BASIC READING

Lectured by:
Miss Yanna Queencer Telaumbanua
 Chapter II

Paragraphs
and
Compositions
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• What is paragraph?
@ A paragraph is a group of related sentences
that presents a unit of thought.
@ Paragraphs provide organization and focus to
a piece of writing, breaking up information
into manageable chunks for readers.
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@ When you read, a new paragraph is
indicated by visual clues, such as the
indentation of the first word of the first
sentence or an extra line of space
between lines of text.
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• In a good paragraph, all of the sentences work
together to present and develop one main
idea.
• Often, the main idea is directly stated in a
single sentence called topic sentence.
• All of the other sentences in the paragraph
support the topic sentence with examples,
details, facts, or reasons.
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• Sometimes, a paragraph’s
main idea is implied, nit
directly stated. In such cases,
all of the sentences work
together to develop main
idea and communicate it to
readers.
 Example of paragraph
• Narrative paragraph, an example in the following:
The first time I remember feeling jealous was
many years ago when I was three of four. I had been
carefully choosing the right crayons to color
pictures in a new coloring book on the floor in the
dining room. Satisfied that I had done a good job, I
wanted to show my new masterpieces to my
mother, who was busy with morning chores in the
kitchen.
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My father, too, might like the pictures, but I
thought he was sleeping. So into the kitchen I
went carrying the new pictures. I found my
mother there, but to my dismay, she was not
waiting to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at my artwork.
Instead, she was in the arms of my father, who
was kissing her. My attempt to interrupt this
nonsense was met by, ‘We’re busy, can’t you
see?’ from my father.
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There was no response from that woman-that
woman who preferred him to me, that nonsense
to my masterpieces. I ran to my room broken
heart.

Written by William R. Smalzer in Reading,

Reflection and Writing, 2005, p. 45.
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• What is composition?
@ A composition is a connected series
of paragraphs on a single topic.
@ There are many types of
compositions such as: various types
of essays, research papers, and
workplace writing.
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• A good English paragraph expresses one main
idea and provides the reader with enough
logical support to be convincing.
• We can look at an essay the same way, with
one difference: the main idea is more general,
so it needs more discussion and support.
• Traditionally, an academic essay has 4 or more
paragraphs, which correspond in function to
the three parts of the paragraph.
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• Comparison between the parts of paragraph and
the parts of an essay as follows:
1. Parts of a paragraph:
a. Topic sentence expresses the main idea of a
paragraph in a sentence.
b. Points of support (1,2,3,etc) are more specific
ideas that support the topic sentence.
c. Conclusion consists one sentence, often found in
longer paragraphs.
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2. Parts of an essay:
a. Introduction paragraph and thesis statement:
typically begins in a general way and moves
logically toward the thesis statement, which
expresses the main idea of the essay in a
sentence. The thesis statement is often the last
sentence in this first paragraph.
b. Body paragraphs (1,2,3,etc) for each will have its
own main idea and therefore its own topic
sentence. But each paragraph will support the
thesis statement directly.
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c. Conclusion paragraph ends effectively. The
concluding sentences move from the specific
(the thesis of the essay) back to something
more general, such as friendship or life.
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• Essay, an example of the following.
‘Different Stages of Friendship’
I have experiences where I felt a closeness with a
person who I had just met, and we were able to become
friends instantly as if we had known each other for a long
time. I can call that person a soul mate because I felt my
soul drawn to him or her for no reason and irrespective of
sex, age, and race. I have a friend, Kaori, who I met just
once nine years ago, and I remember vividly what we did
and talked about even though I don’t remember her face
clearly any more.
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However, we have kept in touch with each other
to this day. An event like this happens only
occasionally in our lives because it usually takes
times to become friends and to cultivate
friendships. For that reason, we have different
kinds of friendships, depending usually on how
long we have known the friends. The process of
making friends can be divided into three stages:
new friends and acquaintances, true friends,
and best friends.
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There are many reasons why people
become friends such as feelings of familiarity,
having things in common, or having the same
experience. For example, when I was taking an
English class, I had many classmates but I could
not get to know everyone. Some of them
became my friends because they were friendly
and easy to talk to, because we spent time doing
something together in class, or
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because we had the same purpose: a desire to
improve our English. However, some of them
remained only acquaintances because we didn’t
keep in touch after the course without definite
reasons. They were friends at that time only,
and the reasons for this that come to mind are
that we led busy lives and that we didn’t have
much in common because of no longer being
classmates.
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However, we shared qualities of friendship such as
warmth and encouraging one another at that time
although we were only acquaintances.
Moving on to the second stage, a true
friendship would be a deeper relationship; it is
natural for us to be true friends if we spend time
together and get to know one another. For instance,
some of my former classmates are still my friends,
and we sometimes have lunch, go shopping, or talk
on the phone even though we are not classmates
anymore.
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We are becoming true friends and building
friendships because we are getting to know each
other better gradually on account of spending time
together. As a result, we have trust, understanding,
and affection in our friendships.
While cultivating a friendship, you might find
a best friend whom you can confide in, whom you
do all you can for without expecting anything in
return, and whom you sacrifice your time or energy
for willingly if he or she needs you.
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A best friend will accept and respect you, keep
confidences, and be loyal to you. When you can
get a friendship like this, it is not too much to
say that you are fortunate, for it is difficult to
find a best friend. That is so because it is hard to
accept and respect differences in feelings,
thoughts, and personalities, and also because
we are afraid to reveal ourselves. Fortunately,
my best friend, Mikako, and I got over these
difficulties.
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For example, we know each other’s
shortcomings, and if necessary, we advise each
other to mend them. However, we can accept
them because we know each other very well, so
they are not serious problems in our friendship.
Also we confide in each other and share our
personal events and feelings no matter whether
they are good or bad. We want to listen to each
other’s opinions even if we disagree or
disapprove of them because we accept and
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respect each other, and we know we value each
other’s opinions.
We have different kinds of friends in different
parts of our lives, but not all friendships last forever.
However, they are parts of our lives and our
memories even though some of them are only
acquaintances. While building a friendship, we
learn and benefit from our friends through their
encouragement, affection, support, trust, and
kindness.
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When we have a good friendship with someone, it
makes us feel happy and joyful. And friendship
makes us more human as it helps us to realize that
others have the same needs as we do that
friendship fills. In the end, friendship helps us to see
how precious life is and why we are living.

Written by Kiyomi Kumazawa in William R.

Smalzer from Reading, Reflection, and Writing,
2005, p. 71-72
for your great attention…