KINDS OF PARAGRAPHS

The type of paragraph you use will depend on your purpose

for writing. To entertain readers or express themselves, writers

use narration or description. Exposition and narration are used

to inform readers about something. Writers use persuasion to

influence people. Several paragraphs written about the same

subject might be very different, depending on why the writers

wrote them.

1. NARRATIVE PARAGRAPHS

Narrative paragraphs tell about an event or series of events,

usually in chronological order. Most short stories and newspaper

articles are examples of narrative writing.

Narrative writing can take various forms,

including:

Personal Essays

Biographical profiles

Autobiographies

Short stories

Good narrators use concrete and vivid language to show their

readers what is happening

BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE

• Inmediate Action

• The ability to flash back

EXAMPLE: My Favorite Family Experience

One of my favorite family experiences was when I went to see Anne Frank’s (a Jewish victim of the Nazi persecution during World War II) hideout in Amsterdam, Holland. I had read Anne’s published diary when I was younger, so I was extremely thrilled to actually have the chance to see where she and her family hid from the Germans for so many months. I walked up the stairs of an apartment building and into a room with only a bookshelf in it. From what I remembered from reading the diary, there was a doorknob behind the books. I found the doorknob and turned it and there was the secret annex. When I stepped into the room behind the bookshelf, I felt as if I had stepped back into history. I found Anne’s room still with pictures of her favorite celebrities on her walls. The Frank family’s furniture was still placed where they had left them in the rooms, everything just as described in the diary. I toured each room in awe of actually seeing how they had lived, yet with sadness to know how it all ended. Anne’s diary was no longer just a book to me, but true heart-felt, emotional life story written by a girl I felt I almost knew.

~© Denise Rafferty~

4. PERSUASIVE PARAGRAPHS

Persuasive paragraphs are used to share an opinion about a particular subject. Writers of persuasive paragraphs try to convince readers to agree with the opinions in the paragraphs and, sometimes, to take action. A persuasive paragraph often uses order of importance.

METHODS OF PERSUASION

Facts- A statement of what is.

Referring to authority- An expert who can be relied on to give real facts and information.

Examples- An example should clearly relate to the argument and should be typical enough to support it.

Predicting the consequence- Helps the reader visualize what will occur if something does or does not happen.

Answering the opposition- Answering possible critics shows you are aware of the opposing opinion and are able to respond to it.

EXAMPLE

Going on amusement park rides is one of the safest forms of recreation. According to the International Association of Amusement Park Attractions, you are more likely to be injured when you play sports, ride a horse, or even ride a bicycle. Statistics show the occurrence of death to be approximately one in 250 million riders. This group’s statistics are supported by those of the National Consumer Product Safety Commission. It estimates that more than 270 million people visit amusement parks each year, and that 7,000 people out of those 270 million go to emergency rooms for injuries they receive on amusement park rides—that’s only 0.00259 percent of riders.

“Amusement Park Physics,” Learner on LineWeb site

DEFINITION PARAGRAPHS

A definition paragraph is a paragraph explaining a term or subject, so your audience comprehends the topic of the paragraph. This can be done in three different ways: Synonym, Class, and Negation

Synonym is explaining the term by using the words that mean the same thing.

EXAMPLE: To procrastinate is to slack.

Class is when you put your topic in a larger category to explain your term.

EXAMPLE: A pineapple is a tropical fruit that has an acidic and sweet taste.

 

Negation means that the write first says something is not, and then says what it is.

EXAMPLE: A snowcone is not an ice creamcone, but rather a shredded ice and syrup treat.

EXAMPLEDeja vu

Deja vu is a French word meaning "already seen", it has also been described as a feeling or experience that one has seen or done something before. For example, you are waiting in line to check out at the grocery store and the lady behind you asks you to hand her a pack of gum. Suddenly you get an overwhelming feeling that you have been there in that exact same spot, talking to the same lady, even the same brand of gum. Even though everything seems so familiar you know there is no way that could have happened before. There are many theories as to why and how this phenomenon happens. One theory is that deja vu is connected with temporal-lobe epilepsy, but people without a history of epilepsy have also experienced deja vu. Psychiatrists believe it is something in your brain that confuses an event that happened in the past with the present. Another theory is parapsychologist think it is connected with past life experiences. Whether deja vu is an experience of the paranormal or simply some confusion in the brain, it is a perplexing feeling of having "already seen."

~Copyright 2005 Courtney Ming~