Study Skill for the Day. Paragraphs.

   Paragraphs, the Building Blocks of good Reading and Writing.

Firstly, let me say that this post relates to academic reading and writing and that fiction can and often does follow a different set of conventions. Writing in academic English is basically linear in that it goes from A to B to C to D.

This convention is normal in most European languages but is different in Arabic and Asian languages. Each paragraph has a topic sentence which comprises of: a Topic and a Controlling Idea. In a very simple essay about Cats a clause (no pun intended clause/claws... Ha! Ha!) may say-

'Cats hate mice.' 

Cats are the topic and their hated of mice is the controlling idea. The paragraph would then contain sentences giving examples of this hatred- possible reasons for it, its history, or maybe a counter argument that cats and mice have actually been living in harmony since time began. 

They do like mice!

Any other separate ideas- The fact that cats make good pets, or the fact that they don't like water, or how cats' behavior is different to dogs should be featured in separate paragraphs. If your paragraphs are fairly long you might have a separate one for your counter arguments.

In my first paragraph you will see that I've underlined some words. When giving a reason for instance; you would use a linking word- because/due to/as to connect clauses. This gives your writing cohesion. I will look at linking words next week. 

They do like water!

When you read academic texts, and especially when you have to read long texts for exams, finding the topic, the controlling idea and understanding the relationship between the clauses (which the linking words show) are essential skills that will take you to the information you are looking for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcUza_wWCfA