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AN INTRODUCTION TO

WRITING
 01 02
Paragraph
Sentence structure
structure
• Types of sentences • Parts of a paragraph

TABLE OF • Connecting sentences • How to write a paragraph

CONTENTS
03 04
How to
Writing process
evaluate
a paragraph • Steps of writing
• Criteria to assess a
well-written paragraph
01Sentence structure
The following statements are true about sentences in English:

• A new sentence begins with a capital letter.

E.g.: He obtained his degree.

• A sentence ends with punctuation (a period, a question mark, or an

exclamation point)
E.g.: He obtained his degree./ Is this website safe?

• A sentence contains a subject that is only given once.

E.g.: Smith he obtained his degree.
01
Sentence structure
• A sentence contains a verb or a verb phrase.
E.g.: He obtained his degree. I look after my father

• A sentence follows Subject + Verb _ (Object) word order.

E.g.: He (subject) obtained (verb) his degree (object).

• A sentence must have a complete idea that stands alone.

This is also called an independent clause.
E.g.: He obtained his degree. (an independent clause)
(x) Because he reads many books. (a dependent clause, not a complete sentence.)
 Types of sentences
1. Simple sentences

- A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, and it may also

have an object and modifiers.
- However, it contains only one independent clause.

E.g.: She slept. (S+V)

She completed her literature review. (S+V+O)
He organized his sources by theme. (S+V+O+ Preposition phrase)
They studied APA rules for many hours. (S+V+O+ Preposition phrase)
 Types of sentences
2. Compound sentences

- contain at least two independent clauses which can be combined with a

comma (,) and a coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon (;).

E.g.: She completed her literature review, and she created her reference list.
Independent clause 1, conj. independent clause
2.
He organized his sources by theme; then, he updated his reference list.
Independent clause 1; adv, independent clause
2.
 Types of sentences
3. Complex sentences
- contain at least one independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

- Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which), the sequence/time
(since, while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the independent clause.
E.g.:

Although she completed her literature review, she still needs to work on her method section.
Dependent clause , independent
clause.

They studied APA rules for many hours as they were so interesting.
Independent clause conj dependent clause.
 Types of sentences

4. Compound-complex sentences

- contain at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

E.g.: She completed her literature review, but she still needs to work on her method

Independent clause 1, conj. independent

section clause 2

dependent clause 1
even though she finished her method course last semester.
 1
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Practice 1
Make two examples for
each type of sentence.
I GO FOR A WALK EVERY DAY BECAUSE IT MAKES ME COMFORTABLE
( câu phức)

I like studying Maths and I dislike studying Biology. (câu ghép)

 Connecting sentences
1. They finish one project. They started working on the internet.
 Only if
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Practice 2
……………………………..
Combine each pair of sentences into a meaningful one.
2. The proposal seemed like a good idea. The manager refused it.
 The manager
………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………
3. He died in 1960. He received the bravery award in 1970.
 After his
………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
4. He is anxious about leaving for home soon. He has had no news of his
family for two weeks.
 He
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
5. He didn’t take his father’s advice. That’s why he is out of work now.
 If
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………….
 Connecting sentences
Practice 2
Combine each pair of sentences into a meaningful one.

1. They finish one project. They started working on the internet.

 Only if they had finished one project did they start working on the next.

2. The proposal seemed like a good idea. The manager refused it.
 The manager refused the proposal though it seemed like a good idea.

3. He died in 1960. He received the bravery award in 1970.

 After his death, he received the bravery award in 1970.

4. He felt very tired. However, he was determined to continue to climb up the mountain.
 Tired as he might feel, he was determined to continue to climb up the mountain.

5. He didn’t take his father’s advice. That’s why he is out of work now.
 If he had taken his father’s advice, he would not be out of work now.

6. We cut down many forests. The Earth becomes hot.

 The more forests we cut down, the hotter the Earth becomes.
02Paragraph structure
What is a paragraph?
• is a group of sentences about a single topic.
• the sentences of the paragraph explain the main ideas about the topic.
Parts of a paragraph

Supporting sentence 1

Concluding
Topic sentence Supporting sentence 2
sentence

Supporting sentence 3
Hamburger
paragraph

Topic sentence: tells the reader the main idea

Supporting
sentence 1 give specific details
Supporting sentence
related to the main
2
Supporting sentence idea
3
Concluding sentence: sums up the main ideas
of the paragraph.
1.Topic sentence
• It limits from a topic and consists of two parts:

Topic + Main/Controlling idea

E.g.: T.S 1: A good friendship requires us a lot of factors.

Topic Controlling idea

T.S 2: A good friendship will bring us plentiful benefits.

Topic Controlling idea
 Practice 1

Identify the topic and controlling idea in the following topic sentences.

1. Graduating from high school is important for many different reasons.

2. Dogs make wonderful pets because they help you to live longer.

3. Drinking tea has positive effects on a person’s overall health because of

the compounds it contains.

4. Environmental pollution is related to human’s contaminating activities.

 Practice 1

Identify the topic and controlling idea in the following topic sentences.

1. Graduating Topic
from high school is important for many different reasons.
Controlling
idea
2. Dogs make wonderful pets because they help you to live longer.
Topic Controlling idea

3. Drinking tea has positive effects on a person’s overall health.

Topic Controlling idea

4. Environmental pollution is related to human’s contaminating activities.

Topic Controlling idea
 Notes
A topic sentence should not be too broad or too limited.

+ Too general: - the readers cannot know exactly what the

paragraph is going to discuss about.
- Too many ideas for just one paragraph.
+ Too specific: - the writer may have nothing to say further

- not have enough ideas to write about.

 Practice 2

Evaluate each of the following topic sentences and mark them as follows

E: effective
S: too specific
G: too general
1. Japanese culture is fascinating to study because its family traditions
are so different from American traditions.

2. The admission test for the police academy includes vocabulary

questions.

3. The discovery of penicillin was a great step in the advancement of

modern medicine.

4. Each year Americans are the victims of more than 1 million auto
thefts.

5. The White House has many famous rooms and an exciting history.

6. There are three factors to consider when buying a flat-screen TV.

7. Iraq has a long and interesting history.

1. Japanese culture is fascinating to study because its family traditions
are so different from American traditions. G

2. The admission test for the police academy includes vocabulary

questions.  S

3. The discovery of penicillin was a great step in the advancement of

modern medicine. E
4. Each year Americans are the victims of more than 1 million auto  S
thefts. G
5. The White House has many famous rooms and an exciting history. E

6. There are three factors to consider when buying a flat-screen TV.

G
7. Iraq has a long and interesting history.
 2.Supporting sentences

- They include follow-up information to the topic sentence to convince readers to

believe or envision what the writer do, and give everything to see his point of
view.
- They describe, explain or develop the topic or main idea in a topic
sentence.

- Therefore, the writer need to brainstorming supporting ideas first by

converting the topic sentence into topic question and answering that
question.
 Practice
Convert these topic sentences into topic questions.

1. Graduating from high school is important for many different reasons.

2. Dogs make wonderful pets because they help you to live longer.

3. Drinking tea has positive effects on a person’s overall health because of the

compounds it contains.

4. Environmental pollution is related to human’s contaminating activities.

 Practice
Convert these topic sentences into topic questions.

1. Graduating from high school is important for many different reasons.

 Topic question: What are those reasons?

2. Dogs make wonderful pets because they help you to live longer.
 Topic question: How dogs make you live longer?

3. Drinking tea has positive effects on a person’s overall health.

 Topic question: What are those positive effects?

4. Environmental pollution is related to human’s contaminating activities.

 Topic question: What are those activities and how they are related to environmental pollution?
 2. Supporting sentences

Majors : an elaboration on the controlling idea, perhaps with and

explanation, implication, or statement about
significance.
Supporting ideas

Minors: an example (or more) to make majors more persuasive,

clear and reliable.
Details
 Example

Major 1: We need to respect each other.

+ respect one another beliefs and points of view.
Two minors of Major
+ learn to adapt to other friend. 1

Major 2: We must be loyal and trustworthy.

+ keep friend’s secret. Two minors
+ make time to meet up with each other, not cancel the of Major 2

plan.

Major 3: We need to stand by each other.

Two minors of Major
+ share the happiness. 3

+ sympathize the friend’s sorrows.

 3. Concluding sentences

- is the last sentence of a paragraph which briefly summarizes the

information that was written, gives opinion or suggestion or simply
rephrases the topic sentence.

- do not add new information in the concluding sentence.

E.g.: It is not easy to become a good friend.

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How to evaluate
a paragraph
 01 Unity
- The paragraph should be about only one clear topic or main idea.

- All the sentences must focus on one topic, explaining or

developing
the main idea.
02 Coherence & Cohesion
- Coherence: all the ideas/sentences are arranged in a logical
order.

- Cohesion: lexical and grammatical connections that tie the

sentences together.
 Lexical cohesion
1. Repetition
- use a particular word or phrase across different sentences or paragraph.
E.g.: Volunteering offers individuals many rewarding experiences. A
volunteer
may change the lives of others while changing his or her own life.
2. Synonyms
- use a word or phrase in a later sentence which has the same or
similar meaning to a keyword in the sentence.
E.g.: Paul saw a snake under the table. The serpent was probably
hiding there for a long time.
 Grammatical Cohesion
1. Anaphora
- use a word referring back to another word used earlier in a text.
E.g.: Volunteering offers you the opportunity to try out a new career
without
making a long-term commitment. It also gives a great way to gain
experience in a new field.

2. Cataphora
- use a word or that refers to or stands for a following word or
phrase.
E.g.: While I was making a U-turn, I almost run over it. There was a
huge cow in the middle of the path.
 Grammatical cohesion
3. Transition signals
a. Addition
- Firstly,/ First of all,/ First, …
- Secondly,/ Moreover,/ Furthermore,/ Additionally,/ In addition to + N
- Besides,/What’s more,/ Apart from + N
- Lastly,/ Finally,/ The last but not least,/ The most important of all, …

b. Contrast
- However,/ Whereas,/ Nevertheless,/ Nonetheless, …
- Although/ Even though/ Though + Clause
- In spite of/ Despite + N
- In contrast,/ On the contrary,/ On one hand,/ On the other hand,…
 Grammatical cohesion
3. Transition signals
c. Opinion
- I am sure that/ I am convinced that/ I strongly believe that/ I make for sure that …
- I think/ In my opinion/ As far as I am concerned/ To the best of my knowledge,…

d. Example
- For example,/ For instance,/ Take N for instance, …
- As an illustration for …

e. Emphasis
- In fact,/ Indeed,/ Undoubtedly,/ Without a doubt/ There is no doubt that …
- Obviously/ Absolutely/ Particularly, …
 Grammatical cohesion
3. Transition signals
f. Reason
- Because/ Because of/ Due to/ Owing to …
- Therefore/ Hence/ As a result/ Consequently …

g. Conclusion
- In conclusion,/ In short,/ In brief/ In a word/ In a nutshell, …
- To sum up/ To summarize/ In summary, …
- It goes without saying that/ It can be denied that …
 03 Sentence writing skills
- Try to avoid writing sentences which are choppy, fragment, stingy or run-
on.
- Pay attention to grammar, structures, word choice, spelling.
E.g.:
Choppy: I like dogs. Dogs make good pets. Dogs are friendly. Dogs are loyal.
Fragment: The man in that house.
Shows no improvement in your proficiency.
Because it is raining.
Stingy: Yesterday morning, I woke up and went downstairs and found out that the
electricity was off and I went upstairs to get ready and fell on the stairs
and I finally got to my room and got dressed.
Run-on: I hate this movie, it’s so boring. I love to play games I would play daily if I
had time.
04 Writing styles
- need to consider the writing style (formal or informal) and culture in
specific regions or areas.
 04
Writing process
Writing process
Writing process

Step 1: Prewrite
- Prewriting is the first thing to need to do
before starting your draft.

- You can brainstorm ideas, take notes, and

gather information (e.g. interviewing people,
researching in the library, etc.)
 How to brainstorm
ideas
Listing Mind-mapping Freewriting
Writing process

Step 2: Outline
- Arrange your ideas in logical or time orders
and make an outline for your writing.
 Sample outline
T.S: English has become a very important language.

Supporting detail 1(Reason 1): enables communication with people of

different nationalities.
+ Supporting detail 1: in English speaking countries
+ S.D 2: in non-native English speaking countries

S.S 2 (Reason 2): plays a vital role in education and students’ life.
+ S.D1: many books are published in English
+ S.D2: access to an incredible source of information on the
Internet

S.S3 (Reason 3): be crucial for travel and business

+ S.D1: easy to get assistance
+ S.D2: is the language of business
Writing process
Step 3: Writing a first
draft
- It is very important to make a first draft to put
your ideas into sentences and paragraphs.

- Here concentrate on explaining or supporting

your ideas fully and connecting the ideas.

- Don’t pay attention to such things as spelling

at this stage.
Writing process

Step 4: Revise
- Revision is the key to effective documents.

- Here you also refine your writing, making

each sentence as concise as possible.

- Make connections between ideas explicit

and clear.
Writing process

Step 5: Edit
- Check for such things as grammar,
mechanics, and spelling.

- The last thing you should do before printing

or submitting your document is to spell
check it.
THE END

Do you have any

questions?
 Practice
Write a paragraph about 120-150 words to introduce
yourself.