beginning writing primer

7/27/2019 Beginning Writing Primer

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A Writing Primer

Parts of Speech

Sentence Structure

Writing Skills

Types of Writing

The Five Paragraph Essay


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Parts of Speech

The main par ts of speech explain the ways words can be used in di fferent ways. Every wordfunctions as at least one part of speech; many words can serve as two or more parts of speech,

depending on how they are used.

noun A word or phrase that names a person, place, thing (Fred, New York, table).

adjective A word or combination of words that modifies a noun (old, central, smooth ).

pronoun A word that substitutes for a noun and refers to a person, place, thing that was previously mentioned

or that can be figured out from the meaning of the sentence (he, she, it, that)

verb A word or phrase that expresses action (throw, feel).

adverb A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb; they often end in ly (slowly, obstinately).

conjunction A word that connects other words, phrases, or sentences (and, but, or, because).


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Basic Elements of Every Sentence

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Mary playstennis.

Simple Sentence

one subject one predicate


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&

Tom and Mary playtennis.

Simple Sentences

compound subject one predicate

Tom and Mary playtennis and swim.

compound subject compound predicate

&&


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Compound Sentence

with Coordinating Conjunctions

SUBJECT PREDICATE

SUBJECT PREDICATE

and

FORAND

NOR

BUT

OR

YET

SO


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Compound Sentence

with Coordinating Conjunctions

Tom swims,

Mary plays tennis.

and


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Compound Sentence

with Conjunctive Adverbs

Tom is atheletic;

he is successful.

moreover,

MOREOVER

OTHERWISE

THEREFORE

HOWEVER


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Tom has benefited from his exercise program; he is fast

and energetic.

Compound Sentence

Semicolon


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Complex Sentence

with Subordinating Conjunctions

SUBJECT PREDICATE

SUBJECT PREDICATE

even though

EVEN THOUGH

WHEN

BECAUSE

UNLESS

WHEREAS


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Complex Sentence

with Subordinating Conjunctions

Tom is overweight

he is athletic.

even though


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Compound Complex

Sentence

Tom is overweight;

he is fast and energetic

however,

he is athletic.

because


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My fr iends and I play tennis and go bowling every weekend.

Simple Sentence

REVIEW


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Native and nonnative English speakers have different needs;however,

some schools fail to distinguish between these groups.

Compound Sentence

Conjunctive Adverb

Compound Sentence

with Coordinating Conjunction

Men may exercise harder, but they may not exercise as

regularly as women do.


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When people had to hunt for food, they had continuous exercise.

People had continuous exercise when they had to hunt for food.

Complex Sentence

Subordinating Conjunction

(Adverb clause)


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Descriptive: The idea behind descriptive writing is to bring something, someone, or someplace to life

through words. You might be asked to describe the house your family lives in, to express what it's like to

ride a roller coaster, or tell what life was like in America during the Civil War. The goal is to bring

something to life so vividly that even a reader who has never seen or heard of the subject before will beable to picture it.

Expository: This type of writing includes simple explanations, summaries, and anything that falls under

the header of "How to". Instructions on how to use appliances, directions from point A to point B,

invitations to a birthday party, and retellings of a sequence of events are all forms of expository writing.

Clarity and brevity are key; flowery details and opinions should be omitted. You should include enough

information to make the instructions or communication clear to an average person but not so much detail

that the reader gets overwhelmed or bored.

Narrative: Narrative writing tells a story. Stories like "What I did on my vacation" or "The most

important day of my life" are narrative in nature. The task is to describe an experience you have had.

This type of writing is almost always written in the first person (using "I") to show that it's a personal

experience. Make sure that the story has a beginning, middle, and end; an introduction that explains

what the story is about, the story itself, and a conclusion that wraps up the experience. You should use

detail, adjectives, and personal thoughts to make the story come alive and make it specifically your own.

Persuasive: Persuasive writing focuses on using prose to convince the reader to do something, from

buying a new stove to voting for a candidate. For example, you might be asked to argue one side of a

debate, such as whether or not a principal should be allowed to search students' lockers or if movie stars

make too much money. A successful persuasive essay will contain evidence (such as statistics, facts, and

quotes) to support the arguments, a discussion of the opposing view's side, and a well-formed conclusion.


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The five-paragraph essay is the most popular way to learn how to structure a longer piece. Its structure is constant and easily

assessable, so its easy to judge each essay against your prior work or the work of others.

A five-paragraph essay contains an introductory paragraph, three supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion that together discussa main point or thesis. It is a little like a sandwich, with two slices of bread keeping the meat of the sandwich together. The

first and last paragraphs hold together each piece of the essay neatly within.

The introduction discusses the subject generally, briefly touches on what the points will be in the next three paragraphs, and

contains the thesis. If the essay's argument is, "The BLT is the best sandwich ever," the introduction might start with a broad

statement about sandwiches, then talk about meat, lettuce, and tomato, and end with a statement about the BLT's superiority. It

should start with the general and move to the specific.

The three main paragraphs explain in detail a single idea, example, or argument that supports the main point or thesis. In the

BLT essay, the second paragraph might talk about the wonders of lettuce, the third about the crispiness of bacon, and the fourth

about the juicy complement of tomato.

The concluding paragraph summarizes, briefly, your main point and supporting ideas. After that, it should discuss more of why

this is important (i.e. because the BLT isn't served at fast food restaurants), what it means to you the author (i.e. my

grandmother and I ate BLTs every Saturday for lunch), or some other larger concept related to the thesis (i.e. if everyone ate

BLTs the world would be a better place). The conclusion is sort of the opposite of the introduction, in that it tends to start with

the specific and become more general.

The last thing to think about when writing a five-paragraph essay is the transitions between paragraphs. The final line of one

paragraph should flow logically into the first sentence of the next. For example, if the second paragraph ended with, "Lettuce

gives the sandwich the perfect crunch." The first line of the third paragraph might begin, "The crunchiest part, though, is the

bacon." Look for relationships that can be formed between the two ideas. Good transitions can be comparisons or contrasts,

using lead-ins like, "Others feel the bacon adds too much crunch" or "Although bacon is important, it's the tomato that makes

the meal."

This basic five-paragraph approach can be adapted to both shorter pieces and longer papers.

The Five Paragraph Essay

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