PARAGRAPH WRITING

HOW TO WRITE OPENING PARAGRAPHS

The goal of your introduction is to let your
readers know what they can expect from your
paper/essay. In general, an introduction should
do the following:
1.Attract the Reader’s Attention
2.State Your Focused Topic
3.State your Thesis/ Purpose of writing

STEP 1: Attract the Reader’s Attention

• Begin your introduction with a "hook" that grabs your reader's
attention and introduces the general topic. Here are some
suggestions on how to create a “hook”:
• State an interesting fact or statistic about your topic
• Ask a rhetorical question
• Reveal a common misconception about your topic
• Set the scene of your story: who, when, where, what, why,
how?
• Share an anecdote (a humorous short story) that captures
your topic

STEP 1: Attract the Reader’s Attention

•

Create a Sense of Motion : In medias res

• It’s key to grabbing your readers right from the beginning.
Consider this fantastic opening paragraph from Haruki
Murakami’s Norwegian Wood:

• “I was 37 then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747
plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to
Hamburg Airport. Cold November rains drenched the
earth. lending everything the gloomy air of a Flemish
landscape: the ground crew in waterproofs, a flag atop a
squat building, a BMW billboard. So — Germany again.”

Use Declaratives: Readers want to believe you’re
about to take them on an engaging adventure.

• It communicates clarity and confidence. Just look at how some of the greats use
this technique:

• “I am an invisible man.” — first sentence in Invisible Man by Ralph
Ellison

• “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking
thirteen.” — first sentence in 1984 by George Orwell

• “I am a sick man. … I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man.
I believe my liver is diseased.” — first sentences from Notes From the
Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

• “Call me Ishmael.” — First sentence in Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Define Your Setting :

• Consider the opening paragraph of White Fang by
Jack London:
• “ Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the
frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by
a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and
they seemed to lean toward each other, black and
ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned
over the land.”

Create Tension: Emotional tension

• “I first met Dean not long after my wife and I
split up. I had just gotten over a serious illness
that I won’t bother to talk about, except that
it had something to do with the miserably
weary split-up and my feeling that everything
was dead.”
• That’s the opening to Jack Kerouac’s On The
Road.

STEP 2: State Your Focused Topic

• After your “hook”, write a sentence or
two about the specific focus of your
paper. What is your paper/essay about? Why
is this topic important? This part of the
introduction can include background
information on your topic that helps to
establish its context.

STEP 3: State your Thesis/ Purpose of writing

Finally, include your thesis statement or purpose of writing. It
depends on the type of paper/ essay you are writing, but, in
general, your thesis/ purpose of writing should include:

• your specific topic
• your main point about that topic
• the points of discussion you will include in your essay
• Your thesis/ purpose should be clear, and easy to find. Most
often, it is the last sentence of the introduction.



HOW TO WRITE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS

The conclusion brings closure to the reader, summing
up your points or providing a final perspective on your
topic.
• All the conclusion needs is three or four strong
sentences which do not need to follow any set
formula. Simply review the main points (being
careful not to restate them exactly) or briefly
describe your feelings about the topic. Even
an anecdote can end your essay in a useful way.

WHAT TO ADD IN THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

• Give your final thoughts about the topic
• write your hopes, wishes and/or dreams
• Give a rhetorical question
• Put a quotation
• Write an anecdote

WHAT TO ADD IN THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

• Begin with your rephrased thesis statement to remind your
reader of the point of your paper/essay.

• Summarize the points you made in your paper/essay and show
how they support your argument; tie all the pieces of your paper
together.

• Tell your reader what the significance of your argument might be.
Why is the discussion important? Do you want your reader to think
differently, question something, or perform some action? Make a
recommendation of what your reader should "do" with the
information you just gave them, or share the importance of
the topic.



SUMMING UP: YOU LEARN ABOUT

•1. the component of a paragraph
•2. how to write paragraphs (topic sentence,
supporting details and conclusion)
•3. the different types of paragraphs
•4. how to put together paragraphs to write
an essay (Opening, Body, Conclusion)

ANY QUESTIONS??????

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