Types of Paragraph
MARIA BHUIYAN
LECTURER
DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES
KHULNA UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
Types of Paragraph
1. Descriptive Paragraph
2. Argumentative Paragraph
3. Listing Paragraph
4. Example Paragraph
5. Comparison Paragraph
6. Contrast Paragraph
7. Cause and Effect Paragraph
8. Persuasion Paragraph
Descriptive Paragraph
When you describe something or someone, you give your readers a
picture in words.
Needs sharp and colourful details based on your observation
Must appeal to readers’ senses by providing a sensory details : sight, touch,
hear, taste, smell, sound, feel, etc.
The main purpose of a descriptive writing is to make readers see, hear,
taste, smell, feel, etc. of your writing.
Descriptive Paragraph
A Depressing/Interesting Place
Doctor’s Waiting Room
An Antique Shop
Your Close Friend
Teacher
A Rainy Day
A Winter Morning
The Life of an Artist
The Natural Beauty of Bangladesh
A Bus Stand/Railway Station
Argumentative Paragraph
Providing arguments in favour of a topic
You can use argumentation to make a point in a discussion, persuade a
friend to lend you money, or talk an employer into giving you a day off.
Clear, logical arguments
You become a critic of : advertisements, newspaper articles, political
speeches, and other persuasive appeals you see and hear every day.
Because argumentations assumes controversy, you have to work
especially hard to convince readers of the validity of your position.
Argumentative Paragraph
Teenagers and Jobs
TV Addiction
Banning Violence Movies
Present Government System
Reforming Education Systems in Bangladesh
Banning Smoking in Public Places
Stopping Dowry System
Ambition is Neither Good nor Bad
Avoiding Unnecessary Talk during Class
Listing Paragraph
A list of chronological explanation is given supporting the topic sentence.
In this type of paragraph, something is explained in a listed way.
The topic sentence is supported by the chronological order of terminators
or transitional phrases.
Example:
My Eid Shopping Venture
My Daily Routine
How to Survive an Exam 101
Example Paragraph
In our daily conversations, we often provide example – details, particulars,
and specific instances – to explain statements that we make. Consider the
following statements and supporting examples:
The first day of university was frustrating. My writing course was canceled. Then, I
couldn’t find the language lab. And the lines at the bookstore were so long that I
went home without buying my textbooks. In addition to that a group of senior
students tried to rag me by asking a number of irrelevant questions. --------.
My son Peter is unreliable. If I depend on him to turn off a pot of beans in ten
minutes, the family is likely to eat burned beans. If I ask him to turn down the
thermostat before he goes to bed, the heat is likely to stay on all night. Several
times he bought sugar whereas I asked him to bring salt. --------.
In each case, the examples help us see for ourselves the truth of the
statement that has been made.
Explanatory examples help your audience fully understand your point.
Lively, specific examples add interest to your paper.
Comparison Paragraph
A comparison paragraph, as its name indicates, compares similar aspects
or qualities of two subjects.
In comparison paragraphs, additional sentence types may be used: topic
introducer.
Two procedures can be followed in writing a comparison paragraph
Alternating one with another: A1 B1; A2 B2; A3 B3; and so on.
Plain procedure: A1 A2 A3 then B1 B2 B3
The comparison may be in the same sentence or in the subsequent
sentences
Comparison Paragraph
Similarities in Christianity and Islam
Two of the major religions of the world are Christianity and Islam. Although
seemingly different, the two faiths share several fundamental beliefs and
practices. Both worship the same deity, whom the Christians term God and the
Muslims call Allah. For knowledge of his faith and for inspiration, the Christian
turns to his holy book, the Bible. The Muslim, too, has a holy book, the Koran.
Which guides his prayers and gives meaning to his life. The Ten
Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount Provide a code of ethics for
the lives of all Christians. Similarly, all Muslims subscribe to the Hadith and the
Five Pillars of Faith for daily guidance. Such basic similarities in code and
conduct illustrate the shared heritage of Christianity and Islam.
Contrast Paragraph
Unlike the comparison paragraph, which compares similar aspects of two
subjects, the contrast paragraph compares dissimilar aspects of two
subjects.
In contrast paragraphs, additional sentence types may be used: topic
introducer.
Two procedures can be followed in writing a contrast paragraph
Alternating one with another: A1 B1; A2 B2; A3 B3; and so on.
Plain procedure: A1 A2 A3 then B1 B2 B3
The contrast may be in the same sentence or in the subsequent sentences
The Objective Test and the Essay Exam
In college and university courses, the objective test and the essay exam are two contrasting
methods of evaluation commonly used to measure a student’s grasp of subject matter. The
objective test usually consists of a large number of unrelated questions that require the student to
demonstrate mastery of details. It often leads to rote memorization of isolated facts during the pre-
test period of study. Since the questions on the objective test are presented in true-false or multiple
choice form, the student may be encouraged to guess answers for which he has no accurate
knowledge. The essay exam, on the other hand, usually consists of a few broadly stated questions
that require the student to organize his responses in essay form. Such questions force the student to
give proof of his ability to handle general concepts. This type of exam also relies on factual
information, but there is far greater necessity for the student to demonstrate analytical and
compositional skills. Mere guessing at answers is reduced to a minimum. Although the objective test
and the essay exam have similar goals – the assessment of a student’s academic achievement –
the techniques and the results of the two types of examination differ significantly.
Comparison/ Contrast Paragraph
The Novel and Short Story
Paragraph and Essay
Football and Cricket
Town Life and Village Life
College Life and University Life
Public University and Private University
A Human and a Robot
Women Today and Women in the Past
Family Life and Hall Life
Cause and Effect Paragraph
The stating of facts and the giving of reasons to explain why or how the facts
came about.
Some sort detective approach is needed to examine the causes of something
or the effect of something.
The relationships between causes and effects are not always as clear-cut as
the two terms seem to suggest.
Causes may not all carry the same weight: several contributing causes may be
grouped together to form one important cause.
There may be one effect to a cause, or there may be many.
Effects may be less important than causes.
Cause and effect paragraph differs from the process analysis in that it does not
necessarily involve a chronological sequence.
Instead, it seeks the reasons for an outcome and lists them (with necessary
discussion) in either ascending or descending order of importance.
Cause and Effect Paragraph
Language change
Dropping out of school
Popularity of Horror Movies
Effect of Domestic Violence on Kids
Increase in the Divorce Rate
Causes of Student Failure in Public Examination
Causes of Crime/poverty/pollution in the City
Failure of Our Football Team
Depression of Younger Generation
Cause and Effect Paragraph
Language Change
There are many reasons why languages change, but three major causes
help illustrate the concept. Initially, various languages that started from the
same parent developed their own uniqueness after groups of speakers
drifted away from one another to establish isolated, independent
communities. Another major cause of language change is the influence of
and interaction with foreign cultures, often as a result of military conquest.
A continuing cause of change is the rapidly expanding technology and
new systems of communication that bring all cultures and languages into
closer contact, with borrowing between languages a common
phenomenon in the contemporary world. All languages change as the
experiences of their speakers change.
Persuasion Paragraph
In writing a persuasive paragraph or essay, the writer states the idea or
belief he or she is trying to convince the reader to share and then backs
that idea up with supports, evidence, or reasons why that belief is valid.
1. Decide on the opinion you want your specific audience to share.
2. Formulate a tentative thesis statement.
3. Generate ideas to support your opinion. Focus on the reasons why your
opinion is valid. Examine each of the rhetorical patterns in Chapters 8
through 17 to see which might be useful in helping to prove your thesis. 4.
In a formal argument essay, you may be required to refute the opposition
case. To do so, generate a list of supports for the opposition and think of
reasons why their points are not valid.
4 Tips on Persuasion Paragraph
1. Avoid factual topics. If a topic is either true or false, the answer can be
looked up or researched, but there is no purpose for argument. For
example, there would be no point arguing that the New England Patriots
won the Super Bowl in 2005 because the statement is either true or false,
and no amount of arguing will alter the facts.
4 Tips
2. Avoid obvious topics. If everyone would agree with a statement, then there
is little point in building a careful argument to support it. For example, since
most people would agree with the statement that smoking damages a
person’s health, you would have to work very hard to get an audience’s
attention with this argument. (You can do it, but you have to find a way to
make an argument that your audience has not already heard many times.) A
more interesting and controversial topic for a general audience would be the
statement that smoking should be banned in the workplace or in public
places.
4 Tips
3. Avoid oversimplification. Don’t oversimplify a complex problem or you
will lose credibility. For example, if you argue that the planet’s pollution
problems could be solved if we all recycled, you will lose your audience’s
trust—most people know that our pollution problems cannot be solved so
easily.
4 Tips
4. Avoid unfair arguments. Don’t distort the truth or mislead your audience,
and don’t unfairly characterize the opposition or its case. For example, it
would be unfair to characterize the opposition as a bunch of fools or
dismiss their case as flimsy or ridiculous without presenting evidence.
