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...
