Writing Paragraphs (Part 1)

Paragraph Writing (Part 1)

A well-organized piece of writing has coherence. Coherence means how easily a reader can understand and follow your ideas. Cohesion means how well you link your ideas in your writing.

A well-organized essay has a clear thesis supported by main ideas. Readers should be able to easily understand and follow the ideas in an essay. The main ideas that support the thesis are developed in the body paragraphs. Each paragraph is about one idea. This idea – the main idea – is supported by supporting details. The supporting details explain the main idea with reasons or examples.

Look at the following paragraph. This paragraph is coherent. The ideas are easy to follow. The first sentence in red is the main idea and the following sentences are the supporting ideas.

Telecommuting makes things more convenient for the employee. For one thing, there is no need to spend time and money commuting between work and home. In addition, the employee can wear casual clothes most days so does not have to spend a lot of time and money shopping for clothes. Finally, working at home means the employee has more time to devote to family responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and childcare.

The first sentence clearly states the main idea – that telecommuting is convenient for employees. Each of the following sentences, the supporting statements, provides an example of how tele-commuting is convenient. It is easy for the reader to follow the writer’s ideas.

Practice:

Read the following paragraphs. Underline the main idea in each paragraph. Cross out the sentence that does not support the main idea. The first one has been done as an example for you.

1. Far from being a sort of cruel jail for wild animals, zoos actually play an important role in animal conservation. Modem zoos keep their animals in large enclosures that resemble the natural habitat. Zoos give people the opportunity to see animals up close and learn about their habits and needs. This helps people feel a connection with animals and helps them understand the importance of preserving wild habitat. It makes people more interested in supporting conservation efforts.

2. The most important reason why I chose to move to this neighborhood is its convenient location. It is close to my job, so I can walk to work when the weather is nice. There are two small grocery stores nearby, and the mall is just a short subway ride away. Most of the houses are affordable, although a few are a bit expensive. There is a gym one block from my house, which makes it very easy to get my daily exercise.

3. Spending too much time on the Internet can have a bad effect on children's health. Children need a lot of physical exercise to stay healthy. When they spend a lot of time online, however, they don't get physical exercise. Parents should encourage their children to turn off the computer and spend time outside playing physically active games. Children can easily find information on the Internet that is not suitable for their young minds.

4. I can recommend several interesting things for you to do during your visit to this city. This city is famous for its pleasant climate. You won't want to miss a visit to the shopping district since our city is so famous for its stores. City Park is near there, has a beautiful garden, and is a nice place for a walk on a sunny day. I think you would also enjoy the history museum as it explains a lot of interesting facts about the city and region.

5. The price of corn dropped steadily from 2012 to 201 It fell from just over $4.00 in 2012 to exactly $4.00 a bushel in 2013. In 2014 there was another slight drop, to around $3.50, and it dropped again, to around $3.00 a bushel in 2015. The price of wheat rose slightly in 2012.