Paragraphs 1 0 2 – Writing Tool Just For Writers
“The consequence [of writing] is that you must start by writing the wrong meanings in the wrong words; but keep writing until you get to the right meanings in the right words. Only in the end will you know what you are saying.” —Peter Elbow
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Your personal writing coach. A grammar checker, style editor, and writing mentor in one package. The best writing depends on much more than just correct grammar. You need an editing tool that also highlights style issues and compares your writing to the best writers in your genre. Any article writing service can utilize Article Rewriter Tool to speed up the content creation process. If you are tasked with writing an article that you have already written, you can use this free service to instantly create another article using the pre-existing content, thus making the most of the time and energy you have already invested. Paragraphs & Topic Sentences. A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs.
“Don’t think; just write!” —Ray Bradbury
Freewriting, a writing strategy developed by Peter Elbow in 1973, is similar to brainstorming but is written in sentence and paragraph form without stopping. Thus, it . . .
- increases the flow of ideas and reduces the chance that you’ll accidentally censor a good idea.
- helps to increase fluency second-language learners—i.e., the ability to produce written language easily (as opposed to accuracy, which is of course important but which is better addressed later in the process).
As in brainstorming,
Paragraphs 1 0 2 – Writing Tool Just For Writers Pdf
- DO write down every idea you can think of about your topic, no matter how 'crazy'; you can judge later! (And no one else is going to see it)
- DON'T worry about correct grammar or spelling;
Unlike in brainstorming,
- DO write in sentence and paragraph form;
- DO KEEP YOUR HANDS MOVING. If you can’t think of anything, just keep repeating your subject (e.g., “busy trap, busy trap”) or something like “I’m waiting for ideas to come and they will, I’m waiting for ideas to come and they will,” over and over until they do come. (They will!);
- DO feel free to use an occasional word from your native language if you can't think of the English word, but don't overdo this;
- DO keep going for 15 or 20 minutes or until you feel you have enough to start to build your paper or research on.
- NOTE: In Peter Elbow's original formulation of freewriting, designed to generate not only ideas but even a topic, the writer writes for a few minutes, chooses one idea or word from that freewriting and then freewrites about that new topic for several minutes, and then repeats that process again, successively refining their topic. This process can be a useful one if you are truly starting from scratch and are not even sure what you want to write your paper about.
Read a sample freewrite.
- 'Writer John' by Onomatomedia - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Writer_John.JPG#/media/File:Writ...
- 'Don't Stop' ©2010, Hironori Nakagawa. All rights reserved.
Overview: Why are we doing this?
| In this activity you will learn how to write an effective paragraph. You will do this by learning to identify the main parts of a paragraph and the attributes that make paragraphs clear and well written. You will also learn some self-editing strategies that will help you polish your work. |
LESSON CONTENT:
Why are we learning about paragraph writing . . . again?
You may have seen the title of this activity and said to yourself, 'I've learned how to write a paragraph before, why am I learning it again?' There are those times when you can e-mail a friend using all lower case letters, no punctuation, emoticons, slang and all of the other things that would make your English teacher cry. And then there are those times like writing a cover letter for a job, writing in your job, incident reports, and much, much more, when it is your reputation or future at stake that demand that you be able to write effectively. The skill of writing a clear, concise paragraph is mastered with practice. To become a better golfer or a better musician, you need to practice. To become a better writer, you also need to practice.
How to Write a Paragraph
To write a proper paragraph, it is important to first learn the parts of a paragraph. There are three main components in a paragraph- The Topic Sentence, the Body, and the Concluding Sentence.
Parts of a Paragraph
The following diagram describes the three main parts of a paragraph more clearly.
In addition to the three components of a paragraph, you must keep three important strategies in mind.
| 1. Unity - staying on topic Every paragraph is supposed to have only one main topic. When writing, staying on topic keeps your ideas clear for your audience.
Organizing your ideas clearly helps your audience follow your thoughts. This is a very important aspect of communicating ideas through a written paragraph.
Transition words or connectives are signals to your reader that you are changing direction in your paragraph. In other words you are going on to another part of the topic. These words make your writing flow smoothly. Below are a list of transition words: but, before, first, |
So, now that you have learned the qualities of a great paragraph, let's see if you can choose the better of two example paragraphs. Below are two paragraphs; your task is to choose the one that you feel is more clear and effective.
Read each paragraph. When you have finished reading each of these paragraphs, make your choice by clicking on the link below the table for the paragraph that you feel is most clear.
Paragraph One: The Perfect Season, by Tom Jones Teenagers have voted summer the best season. The main reason is summer means no school. That means no more teachers and parents bugging them to do their homework. Also, in summer, teenagers can sleep in until noon if they want. According to some sleep experts teens function better if they get up around eleven o'clock in the morning, rather than at 7 or 8. Another reason teenagers can't wait for summer is that they can 'veg out' on the beaches. Sun, sand, and surfing all add up to an awesome time. Fall, spring, and winter all have their good points, but the teenage vote goes to summer when the living is easy! Paragraph Two: The Perfect Season, by Tim Smith In summer, teenagers can sleep until whenever they want. Also, they don't have parents and teachers bugging them to get their homework done. Sleep experts agree that teens function better if they get up around eleven o'clock in the morning. Fall, winter, and spring all have their positive aspects, but summer is the only one that allows students to get up around eleven o'clock. There are many reasons why the perfect season for teens is summer. Another reason teenagers can't wait for summer is to head to the beach for some summer fun. |
Which paragraph do you feel is more clear and effective?
Keep this tip in mind
Being able to distinguish between a good paragraph and a problematic one is one thing; writing one is another thing altogether.
Most students, who are told to write a paragraph, get their topic and then race to finish their paragraphs. The problem arises that the three components listed above (unity, coherence, and transitions) become an afterthought, and then need to be addressed in the editing and revision stages. That takes time, and if there are no editing and revision stages, the paragraph often suffers in the unity and coherence departments. It’s a lot like deciding to take a trip to Wawanushkapingville, anxiously jumping into the car and driving like mad. Where in the world is Wawanushkapingville? How do I know I’m going in the right direction? You need to plan…not much, just a little one.
Write a brief plan. Write your intro sentence, and three points you want to make, all in point form. This will be your plan or map for the paragraph, and make your trip to Wawanushkapingville a lot shorter and your paragraph more effective.
Sample plan
Topic sentence - The drive to Wawanushkapingville is the most amazing adventure you’ll ever take.
Point one - the people along the way went out of their way to be friendly and helpful
Point two - the scenery is like something out of a fantasy movie
Paragraphs 1 0 2 – Writing Tool Just For Writers Free
Point three - there is a lake an hour before Wawanushkapingville that is so clear you can see your feet when you’re in up to your shoulders.
Now, you’ve probably never been to Wawanushkapingville, but I bet you could write a pretty good paragraph about driving there, with just your imagination and this simple plan in front of you. And incorporating unity, coherence, and transition words would be quite easy now that you have this plan.
Paragraphs 1 0 2 – Writing Tool Just For Writers Students
YOUR ASSIGNMENT!
Complete the following assignment and submit your work to your teacher.
Part 1: Paragraph Drag and Drop
| Complete the following exercise before writing your own paragraph. |