STRUCTURAL

ARRANGEMENT IN
COMPOSITION
 You have one hour to write an essay on the following topic:

The causes and long-term consequences of stress.

Your essay must contain an Introduction, Supporting Paragraphs and Conclusion

Start Time: 5:10p.m.

End Time:6:10p.m.
COMPOSITION

 In composition and speech, the organization is the arrangement of ideas,

incidents, evidence, or details in a perceptible order in a paragraph, essay, or
speech. It is also known as the elements' arrangement or dispositio, as
in classical rhetoric. It was defined by Aristotle in "Metaphysics" as "the order
of that which has parts, either according to place or potentia or form."
  The Parts of an Essay
 The parts of an essay or composition often are divided into five parts, or

PARTS OF AN paragraphs, to help beginning writers learn how to organize their

thoughts. The parts include:

ESSAY • The introductory paragraph that sets up the composition's premise

and usually presents the writer's thesis. A thesis is the main idea, the
assertion a writer makes about a topic. An example of an
argumentation assertion would be, "Wind power is a good alternative
energy because it is environmentally clean and can benefit the local
economy."
• Three paragraphs of support that explain in detail why the thesis is
reasonable.
• The concluding paragraph that wraps up the essay.
 Intended as a model, the five part-essay helps writers plan their
research, organize their thoughts, and present their final written
composition. The five-part essay is used to help writers understand how
to unify a composition. Because many topics are too complex to discuss
in only five paragraphs, this structure also provides the writer with a
foundation upon which to build a longer, more fully developed essay.
Paragraphs & Topic Sentences
 A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic.
Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into
paragraphs. This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end,
and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points.
 Paragraphs can contain many different kinds of information. A paragraph could contain a series of brief
examples or a single long illustration of a general point. It might describe a place, character, or process;
narrate a series of events; compare or contrast two or more things; classify items into categories; or
describe causes and effects. Regardless of the kind of information they contain, all paragraphs share certain
characteristics. One of the most important of these is a topic sentence.
TOPIC SENTENCES
 TOPIC SENTENCES
 A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in a sentence
called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several important functions: it substantiates or supports an
essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it
advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how the paragraph will discuss it. Readers generally
look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph.
That’s why it’s often best to put the topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph. In some cases,
however, it’s more effective to place another sentence before the topic sentence—for example, a sentence
linking the current paragraph to the previous one, or one providing background information.
TOPIC SENTENCES

 Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations
when a paragraph might not need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able to
omit a topic sentence in a paragraph that narrates a series of events, if a paragraph
continues developing an idea that you introduced (with a topic sentence) in the
previous paragraph, or if all the sentences and details in a paragraph clearly refer—
perhaps indirectly—to a main point. The vast majority of your paragraphs, however,
should have a topic sentence.
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

 Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see
this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing
information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important role in communicating your meaning to your
reader.
 Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any other sentences at
the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or provide a transition.
 Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples,
and other information.
 Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body
of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.
Basic Paragraph Format to Write Effective
Paragraphs on Single Topic

 A paragraph explains one idea in detail and supports the expansion of an

overall topic for the essay. Paragraph length will vary based on the purpose of
the paragraph.
 Parts of a Paragraph
 The basic paragraph consists of three parts: a topic sentence, supporting
details, and a concluding sentence. This basic paragraph format will help you to
write and organize one paragraph and transition to the next.
Basic Paragraph Format to Write
Effective Paragraphs on Single
Topic
 Topic Sentence:
 Often, the Topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph. Also, we can call
an introduction sentence of a paragraph. It states the main idea of each
paragraph and displays how the idea connects to the thesis or overall focus of
the paper. All consequent points presented in the paragraphs must support the
topic sentence.
Basic Paragraph Format to Write
Effective Paragraphs on Single Topic

 Supporting Details
 The supporting sentences explain more about the topic sentence by showing some facts, stats, or
examples regarding the topic. It also includes the writer’s experience & own analysis and used to
develop the topic sentence. The following are common origins of supporting details:
• Expert Opinion
• Facts and Statistics
• Personal Experiences
• Others’ Experiences
• Brief Stories
• Research Studies
• Your Own Analysis
• Interviews
Basic Paragraph Format to Write
Effective Paragraphs on Single
Topic
 Concluding Sentence
 It is the end of the paragraph which is also known as final statement about the
topic. It ties all ideas given in the paragraph and emphasizes the main idea one
last time. In the concluding sentence, the writer usually restates their topic
sentence or summarizes the main points of the paragraph.
Types of Paragraph

 Having knowledge about what are the type of paragraphs is one of the most
essential aspects while writing a paragraph. So, we thought of explaining a bit
about paragraph writing types is a must. Okay, let’s start about it.
 There are four types of paragraphs that you need to know about: descriptive,
narrative, expository, and persuasive. If you have a quick search on the web
then you may found other types too but to make your paragraph simple and
succinct, it’s a good idea to study just these four.
Types of Paragraph
 1. Descriptive Type of Paragraph: This paragraph type describes the topic and displays the reader
what’s the subject included in it. The terms selected in the description type usually appeal to the
five senses of touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. This type of paragraph can be more artistic
and may vary from grammatical standards.
 2. Narrative Type of Paragraph: In simple words, this type of paragraph narrates a story that
includes a sequence of topic sentences like a clear start, middle of the topic, an end to the
paragraph.
 3. Expository Type of Paragraph: It defines something or gives instruction. It may also explain a
process and influence the reader step by step via a form of the method. This Expository Para
usually needs research, but also it’s possible to rely on the writer’s own knowledge and experience.
Types of Paragraph

 4. Persuasive Type of Paragraph: This kind of paragraph seeks to make the

audience to admit a writer’s point of view or know his/her position. Persuasive
paragraphs are often used by the teachers because it is beneficial when
building an argument. Also, it makes a writer to research and collects some
facts on the topic.
How to Write a Perfect Paragraph?
Three Simple Steps to Compose a Good
 Determining how to write a good paragraph can be challenging as it demands knowing how to
Paragraph
write a great topic sentence, using supporting details and transitional words, including finding a
strong concluding sentence. In a novel or story, writing a paragraph implies knowing which ideas
work mutually and where a new paragraph should start.
 Prior knowledge on How to write a paragraph helps students to put their thoughts collectively in a
better way and attract readers’ attention towards the topic. Hence, improve your skills in paragraph
writing by practicing various topics using the below mentioned important elements of a paragraph.
How to Write a Perfect
Paragraph? Three Simple Steps to
1. Topic Sentence
Compose
•
a Good Paragraph
What is the topic sentence? The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph.
• What does it do? It introduces the main idea of the paragraph.
• How do I write one? Summarize the main idea of your paragraph. Make clear what your Paragraph
will be about.
How to Write a Perfect Paragraph?
Three Simple Steps to Compose a Good
Paragraph
 2. Supporting Details
• What are the supporting sentences? They come after the topic sentence,
making up the body of a paragraph.
• What do they do? They give details to develop and support the main idea of the
paragraph.
• How do I write them? You should give supporting facts, details, and examples
How to Write a Perfect Paragraph? Three
Simple Steps to Compose a Good Paragraph

 3. Closing Sentence
• What is the closing sentence? The closing sentence is the last sentence in a
paragraph.
• What does it do? It restates the main idea of your paragraph.
• How do I write one? Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different
words.
WHAT IS A SENTENCE

 A sentence is the basic unit of language which expresses a complete

thought. It does this by following the grammatical basic rules of syntax. For
example:"Ali is walking". A complete sentence has at least a subject and a main
verb to state (declare) a complete thought. Short example: She walks.
  1. Declarative Sentence (statement)
 Declarative sentences make a statement. They tell us something.
DECLARATIVE They give us information, and they normally end with a full-
stop/period.

SENTENCES 

•
The usual word order for the declarative sentence is:
subject + verb...
Declarative sentences can be positive or negative. Look at these
examples:
 INTERROGATIVE
SENTENCE
positive negative  2. Interrogative Sentence (question)
 Interrogative sentences ask a question.
Do you like Don't you like They ask us something. They want
coffee? coffee? information, and they always end with
a question mark.
Why did you Why didn't you  The usual word order for the
go? go? interrogative sentence is:
• (wh-word +) auxiliary + subject + verb...
 Interrogative sentences can be positive
or negative. Look at these examples:
 IMPERATIVE SENTENCE
 3. Imperative Sentence (command)
 Imperative sentences give a command. They tell us to do something, and they end with a full-stop/period (.)
or exclamation mark/point (!).
 The usual word order for the imperative sentence is:
• base verb...
 Note that there is usually no subject—because the subject is understood, it is YOU.
 Imperative sentences can be positive or negative. Look at these examples:

positive negative

Stop! Do not stop!

Give her coffee. Don't give her coffee.

 EXCLAMATIVE SENTENCE

 4. Exclamative Sentence (exclamation)

 Exclamative sentences express strong
emotion/surprise—an exclamation—and they always
end with an exclamation mark/point (!).
 The usual word order for the exclamative sentence is:
• What (+ adjective) + noun + subject + verb
• How (+ adjective/adverb) + subject + verb
 Look at these examples:
• What a liar he is!
• What an exciting movie it was!
• How he lied!
• How exciting the movie was!
TYPES OF SENTENCE QUIZ

 https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/type-quiz.htm
 The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of organization. In this paragraph the topic
sentence and concluding sentence (CAPITALIZED) both help the reader keep the paragraph’s
main point in mind.

 SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED TO SUPPLEMENT THE SENSE OF SIGHT IN NUMEROUS WAYS. In front of
the tiny pupil of the eye they put, on Mount Palomar, a great monocle 200 inches in diameter,
and with it see 2000 times farther into the depths of space. Or they look through a small pair of
lenses arranged as a microscope into a drop of water or blood, and magnify by as much as 2000
diameters the living creatures there, many of which are among man’s most dangerous enemies.
Or, if we want to see distant happenings on earth, they use some of the previously wasted
electromagnetic waves to carry television images which they re-create as light by whipping tiny
crystals on a screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or they can bring happenings of long ago and
far away as colored motion pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-absorbing molecules to
force light waves into the patterns of original reality. Or if we want to see into the center of a
steel casting or the chest of an injured child, they send the information on a beam of
penetrating short-wave X rays, and then convert it back into images we can see on a screen or
photograph. THUS ALMOST EVERY TYPE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION YET DISCOVERED HAS
BEEN USED TO EXTEND OUR SENSE OF SIGHT IN SOME WAY.

 George Harrison, “Faith and the Scientist”

COHERENCE
 In a coherent paragraph, each sentence relates clearly to the topic sentence or controlling idea, but there is
more to coherence than this. If a paragraph is coherent, each sentence flows smoothly into the next
without obvious shifts or jumps. A coherent paragraph also highlights the ties between old information and
new information to make the structure of ideas or arguments clear to the reader.

 Along with the smooth flow of sentences, a paragraph’s coherence may also be related to its length. If you
have written a very long paragraph, one that fills a double-spaced typed page, for example, you should
check it carefully to see if it should start a new paragraph where the original paragraph wanders from its
controlling idea. On the other hand, if a paragraph is very short (only one or two sentences, perhaps), you
may need to develop its controlling idea more thoroughly, or combine it with another paragraph.
COHERENCE

 A number of other techniques that you can use to establish coherence in paragraphs are
described below.
 Repeat key words or phrases. Particularly in paragraphs in which you define or identify an
important idea or theory, be consistent in how you refer to it. This consistency and
repetition will bind the paragraph together and help your reader understand your definition
or description.
 Create parallel structures. Parallel structures are created by constructing two or more
phrases or sentences that have the same grammatical structure and use the same parts of
speech. By creating parallel structures you make your sentences clearer and easier to read.
In addition, repeating a pattern in a series of consecutive sentences helps your reader see
the connections between ideas. In the paragraph above about scientists and the sense of
sight, several sentences in the body of the paragraph have been constructed in a parallel
way. The parallel structures (which have been emphasized) help the reader see that the
paragraph is organized as a set of examples of a general statement.
COHERENCE

 Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and number. Consistency in point of view,
verb tense, and number is a subtle but important aspect of coherence. If you shift
from the more personal "you" to the impersonal “one,” from past to present tense, or
from “a man” to “they,” for example, you make your paragraph less coherent. Such
inconsistencies can also confuse your reader and make your argument more difficult to
follow.
 Use transition words or phrases between sentences and between
paragraphs. Transitional expressions emphasize the relationships between ideas, so
they help readers follow your train of thought or see connections that they might
otherwise miss or misunderstand. The following paragraph shows how carefully
chosen transitions (CAPITALIZED) lead the reader smoothly from the introduction to
the conclusion of the paragraph.
COHERENCE

 I don’t wish to deny that the flattened, minuscule head of the large-bodied "stegosaurus"
houses little brain from our subjective, top-heavy perspective, BUT I do wish to assert that
we should not expect more of the beast. FIRST OF ALL, large animals have relatively smaller
brains than related, small animals. The correlation of brain size with body size among
kindred animals (all reptiles, all mammals, FOR EXAMPLE) is remarkably regular. AS we
move from small to large animals, from mice to elephants or small lizards to Komodo
dragons, brain size increases, BUT not so fast as body size. IN OTHER WORDS, bodies grow
faster than brains, AND large animals have low ratios of brain weight to body weight. IN
FACT, brains grow only about two-thirds as fast as bodies. SINCE we have no reason to
believe that large animals are consistently stupider than their smaller relatives, we must
conclude that large animals require relatively less brain to do as well as smaller animals. IF
we do not recognize this relationship, we are likely to underestimate the mental power of
very large animals, dinosaurs in particular.
 Stephen Jay Gould, “Were Dinosaurs Dumb?”
 SOME USEFUL TRANSITIONS
modified from Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference

 To show addition:
again, and, also, besides, equally important, first (second, etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in the first
place, moreover, next, too

 To give examples:
for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that is, to illustrate

 To compare:
also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly

 To contrast:
although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless,
on the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet
 SOME USEFUL TRANSITIONS
modified from Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference

• To summarize or conclude:
all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum
up
• To show time:
• after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last, before, during, earlier, finally, formerly,
immediately, later, meanwhile, next, since, shortly, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, when,
while
• To show place or direction:
• above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther on, here, nearby, opposite, to the left (north,
etc.)
• To indicate logical relationship:
• accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so,
then, therefore, thus
QUESTIONS