Paragraph Boot Camp

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.

Part I

Using Complete Sentences

“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

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!

Part III

Types of Paragraphs

“Write to be understood. Speak to be heard. Read to grow.”

- Lawerence Clark Powell

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.

Part IV

Paragraph Organization

“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

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!


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.


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.


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 Idon’t have to go to work. One of my favorite parts about not workingduring 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 cansleep until at least 8:00am. I like to lay in bed and watch Live withRegis 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

Part V

Hooks, Leads, Transitions, and Conclusions

“We lost a lot when we stopped writing letters. You can’t reread a phone call.”

- Liz Carpenter

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 COHERENCECOHERENCE. 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.TRANSITIONAL WORDS.

Hooks A hook is the first

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.QuestionQuoteOnomatopoeiaPoemSong InterjectionStartling StatisticDialogue

Look over your handout as we discuss these.

Which paper would you rather

read?I am going to write about the I am going to write about the death penalty and capital death penalty and capital punishment. I think the death punishment. I think the death penalty is wrong.penalty is wrong.

OR

We don’t steal from the thiefWe don’t steal from the thiefand we don’t rape the rapist. and we don’t rape the rapist. So why would we kill the So why would we kill the killer?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 Words, once they are they are

published, published, have a life of have a life of their own.”their own.”

- Carol - Carol BurnettBurnett

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Paragraph Boot Camp