READING SKILLS2.1

Página 1

The Essay

In this lesson, you’ll learn about paragraphs and how they function in different types of writing. An essay is a common type of writing. A standard essay consists of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

In the first paragraph, the introduction, an author presents the main idea of the essay. This paragraph, which tells readers what they’re going to read about, is designed to grab their attention.

The body of an essay follows the introduction. Paragraphs in the body of the essay are made up of a variety of supporting details to prove the main idea. These details include elements such as statistics, stories, research studies, quotations, and whatever else the author wants to use to support his or her main idea.

An essay ends with the conclusion, the author summarizes what he or she has demonstrated or discussed in the essay.

Here’s a simple way to remember the makeup of an essay:

Introduction: Tell your readers what you’re going to tell them.

Body: Tell them.

Conclusion: Tell them what you told them.

Now that you have an idea of how a standard essay is structured, let’s look closer at what a paragraph is.

What Is a Paragraph?

Articles in newspapers and magazines are broken up into paragraphs. A paragraph is a group of sentences that relate to a central or main topic. The statement within a paragraph that provides that central idea is called a topic sentence. The other sentences provide details about the topic.

Details are small facts that present information about a topic.

For example, imagine you’re reading a paragraph about comic book collecting. The topic sentence might be “Collecting comic books is a popular hobby for many people.” The rest of the sentences should then present details to support that idea.

While all paragraphs have a main topic, not all of them have clear or obvious topic sentences. Some don’t have a topic sentence at all. Instead, as a reader, you must read the entire paragraph and determine what it’s about. Later in this study lesson, you’ll learn more about paragraphs that have no clear topic sentence.

To help you understand how paragraphs are constructed, read the short article about American government in the figure below.

This article is a good illustration of how paragraphs are constructed.

In the figure, the first paragraph introduces the subject: the three divisions of the federal government in the United States. Each of the sentences introduces these three divisions. Then, each of the remaining paragraphs explains one of these divisions in turn. The second paragraph is about the executive branch. The third paragraph is about the legislative branch. The fourth paragraph is about the judicial branch. In each of these paragraphs, the topic sentence is easy to find. The final paragraph summarizes the main idea.

Note the difference between a main idea and a topic sentence. The main idea is what the entire piece is about. In this case, it’s about the three branches of the American government. The topic sentence is the statement in each paragraph that tells you what will be discussed in that particular paragraph. Topic sentences should always support the overall main idea.

Indenting Paragraphs

Notice that each paragraph in the article in the figure is indented. The first line of a paragraph is indented to show that a new paragraph is beginning. Therefore, you’ll find five indented lines in the article—one for each of the five paragraphs.

Of course, paragraphs aren’t always indented. For example, read the excerpt from an email in the next figure). Instead of indenting each paragraph, the author has added an extra line space between them. This is known as block style. It’s important to know which style you’ve been instructed to use for each assignment.

Instead of indenting the first line of each paragraph, the writer of this email chose to separate the paragraphs with an extra space.

The simplest way to indent a paragraph is with the Tab key on your keyboard. When you wish to begin a new paragraph, hit the Enter or Return key to finish the current one. Then, before adding any more text, press the Tab key. This will automatically indent your new paragraph.

Remember: a topic sentence describes the main idea of a particular paragraph. All of your topic sentences contribute toward the main idea of your essay.

Location of Topic Sentences

A topic sentence may be the first or last sentence in a paragraph, or it may occur somewhere in the middle.

Topic Sentence at the Beginning

Sometimes the topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph, as shown in the following example. The topic sentence is printed in bold. When the topic sentence is at the beginning of a paragraph, it’s usually easy to identify.

The first sentence tells the reader that Springdale needs a new high school. The remainder of the sentences provide evidence to support the topic sentence.

There’s no doubt that Springdale needs a new high school. The old Washington High School building on Main Street is in disrepair. It will cost tens of thousands of dollars to make it a safe place for students and teachers. Yet, even if all that money is spent, the building will remain cramped and overcrowded. The better course is to invest our money in a new, modern building. Several sites have been suggested. For the sake of our young people—and our teachers—let’s give this matter our serious attention.

Topic Sentence in the Middle

A topic sentence may also occur in the middle of a paragraph, as in the following example. Again, the topic sentence is printed in bold.

Do you enjoy looking at flowers? Do you ever wish you could keep a record of family events? Do you go out of your way to study an old barn or marvel at a beautiful sunset? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might want to consider buying a camera. Millions of Americans have found that photography is an ideal hobby. In part, that’s because cameras are getting better, and they’re becoming easier to operate. They’re also available at a good price. You can purchase a good used digital camera from almost any online retailer. If you think you might be interested in photography, consider getting some tips from a book on the subject or go online to the many helpful websites and videos.

When a topic sentence appears in the middle of a paragraph, it often separates two kinds of details. In the preceding paragraph, the first four sentences serve as the introduction. They’re meant to get the readers’ interest so that readers are more likely to keep reading. After these introductory sentences comes the topic sentence: “Millions of Americans have found that photography is an ideal hobby.” After the topic sentence, you find details about purchasing a camera and about how to find information to help with taking pictures.

Placing the topic sentence in the middle of a paragraph is the least common method for locating the topic.

Topic Sentence at the End

Sometimes the topic sentence is placed at the end of a paragraph. In such cases, the writer wants to build up to the main idea. Read the following paragraph for an example. The topic sentence is again shown in bold.

Young people may not realize that they will spend the majority of their waking hours at work. For that reason alone, young folks should carefully think about preparing for a job they’ll enjoy. Many people believe the key to preparing for a good job is education. According to a number of studies, getting a job that pays well can be difficult without at least a high school diploma. For these reasons, young people should be encouraged to stay in school until they graduate.

This paragraph gives you a lot to think about. You learn that people spend a lot of time on the job. You learn that it makes sense to find a job you like. Then you get a big hint: “Many people believe the key to preparing for a good job is education.” The sentences that follow this statement give you some details about why education is so important to finding a job you like. At last, the final sentence—the topic sentence—tells you why the writer wrote all of the other sentences. In the topic sentence, the writer asks readers to encourage young people to stay in school and get their diplomas.

Stated and Implied Topics

Each piece of writing should have a main idea, but that doesn’t mean that every paragraph is going to have a topic sentence. In the paragraphs you’ve studied so far in this lesson, the topic sentences have changed position within their paragraphs, but they have always been clear, or stated.

An idea is stated when the writer says specifically what he or

she means. An idea is implied when the writer hints at what he or she means.

In other paragraphs, the topic sentences may be implied. That is, they aren’t stated outright. For example, consider this sentence: “The winter winds blew and the snow drifted against the barn.” This statement implies that it’s cold and most likely wintertime, but it doesn’t state it directly. When you read a paragraph that contains no topic sentence, you must infer what the topic is. To infer, or to make an inference, means to derive a conclusion from facts. When you see smoke, you can infer that there’s a fire. When the sky is clear, with no clouds, you can infer that it’s not going to rain.

Reflect and Respond

As you read this final paragraph, again consider the clues that imply the main idea.

I was in the National Forest with my camera. The day was crisp and the leaves were bright with fall colors. When I spotted the white-tailed buck, I froze. He was less than 15 yards from where I was standing. The wind must have been right, because he kept on grazing on the mossy ground. I lifted my camera very slowly. Carefully, holding my breath, I lifted the camera to my eye. Turning the focus ring, I framed the deer’s head. Just as I was ready to press the shutter release, the buck raised his head. He was looking my way with wide eyes. Click—I took the picture. An instant later the deer bounded away into the forest. He took off, but I had the shot. Today, the framed photo of that buck hangs above our fireplace.