using paragraphs (writing)

Using paragraphs

A paragraph is a group of sentences that share the same idea. We use paragraphs to structure our writing and to make it easier for the reader to follow.

Have a look at a range of different texts - such as newspapers, online reports and stories - to see how different writers divide texts into separate paragraphs.

There’s more information about paragraphs in the factsheet Writing paragraphs.

Topic sentences

A topic sentence gives you the main idea in a paragraph. It’s often (but not always) the first sentence in a paragraph. For example, if you’re writing about travel and you want to write a paragraph about how much travel has changed over the years, you could start your paragraph with a general statement, such as Travel has changed completely in the last hundred years. This is your topic sentence. The other sentences in the paragraph will then give more information about these changes in travel. These are called supporting sentences.

How to develop a paragraph

There are lots of different ways of developing your writing in a paragraph.

If you’re writing about changes in travel, you could develop the paragraph by giving an example of how travel has changed. For example you could write about the growth in air traffic over the last hundred years.

You could make a comparison. One hundred years ago, how long did it take to travel from England to India? How long would the same journey take now?

You could tell a story (or anecdote) to make your point. For example, you could write about some people who have sailed around the world.

You could give a reason why you think travel has changed completely, such as the huge changes in technology over the last hundred years. You could also discuss what you think are the consequences of these changes. Do many more people travel long distances than ever before? Has the increase in the number of travellers affected our planet?

You could use statistics (or numbers) to back up your argument. For example, can you find figures about how many people use public transport every day.

 

Fill in the gaps with appropriate words (from the choice below) to link the paragraphs. Remember that the topic of one paragraph should follow logically from the topic of the last paragraph and should lead on to the topic of the next paragraph.

Choice of linking words

After   Leave   The whole process   The next stage   Finally   Start   Next

How pottery is made

                               Start                                          by preparing the clay (thick, heavy soil that is soft when wet, and hard when dry or baked, used for making bricks and containers) to make sure its texture is even and that it’s free from air bubbles. Air trapped in clay expands when heated in the kiln (a type of large oven used for making bricks and clay objects hard after they have been shaped), causing it to explode.

    Next                                                                  make the thing you want. There are four basic methods to use. Firstly, pinch pots, made by squeezing clay with your fingers. Secondly, slab pots, made by joining flat sheets of clay. Thirdly, coil pots made with sausages of clay, and finally, pots made on the wheel (thrown pots).

       Leave                                                               the clay to dry for about a day until it becomes leather hard, like firm cheese. At this stage, you can finish fine details or decorate the clay.

                              After                                         a week or so. When the clay is completely dry, you bake, or fire, the pot at about 980°C to make it hard. This is called biscuit firing. It also makes the clay porous for the next stage.

     The next stage                                                      is to cover the pot with a special kind of powdered glass called glaze. You mix the powder with water and apply it to the pot by dipping, pouring, brushing or spraying.

      Finally                                                           you fire the pot again again - to a higher temperature this time (between 1,000°C and 1,400°C depending on the clay). This is called glaze or ghost firing. It makes the glaze melt and gives the pot an even, glass-like coating.

   The whole process                                       , from start to finish, takes about two weeks.