Understanding the Structure of a Paragraph

Reading and Writing

• A paragraph is a collection of related sentences with one central idea, derived from Greek words "para" meaning "beyond or beside" and "graphein" meaning "to write".

Forms or Structure of a Paragraph

• Topic Sentence: contains the main idea.
• Supporting Details: give the paragraph life by elaborating on the topic sentence.
• Clinching Sentence: may be a restatement of the topic sentence, a summary, or a conclusion based on the supporting details, as stated by Dagdag (2010).

Elements of Narration

• Setting: time and location in which a story takes place.
• Character: the life-giving element of the story.
• Plot: the logical series of events in the story, consisting of:
  • Exposition: where the characters and setting are revealed.
  • Rising Action: where events become complicated and conflict is exposed.
  • Climax: the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story.
  • Falling Action: events and complications begin to resolve themselves.
  • Denouement: the final resolution of the plot in the story.
• Point of View:
  • First Person POV: the story is told by the protagonist or one of the characters using pronouns I, me, we.
  • Second Person POV: the author tells the story using pronouns you, yours, and your.
  • Third Person POV: the narrator is not part of the story, using pronouns he, she, him, and her.

Description

• Appeals to the reader's senses, providing information about a person, object, place, or situation.
• Types of description:
  • Objective: relies on physical aspects, appealing to those who crave facts.
  • Subjective: allows the writer to explore ways to describe an emotion, event, thing, place, or person, appealing to emotions.

Definition

• Explains a concept, term, or subject, consisting of:
  1. The term, concept, or subject to be defined.
  2. The general class to which it belongs.
  3. The characteristics that differentiate it from other members of its class.
• Types of definition:
  • Formal Definition: definitions provided in dictionaries.
  • Operational Definition: gives the meaning of an abstract word for one particular time and place.
  • Synonyms: words that mean the same as another word.
  • Denotation: the exact meaning of the word.
  • Connotation: an idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing.

Classification

• Involves grouping items into categories to establish a clear distinction.

Comparison and Contrast

• Involves identifying similarities and differences between two things, ideas, concepts, or persons.

Cause and Effect

• Presents why something happens, what causes it, what are the effects, and how it is related to something else.

Problem Solution

• Starts with a negative situation (a problem) and ends with a positive situation (a solution), similar to cause-effect.