The Structure of a Paragraph

Your name
Course # and title
Professor's name
Date

OUTLINE

Title of the paragraph

I. Topic Sentence (TS): ___________________________________________________________ (TOPIC + CONTROLLING IDEA)

II. Supporting Points--SP (examples, reasons)

     A. Supporting Point #1: _________________________________
          1. Specific fact/detail #1: ______________________________
          2. Specific fact/detail #2: ______________________________

     B. Supporting Point #2: _________________________________
          1. Specific fact/detail #1: ______________________________
          2. Specific fact/detail #2: ______________________________

    C. Supporting Point #3: _________________________________
          1. Specific fact/detail #1: _____________________________
          2. Specific fact/detail #2: _____________________________

III. Concluding Sentence (CS): _____________________________________________________ (restatement of the TS)

WRITING THE PARAGRAPH

Title

Topic sentence . Bridge sentence . Transition, supporting point #1 (SP #1) . Specific fact/detail #1 for SP #1 . Transition, specific fact/detail #2 for SP #1 . Transition, supporting point #2 (SP #2 . Specific fact/detail #1 for SP #2 . Specific fact/detail #2 for SP #2 . Transition, supporting point #3 (SP #3) . Specific fact/detail #1 for SP #3 . Specific fact/detail #2 for SP #3 . Transition, concluding sentence .

ADDING TRANSITIONS

see also Techniques of Sentence Combination (Discourse Markers)

Transitions for topic sentences
In general, _______________________________________________________________.
(S + V + C)
Generally, ________________________________________________________.
As a rule, _______________________________________________________________.
usually
often

Transitions for supporting points
First, _________________________________________________________________.
Second,
Next,
In addition,
Furthermore,
(to introduce the last supporting example) Finally,

Transitions for specific details/examples
For example, ___________________________________________________________.
For instance,                      (S + V + C)
To illustrate,
____________________________________________________________, for example.
                        (S + V + C)                                                                               for instance.
One (an) example of ___________________________________is _________________.
                                            (topic)
As an example, __________________________________________________________.
________________________________________ is an example of _________________.
                                                                                                                (topic)
A final example of __________________________________ is ____________________.
                                                      (topic)

Transitions for concluding sentences
In conclusion, __________________________________________________________.
In summary, (S + V + C)
In short,
As we have seen,