Kinds of ParagraphsKinds of Paragraphs

Four types of paragraphs:Narrative PersuasiveDescriptive Expository

Kinds of ParagraphsKinds of Paragraphs

Narrative Paragraphs* tell a story

• Descriptive Paragraphs* offer specific details and sensory images to

give a picture• Persuasive Paragraphs

* express an opinion or try to convince reader• Expository Paragraphs

* presents facts, opinions, definition of terms, and examples to inform the reader about a specific topic.

Organization of ParagraphsOrganization of Paragraphs

Each sentence in a paragraph fits together around a single, central idea.The sentences with details can be organized differently.Knowing some of the ways the details in

paragraphs are organized can help you in several ways:

Organization of ParagraphsOrganization of Paragraphs

See what is important and what’s not.Understand the author’s purpose.Remember what you read.

Ways of Organizing ParagraphsWays of Organizing Paragraphs

Time Order- Chronological order

Location Order- Geographic or spatial order

• Cause Effect Order- Problem – solution

• Comparison – Contrast Order- similarities and differences

Ways of Organizing ParagraphsWays of Organizing Paragraphs

Cause – Effect Order- Problem – solution

• Comparison – Contrast Order- Similarities and differences

Time Order: Series of EventsTime Order: Series of Events

From Call of the Wild by Jack London But [Dave] held out till camp was reached when his driver mad a place for him by the fire. Morning found him too weak to travel. At harness-up time, he tried to crawl to his driver. By convulsive efforts, he got on his feet, staggered, and fell. Then he wormed his way forward slowly toward where the harnesses were being put on his mates. He would advance his forelegs and drag up his body with a sort of hitching movement when he would advance his forelegs and hitch ahead again a few more inches. His strength left him, and the last his mates saw of him he lay gasping in the snow and yearning toward them. But they could hear him mournfully howling till they passed out of sight behind a belt of river timber.

Series of EventsSeries of Events

1. Camp was reached.2. Morning found Dave weak.3. At harness-up time, Dave was too weak to run.4. Then he wormed his way forward.5. The last his mates saw of him, he lay

gasping in the snow.6. They heard him howling as they passed out of sight.

Location Order: Some paragraphs move in an organized way from one location to another.

Location Order: Some paragraphs move in an organized way from one location to another. From The Cay by Theodore Taylor

I was asleep on the second floor of our narrow, gabled green house in Willemstad, on the island of Curacao, the largest of the Dutch islands just off the coast of Venezuela. I remember that on that moonless night in February1942, they attacked the big Lago oil refinery on Aruba, the sister island west of us. Then they blew up six of our small lake tankers, the tubby ones that still bring crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to the refinery, Curacaosche Petroleum Maatschappij, to be made into gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil. One German sub was even sighted off Willemstad at dawn.

Cause – Effect OrderCause – Effect Order

from Slavery in the United States by Charles Ball

“When [the slave traders] put us in irons, to be sent to our place of confinement in the ship, the men who fastened the irons on these mothers, took the children out of their hands and threw them over the side of the ship into the water. When this was done, two of the women leaped overboard after the children– the third was already confined by a chain to another woman and could not get into the water, but in struggling to disengage herself, she broke her arm, and died a few days after, of a fever. One of the two women who were in the river, was carried down by the weight of her irons before she could be rescued; but the other was taken up by some men in a boat and brought on board. This woman threw herself overboard one night when we were at sea.

Cause

Three effects

Cause – Effect OrganizerCause – Effect Organizer

Men threw Children overboard

1. Two women leaped overboard after their children.

2. Another woman broke her arm and later died.

3. One rescued woman threw herself overboard again.

Order of ImportanceOrder of Importance

When a paragraph is organized by order of importance, the writer may begin with the most important idea and mover to the least important idea.Or, the writer can begin with examples and details, and build up to the larger, more important idea.

Most Important to Least ImportantMost Important to Least ImportantFrom Creating America

As the Native Americans of the Plains battled to be free, the buffalo herds that they depended upon for survival dwindled. At one time, 30 million buffalo roamed the Plains. However, hired hunters killed the animals to feed crews building railroads. Others shot buffalo as a sport or to supply factories with leather for robes, shoes, and belts. From 1872 to 1882, hunters killed more than one million buffalo each year.

Main Ideas

Four Details

Most Important Idea FirstMost Important Idea First

Main Idea: Buffalo herds dwindled.________________________________________

Detail #1:30 million buffalo

Roaming the Plains.

Detail # 2:Killed to feed

Crews Building the

Railroad.

Detail #3: Killed for sportOr to be used

For shoes, robes,Or belts

Detail # 4:Between 1872

And 1882, moreThan one

Million killed eachYear.

Least Important to Most ImportantLeast Important to Most ImportantFrom Creating America

During the height of the fur trade, mountain menworked some streams so heavily that they killed off the animals. This forced the trappers to search for new streams where beaver lived. The mountainmen’s explorations provided Americans with some of the earliest firsthand knowledge of the Far West.This knowledge, and the trails the mountain men blazed, made it possible for later pioneers to move west.

Three Details

Main Idea

Least Important to Most ImportantLeast Important to Most Important

Most important Idea lastDetail # 1

Mountain men killed off all animals in some places.

Detail #2

Trappers searched for new streams where beaver lived.

Detail #3

Explorations led to earliest firsthand knowledge of Far West.

Main IdeaMountain men blazed the first trails that allowed pioneers to move west.

Comparison – Contrast OrderComparison – Contrast Order

When a paragraph follows comparison contrast order, the writer shows how one thing is like or unlike another.In the following paragraph, the writer compares something unfamiliar (wolves) with something that is familiar (dogs).

Comparison-Contrast OrderComparison-Contrast OrderFrom Gray Wolf, Red Wolf by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

Wolves look similar to German shepherd and husky dogs, but their legs are longer, their chests are narrower, and their feet are bigger. Wolf tails generally hang down, while dog tails often curl up over their backs. Wolves have a scent gland located on the top of their tails that dogs lack.

Subject of comparison

Comparison Contrast OrderComparison Contrast Order

Wolves vs. DogsPart Wolves DogsLegs Longer Shorter

Chests Narrower Smaller

Feet Bigger Smaller

Tail Hangs down Curls upward

Scent Special scentGland

No scent gland in tail

Classification OrderClassification Order

When one or more paragraphs follow classification order, the writer tries to show broad similarities. Writers often need to name categories to make it clear how one group is alike or different from another.

Classification OrderClassification Order

From Big Blue Ocean by Bill NyeUp high and shallow, or down low and deep,

everywhere you go in the ocean you find living things. And fish aren’t the only things out there. Birds (like penguins), reptiles (like sea turtles), mammals (like whales), not to mention tons of animals without backbones, called “invertebrates” [in-VERT-uh-brits] (like squid), and tons and tons of plants (like seaweed) all depend on the ocean to survive.

Main Categories

Classification ParagraphsClassification Paragraphs

Classification paragraphs are like a chart put into words.Living things in the ocean:

Birds Reptiles Mammals Invertebrate PlantsPenquins Sea turtles Whales Squid seaweed