What is a listing paragraph DOC

Title	What is a listing paragraph
Author	Dany Amador
Pages	14
File Size	94.5 KB
File Type	DOC
Total Downloads	261
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Summary

Description

What is a listing paragraph? Put simply a listing paragraph is a paragraph containing different ideas that all connect to one main idea. It is perhaps easiest to think of this as the "Firstly" "Secondly" "Thirdly" paragraph. A key to making them work is to make sure that different ideas connect to one central idea. Take a look at this very simple example to see what I mean: There are at least three different ways to organise a paragraph. The first is to follow a structure where where you make a main point, develop it with an explanation and then illustrate it with an example. The second is to list separate points that connect to the main idea stated in the topic paragraph. The third is the compare and contrast paragraph in which you examine the relationship between two different ideas. Do you see how the "ideas" contained in the content sentences all link back to the main idea in the topic sentence, highlighted in red? When you should consider a listing paragraph The next step is to decide when you should use the listing paragraph structure. Here are some ideas for you to consider: you have a series of connected ideas (reasons/examples/explanations etc) that relate to one main idea these connected ideas are balanced (equally relevant) it makes sense in that essay to give different reasons (ie the essay asks you to write about the reasons why something is the case) perhaps it is simpler to list rather than explain in detail (this is particularly the case in exams where you under time pressure) Getting the topic sentence right One of the keys to making this listing paragraph structure work is to get the topic sentence right. These are not rules, but think about these general guidelines: the topic sentence should come first and be simple: you want the reader to see immediately what your para is about it should ideally say that you are going to list different reasons etc. If you don't do this, the reader may not understand your structure and how the points relate to each other What to avoid and how to fix it This type of paragraph can often go wrong. One particular problem is that the list ideas do not relate to the main idea in the topic sentence. Look at this example:...