Writing a Paragraph

A paragraph has a topic sentence, body, and conclusion

A paragraph has organization

Topic Sentences

What is a topic sentence?

Topic & Idea

The topic and controlling idea help keep the writer focused, and help the writer to stick with the details.

The topic and controlling idea help the reader to know what to expect in the paragraph.

Topic + Idea

The first part of a topic sentence has a topic. That’s what you are going to write about.

The theme of both Lamentation and The Death of General Wolfe

The topic answers the question, who or what are we writing about?

Here we are writing about the themes of the two paintings.

Topic & Idea The second part of a topic sentence is the

idea about the topic. What do you want to say about the topic?

The theme of both Lamentation and The Death of General Wolfe is the death of a leader, but the two paintings differ greatly in the details and in style.

What is the idea about the theme? They are both about death, but they are different.

Stick to the Topic!

The theme of both Lamentation and The Death of General Wolfe is the death of a leader, but the two paintings differ greatly in the details and in style.

This paragraph will only talk about the theme of death in Lamentation and The Death of General Wolfe. That is the topic. Do not talk about any other painting.

Compare & Contrast

The theme of both Lamentation and The Death of General Wolfe is the death of a leader, but the two paintings differ greatly in the details and in style.

The idea is that these two paintings differ greatly in details and in style. You could say how they are the same because they both are about death. However, the emphasis in this paragraph is on the differences.

Compare & Contrast

The topic sentence determines the order of the information in your paragraph.

but the two paintings differ greatly in the details and in style.

The most important information would be the differences, so save the differences for last.

Topic & Idea

Cooling off by the River Bank, which was painted many years before In the Omnibus, probably influenced Mary Cassat.

What is the topic?

What is the idea?

Compare & Contrast

Cooling off by the River Bank, which was painted many years before In the Omnibus, probably influenced Mary Cassat.

In this paragraph, would you stress the similarities or the differences?

Which would you talk about first?

Organization

Group similarities together

Group differences together

Start with the least important group

Organization

Use an alternating pattern

For example; If you have 2 similarities, compare them together.

The style of painting 1

The style of painting 2

Organization

The details of painting 1

The details of painting 2

This is called an AA,BB pattern

Organization

Give details and examplesFor example, if you say that both

paintings are realistic in style, give examples from the painting of realism. That just means that it looks real-like a photograph. Do the people look real? Does the landscape look real?

Organization

If you say the painting is stylized, give examples. That means the painting doesn’t look real. Look at the next two examples.

Stylized

Realistic

Concluding Sentence

Your paragraph concludes with a closing sentence.

The concluding sentence is very similar to the topic sentence.

Look at the topic sentence in the example on page 103.

Concluding Sentence

Look at the concluding sentence in the example paragraph on page 104.

Both sentences mention that the paintings are similar.

Topic & Idea

How many parts are there in a topic sentence?

What is the the topic?

What is the idea?