Hello everyone.
In the lesson today, we are looking at how to craft a strong paragraph.
Some of the ideas that we are going to discuss in this lesson were mentioned in the previous lesson.
So if you don’t know anything, go back to that lesson.
But I believe that we have done that lesson.
So let’s continue with the idea of how to craft a strong paragraph.
Now, before you write any paragraph, decide on the main topic, because a paragraph should focus on one central idea to maintain unity and coherence.
In the previous lesson, I discussed the idea of cohesion and coherence, but just in case it slipped off your mind.
Coherence is the logical way in which ideas flow in a text or in an essay.
Cohesion is how those sentences cohere together through the use of signposts or signpost language, like in addition.
In contrast, however, all those words signpost or signal something to the reader. An example.
If you are tasked with writing about the importance of exercise, your main topic sentence might be the the health benefits of regular exercise.
The health benefits of regular exercise, that is your topic, okay?
This clear topic helps set the direction of the paragraph and prevents you from going off topic.
So you might be talking about the benefits of this.
So make sure it’s clear what you’re talking about in that particular paragraph.
And if you were to write about several unrelated aspects of exercise, your paragraph would lack focus and confuse the reader.
Okay, Step number two on how to write a paragraph.
The first one we said, you know the purpose.
Identify the main topic.
What is it that you’re going to write about in that particular paragraph?
Then gather information and ideas.
Gathering information ensures you have enough material to support your main idea.
You can guess where that is idea from the materials that you gather.
Now, in the test, jot something on a piece of paper.
Just jot something on a piece of paper.
For example, for the chosen topic, the health benefits of regular exercise, you might jot down key points such as improves cardiovascular health, aids in weight management, and enhances mental well being.
You might write these points for you to construct a good sentence.
So at this point, just list ideas that you will later develop into a coherent into coherent sentences.
Note down statistical or factual information, such as regular exercise reduces the risk of heart disease by up to 30%.
Again, just think about these things in the exam.
If you are given to write a paragraph, okay?
Then you have jot down your points, your statistical and factual information.
You organize those ideas.
Structure your ideas to flow logically from one to the next, okay?
And in the example that we are Looking at the health benefits of exercise, you it would make sense to start with the most significant benefit, which is cardiovascular health.
Now, before you move on to the weight management and mental well being, this order ensures that your paragraph is easy to follow.
Okay, start with the most important one.
Structure your points.
Also, structuring your points helps the reader to see how each idea builds on the previous one.
So you know which point you are going to discuss first.
Then write what we call a topic sentence.
Again, I mentioned a topic sentence in the previous lesson, but in this lesson, a topic sentence is a sentence that carries the main idea.
Okay, so you can write a clear and concise topic sentence that introduces the main idea of your paragraph.
Main idea of the paragraph.
Which means that this idea captures everything that you’re going to write about in a sentence.
So in looking at regular the benefits of regular exercises, of regular exercise, we might write what you can see on the screen.
Regular exercise offers numerous health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, better weight management and enhanced mental well being.
Remember, these are the points that we jotted at the beginning.
So you put them in that sentence and then you know that this sentence will set the pace or the tone for the paragraph.
And ensure all the time that your first sentence sets the tone and the pace for your paragraph.
It should tell the reader exactly what to expect as the reader continues reading your paragraph.
And it ensures that the rest of the sentences in the paragraph will support this central idea.
So when you write this sentence, the rest of the sentences will just support this idea.
And we mentioned at the beginning that supporting sentences could be explanations, could be examples, could be illustrations, could be factual statistical data.
And these should make sure they just lean on the topic sentence.
Okay, that is what we are talking about.
And after that add supporting sentences.
You know what supporting sentences do?
They elaborate on the main idea.
They give examples on the main idea.
So supporting sentences explain, illustrate or substantiate the main idea presented in the topic. That’s what they do.
They may include factual data, such as statistics or research findings, which provide credible backing for your claims.
In the exams, you don’t have the time to read papers, but write as if you have read the paper.
And again, these are general skills, like just in your paper writing to say, 50% of people who engaged in exercise.
You know that 50% is very important as an actual data, but not actual in the real world, but in your head as you write your test.
Supporting sentences can also introduce examples that clarify abstract concepts, expert opinions that add authority, or personal anecdotes that offer A relatable perspective.
That’s why we like using supporting sentences in a paragraph.
And actually there is no paragraph without the three elements.
Topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence.
Okay, let’s look at an example.
So remember, we started with a topic sentence.
Now we have added supporting sentences.
Regular exercise offers numerous health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, better weight management and enhanced mental well being.
Firstly, you see, firstly is a very important word in there because it shows that you are beginning to mention things.
And this is the first thing that you are going to mention about what you read.
You know, so first, about what you wrote in the top main topic or topic sentence.
Engaging in physical activity strengthens the heart and improves circulation.
This is just an explanation reducing the risk of heart disease.
Secondly, regular exercise helps control body weight by burning calories and boosting metabolism.
And lastly, or last is a very important word here again, because it shows the author that this is the last point you are mentioning.
Exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety.
If you want, actually, you can pause the video to read this and study this paragraph because it shows you as an example of what you’re supposed to write.
The last thing you need to do is to write a concluding sentence.
Remember at the beginning we said that a concluding sentence connects or links back to the main idea or gives a personal opinion. Okay?
So summarizing the main points of providing a final thought is very important.
And we are not talking about the summary of the essay, we are talking about the summary of paragraph.
So each paragraph must have a concluding sentence because it reinforces the main idea presented in the topic sentence and provides a sense of closure.
Let us look at a full paragraph now, which has got a topic sentence, supporting sentences and the closing sentence. Here it is.
We read the first part.
I’m just going to read the concluding sentence which says by improving physical health and enhancing mental well being, regular exercise plays a vital role in maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
You can see that this sentence is restating what is in the topic sentence or in the main sentence in a slightly, in a different way.
But it’s just restating or linking back to what we were given.
Pause the video and read this sentence.
Okay, you need to know when to start a new paragraph. It’s very important.
After you have written a paragraph and you have written a concluding sentence, you. You need to know that.
Now I need to move to the next paragraph.
And how do you do that?
If you are to continue writing about different aspects of exercise, such as social benefits or different types of exercise, it would be appropriate to Start a new paragraph.
Each new paragraph shows you to introduce a new central idea as we have seen, and maintain a logical connection to the previous one.
Let’s look at an example of the next paragraph.
And to understand this paragraph, you need to remember what we wrote or what is in the first paragraph.
Regular exercise not only benefits physical health, but also fosters social connections.
You can see that I am linking to the previous sentence by saying not only benefits physical health, which I discussed in the previous paragraph.
So again, you can see how logical this is because even when I read, if I just read this first sentence, it is telling me what I’m going to expect in this paragraph, but it also telling me that there is a previous paragraph or there’s previous information that we discussed because we are saying regular exercise not only benefits.
When you say not only, it means doesn’t just do that, it does another thing.
Now, another thing is what we begin to discuss in this paragraph.
For instance, participating in group fitness activities or sports teams, such as yoga classes, football clubs or running groups, promotes a sense of community and encourages teamwork.
Additionally, now, the words that I have highlighted here in red, the words in red, they are signposts, they are markers, you know, they are transition words.
These words are the ones that are helping us to achieve what is called cohesion.
They are ensuring that these sentences cohere to each other in a logical way.
And when we actually get that logic, the logic is called coherence.
So the sum total of cohesion in a sentence leads to coherence. Okay?
And if you have a question, please feel free to ask.
In conclusion, we are saying that, to summarize, we are saying that writing an effective paragraph involves several key steps which we have looked at.
And you need to make sure you choose a clear topic.
You gather information, you write a strong paragraph by writing a strong topic sentence.
And then to that topic sentence, add supporting sentences, add explanations, examples, factual information, statistical information, add to them, and then write a concluding sentence.
If you do this, we are going to improve in your writing.
If you need a lesson in grammar, please go to my YouTube channel.
Thank you so much.
We’ll continue in the next lesson.