Academic writing

09.10.13r.

What is a paragraph?

• A group of sentences

• A clear main idea

• Supporting sentences

• Part of a longer composition

• A minature essay

Paragraph definiton:

• A group of sentences or a single sentence that forms a unit

• Ultimately a paragraph is a sentence or a group of sentences that support one main idea. We will refer to this as the ‘controlling idea’, because it controls what

A good paragraph has:

• Unity

• Support

• Coherence

• Good language

• Variety of structures

e.g.

Paragraph 1: Introduction (The Top Bun)

Paragraph 2: Example 1 (The meat)

Paragraph 3: Example 2 (The tomato)

Paragraph 4: Example 3 (The salad)

Paragraph 5: Conclusion (The Bottom Bun)

THE INFAMOUS PARAGRAPH BURGER

Your argument (mini-thesis)

is the top bun.

Your evidence

(quotes from the text)

is the ketchup,

mustard & mayo

Remember:

A little goes a long way

Your analysis is

This & this & this & this.

If that looks like most of

The paragraph burger,

that’s because it is.

The bottom bun relates

the paragraph back to the thesis

for the entire paper & transitions

to the next paragraph

The perfect paragraph

How to compose a paragraph?

• Opens with form the question for focus

• Uses relevant theory to explain & analyze the point

• Follows a logical chain of analysis, using connectives

• Refers to ‘hooks’ from the question to form/support points

• Contains real business examples and/or evidence that support the point

• Comes back to the question to focus

• Finishes with an evaluative statement and a contrasting example/piece of evidence

1. Topic sentence – a sentence which limits the topic to one or two specific areas (controlling idea) being discussed completely in a single paragraph.
   Topic Sentence -> Topic + Controlling Idea

2. Supporting sentences – sentences that develops the topic sentence; they explain the topic sentence by giving elaborations, reasons, examples, facts, statics & quotations.
   To produce such supporting sentences, you can ask a proper question to the controlling idea of the topic sentence.
   
   University, getting better, learning English, education
   
   Universities are improving the level of education.

3. Concluding sentence – a sentence that signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to remember.

SUMMARY

Overview

Topic sentence

• identifies the content of the paragraph

• makes a point about the topic

• connects to the previous paragraph

Supporting details

• explain the topic sentence

• support the topic sentence with
  evidence

Concluding or transitional
sentences

• draw the paragraph to a close

• lead to the next paragraph

  new textbook new technologies

  EDUCATION

  nicer teachers

Coherence

• well organized details

• clear and sensible connections

• good transitions, linkers and connectory

Support

• supporting ideas

• evidence

• examples

• details

17.10.13r.

Good language

• grammatical accuracy

• correct punctuation

• apt vocabulary (wide vocabulary)

• variety of sentence structures

Types of paragraphs

• descriptive – to tell/describe

• narrative – to express/explain

• expository – to inform/explain

• persuasive – to influence/explain

Writing process

• GATHER relevant information

• ORGANISE meaningful sequence

• DRAFT first/rough draft

• EDIT check, revise, refine

• PRINT(PUBLISH) final version