PARAGRAPH

DEVELOPMENT

The English paragraph can be

divided into three sections:
INTRODUCTION, BODY, and
CONCLUSION.

The INTRODUCTION briefly

states the content of the paragraph
and enables a reader to establish his
expectation of what is to come. THE
BODY is the main part of the
paragraph, which is developed
sequentially. THE CONCLUSION,
the writer summarizes what he has
already discussed in the main part and

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finishes his presentation of the idea.
The following paragraph is an
example.

Sample Paragraph:
Although the New Testament
writers used the popular
language of their day, they often
achieved great dignity and
eloquence. Convinced of the
greatness of their message, they
often wrote naturally and
directly, as earnest men might
speak to their friends. Although
St, Mark's writing was not
necessarily polished, he wrote
with singular vigor and

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economy- St. John struggled
with the language until he
produced sparse and unadorned
prose of great beauty. St. Paul .
at his best reached heights of
eloquence which some consider
unsurpassed in literature. St.
Luke, the most brilliant of the
New Testament writers, gave us
Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal
Son. Taken as a whole, the work
of these great Christian writers
of the first century has a dignity
and splendor all its own.
(Donald et al (1978:12)

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THE INTRODUCTION is:
Although the New Testament writers
used the popular language of their
day, they often achieved great dignity
and eloquence. From this the reader
knows that the author will discuss the
New Testament as literature rather
than as a religious book. In THE
BODY, the author comments on each
of the writers of the book; the reader
learns why the author believes that
they achieved dignity and eloquence.
In THE CONCLUSION the final
sentence of the paragraph-the author
repeats the opinion he stated in the

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introduction, clarifying the point of
the paragraph: the work of the
Christian writers has a dignity and
splendor.

The topic sentence and Supporting

Sentences: Each paragraph contains
A TOPIC SENTENCE and
SUPPORTING SENTENCES.

The topic sentence presents a

condensed idea of the paragraph. It
usually occurs at the beginning of the
paragraph, but it may appear
somewhere else, even at the end of
the paragraph. When a reader reads

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the topic sentence, he learns the main
idea of the paragraph. This idea tends
to be abstract.

Supporting Sentences, on the

other hand, are usually concrete.
They support the idea of the topic
sentence and develop it, employing
the techniques of example, cause and
effect, comparison and contrast,
definition, etc. Supporting Sentences
are, of course, related to each other,
since no irrelevant sentence should
appear in a good expository English
paragraph.

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 In the following paragraph, The
topic sentence is Our teeth are very
important to us. This sentence tells
the reader what the main idea of the
paragraph is. Since this idea is broad
and abstract-it doesn't mention why
and how they are so important-the
writer must develop and explain this
idea with Supporting Sentences.
These details developed by
Supporting Sentences are clear and
more concrete. Thus, the reader
understands what the writer means by
The topic sentence.

Sample Paragraph

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 Our teeth are very important to us.
There are two main uses for teeth.
One is to chew our food, which then
is easy to swallow and digest. The
second use is to help us talk. We put
our tongues against our teeth to
make certain sounds. It is difficult to
understand what a person is saying
if he does not have any teeth. (Horn
1977:9)

Techniques of Development: In
addition to these basic characteristics
and forms of the English paragraph, a
good writer uses a variety of
techniques to develop his idea. These

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techniques are helpful for nonnative
writers to imitate, so that they can use
them in their own writing. Therefore,
I would like to introduce some of
them that seem to be useful,
especially for writing a thesis. These
techniques are: EXAMPLE, CAUSE
AND EFFECT, COMPARISON
AND CONTRAST, DEFINITION,
and ANALOGY.

1. Example

A paragraph developed by examples

gives the reader many facts, which
help to make the topic more concrete
and more easily understood. This

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technique is often employed when the
topic of the paragraph is very broad
or abstract. In the sample paragraph
below, The topic sentence is Limiting
one's view to an area that is too small
in relation to the world can be
disappointing and dangerous. This
topic sentence alone is not sufficient
to convince the reader. Hence, the
writer uses three examples: an
international war, a decision at the
national level, and a country's
economic development. These three
examples support The topic sentence

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and make the abstract idea more
concrete.

Sample Paragraph
Limiting one's view to an area
that is too small in relation to the
world can be disappointing and
dangerous. There are many
examples of a person striving
mightily to solve some
immediate local problem, only to
find his efforts defeated by
events occurring in a larger
context. A farmer's carefully
maintained fields can be
destroyed by an international
war. During the Vietnam War, the

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rice paddies of the Mekong Delia
were obliterated. Also, local
officials' plans can be overturned
by a national policy. A decision
at the national level that relocates
a major highway away from a
town can mean ruin to the
unwary gas-station operator or
restaurant owner. Further, a
country's economic development
can be thwarted by a lack of
world demand for its products-
The coffee-growing regions of
Brazil or Uganda could suffer if
people stopped drinking coffee.
Indeed, there is increasing
concern today that most personal
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 and national objectives may
ultimately be frustrated by long-
term global trends. (Johnston and
Zukowski / Faust 1981:42)

2. Cause and Effect.

A paragraph developed by cause

and effect shows the relationship
between two statements; that is, one
element results from the other. In the
sample paragraph below, by listing
many physical conditions and
concomitant behaviors, the writer
shows how climate affects the culture
of a country. That is, The topic

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sentence Climate affects the culture
of a country is developed by
Supporting Sentences illustrating
effects. In this style of development,
the writer can list several effects
resulting from one cause, as in the
sample paragraph below, or he can
list several causes to support one
effect.

Sample Paragraph
Climate affects the culture of a
country- Men must learn to live
within the limitations of their
environment, and climate is an
important part of the physical

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 environment Life in a tropical
country is less strenuous and
more casual than it is in a
temperate one. Men work shorter
hours and less vigorously in a hot
climate. They cannot play hard
either. They tire easily- They can
relax by reading, by sipping cool
drinks, or by listening to soothing
music. They must try to conserve
their energy. The wisest ones
learn to respect the demands of
Nature. (Friend 1971:43)

3. Comparison and Contrast.

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 A paragraph developed by
comparison and contrast identifies the
similarity or difference between two
items by pointing out several
elements of both. In the following
paragraph, the author writes about
two kinds of elephants. They look
alike; however, the author tries to
convince his readers of the distinction
between them by pointing out a list of
differences, such as the color of the
body, the size of the ears, and other
characteristics.

Sample Paragraph

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 There are two kinds of elephants-
the African and the Indian. The
African elephant is larger and
darker; it also has larger ears and a
more sloping forehead. Both can
be lamed, but the Indian elephant
is more easily trained to do work.
When an African elephant sleeps,
it usually stands u, but its Indian
cousin usually sleeps lying down.
(Yorkey 1982:124)

4. Definition.

When a writer uses a word that might

cause confusion or misunderstanding,
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he must clarify the meaning for the
reader. In the sample paragraph the
writer defines the meaning of
compassion. He gives many
synonyms, several examples, and an
explanation of the meaning.

Sample Paragraph
Compassion is the ability to
understand another person's
misfortunes- It is kindness,
tenderness, mercy, pity. and
sympathy. A nurse may have
compassion for an irritable patient
by understanding that the illness
may be the cause of that patient's
behavior and by treating that
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patient with kindness and
sympathy. An airline stewardess
displays compassion for her
passenger", by considering the fact
that they may be nervous about
flying and by answering their
questions in a patient, sympathetic
manner. In the same way, a judge
may have compassion for a
Juvenile offender by taking his age
into consideration and setting the
punishment accordingly.
Compassion is not merely a verbal
expression of sorrow. It is not
begrudgingly contributing money
to charitable causes out of a sense
of duty. Compassion is putting
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 yourself in another person's
situation and treating that person
the way you would want to be
treated. (Donald et al. 1978:200)

5. Analogy.

Instead of explaining the idea

directly, as in paragraphs of example
or comparison and contrast, the writer
may use an analogy-a simple
situation that has some similarities to
the main idea of the paragraph. In the
sample paragraph, the writer explains
the distinction between Newton 's and
Einstein's ideas about gravitation.
Instead of using technical terms, he

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tells the story of a little boy with
some marbles, The significant feature
of this sort of paragraph is that the
reader can easily grasp the main idea
because of the familiarity of the
simple symbolic story, or analogy.

Sample Paragraph
The distinction between Newton
's and Einstein's ideas about
gravitation has sometimes been
illustrated by picturing a little
boy playing marbles in a city
lot. The ground is very uneven
ridged with bumps and hollows.
An observer in an office ten
stories above the street would
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not be able to see these
irregularities in the ground.
Noticing that the marbles appear
to avoid SOP sections of the
ground and move toward other
sections, he might assume that a
"force" was operating which
repelled the marble from certain
spots and attracted them to
others. But another observer on
the ground would instantly
perceive that the path of the
marbles was simply governed
by the curvature of the field. this
analogy Newton is the upstairs
observer who imagine "force" is
at work, and Einstein is the
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 observer on me group who has
no reason to make such an
assumption. (Bar 1950:91)

Transitional devices

There are, indeed, many techniques

for developing paragraph. However,
to compose a good paragraph a writer
needs additional special tools:
TRANSITIONAL DEVICES. They
often appear between sentences or
between paragraphs serve to link
them, so that the direction of ideas
become clear and their sequence
flows smoothly. Transitional devices

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(or discourse markers) are divided
into two groups according to
function: one group is called
SENTENCE LINKERS and the other,
PARAGRAPH LINKERS. Sentence
tinkers connect two sentences and
show the relationship between them.

1. To show furthermore, the

addition : and; apartment is not in
furthermore; also; an appropriate
besides; place.
moreover; in 2. To show
addition; again: contrast : But;
Example: The however;
price is too high; nevertheless;
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unlike; on the seldom loved by
other hand; yet; on others. Likewise,
the contrary; a person who
instead: Example: rarely speaks is
I like dogs; not always well
however, I hate liked.
cats. 4. To show
3. To show emphasis : In
comparison : fact; certainly;
Likewise; actually; indeed;
similarly; as a matter of fact:
correspondingly; Example: Even
in the same way; though he is a
in like manner: quiet person,
Example: A everyone likes
person who talks him. In fact, he is
too much is
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always invited to words: Example: I
parties. think he doesn't

5. To show have any concept

concession : even of time; for

though; though; example, he kept

although; despite me waiting almost

this: Example: two hours

Even though he is yesterday.

a funny person, he 7. To introduce a

looks very serious reason : Thus; as
in the classroom. a result;

6. To introduce consequently;

an example: for accordingly; so;

example; that is; therefore; then;

in particular; for hence; for this

instance; in other reason; because of

this: Example: It
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was raining; didn't go to the
therefore, we kitchen to help her
decided to stay at mother. In short,
home. she behaved

8. To introduce a uncharacteristicall

conclusion : in y all day.

summary; finally; 9. To show a

to sum up; in sequence : first,
conclusion; in second,...next:
short: Example: Example: If you
Mary didn't get up want to get a good
when her mother grade, you have to
woke her up; she follow these
didn't wash her directions: First,
face before she you must preview
went to school; at what you will
dinnertime she study tomorrow.
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Second, you must learned after
do your school.
homework. Third,
you must review
what you have

Some of these transitional devices

must be preceded or followed by
special punctuation. Paragraph linkers
connect a following paragraph to a
preceding one. Most of the discourse
markers listed above are used as both
sentence linkers and paragraph
linkers. However, some sentence
linkers, such as and, but, or then, do
not ordinarily function as paragraph
linkers.
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Sample Paragraphs
Japan is a nice country to visit. For
example, there are many temples in
Kyoto and Nara , where you can
enjoy terrific views. Korakuen
Park in Okayama is famous for its
beautiful Japanese garden.
However, Japan has another aspect.
Traffic jams are terrible in Tokyo
and it takes more than an hour for
many workers to get to their office.
The price of food is incredibly
high. Maybe Japan is not a good
place to live.

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