PARAGRAPH WRITING TOPICS

            Paragraphs & Topic Sentences

  HOW TO WRITE PARAGRAPH WRITING WITH EXAMPLES 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. This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points.

Paragraphs with examples can contain many different kinds of information. A paragraph could contain a series of brief examples or a single long illustration of a general point. It might describe a place, character, or process; narrate a series of events; compare or contrast two or more things; classify items into categories; or describe causes and effects. Regardless of the kind of information they contain, all paragraphs share certain characteristics. One of the most important of these is a topic sentence.

                                    TOPIC SENTENCES

A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in a sentence called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several important functions: it substantiates or supports an essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how the paragraph will discuss it. Readers generally look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph. That’s why it’s often best to put the topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph. In some cases, however, it’s more effective to place another sentence before the topic sentence—for example, a sentence linking the current paragraph to the previous one, or one providing background information.

Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations when a paragraph might not need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able to omit a topic sentence in a paragraph that narrates a series of events, if a paragraph continues developing an idea that you introduced (with a topic sentence) in the previous paragraph, or if all the sentences and details in a paragraph clearly refer—perhaps indirectly—to a main point. The vast majority of your paragraphs, however, should have a topic sentence.

                           PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important role in communicating your meaning to your reader.

Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or provide a transition.

Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other information.

Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.

The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of organization. In this paragraph the topic sentence and concluding sentence (CAPITALIZED) both help the reader keep the paragraph’s main point in mind.

HERE ARE SOME PARAGRAPH WRITING:

.                                                  A Train Journey

During my holidays, my father decided to take us to my uncle's house in Bhopal. I was Very excited because my father decided to travel by train. It was to be my first experience of travelling by train. My sister and I were very happy. We lanned ahead as to what we will take to eat in the train, what
we will play in the train. All the preparations were made.

We boarded the train in the afternoon. The train departed from the platform at the scheduled time. Initially, the train moved at a slow pace but gradually it picked up speed. I was seated
near the window and was enjoying the view outside. As the train began to move faster, it
appeared the electricity poles and the trees near the railway tracks were moving backwards
The train crossed many villages, towns and cities. I saw little boys of the villages wading in
pools of water and gleefully jumping in and out of them. As I waved to them, they waved
back and I felt good. When it was evening, we were hungry. We then ate the delicious snacks
which my mother had especially prepared for us. My sister and I relished the meal.

When night fell, it became so dark that nothing could be seen outside except the beautiful
Lights of the cities we passed. The lights appeared like tiny twinkling stars. We could see the
countless stars shining in the clear sky. It was a breathtaking scene. I still have
 faint memories of it in my mind. I was so spell by the enchanting beauty that i could
hardly sleep. At every station, the train would stop and the hawkers would sell tea, coffee
etc. I do not know when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, it was daylight and my mother
as asking us to get our things together, as the next station was our destination. It was a
pleasant journey


            B. The Best Day of My Life
All days are special - but sometimes we remember a particular day for an unforgettable
event that takes place. Last Monday was like any other day. I got up in the morning, got
ready and left for school.

It was a cold winter morning and as it had rained the previous night it was bitterly cold
As I cycled my way to school, I could feel the cold sweeping through my bones, although
I was well-clad. I must have been weighing an extra five kilograms with all the woollens
Suddenly, I saw two new born puppies cuddled up to their mother on the footpath. The
litter must have been born the previous night as they were pink in colour. Their mother
was trying to keep them warm, although she herself was shivering with cold. It was such a
depressing sight. I cycled back home and told my parents everything. They were touched
and my mother took a warm blanket and some hot milk for the puppies.

when we reached there, my mother and my sister covered them with sheets and blankets
he puppies were brought home. My father and I made a small bed for them in a wooden
box. My mother then fed them. The mother and the puppies were very happy. The mother
looked at all of us with such thankful and loving eyes, which I could not forget. If the mother
f the puppies could speak, she would have thanked us in so many words but she whined
and whimpered in her own way
My parents were very proud of me and patted me on my back.
It was the best day of my life

                                  C. When there was a Monster Under my Bed

One foggy night when it was time to sleep I heard scary noises coming from under my bed
thought it was my father gargling. The sounds did not stop. They went on and on. So
could not sleep

Then the next thing I knew was that my alarm was buzzing. It was time to go to school. I was really tired because I had not slept well the previous night. If you remember, the sounds had kept me awake and scared. So, in the morning when one was supposed to feel fresh and energetic, my eyes were red and I was really dying to sleep.

When I reached the bus stop, I could not even take a step to get into the bus. The day went
by in a blur. I reached home really tired and it was then that I decided to find out about the
noises.
 I called my friends. We met. When I raised the question about the noises coming from under
my bed, my friends suggested that it must be a monster. After dinner, I looked under my
bed but there was nothing there -surely no monster! Tired, because I had had a rough day,I
decided to go to sleep. Just as I was dozing off, there was that scary sound again! It was shrill
and loud! Next came the sound of wolves howling. I ran to the door but it had been bo
from outside. I screamed very loudly.

That seemed to do the trick. The next moment my bedroom door was opened by my brother
Behind him were my parents. He confessed and spilled the beans - about how he had taken
a spooky cassette and played it under my bed just to scare the living daylights out of me
The outcome of this was that my dear brother was grounded for a whole week.





Although there are many opinions on how many types of essays there are, everyone seems to agree on what you need to formulate a good paragraph. You’ll probably have read that a sentence expresses a single idea. A paragraph is a group of sentences dealing with a similar idea. As soon as you move on to a new set of ideas, you move on to a new paragraph.

When you create an essay outline, you will probably list ideas that need to be included in your essay. If you’re thinking clearly, each of these ideas would have a paragraph to itself. If some of the ideas you jotted down are closely related, they’d probably form part of the same paragraph.

Crafting a Paragraph

In a way, you could see each paragraph as a mini-essay.

• You introduce the topic
• You provide the contributing information
• You draw a conclusion

But how do you know if you have crafted a good paragraph? It will have four characteristics:

• Unity
• Order
• Coherence
• Completeness

You achieve these four characteristics through using the three parts of your paragraph wisely and with forethought.

First Sentence

The first sentence in a paragraph is important, and it’s called the “topic sentence.” It should represent the overall idea that governs the rest of the paragraph’s content. It’s the sames as your essay introduction leads into your essay. All the sentences that follow will contribute to this topic sentence. For example, in this paragraph, I began by telling you that the paragraph starts with a topic sentence. Now I am telling you what it is for, and how it relates to the other sentences in the paragraph. If you do this well, you’ll achieve the first of our characteristics: unity.

Contributing Sentences

Your contributing sentences must lead logically to the concluding one. This means you need to present it in some kind of order. Will you choose chronological order, order of importance, or relate each successive sentence to the other using logic? That depends on what you are writing about, but your aim is to make your paragraph easy to follow from point A to point B to point C. Finally, you want to tie all your points together to underline the point you are trying to get across. Order helps to convey the sense of what you are saying. If you confuse your reader, you have not written a clever paragraph.

Order Should Bring Coherence

Have you ever listened to someone talking, and it sounds like they’re just babbling and not making any sense? They are speaking incoherently. When a person speaks coherently, each thought follows neatly from the previous one, and it is easy to understand what they are saying. Although it’s not a must, using transition words helps to show how one thought relates to another. There are many such words and phrases which include:

• Because
• In addition
• By contrast
• Next
• Afterward
• Accordingly
• No doubt
• Of course
• On the other hand
• Naturally
• Also
• After
• Before

Another important trick to remember is to keep all your sentences in the same verb tense. It just makes it so much easier for your reader to follow your thoughts.

Your Concluding Sentence

Don’t leave your reader wondering “So… what?” at the end of your paragraph. Pull your threads together into a concluding sentence. It should support your introductory sentence while acknowledging what you have discussed in the supporting sentences. This helps your reader to see how the supporting information relates to the topic. You may think it is obvious, but your reader may not!

Practice

 paragraph writing topics .Writing a really good paragraph is something of an art but like any skill, you can learn it through practice. That’s why teachers will set paragraph writing tasks for their students. but if you love writing, or just want to improve your writing skills, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t set yourself a few tasks. Choose from a list of paragraph writing promots , or make up a list of your own.