Paragraph

Boot Camp

Mrs. Tweedy
“The art of writing is no
more spontaneous than
the art of marriage…
the writer must plan
and calculate, scheme
and decide.”

-Unknown
Purpose
 Students will develop a topic sentence.
 Students will provide and use relevant ideas to
support the topic sentence.
 Students will use transitional words.
 Ideas will be in proper sequence.
 Students will bring paragraph to a logical
closing.
 Complete sentences will be used.
 Paragraph will contain no misspellings.
 Paragraph will contain no run-on sentences.
 Paragraph will be indented.
 Proper form will be used.
 Expectations
 All compositions will be written in ink. (Blue or
black ONLY)
 All compositions will be written in students best
printing.
 Neatness is a must. No cross-outs; no tattered
papers.
 Your job is to make the reader want to read your
paper. No one wants to eat an unappetizing meal.
 Proper form is always used. NO TEXT MESSAGING
LANGUAGE.
 The pronoun “I” is always capitalized.
 All writing must be within the margins. Every
paragraph is indented.
 Misspelled words are not acceptable.
 “Be yourself. Above all, let
who you are, what you are,
and what you believe, shine
through every sentence you
write, every piece you finish.”
- John Jakes
Part I
Using Complete Sentences
 Using Complete Sentences
 What would happen in this situation?
 Your best friend calls you on the phone and
exclaims, “Guess what happed to me on the way
home from school!” Just as you were ready to ask,
the phone went dead. What would you naturally
want to know? You would be most curious and
anxious to find out what had happened. You would
have to figure out a way to find the answer – guess,
go to his house, or wait until you saw him again.
 When we write, we’re in a similar situation. If we
don't’ write clearly, the “listener” would feel just
like you – “what happened?” If it’s really
something interesting or exciting, he doesn’t want
to wait, he wants to find out right away.
Are these sentences?
Why or why not?

 Although it was raining

 My best friend Joey
 A beautiful new car
 Because I was tired
 Those weren’t
sentences, they were
incomplete thoughts.

 What happened although it

was raining?
 What about my best friend
Joey?
 What about the new care?
 What happened because you
were tired?
 How could we make
these into complete
sentences?

 Although it was raining

 My best friend Joey
 A beautiful new car
 Because I was tired
Part II
Planning Your Writing
 Why Plan?
 A baker wants to bake a fancy cake.
 He needs a recipe.
 A builder wants to build a house.
 He needs a blueprint.
 A driver wants to drive from Zillah to Washington, D.C.
 He needs a map.

Regardless of their experience and expertise, all of

these people need a plan to assist them. They can’t
randomly go about their jobs without planning and
thinking ahead. All of them need to know what they have to
do and how they will do it before they start.

Writing is no different – you need to have a plan (prewriting)

before
you start writing. Don’t just sit down and start writing and hope
for the best!
 “Write to be understood.
Speak to be heard. Read to
grow.”
- Lawerence Clark Powell

Part III
Types of Paragraphs
 What is a paragraph?
 A paragraph is a group of related
sentences which express a single
idea. A paragraph may express an
opinion, provide information through
the use of facts and details, tell a
story, or simply describe a person, a
place, an object, or a feeling.
Regardless of type, a paragraph must
always express one idea. The main
idea of the paragraph must be stated
in one sentence. This sentence is
called the TOPIC SENTENCE. All of
the sentences must stick to the main
idea. This is called UNITY.
Everything in the paragraph must
explain or illustrate the topic
sentence.
Types of Paragraphs
 There are four basic types of
paragraphs.
 Argumentative:
 Attempt to convince or
persuade, express an opinion
through the use of reasons,
facts, examples, or
explanations.
 Examples: Newspaper
editorials, Letters to the Editor,
book and movie reviews, and
political speeches
Types of Paragraphs
 There are four basic types of paragraphs:
 Expository (Explanatory):
 These give information, facts, or explain
 Examples: text books, encyclopedias,
instruction manuals, news stories
 Descriptive:
 These describe a person, place, object, or
feeling. Good writers make the reader FEEL
as well as SEE what is being described.
 Examples: All stories have descriptive
paragraphs
 Narrative:
 Tell a story, relate an incident or series of
events. Should tell the reader WHERE,
WHEN, WHAT HAPPENED, and HOW THE
WRITER FELT. To be effective, all of these
questions should be answered.
 “I must write it all out, at any
cost. Writing is thinking. It is
more than living, for it is being
conscious of living.”
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Part IV

Paragraph Organization
 There are several
different ways to
organize a paragraph…

 Chronological Order
 The order in which things happened
 Spatial Order
 The order in which things are organized
 Order of Importance
 Most important to least, or vice versa
 Compare and Contrast
 Discuss one object and then the other
 Cause and Effect
 Discuss the cause and it’s various effects
The Structure of a
Paragraph
 Most paragraphs have the same arrangement.
 Topic Sentence (TS)
 Introduce what you’ll be talking about
 Supporting Details (SD)
 What you want to tell about the topic
 Concluding Sentence (CS)
 Remind your reader of what you’ve said so far
 Just like a story, paragraphs should have a
beginning, a middle, and an end.
 We’re going to write a
paragraph together…
 Topic: My favorite season is ______.
 Think of your favorite season of the year.
 Write this in the topic section of your four
square.
 Subtopic
 What are three things you like about this
season?
 Pick one that you want to focus on.
 Details
 Think of as many details as possible to
support your subtopic. Why do you like this
season? What do you do during it? Think of
at least 10 things!
 We’re going to write a
paragraph together…
 Supporting Details
 Look at your list and select the three
strongest reasons for why you like
your season.
 Circle them. These will be the
supporting details in your paragraph.
 We’re going to write a
paragraph together…
 Now, for each subtopic you need to
think of three details that support
that subtopic.
 Example:
 Topic: My favorite season is summer.
 Subtopic 1: I don’t have to go to
work.
 Detail 1: I get to sleep in.
 Detail 2: I can wear shorts every day.
 Detail 3:I get to stay home with my
daughter.
We’re going to write a
paragraph together…
 Now, for each detail you need to think of
an example that support that detail.
 Example:
 Topic: My favorite season is summer.
 Subtopic 1: I don’t have to go to work.
 Detail 1: I get to sleep in.
 I hate waking up at 5:30 every morning.
During the summer I can sleep until at least
8:00am.
 Detail 2: I can wear shorts every day.
 When I go to work, I have to dress up every
day. I love being able to wear shorts and flip-
flops during the summer.
 Detail 3:I get to stay home with my
daughter.
 During the rest of the year, my daughter
goes to daycare while I work. However,
during the summer, I get to stay home and
play with her all day.
We’re going to write a
paragraph together…
 Now, for each example you need to think of a
vivid description that support that detail.
 Example:
 Topic: My favorite season is summer.
 Subtopic 1: I don’t have to go to work.
 Detail 1: I get to sleep in.
 I hate waking up at 5:30 every morning. During the
summer I can sleep until at least 8:00am.
 I like to lay in bed and watch Live with Regis
and Kelly and Good Morning America.
 Detail 2: I can wear shorts every day.
 When I go to work, I have to dress up every day. I
love being able to wear shorts and flip-flops during
the summer.
 It’s so nice to be able to wear comfortable
clothes every day!
 Detail 3:I get to stay home with my daughter.
 During the rest of the year, my daughter goes to
daycare while I work. However, during the summer,
I get to stay home and play with her all day.
 We go for walks, hang out in the park, and
play with our dog, Skyla.
Now we have a
paragraph!
My favorite season is summer. The best thing about summer is that I
don’t have to go to work. One of my favorite parts about not working
during the summer is that I get to sleep in every day. I hate waking up
at 5:30 every morning during the school year. During the summer, I can
sleep until at least 8:00am. I like to lay in bed and watch Live with
Regis and Kelly and Good Morning America. Another great part about
not being at work is that I can wear shorts every day. When I go to
work, I have to dress up all week. I love being able to wear shorts and
flip-flops during the summer. It’s so nice to be able to wear
comfortable clothes every day! The best part about not working during
the summer is that I get to stay home with my daughter. During the
rest of the year, my daughter goes to daycare while I work. However,
during the summer, I get to stay home and play with her all day. We go
for walks, hang out in the park, and play with our golden retriever,
Skyla. Being home all summer is the best!
Tips on Expanding
Sentences
 The writer of a composition can
add words or phrases or answer
some basic questions about the
original short sentences.
 Where?
 When?
 With whom?
 What do they do?
 Why
 “We lost a lot when we stopped writing
letters. You can’t reread a phone call.”
- Liz Carpenter

Part V

Hooks, Leads, Transitions, and

Conclusions
Why use transitions?
 Many times, although the writer
has developed the topic sentence
well by providing enough
information to support it, the
reader might still have trouble
following the organization of the
paragraph. The sentences may not
have been arranged in an easy to
follow order. If this occurs , the
paragraph is said to lack
COHERENCE.
COHERENCE Sometimes, it is
necessary to provide the reader
with clues that help him to follow
the writers train of thought more
easily. Words which show the
relationship of one sentences to
another are called TRANSITIONAL
WORDS.
  A hook is the first
Hooks sentence in an essay –
it should grab the
readers attention and
make them want to
continue reading.
 There are many
different techniques for
hooking your readers.
 Hooks
 There are eight different types of
hooks that are commonly used.
 Question
 Quote
 Onomatopoeia
 Poem
 Song
 Interjection
 Startling Statistic
 Dialogue
 Look over your handout as we discuss
these.
 Which paper would
you rather read?
I am going to write about the
death penalty and capital
punishment. I think the death
penalty is wrong.

OR

We don’t steal from the thief

and we don’t rape the rapist.
So why would we kill the
killer?
 Types of Transitional
Words
Transitional words may be classified or
arranged according to the type of
relationship they show. If used correctly,
they will improve your writing a great deal.
 To show time or steps:
 Can be used in explanatory or narrative
paragraphs. They help the reader see
time and order.
 first, second, then, finally, later, soon,
now, formerly, after meanwhile,
immediately, in the meantime,
afterwards, after a few minutes
 Transitional Words
 Place or Position
 These work well in descriptive paragraphs.
 here, nearby, opposite to, on the opposite
side, beyond, outside, inside, ahead, behind,
above, to the right (left), in the distance,
below
 Between Ideas
 Use when adding to a thought…
 addition, further, furthermore, also, likewise,
too, again, and, then to, moreover, besides,
next, first, secondly, thirdly, but most of all
 Use when contrasting a statement…
 but, yet, still, on the other hand, on the
contrary, after all, in contrast to, at the same
moment, although that may be true
 Transitional Words
 Comparison Words:
 similarly, in a similar way, likewise, in the
same way
 Illustration Words:
 for example, as an example, to illustrate, for
instance, in fact
 Result Words:
 therefore, accordingly, consequently, thus, as
a result, resulting in
 Summary Words (can be used with the
concluding sentence):
 In conclusion, in short, indeed, on the whole
 Conclusions
 A conclusion is the last impression that
you get to make on your reader – so
make it a good one!
 Don’t you hate it when you watch a
really interesting movie but the ending
is awful? The same idea works for your
writing – you need a strong conclusion
just as you need a good hook in the
beginning.
 Look over the handout I gave you on
conclusions.
 “Words, once
they are
published, have
a life of their
own.”
- Carol Burnett