CHINESE CINDERELLA - NOVEL - YEAR 8 - PARAGRAPH WRITING USING THE TEXT

PARAGRAPH POINTERS: PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH USING “CHINESE CINDERELLA” by ADELINE YEN MAH

Most paragraphs have three main parts:

·       The topic sentence (the POINT in the PEEL paragraph).

·       The supporting sentences. These start with an EXPLANATION of your point, followed by EXAMPLE/S or EVIDENCE in a PEEL paragraph.

·       The concluding sentence. This links to the THESIS of your essay, or links to the POINT of your next paragraph. If you’re writing a stand-alone paragraph, your concluding sentence will summarise your paragraph.

SO LET’S PRACTISE:

The first part of the paragraph is called the topic sentence/POINT. This sentence tells the reader what the paragraph is about.

READ the paragraph below. Look for the topic sentence/POINT.

Adeline Yen Mah suffered years of mental and physical abuse as a child. This abuse began when her mother died shortly after giving birth to her; in Chinese culture she signified ‘bad luck’. Adeline was left to suffer under a cold and manipulative stepmother, Niang. Adeline’s father never questioned her sadistic acts to his children, particularly Adeline. Adeline kept the abuse from her classmates as long as possible, saying, “…I was desperate to keep up the pretence that I came from a normal, loving family. I couldn’t possibly tell anyone the truth…I was held responsible for any misfortune and was resented for simply being around.” For this reason, Adeline’s mental and physical continued throughout her childhood and early adolescence.

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

1.     What is the topic/POINT? _________________________________________________________

2.     Rewrite the second and consequent sentences, which are the supporting sentences. How do these sentences use facts and descriptions to offer an EXPLANATION for the topic sentence? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.     Write down the EXAMPLE/EVIDENCE used to back up the EXPLANATION. Is this a good example? Why? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.   The last part of the paragraph is the concluding sentence. It ties together all the sentences in the paragraph. Copy the concluding sentence here. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PRACTISE WRITING YOUR OWN PEEL PARAGRAPH USING THE FOLLOWING QUOTE:

'Everyone needs a lot of everyday courage in their lives.'

First, ask yourself, what is courage?

One dictionary meaning is: ...the quality that enables people to face difficulties, danger and adversity without giving up...

Then ask yourself, how does Adeline show courage? Write about it...