Paragraph Organization in English The basic unit of writing in English is a paragraph.

A paragraph is usually short (about eight to fifteen sentences) and always includes a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is called the topic sentence. The middle part has supporting sentences. The end is called the concluding sentence. Look at this model paragraph. You can see each part of the paragraph in its own box. Now, read the paragraph.

Model Paragraph
SENTENCE

Blood Types and Personality

TOPIC

What about you? In Japan, people say that blood types and personality are closely related. In the United States, astrological
SUPPORTING

Blood types may match certain personality traits.

The first blood type is O. People with this blood type are energetic. On the
SENTENCES SENTENCE

signs and personality are

related. Is there a popular way of predicting someones personality in your country? Tell a

negative side, Type O people can often be too proud. The second blood type is Type A. Type A people are patient, but they can also be stubborn. The third blood type is Type B. These people are creative but forgetful. The last blood type is AB. Type AB people are usually understanding of other peoples feelings. However, they can also be critical of other people.

CONCLUDING

classmate about it.

In short, certain personality characteristics go with a persons blood type.

PRACTICE 1: Identifying Parts of a Paragraph

Identify the topic sentence, the supporting sentences, and the concluding sentence in this paragraph. Put a box around each part.

Colors and You

Your preference for a certain color says something about your personality. For example, if you like yellow, you are probably happy and outgoing. Youre also very productive. If your favorite color is blue, you are a calm person, happy with your life, and at peace with other people. If you prefer red, you are very active and love intense experiences. If green is your color, you work on having a healthy body and a useful life. You also probably work to make to make society better. In conclusion, your favorite color says a lot about you.

The Topic Sentence In a paragraph, the first sentence is the topic sentence. The topic sentence is the main idea of that paragraph. It lets the reader know what the paragraph is going to be about. There are two parts to a topic sentence : the topic and the controlling idea. Look again at the topic sentence of the model paragraph.

Blood types may match certain personality traits. topic controlling idea

The topic is the subject that youre writing about. In this case, the subject is blood types. The controlling idea is what you are saying about a topic or the one part of the topic that you are writing about. The controlling idea limits the topic. In this case, the writer is writing about personality traits that correspond to blood types. However, instead of talking about personality traits, the writer could also write other paragraphs, about how blood types are used or about how you can learn your blood type. In those cases, the topic blood types is limited in other ways.

Here is a topic sentence for a paragraph about blood types and the uses in medicine. Blood types are very important to doctors. topic controlling idea Here is a topic sentence for a paragraph about blood types and learning your blood type. Its easy to learn your blood type. controlling topic You can see in these examples that a topic can come before the controlling idea, or it can come after a controlling idea. It depends on how you want to write your topic sentence.

PRACTICE 2: Identifying the Topic and Controlling Idea

Circle the topic and underline the controlling idea in the following topic sentences. 1. Twins can have very different personalities. 2. It is possible to be too nice. 3. Tom has a great personality. 4. Many people have problems with the winter blues. 5. Romantic people live longer lives. 6. Its surprising that reading palms can tell the future. 7. My brother is a very productive person. 8. There are many ways to learn about your personality.

More about Controlling Ideas In addition to limiting the topic in a paragraph, the controlling idea usually adds a point of view to the topic sentence. The point of view is the opinion of the writer. This is because topic sentences that state facts dont encourage the reader to read the paragraph. A fact is true, but theres often not much more to say about it. Look at the following sentence. Elaine has a personality. This isnt a good topic sentence because it states a fact. You cant argue with this statement, so the paragraph doesnt have much to say that is interesting.

If we add a descriptive adjective, however, the sentence becomes more interesting. Elaine has a difficult personality. This is a good topic sentence because it stimulates the readers interest. Now, the reader wants to find out why the writer thinks that Elaines personality is difficult.

P RACTICE 3: Identifying Topic Sentences Decide which of the following sentences work as topic sentences. If a sentence does, circle the
topic and underline the controlling idea. If it doesnt, cross it out, Explain why.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

My mother was born into a large family. This is a fact. My mother was born into a happy family. The professor gave a lecture. The professor gave an exciting lecture. Mark can sing like an opera star. Mark can sing. The house I grew up in was perfect for children. The house I grew up in was sold.

As you can see, you can make a statement of fact into a topic sentence by adding a descriptive adjective. Another way to do this is to add many or several before a noun. Personality types can be predicted in many ways. topic controlling idea You could also add a number before the noun. Personality types can be predicted in four ways. topic controlling ides The paragraphs for these two topic sentences are going to talk about the different ways to predict personality types.

PRACTICE 4: Identifying the Controlling Idea

1. Hawaii is a relaxing place to visit.

In the topic sentences below, circle the topic and underline the controlling idea. 6. Yoshi is very energetic. 2. My dog has a perfect dog personality. 7. Many situations can cause sleeplessness. 3. People go to college for many reasons. 8. There are three types of personalities.

4. My uncle Charlie is a crazy person.

5. There are four types of blood.

9. Astrology deals with twelve signs.

10. Katy has a creative mind.