Paragraph Writing

Paragraph Writing:

A paragraph starts by leaving two finger spaces from the left margin of the paper. This is known as indentation. It is necessary to indent before starting any new paragraph. A paragraph is made up of a group of several sentences. Different sentences in the paragraph tell the reader about one main idea. For a different idea, start a new paragraph. Combining these different paragraphs together leads to the formation of a story or a letter.

There are three parts to a paragraph:

1.     Beginning: The beginning sentence should introduce the readers to the topic of the paragraph. It is like the morning when one gets up and plans for the day. We decide what is the main thing that will be done in the day. The same way the introduction of the paragraph tells the readers about the main idea of the paragraph and what to expect.

2.     Middle: The middle of the paragraph talks about a few details and comprises of 2 to 3 sentences. These sentences describe in detail about the main topic. It is like the time between morning and evening when we do multiple tasks to cover up for the main goal we had in the morning.

3.     End: It is very important to have a conclusion in the paragraph as it sums up all that we have written. It is like the evening and the end of the day when we sum up and recall all that we did throughout the day. 

In the paragraph below, all the important markers are highlighted.

Taj Mahal is an interesting place. It is among the seven wonders of the world. It was built in the year, 1632 in Agra, India. It was built by the emperor Shah Jahan. It is also called as a symbol of love as Shah Jahan built it for his wife, Mumtaz after her death. It is very beautiful and is made of pure marble. However, the great monument is losing its pure white color due to pollution. We should do something to preserve this heritage piece of spectacular beauty. ·       The one in blue is the beginning of the sentence. It talks about the topic or the main idea, “The Taj Mahal” ·       The one in the green is the body of the paragraphs. It tells us a few details about Taj Mahal. ·       The one in purple is the conclusion of the paragraph. It sums up the entire paragraph. ·       Remember to indent the paragraph as we have done in the beginning.

Let’s write another paragraph:

1.     First chose a topic. So say we chose to write about ourselves, The topic, therefore, should be, “All about Myself”.

2.     Remember to talk about the main topic in the beginning sentence, and then provide some details about yourself. Finally, conclude your paragraph with a sentence that would some up your paragraph.

3.     Do not forget to indent.

Let’s begin:

All About Me

My name is Jennifer Fernandes. I am six years old. I am a girl. I study in Acres Brown Elementary School. I live in Lynchburg, Virginia. I have a pet named Ben. I love to eat pizza. My favorite fruit is banana, I can eat bananas any time of the day. I love to play on the swing. My Mom and Dad love me a lot. I have two friends. Their names are Keara and Jane. I love to swim. So, now you know all about me.

Now answer the following questions:

1.     Can you mark the beginning sentence of the paragraph?

      My name is Jennifer Fernandes.

2.     Can you mark the middle of the paragraph?

I am six years old. I am a girl. I study in Acres Brown Elementary School. I live in Lynchburg, Virginia. I have a pet named Ben. I love to eat pizza. My favorite fruit is banana, I can eat bananas any time of the day. I love to play on the swing. My Mom and Dad love me a lot. I have two friends. Their names are Keara and Jane. I love to swim.

3.     Can you mark the closing of the sentence?

So, now you know all about me.

Now let’s write another paragraph. This time we write to convince. This is a concept to let people see things your way.

Writing to Convince:

1.     First, choose a topic, this topic should be the one you want to convince people on what you think about it is right. (Topic) 

a.      Taj Mahal should be Free

2.     Next, jot down a couple of sentences you fell would be sufficient to convince people of your thinking. (Body)

a.      It’s a public place. 

b.     Headcount will increase if it is free. 

c.      People could donate money out of goodwill. 

d.     People might volunteer to help maintain the monument.

e.      Reduce the government’s burden

3.     Last, write your conclusion that sums up your paragraph.

Considering all the points above, let's write our paragraph:

Admittance to Taj Mahal should be free.  It is a public place, like a library or a museum.  By making the entry fee free many more people will come to visit the great monument. People might even donate some money out of goodwill. Since a variety of people will come, some might even volunteer to help maintain the monument. This will reduce the burden that the government would have faced, otherwise. Taj Mahal is a heritage which is for everyone to see and should be free for everyone to experience and enjoy.

Now answer the following questions:

1.     Can you mark the beginning sentence of the paragraph?

      Admittance to Taj Mahal should be free.

2.     Can you mark the middle of the paragraph?

It is a public place, like a library or a museum.  By making the entry fee free many more people will come to visit the great monument. People might even donate some money out of goodwill. Since a variety of people will come, some might even volunteer to help maintain the monument. This will reduce the burden that the government would have faced, otherwise. 

3.     Can you mark the closing of the sentence?

Taj Mahal is a heritage which is for everyone to see and should be free for everyone to experience and enjoy. 

Writing a paragraph is a basic skill in understanding how to write. Remember, that a paragraph talks about a single idea. A new idea should always be expressed in a new paragraph. By joining such multiple paragraphs together leads to a story, a letter, or even a novel.

Therefore, paragraph writing is a cornerstone on which all the other complex writing is based on.

Parts of Speech

Nouns

A noun is a naming word. It can name a person, place or thing.

Person- boy, teacher, doctor, girl, farmer

Place- park, farm, house, library, beach.

Thing- car, ball, pen, pencil, book.

There are different categories of nouns:

1.     Common nouns name generic person, place or thing.

2.     Proper nouns name specific person, place or thing. They always start with a capital letter

boy=Jim

friend-Sarah

city-New York

ocean-Pacific Ocean

girl-Jill

3.     Collective nouns: names a certain group. It is singular in form. Example team, flock, herd, family.

4.     Countable nouns: As the name suggests, these nouns can be counted. For example two girls, one father, seven continents, six parks.

5.     Non-Countable nouns: These nouns cannot be counted. The refer to the unknown quantity. Example: traffic, water, soil.

6.     Abstract  nouns: are those which you cannot feel with your five senses. They are feelings or ideas. For example friendship, bravery, pride, humility, hope, benevolent, wisdom, kindness, jo, freedom.

Singular and Plural nouns: Nouns can be singular (one)-cat

Nouns can be plural (more than one)-cats

Convert singular noun to plural nouns:

1.     By adding s. 

a.      cat+s=cats

b.     girl+s=girls

c.      park+s=parks

d.     pen+s=pens

2.     By adding es

a.      bus+es=buses

b.     dish+es=dishes

3.     By changing f or fe to v and then adding es

a.      calf-f+ves=calves

b.     half-f+ves=halves

c.      leaf-f+ves=leaves

d.     theif-f+ves=thieves

4.     By changing y into I and then adding es

a.      fly-y+ies=flies

b.     cry-y+ies=cries

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. They themselves do not name a person, place or thing.

Nouns	Pronouns
boy	he
girl	she
Jim and Jill	they
Tom and I	we
computer	it

Let’s see this in some example:

1.     Sarah likes to sing

She likes to sing

2.     Tom ran fast.

He ran fast.

3.     Tom and I went to school.

We went to school

4.     Jim an Jill are friends.

They are friends.

5.     The computer is not working.

It is not working.

Types of Pronouns:

1.     Subjective Pronouns: This type behaves as a subject of the sentence.

a.      He fed the dog.

b.     It was very tasty

2.     Objective Pronouns: This type behaves as objects.

a.      Tom called him at 7 o’clock.

b.     Sarah gave them chocolates.

3.     Possessive Pronouns: tells about ownership.

a.      My cat is fat.

b.     May I use your pencil?

4.     Indefinite Pronouns: make generic rather than a specific statement.

a.      Anyone can sing

b.     Everybody is invited.

5.     Relative Pronouns: modifies a clause

a.      Tom, who built a ship.

b.     The park, which contains many swings.

Adjectives

Adjectives are describing words. They tell us more about nouns.

Types of Adjectives:

1.     Demonstrative Adjectives ask Which one? That cat.

2.     Quantitative Adjectives ask How many? Two cats.

3.     Descriptive Adjectives ask What kind? White cat.

4.     Whose? Tom’s cat.

5.     Qualitative Adjectives ask How much? few, little, very,

6.     Proper Adjectives: are formed from proper nouns

a.      American from America

b.     French from France

Adjectives change by degrees.

1.     The positive degree: these describe one thing. (big, good)

2.     The comparative adjective: these describe two things (bigger, better)

3.     The superlative adjective: these describe three things. (biggest, best)

Participles are verbs that may behave as adjectives. 

A boy talking on the phone. (The word talking modifies the noun boy)

Past Participles are verbs ending with -ed. 

A letter signed by Tom (The word signed modifies the noun letter)

Verbs 

Verbs are action words,

1.     The dog barks loudly.

2.     The bell rang.

3.     The birds flew.

4.     Tom threw the ball.

5.     The bird sings.

6.     The sun shines.

State of Being Verbs: These are also called linking verbs as they connect the subject to the rest of the sentence. These are not action words.

These are am, is, are, was, and were.

1.     Use am, is and was when speaking about one person, place or thing.

a.      He was here before you.

b.     She is kind.

c.      I am a girl.

2.     Use are and were with two or more-person, place or things.

a.      We are friends.

b.     I am your friend.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that describe verbs.

An adverb answers:

1.     How? (quickly, slowly, fast)

a.      She quickly opened the door. (quickly tells how the door was opened.)

2.     When? (now, then, never

a.      Will you go to the park later? (later tells us when she will go to class.) 

3.     Where? Here, there, up, down

a.      Jim ran down the road. (down tells where Jim ran.)

Note: 

·       Many adverbs end with the suffix -ly. (slowly, easily, suddenly)

·       Best way to find adverbs in a sentence is first to locate the verb and then ask the question when?, where?, and how? about the verb.

o   Tom sat beside Jim.

       verbWhere?

o   The music played loudly.

                   verb   How?

o   Tom sang a song today.

         verb           When?

Articles

Articles are words that come before nouns. These are a, an and the.

1.     Use of the article “the”: This is used before a specific person, place or a thing.

the computer, the coat, the desk

2.     Use of the article “a”: This is used before any person, place or a thing. It is used before a noun that begins with a consonant sound.

a car, a tree, a pen, a pencil, a teacher

3.     Use of the article “an”: This is used before any person, place or a thing, It is used before a noun that begins with a vowel sound.

an apple, an aquarium, an elephant, an envelope

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are known as connectors. They join different parts of sentences including words and phrases. The most common occurring conjunctions are “or”, “and”, and “but”.  Other conjunctions used in the sentences are: since, because, however, if, while, unless, and although.

·       Do you want the black or the yellow toy?

·       I like cookies and ice cream.

·       Sarah is always on time but Jim isn’t.

·       Jill likes to cook while Sarah plays the piano.

·       Although Tom’s class is at 7:00, he often arrives at 8:00.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words that link a noun or a pronoun to the rest of the sentence. They tell us about the following:

1.     Position: These tell us about the position. For example, above, under, below, beside, by, near, beneath, between, against, in, out

a.      The pan is by the can.

b.     The ball is under the table.

c.      The pen is in the case.

d.     Jim stood beside Jill.

e.      Tom stood against the wall.

2.     Direction: around, across, along, down, up, from, towards.

a.      My house is across the street.

b.     Tom went around the tree.

c.      The ball rolled down the road.

d.     Tom ran towards the car.

e.      The balloon flew up in the sky.

3.     Location: at, in, on

a.      at school, at work, at home, at the bus stop

b.     in my car, in college, in a cab, in a boat

c.      on the mountain, on the bus, on the sand, on the table

4.     Time: at, in, on

a.      at noon, at sunrise, at midnight, at 3 o’clock.

b.     in September, in the winter, in the summer

c.      on Monday, on the weekend, on Christmas