeles has several tall buildings downtown.

Although you may like tall building, it probably wouldn’t really be an important factor as far as making Los Angeles a nice place to live. ×

3. There are many beaches in the Los Angeles. Usually, the place with beaches is nice to live. √

4. Los Angels has diverse multicultural population. A city with diverse cultural population is pleasant to eyes. √

5. It is easy to find an apartment in Los Angels.

Actually, it is very convenient for people to live in a city if it is easy to find an apartment there. √

6. There are also crimes and gangs in Los Angels. This is the negative aspect of Los Angels. ×

7. You have to own a car.

It is not a really important factor for the topic sentence. Usually, if you have to own a car in a city, it may imply the inconvenience of that city. ×

8. Los Angels has easy access to Mexico and Latin America.

It is very good for people to stay in Los Angles which shows that it is a nice city to live. √

9. You can choose from many universities and colleges. That shows city’s education level. √

10. The 1984 Olympics were held there.

It is not a really important factor to the topic sentence. ×

Reviewing the rest of the points, numbers 2,6,7,10 are eliminated because some of them don’t really support the topic sentence or some are just the negative aspects of the city, and thus number 1, 3, 4, 5 ,8, 9 are selected. In other words, the following points are kept:

nice climate beaches are close

diverse multicultural population easy to find an apartment

easy access to Mexico and Latin America many colleges and universities to choose from

3.5 Arranging Ideas in a Plan After you have organized your points and ideas, you should make an outline for your points and ideas. In the previous part, you have chosen the following points for the topic sentence: Los Angeles is a pleasant place to live.

nice climate beaches are close

diverse multicultural population

easy to find an apartment

easy access to Mexico and Latin America many colleges and universities to choose from

Now make an outline and list some supporting details for these points. It might be like this:

Topic Sentence: Los Angeles is a pleasant place to live. I. Great climate A. always sunny B. seldom rains

II. Convenient living condition A. close beaches

B. easy access to Mexico and Latin America C. easy to find an apartment III. Diverse multicultural population

A. people from all over the world B. many ethnic restaurants

IV. Many colleges and university to choose from A. private colleges B. community colleges C. state colleges

Concluding Sentence: Los Angeles is a city with a lot to offer, and it is a nice

place to live.

3.6 Writing and Revising the Paragraph Once you have organized your ideas in a plan, you are ready for the first draft. A first draft is your first attempt at writing a paragraph. Always consider your first draft to be a trial fun. It is your first try, but not your best one. According to the previous outline, you can write your paragraph like this:

Los Angeles is a pleasant place to live. The climate is really great. It is always sunny and seldom rains. In addition, living there is very convenient. The beaches are close and it has easy access to Mexico and Latin America. Another great thing about the city is its diverse multicultural population. People from all over the world, including many Latin American and Asian countries live in Los Angeles. Therefore, you can find many ethnic restaurants there. In Los Angeles, there

are also many colleges and universities ranging from state colleges to private ones. There are also some community colleges, too. In brief, Los Angeles is a city with a lot to offer, and it is a nice place to live.

When you have completed your first draft, it is time for you to read it over carefully and revise with these questions in mind: 1.Does it have a clear, complete, and limited topic sentence? 2.Do the supporting sentences fully explain and develop the topic sentence? 3.Are the sentences varied enough to avoid boredom? 4.Are the words clear, concert, and vivid? 5.Are there any grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors? 6.Are you satisfied that this is your best job you can do?

As you see, the above paragraph has a clear and limited topic sentence Los Angeles is a pleasant place to live, and all the supporting sentences fully develop the topic sentence. In addition, some of sentences are varied and most words are clear. There is no grammar, spelling or punctuation error. If you are satisfied with it, that is your final draft. If not, you can revise it until it satisfies you.