Paragraph Writing Version1

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1.2 Questioning: this strategy is for reflecting on the writers’ memories by asking
as many questions as possible to get the detailed information about the specific
experience or incident. Wh-questions are normally used in this process because they
can clarify some specific information in order to complete the story in the narrative
paragraph.

Paragraph Example 2: Questioning

1. Who was involved in the story?
2. Where did the story take place?
3. When did the story take place?
4. How did the story take place?
5. What happed in the story
6. How did the story end?
7. What was the outstanding feeling/attitude of the story?

1.3 Freewriting: it is similar to brainstorming in terms of providing chances to get
whatever related to the topic despite grammatical errors. What makes freewriting
different from brainstorming is that the writer needs to write sentences in which one
word leads to the next. It can say that the later sentences flow from the previous ideas.

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Paragraph Example 3: Freewriting

I was 4 years old at that time but I could still remember when my
mom drove me to school. I cried so loud/ loudly in the car. I was so
sad because I don’t want to go. When I arrived at the school, teacher
Kanda held me hand, showed me around the school and take/took me
to the class. There was a nice girl, Manao, gave some candies when she
saw me cry/cried. Teacher Kanda hugged me and gave me many
crayons to color the picture. She asked me if I had a cat at home. I said
I love/loved cats. She smiled so brightly. I enjoyed the whole day at
school. In the afternoon, when every kid was/were waiting for the
parents to take/took them home, my mom showed up first. She
hugged me tightly. And we went home happily.

As you can see, the generating process provides the writers opportunities to elicit
the information from memories without stopping the stream of thoughts. So, the ideas
run quickly as they travel the time to the past without worrying about grammatical rules.
Since this process is the first step, there will be more time to correct the sentences later
after getting all pieces of memories that drifted apart long time ago. This really helps the
first-step learners not to give up their writing easily afterwards.

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2. Organizing ideas

After generating some ideas, the writer now gets enough information about the
paragraph. The next step is to organize those ideas in order to make a fine paragraph.
As mentioned before, a paragraph consists of three main parts: a topic sentence,
supporting sentences and a concluding sentence.

2.1 A Topic Sentence: In a narrative paragraph, the topic sentence should be
the first one to focus on. It is always the first sentence that shows the main idea of
the paragraph. A good topic sentence should have a distinct feeling, opinion or
attitude so that the ideas in a paragraph would not be lost or unfocused. So the
topic sentence should have limits in some ways.

Examples:

- I had the best time in Bangkok last summer.
- My high school prom night was a disappointment.
- I will never forget the amazing moment when my first child was born.
- My commencement day last year was forgettable.
- I almost lost my life during my Phuket trip last month.

From the given examples, each topic sentence contains a particular feeling that
foreshadows the situation that is going to be told in the paragraph. By a good topic
sentence, the readers will easily get involved in the story and look forwards to
reading the following incident.

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2.2 Supporting Sentences: In a narrative paragraph, supporting sentences are
the sentences that tell or narrate a story of events. They should be arranged in
chronological order. This means what happed first is reported first and what
happened next is reported later. Moreover, transitional signals are used to connect
the ideas between sentences. They help the readers to follow the ideas of the
paragraph easily and smoothly. (Transitional signal will be presented in the next
point, developing cohesion)

Paragraph Example 4: Organizing ideas

My First Day at School

My first day at school was unforgettable. I was 4 years old at that
time but I could still remember everything like it was yesterday. 1) That
day, I cried so loudly in the car when my mom drove me to school. I
was so sad because I did not want to leave my mom. 2) When I arrived
at the school, teacher Kanda was the first one who held my hand. She
showed me around the school and took me to the class. 3) In the class,
I met Manao, a very nice girl. She gave me some candies when she saw
me cry. 4) After that teacher Kanda came to hug me and gave me a
box of crayons to color the picture. She asked me if I had a pet at home
and I said I had a very lovely cat, Jupjip. Then, she smiled so brightly to
me and we colored the picture together. 5) After that I enjoyed the
whole day at school. 6) In the afternoon, while all kids were waiting for
the parents to take them home, my mom showed up first. She hugged
me tightly when she saw me. 7) Then, we hold hands and got in the car

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together. 8) On the way home, I told my mom that I would like to go to
school again tomorrow. It was the best memory I have ever had.

As seen above, the event in the paragraph happened in one day. And
according to a time sequence, each scene is respectively presented back to back
(from number 1-8). Also, transitional signals are used to connect the ideas between
sentences. They make all details stick together so the reader can easily follow the
direction of the paragraph.

A Topic Paragraph Outline Main idea
Sentence
My first day at school was A 1-day-long story:
Supporting unforgettable. The details are
Sentences presented according
1. Kind teacher to the time order.
2. Nice friend
3. Fun activity

A Concluding It was the best memory I have ever Emphasizing/Restating

Sentence had. the main idea

Figure 3.1 Analyzing Paragraph Organization
(A Narrative Paragraph: My First Day at School)

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From the paragraph above, the paragraph is considered a well-organized
paragraph due to having all required parts: a topic sentence (a main idea, one focused
feeling), supporting sentences (how the story goes) and a concluding sentences (restating
the point, unforgettable---best) Besides, the story runs so smoothly with transitional
signals (and, also, when, while, then and after that), which helps the readers follow the
story easily.

2.3 A Concluding Sentence: In a narrative paragraph, a concluding sentence
shows the final part of the story (how the story ends), emphasizes the point-- which can
be the feeling or attitude--, or give the related thoughts such as lessons learned from
that event. However, the concluding sentence is not a compulsory. The writer can omit
it when the paragraph is considered a complete one just by its details.

Examples:

1) Showing the final part of the story
- I went to bed with great happiness that night.
- He was in jail for 1 year after that hit-and-run incident.

2) Emphasizing the point

- It was the best moment I will never forget.
- It was the most scaring experience for me.

3) Giving related thoughts or lessons learned

- I never walk barefoot on the back yard again.
- I became a confident public speaker after winning that competition.

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3. Developing Cohesion

Cohesion is another characteristic of a good paragraph. When a paragraph is
cohesive, all sentences stick together to support a topic sentence. It signals the
relationships between sentences by using words or phrases. Since a narrative paragraph
is used to tell a story or an event in chronological order, transitional signals indicating
time are used to connect the ideas of the paragraph. There are two kinds of time signals
in a narrative paragraph: clause connectors and sentence connectors.

3.1 Clause connectors: These time signals are used to join a main clause (or an
independent clause) with a subordinate clause (or a dependent clause). A comma is
used to separate the subordinate clause from the main clause when the subordinate
clause appears at the beginning of the sentence. If the main clause appears first, there
will be no comma used between two clauses. (Pinijsakkul, 2007) Here are some clause
connectors commonly used in a narrative paragraph: when, while, before, after, as soon
as, by the time, until and once.

Table 3.1 Clause Connectors

Clause Examples
Connectors

when - When I saw the smoke from the opposite building, I called 911.
- I called 911 when I saw the smoke from the opposite building.

while - While I was watching TV, my son arrived home.
- My son arrived home while I was watching TV.

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Table 3.1 Clause Connectors (cont.) Examples

Clause
Connectors

before - After I had finished my dinner, my son arrived home.
- My son arrived home after I had finished my dinner.

after - Before my son arrived home, I had finished my dinner.
- I had finished my dinner before my son arrived home.

as soon as - As soon as the conference ended, I went straight to the airport.
- I went straight to the airport as soon as the conference ended.

by the time - By the time the conference ended, I had arrived at the airport.
- I had arrived at the airport, by the time the conference ended.

Until - We did not start our dinner until dad arrived.
- Until dad arrived, we did not start our dinner.

once - Once dad had arrived home, we started having dinner.
- We started our dinner once dad had arrived home

3.2 Sentence connectors: These time signals are used to link the two ideas in two
sentences. Thus, a comma cannot be used to join between two sentences. Here are
some sentence connectors commonly used in a narrative paragraph: first/at first, finally,
then/next/after that/later on, a few minutes later/after a short while, at the moment, all
of a sudden, suddenly and etc.

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Table 3.2 Sentence Connectors

Clause Examples
Connectors

First First, I arrived at the speech competition venue.

Next Next, I took my notes out of my pocket to practice my speech.

Then Then, I just realized that I forgot all of them at home.

Suddenly Suddenly, I became very nervous and my hands started shaking.

All of a sudden All of a sudden, I saw them on the floor. I was so happy.

After that After that I walked on the stage with full confidence.

At the moment At the moment I hold the microphone, I took a deep breath and
started my speech.

A few minutes A few minutes later, I completed my speech with a big round of
later applause.

Finally Finally, I got the first prize.

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In summary, generating ideas, organizing ideas and developing ideas are helpful
guidelines for the writer to create a good paragraph. Generating ideas includes three
suggested ways: brainstorming, questioning and freewriting. For organizing ideas, there
are also three main parts-- a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding
sentence-- to make a well-organized paragraph. In this process, the paragraph will be
completed with adequate information. Also, all sentences are written based on
chronological order. For the last process—developing cohesion process, the writer will
have a chance to review and editing the writing by joining the clauses or sentences with
appropriate connects. With all three steps, creating a narrative paragraph will be an easy
task for all learners.

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Practice 1: Generating ideas

A: Directions : Choose one strategic way to generate your ideas on the given topic.
My First Day at Yala Rajabhat University

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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Practice 2: Paragraph Organization

A: Directions : Analyze the following sentences and identify which sentence is a good
topic sentence. Then rewrite each good topic sentence into a concluding
sentence

Example: My first airplane ride is the most exciting experience I have ever had.
Those thrilling memories will stay with me forever.

1. The sun shined so beautifully that I decided to go on a picnic.
___________________________________________________________________________
2. Phuket trip last year was my most amazing experience.
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Last year, I went to Chiang Mai with my friend.
___________________________________________________________________________
4. My last high school exam was a disaster.
___________________________________________________________________________
5. One frightening experience I recall is when I was lost in Kao Luang Cave.
___________________________________________________________________________
6. I will never forget how scared I was during my first airplane ride.
___________________________________________________________________________

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B: Directions : Read the following sentences and a number 1-8 in front of each
sentence based on chronological order.

_____1. We had the most delicious buffet at the party.
_____2. We went straight to the clothing store.
_____3. My sister picked me up after class
_____4. We changed our clothes.
_____5. We went to the wedding party with beautiful looks
_____6. We went back home with happiness
_____7. We took lots of nice photos in front of the wedding hall.
_____8. We bought some news clothes.

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C: Directions : Write down a well-organized paragraph on the given topic.
My First Bicycle Ride

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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Practice 3: Developing Cohesion
A: Directions : Combine the following pairs of sentences using the appropriate clause

Connectors. Also use the correct punctuation.

1. I was sleeping in my room. Someone rang the doorbell.
___________________________________________________________________________
2. I had finished my homework. I went out for ice-cream.
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Jack did not do his homework. Dad got angry.
___________________________________________________________________________
4. I got inside the room. I saw him out.
___________________________________________________________________________
5. I arrived home. I went to bed.
___________________________________________________________________________
6. I found a sea turtle. I was walking on the beach.
___________________________________________________________________________

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B: Directions : Circle the sentence connecters used in the following paragraph.
And replace them with other appropriate connecters

My First Speeding Ticket

Two months ago, I was driving on Wipawadee Road at about 130
kilometers per hours. There were not so many cars since it was about 1
a.m. After a short time, I saw the siren of the police car with flashing red
lights ran after my car so I quickly stopped the car at the side of the road.
A police officer came to my car and told me that I was speeding. Then, he
wrote me a ticket for a 400-bath fine. After that I took four 100-bath bills
out of my wallet and gave them to him. He got angry and asked if I was
trying to bribe him. A few minutes later, he realized that I did not really
know what to do since it was my first time getting the speeding ticket.
Then, he told me to pay the fine at the police station. Since then, I never
speed my car over 100 kilometers per hour again.

Adapted from Chalermpatarakul, C. (2008:5)

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References

Boardman, Cyntia A. (2008). Writing to Communicate: Paragraphs. New York:
Pearson Education, Inc.

Boardman, Cyntia A., and Frydenberge, J. (2002). Writing to Communicate: Paragraphs
and Essays. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chalermpatarakul, C. (2008). Paragraph Writing: A Process Approach: Paragraphs. 2nd ed.
Bangkok: Thammasat University Press.

Janjaroensuk, P. (2008). Paragraph Writing. Bangkok: Dhonburi Rajaphat University.
Pinijsakkul, P. (2007). Sentence Writing. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press.

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Classroom Management Plan for Unit 4

Topic: Process Writing: A Descriptive Paragraph

Introduction to a Descriptive Paragraph
1. Generating ideas
1.1 Identifying the Picture
1.2 Brainstorming
1.2 Drawing a Tree Diagram
2. Organizing ideas
2.1 A Topic Sentence
2.2 Supporting Sentences:
- Space Order for Describing a Person
- Space Order for Describing a Place
2.3 A Concluding Sentence
3. Developing Cohesion
3.1 Adjectives
3.2 Prepositions

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Objective:

1. To enhance the students’ ability in generating ideas for a descriptive paragraph
2. To develop the students’ skills in organizing a good descriptive paragraph
3. To improve the students’ capability in developing cohesion for a descriptive
paragraph
4. To enable students to create a good descriptive paragraph.

Teaching Method and Instructional Activity:

1. The teacher stimulates students’ background knowledge about the topic.
2. The teacher presents the effective process for writing a good descriptive
paragraph to the students.
3. The students discuss in groups about the contents in the teaching material
and handout.
4. The representatives from each group present their work on the given topic
from the group discussion.
5. The teacher gives productive feedback to the students and provides more
information with extra examples from various sources.
6. The students do exercises in the teaching material and other handouts and
the teacher facilitate the students during classroom practice.
7. The teacher has the question-and-answer session with students.
8. The teacher assigns the students individual writing tasks to work at home for
further practice.

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Material needed

1. Teaching Material of Paragraph Writing course
2. Handouts
3. Power Point presentation and online extra information
4. Related books and worksheet

Assessment and Evaluation

1. Group presentation records
2. Practices from the teaching material and handouts
3. Writing assignments

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Unit 4

Process Writing: A Descriptive Paragraph

Introduction to a Descriptive Paragraph

If a narrative paragraph is to tell a story or the event according to the time order,
a descriptive paragraph is to describe what something looks like following the space
order. “Something” in this case refers to a person, a thing or a place which is described
by putting sentences to form a picture in the readers’ mind. And to provide a clear
mental picture, the writer needs to use the space order which is how the picture is seen
in the readers’ views. By space order, the readers can catch the sight of the picture from
top to bottom, left to right, right to left or far sight to close sight. Hence, the details in a
descriptive paragraph will be organized according to the space order.

In this unit, three steps are presented to the learners in order to write a good
descriptive paragraph:

1. Generating ideas: identifying a picture, brainstorming and drawing a tree
diagram.

2. Organizing ideas: a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding
sentence

3. Developing cohesion: adjectives and prepositions

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1. Generating ideas

The main purpose of a descriptive paragraph is to create a picture of things being
described in the readers’ mind. This step helps the writer draft the picture in his/her
head in order to transfer them into words, phrases or sentences. There are many ways
to generate the ideas. However, three successful ways are shown in this unit: identifying
a picture, brainstorming ideas and drawing a tree diagram.

1.1 Identifying a picture: In order to be able to elicit the clear information,
the picture of what is being described is needed. Identifying the real picture is one easy
way to help the writers shape their ideas into words, phrases or sentences. The ideas
will flow fast by using this strategy since the writer does not need to spend time in order
to put all pieces of information from their memories.

Paragraph Example 1: Identifying a picture

My Favorite English Teacher, Lisa
Well-dressed ,tall, tan skin,
long hair, oval face, big eyes with glasses,
look strict but very friendly and generous
She wears a black suit with a long skirt.
She like carrying a wooden cane to the classroom

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1.2 Brainstorming: In brainstorming, the writer can discover long lost memories
and develop those ideas into a list of words, phrases or sentences about the thing to be
described. The writer can write down or list whatever information that comes in the
mind without pausing since the spelling and grammatical errors will be focused later.

Paragraph Example 2: Brainstorming

My Luxurious Apartment
1) A living room on the right: leather sofas with a mahogany coffee
table and 41-inch Samsung TV on the wall
2) A marble hall with a chandelier in the center of the apartment, a big
family picture on the wall, opposite the front door
3) A small kitchen on the left: a dining table with 2 chairs
4) A large bedroom in the back left corner: a king-sized bed, a wardrobe
and a bathroom ( located from right to left)

1.3 drawing a tree diagram: Drawing a tree diagram can narrow down the
scope of the information. It helps the writer set the direction of elicited ideas so it is
easier to develop those ideas later. A tree diagram shows a broad topic and its
branches containing the more specific ideas that could be used in writing a paragraph.

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Overall: well-dressed, tall, tan skin

My Teacher Physical features Specific: long hair, big eyes with
Clothing/Accessory glasses

Wearing a black suite

Personality Carrying a wooden cane
strict and friendly

Figure 4.1 Drawing a Tree Diagram (Descriptive Paragraph: My Teacher)

Right: A living room Leather Sofas
Mahogany coffee table

My Apartment Center: A marble hall 41-inch TV
A chandelier

A big family Photo

Left Front: A kitchen A dining table
with 2 chairs

Back: A bed room A king-sized bed
A wardrobe
A bathroom

Figure 4.2 Drawing a Tree Diagram (Descriptive Paragraph: My Apartment)

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As you can see, the generating process provides the writer chances to
elicit information in order to write a descriptive paragraph. Many ideas are produced
during this process despite incorrect spelling and grammatical errors. This really helps
the writer reduce time spent on writing supporting sentences. Importantly, it forms a
vivid picture in the writer’s mind which will be developed into the descriptive paragraph.

2. Organizing ideas

After having enough ideas to write a paragraph, organizing those ideas is the
following step in order to make a good paragraph. In this step, a topic sentence,
supporting sentences and a concluding sentence are produced according to its type.

2.1 A topic sentence: In a descriptive paragraph, the topic sentence has a topic
and its controlling idea which is often an impression of the person, the place or the
thing being described. The writer’s distinct feeling, opinion or attitude towards the
topic is the main idea that controls the direction of overall sentences in the descriptive
paragraph. Moreover, the topic should bring in something outstanding, interesting or
important about the topic so the readers will have the clear picture of the topic
through the writer’s dominant impression.

Examples:

- My mother is the person I admire most.
- Lisa is the most attractive person I have ever known.
- The best library for me is the YRU library.
- Kata Beach is the most favorable place of all time.

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2.2 Supporting sentences: In a descriptive paragraph, supporting sentences aims
to describe the topic. And all sentences should be put together in space order.
Moreover, each supporting sentence should logically follow each other. This means
each point is described one by one and the writer should not confuse the readers by
shifting from one point to another unsystematically. In this unit, describing a person and
a place are the main goals. And the techniques for writing supporting sentences are
introduced as follows.

A. Describing a person: To describe a person, the general information of a person
is always introduced first: then, the specific information is described later. In a
descriptive paragraph, appearance (physical features and clothing) and characters are
often included in the supporting details.

appearance Character

General Description General Description
- tall - punctual
- friendly
- tan skin,
- well-dressed

Specific Details Specific details

-long hair, big eyes with glasses -never comes to class late
-Wearing a black suit and -gets along well with all students
carrying a wooden cane

Figure 4.3 Space Order for Describing a Person

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Paragraph Example 3: Describing a person

Jack Collin
Jack Collin is the most amazing person I have ever met. He came
to my school to share his difficult life. He was in prison for 5 years due
to some mistakes he made during his teenage life. He became a better
person after those experiences. Jack is tall and strong. He also looks a
little scary because he has some tattoos on his neck. However, he
turned into a very easy-going person when he started talking. Besides,
He was so kind that encouraged us to ask him many questions.
Importantly, I could see his sincerity when he said that he would like to
help young people. I have never met any impressive persons like Jack
before.

Adapted from Zemach, Dorothy E., and Islam, C. (2011: 26)

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Paragraph Outline

A Topic Sentence Jack Collin is the most amazing person I Main idea
have ever met

Supporting 1. background
Sentences 2. Appearance

- tall and strong, Started with overall
- a little scary due to spider tattoos looks followed by
on his neck specific information

3. Personality

-easy-going, kind and sincere

A Concluding I have never met any impressive Emphasizing/Restating
Sentence persons like Jack before. the main idea

Figure 4.4 Analyzing Paragraph Organization
(Descriptive Paragraph: Jack Collin)

From the paragraph above, the paragraph is considered a well-organized paragraph
due to having all required parts: a topic sentence (a main idea, one focused attitude),
supporting sentences (stating important background and describing both appearance and
personality) and a concluding sentence (restating the point). Besides, the story was
smoothly organized and linked by transitional signals (besides, also), which helps the
readers have the clear picture of the topic.

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B. Describing a place: When describing a place, the writer uses space order to
organize ideas. There are many ways to arrange the details in order by space. Some
strategic ways to write a descriptive paragraph according to space order are presented in
the following diagram.

front to back or back to front
far to near or near to far
Left to right or right to left

top to bottom or bottom to top

Left side around to right or right side around to left

Center to the outside or the outside to center

Figure 4.5 Space Order for Describing a Place
From: Chalermpatarakul, C. (2008: 56)

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Paragraph Example 4: Describing a place

Dhonburi Rajabhat University
Dhonburi Rajabhat University is the smallest Rajabhat Universiy in
Thailand. There is only one entrance to the campus and only one exit.
The entrance is on the left and the exit is on the right at the front of
the campus. There are two tall buildings—about 15 floors each on the
campus. One is near the center of the campus on the left. It has a
canteen, a library and a 4-storey parking garage in it. The other tall
building is in the back right corner of the campus. It also has a canteen
as well as the science department in it. Because there is so little space,
there is an only one indoor sport facility, a gymnasium, on the right
side next to the tall science building. Despite the small area, all
students love the friendly atmosphere of the campus.

Adapted from Janjaroensuk, P. (2008: 106)

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A Topic Paragraph Outline Main idea
Sentence
Dhonburi Rajabhat University is the
smallest Rajabhat Universiy in Thailand.

Supporting 1. University entrance and exit Giving the details
Sentences 2. Two tall buildings following the space
3. An indoor sport facility order: left -right

A Concluding Despite the small area, all students Restate the focused
Sentence love the friendly atmosphere of the Point (small) with
campus. the attitude

Figure 4.6 Analyzing Paragraph Organization
(Descriptive Paragraph: Dhonburi Rajabhat University)

From diagram 4, the paragraph is considered a well-organized paragraph due to
having all necessary parts: a topic sentence (a main idea, one focused point), supporting
sentences (describing the place by using the space order) and a concluding sentence
(restating the point). This really helps the readers form the vivid picture of in their minds.

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2.3 A concluding sentence: In a descriptive paragraph, a concluding sentence
often shows the comments about the person or a place being described in the
paragraph. Also, it can emphasize the mentioned points that appear in the supporting
sentences or can be the restatement or a paraphrase of the topic sentence. Here are
some examples of a good concluding sentence.

- Her outstanding appearance and generosity make her very well-known.
- Due to her great manners, everyone admires her.
- I could not find any better library like YRU library is.
- Kata Beach is the best place for beach lovers.

3. Developing Cohesion

To write a good descriptive paragraph, cohesion is needed. Although there are
many ways to make a cohesive paragraph, two effective methods are widely used. Using
adjectives is one good method to add the details to a paragraph that aims to describe a
person or a thing. Also, using prepositions is also recommended in describing places in
the descriptive paragraphs. The lists of useful adjectives and prepositions are introduced
in this unit.

3.1 Adjectives: The adjectives are very helpful for giving details in a descriptive
paragraph. And there are two common ways to add the adjectives in the supporting
sentences.

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1) Put the adjective after verb to be.
Examples: - John is friendly.
- His nose is prominent.
- Lisa is young and beautiful
- She is kind.

2) Put the adjective in front of the noun.
Examples: - John is a friendly man.
- He has a prominent nose.
- Lisa is a beautiful young woman.
- She has kind personality

As appeared above, verb to have is also used when describing a person. And it is
always followed by a noun phrase (adjective + noun). Moreover, when the noun phrase
contains many modifiers, the pre-noun modification should be organized in sequence.

Table 4.1 Sequencing Rule for Adjectives

Deter- Number Quality Size Shape Age Color Participle Nationality Noun Head

miners as adj Noun

The two lovely tall chubby young fair smiling Thai school girl

From: Pinijsakkul, P. (2007: 49)

And the list of useful adjectives to write a descriptive paragraph is shown in the
following table.

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Table 4.2 Adjectives for Describing a Person

Adjectives for Describing a Person
Height - short, of medium height, of average height, tall
Build - slim, skinny, thin, slender

- well-built, athletically-built
- of average build, plump, chubby
- heavy-built, overweight, fat, stout

Age - young, middle-aged, old
- in + his/her/their + early/mid/late + teens/twenties/thirties/…..

Complexion - fair, pale, sun-tanned, tanned, dark
Hair - short, shoulder-length, long
- black, brown, blond, grey, white
- straight, curly, wavy, frizzy, bald

Face - round, oval, square, triangle, thin, long
Eyes - big, small

- dark, brown, blue,
- bright, twinkling
Nose - pointed, prominent, flat
Lips - small, big
- thin, thick

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Table 4.2 Adjectives for Describing a Person (cont.)

Adjectives for Describing a Person

Overall - handsome (for male), beautiful/cute/pretty (for female)
appearance - good-looking, nice-looking, attractive
- plain-looking, ordinary-looking
- unattractive, untidy-looking, ugly

Character/ - good, nice, kind, generous, considerate, helpful
Personality - calm, good-tempered, hot-tempered, bad-tempered
- friendly, lively, easy-going, out-going, talkative,
- creative, imaginative, enthusiastic, energetic
- determined, hard-working, bright, smart, intelligent
- confident, independent, ambitious
- unconfident, dependent , shy, timid
- open-minded, narrow-minded, stubborn, selfish, thrifty

From: Chalermpatarakul, C. (2008: 56)

3.2 Prepositions: The prepositions of place are used to relate to things in space.
And there are three typical ways to place the prepositions or prepositional phrases in
sentences in order to support the details in a descriptive paragraph.

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1) Put the preposition after verb to be.
Examples: - A small garden is in front of the canteen
- The library is next to the science building.
- Three sofas are inside the living room.
- The reception counter is on the first floor.

2) Put the preposition after the passive form of the following verbs: locate,
situate, place and position.

Examples: - A small garden is located in front of the canteen.
- The library is situated next to the science building.
- Three sofas are placed inside the living room.
- The reception counter is positioned on the first floor.

3) Put the preposition at the beginning or the end of the sentence when the
sentence contains the following patterns: there is … and there are….
Examples: - There is a small garden in front of the canteen.
- In front of the canteen, there is the small garden.
- There are three sofas inside the living room.
- Inside the living room, there are three sofas.

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Here is the list of well-known prepositions that can be used in a descriptive
paragraph.

Table 4.3 Prepositions of Place

Prepositions for Describing a Place

in, at, under, near, far,
inside, at the back below, next to, beyond,
in front of, against, beside, in the distance,
in the corner, on, opposite, alongside
in the middle above, across from
on the top of,

In conclusion, identifying the picture, brainstorming ideas and drawing a tree
diagram are constructive ways to get the ideas in writing a descriptive paragraph. Also, a
topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence are three necessary
parts that help the readers follow the ideas in the paragraph easily. To describe a
person, the overall features are often stated before the specific features, since the
former helps painting the whole picture and the latter fills up the picture with certain
details. To describe a place, supporting sentences are respectively given following the
space order. By using the space order, the details in the paragraph will not randomly
arranged, so the readers can follow the ideas easily. Last but not least, developing
cohesion by putting the adjectives and prepositions in the descriptive paragraph does
help portraying the vivid picture in the readers’ mind. Through all the methods
mentioned, a good descriptive paragraph can be successfully produced.

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Practice 1: Generating ideas
A: Directions : Choose one strategic way to generate your ideas on the given topics.

Topic 1: My Best Teacher

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________

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Topic 2 : My House

________________________________________________________________
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Practice 2: Paragraph Organization

A: Directions : Analyze the following sentences and identify which sentence is a
good topic sentence. Then rewrite each good topic sentence into
a concluding sentence

Example: Lilla is the best friend of mine.
Her good heart makes me adore her.

1. David is an engineer at ABC Construction.
______________________________________________________________________
2. Manao Bay is not far from Narathat Beach
______________________________________________________________________
3. My father is the most admirable person.
______________________________________________________________________
4. Kao Luang Cave is the most outstanding cave in the north of Thailand.
______________________________________________________________________
5. John is a very down-to-earth man.
______________________________________________________________________
6. Max is the most adventurous man I have ever met.
______________________________________________________________________

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B: Directions : Write down well-organized paragraphs on the given topics.
Topic 1: My Father

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Topic 2: My School

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Practice 3: Developing Cohesion (Adjectives)

A: Directions : Rewrite the following sentences.
Example: Max has long legs.

His legs are long.

1. Lilla has a round face.
______________________________________________________________________

2. Lizzy has long curly black hair.
______________________________________________________________________

3. Jack’s eyes are dark and bright.
______________________________________________________________________

4. Stefany’s lips are very thin.
______________________________________________________________________

5. Nick is narrow-minded.
______________________________________________________________________

6. Jo’s sister is very smart.
______________________________________________________________________

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Practice 4: Developing Cohesion (Prepositions)

A: Directions : Complete each sentence with the appropriate prepositions.

1. David is waiting ____________________ the cinema.
2. The carpet is ____________________ the floor.
3. The clock is ____________________the wall.
4. ____________________ of my house, there is a lovely river.
5. The first Universal Studio is located ____________________ USA.
6. Big C store is ____________________my school.
7. ____________________the road, there are many tall buildings.
8. The black umbrella ___________________ the table.
9. His wife is ____________________ his arms.
10. The police station is ____________________ your right.

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References

Chalermpatarakul, C. (2008). Paragraph Writing: A Process Approach: Paragraphs. 2nd ed.
Bangkok: Thammasat University Press.

Janjaroensuk, P. (2008). Paragraph Writing. Bangkok: Dhonburi Rajaphat University.
Pinijsakkul, P. (2007). Sentence Writing. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press.
Zemach, Dorothy E., and Islam, C. (2011). Writing Paragraphs: From Sentence to

Paragraph. Oxford: Macmillan.

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Classroom Management Plan for Unit 5

Topic: Process Writing: An Expository Paragraph

Introduction to an Expository Paragraph
1. Generating ideas
1.1 Clustering
1.2 Brainstorming
1.3 Using the Chart
2. Organizing ideas
2.1 A Topic Sentence
2.2 Supporting Sentences:
- Logical Order
- Clarity
2.3 A Concluding Sentence
3. Developing Cohesion
3.1 Transitional Signals
3.2 Parallelism

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Objective:

1. To enhance the students’ ability in generating ideas for an expository
paragraph

2. To develop the students’ skills in organizing a good expository paragraph
3. To improve the students’ capability in developing cohesion for an expository
paragraph
4. To enable students to create a good expository paragraph

Teaching Method and Instructional Activity:

1. The teacher stimulates students’ background knowledge about the topic.
2. The teacher presents the effective process for writing a good expository
paragraph to the students.
3. The students discuss in groups about the contents in the teaching material
and handout.
4. The representatives from each group present their work on the given topic
from the group discussion.
5. The teacher gives productive feedback to the students and provides more
information with extra examples from various sources.
6. The students do exercises in the teaching material and other handouts and
the teacher facilitate the students during classroom practice.
7. The teacher has the question-and-answer session with students.
8. The teacher assigns the students individual writing tasks to work at home for
further practice.