Poetry Paragraph
goodisnaks
ParagraphOverviewENC1102-3.pptx
First Thing First!
Read the paragraph about a future goal that I wish to achieve during my retirement. By reading it before the presentation, you can place ideas presented on the slides into a context.
To locate it, access the Canvas space for our class, and then, click "Modules" on the left-hand side of the page.
Next, under "Week 1," click "Personal Goals Paragraph." There is a link to the paragraph there.
If you know how to include a link to Canvas on a PowerPoint slide, please let me know.
How are a paragraph about Chinese inventions and Italian picnic sandwiches similar?
Let's find out!
Some Selected Similarities
Three of Many
The topic and concluding sentences of a paragraph function like the two slices of bread in a sandwich.
The contents of the paragraph develop the main idea of the paragraph. Similarly, the sandwich ingredients create the sandwich.
The contents of a paragraph are organized in some manner, and so are the sandwich ingredients.
Some Relevant Definitions
What Is a Sandwich?
According to the editors of The American Heritage Dictionary, a sanwich consists of "two or more slices of bread with a filling such as meat or cheese placed between them."
Think of a club sandwich.
What Is a Paragraph?
A paragraph consists of several sentences dealing with the same subject.
Between the topic and concluding sentences, the paragraph is filled with ideas that develop the main idea of the topic sentence.
Think of the personal goals paragraph that you read at the start of this presentation.
The Essential Parts of a Paragraph
Topic sentences and concluding sentences
Development
Coherence
Organization
Unity
The Topic Sentence
It's like the first slice of bread.
Need Some Napkins!
Can you imagine eating a sloppy joe with only your hands and without a bun?
You would have hamburger and Manwich sloppy joe sauce all over you, the table, and the floor.
You serve a sloppy joe with a bun or two slices of bread for a reason.
The Characteristics of a Topic Sentence
Although it often appears as the first sentence, it can appear as the second sentence if the first sentence presents introductory material. It holds the topic in place.
It makes a statement about the subject of the paragraph.
It identifies the complete subject of the paragraph.
It takes the form of a complete sentence.
How to Write a Topic Sentence
Use a sheet of paper or an electronic device to record your work. Otherwise, rely on your stellar memory.
Identify key phrases and words in the topic; they can serve as the basis of your topic sentence.
Identify any other key phrases and words relating to your topic so that you can develop the topic sentence further.
Group similar phrases and words; discard any that are irrelevant.
Write a tentative topic sentence; revise it as needed.
Repeat these steps as necessary.
An Illustration
The topic of the first paragraph of the term is, "Explain how you hope to achieve a goal in your future."
For me, the key phrases and words are "explain how," "to achieve," "goal," and "future."
Other relevant phrases and words include "retirement" (the future) and "travel" (the goal).
For me, the phrases and words are already grouped because each one relates to the topic.
Now, I can write this tentative topic sentence: "I can achieve my goal of travelling during my retirement by following a simple process."
I can then revise it as needed.
The Concluding Sentence
It's like the second slice of bread.
The Characteristics of a Concluding Sentence
It is optional.
It appears as the last sentence in the paragraph. It holds the topic in place at the other end.
It generally restates the main idea of the topic sentence.
It raises no new ideas. If your paragraph is about the goal of pursuing a medical degree, you refer only to that goal and no other.
Development
It's like the ingredients that make the sandwich.
A Quandary
You want to make a sandwich with the two slices of bread before you, and you must now decide which ingredients to use.
If you decide on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you select only these two ingredients. You save the tuna fish for another day when you make that kind of sandwich.
You make a similar decision when choosing which development to use in a paragraph.
Which Development to Use?
Every paragraph needs development of some kind, such as anecdotes, definitions, facts, quotations, or statistics.
Use the type of development based on the topic. For the topic of the first paragraph, since you are writing about the process by which to achieve a future goal, you want to discuss the specific steps involved in the achievement of that goal.
For me, since two out of the three steps involve saving money, I present information about my efforts to save money.
Coherence
It's like the perfect sandwich. Each ingredient complements the other.
Anyone for a Ketchup and Butter Sandwich?
As a child, I once created a sandwich with butter and ketchup between two slices of bread.
I ate some of the sandwich and then threw the rest of it into the garbage bin.
Why? These two ingredients make for one distasteful sandwich because they do not complement each other.
Butter is for grilled cheese sandwiches; ketchup is for hamburgers.
Coherence
Coherence means that you must join your ideas so that readers can acknowledge links between them. It also means that you can explain the links between them. For instance, in English, a specific statement usually follows a general one.
You can maintain coherence by using transitional phrases and words.
You select which ones to use based on the topic. For the first paragraph, since I am listing reasons, I chose transitional words that show sequence, such as "first," "second," and "third." You may opt for the same words in your paragraph—then again, maybe not.
Need a List of Transitional Phrases and Words?
Organization
Which goes first, second, third, etc.?
Which Comes First? Lettuce or Bacon?
When making a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, with which ingredient should you start?
Do you place the lettuce on the bread first before the bacon?
When do you spread the mayonnaise on the bread?
Just like with paragraphs, the ingredients of a sandwich follow a sequence.
Which Comes First in a Paragraph?
The contents of a paragraph need some type of organizational sequence.
The type of sequence depends on the topic. If you are contrasting life in Bolivia and in the United States, then you use contrast. If you are explaining why a law is outdated, then you use causal analysis.
With some topics, the type of organizational sequence makes no difference.
For the first paragraph of the term, I listed the three reasons from the most important one to the least important one. You may do the same or select another type of sequence.
Unity
Not another ketchup and butter sandwich?
Ketchup on a Hamburger!
With sandwich ingredients, you picture one ingredient with another. For example, you can picture a slice of cheese with a slice of ham on rye bread. You can picture lots of ketchup on a juicy hamburger.
You cannot imagine a roast beef sandwich topped with maple syrup. Roast beef and horseradish belong together, whereas pancakes and waffles are best smothered in maple syrup.
As a sandwich eater, you expect like with like.
Unity
The contents of a paragraph have unity if they relate to each other.
For the first paragraph of the term, I wrote about the goal of travelling during my retirement. Therefore, in the paragraph, I discussed only that goal and three steps to achieve it.
In your paragraph, if you discuss more than one goal, the contents of your paragraph lack unity. You must select one goal and focus on it from the beginning to the end of the paragraph.
The End
If you have any questions or comments about the contents of this presentation, let me know.
If you have any suggestions for improvement, let me know.
Now, let's all enjoy a Dagwood sandwich!
