Paragraph writing makes a scribbler feel like a writer. Even though
the hardest part of writing is the preparation, you'll never convince
your younger students that they are doing real writing until they
start writing paragraphs.
Start by teaching students how to write body paragraphs.
They are used more frequently than the other types. Also, they can—and
frequently do— stand on their own as miniature essays.
Save teaching about introductions and conclusions until after students
master the art of body-paragraph writing.
The body paragraph
When writers plan an essay modeled on the thesis and support
(or persuasive essay) pattern, — what Ms. Inky Fingers calls
writing an outline — they
concern themselves only with the middle or body section of
the paper.
Together those body paragraphs develop the thesis
statement that is the main idea of the entire paper. The introduction
and conclusion are merely ornaments
that help focus attention on that thesis.
Each body paragraph has a topic sentence that sums up its
main idea in much the same way the thesis sentence sums up the central
idea of the entire essay. Click here for more about
body paragraph structure, including diagrams.
Writers develop their topic sentences by supplying
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Evidence,
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Specific detail,
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Logical reasoning.
Efficient writers plan their support in advance,
noting it in the outline or template they use to organize their
material.
Body paragraph writing requires using linking devices and
transitions to make the separate sentences mesh into an entire
unit.
Linking devices are tricks repeating key words, using synonyms
for those terms, and including unambiguous pronoun references. Such
links help writers convey their ideas clearly.
Transitions are words or phrases that indicate changes in
the direction of thought. In combination, linking devices and transitions
make a piece of writing cohere.
Introduction paragraph
The job of the introduction is to get the reader’s attention
and direct it toward the thesis.
Most readers who aren’t English teachers are perfectly happy
with introductions and conclusions written by formula with no attempt
at creativity.
Don’t believe me? Look at any memo. Its introduction is a
formula: To:, From:, Date:, Re:. How much creativity does
that take? Naturally, you’ll want to help students do better
introduction paragraph writing than that.
However, keep your sense of perspective. Most readers read expository
writing because they have to, not because they want to. That means
the person who needs the information will read the paper even if
it does have a lousy, formulaic introduction.
Conclusion paragraph
The conclusion paragraph is a little
more elegant than writing “the end,” but it amounts to
the same thing. If writers can end their papers with a flourish,
that’s great. If all they can manage is to indicate they
finished writing their papers, that’s good enough.
created 13-Feb-2008; updated: 16-Sep-2008
