1. How to Write Paragraphs and Essays
EN 2/ENG 200
Communication Skills 2
Prepared by:
Ma. Cecilia M. Eugenio
Instructor/Language and Education
2. #
Topics
• The Writing Process
• Understanding the Role of Purpose and Audience
• Understand What A Paragraph Is
• Understand What An Essay Is
3. #
The Writing Process
DEFINITION:
Writing does not happen all at once. Writers go
through several steps, each step bringing
them closer to a finished piece of writing. All
of these steps, taken together, are called the
writing process.
4. #
The Writing Process
The writing process is not so different from
other processes you use every day, such as
parking a car or tying a shoelace: They seem
complicated at first, but once you become
familiar with the stages and steps, you hardly
notice that you are doing them.
6. #
STAGES STEPS IN EACH STAGE
1. Prewrite
2. Plan
3. Draft
4. Revise
5. Edit
Why am I writing? What do I want to say? Who will read this?
Find and explore your topic
Find a main point
Support your main point
How can I organize my ideas effectively for my reader?
Arrange your ideas and make a plan
How can I show my reader what I meant?
Write a draft
Write a conclusion and a title
How can I make the draft clearer or more convincing to my
reader?
Add, delete, or change sentences or ideas to make your
writing stronger
What errors will my reader notice? What other errors confuse
meaning?
Find and correct errors in grammar, words use and spelling
and punctuation and capitalization
7. #
Understand The Role of Purpose and
Audience
• In the outline of the writing process, each
stage begins with questions about the
purpose and audience of the piece of writing.
Why?
8. #
Understand Purpose
• Definition
Everything you write has a purpose, a point or
a reason; otherwise you wouldn’t write it. In
college, your purpose for writing is usually to
show something, explain something, or
create convincing argument.
9. #
Understand Audience
• Definition
Everything you write also has an
audience, someone who reads it, thinks about
it, and responds to it. For most college
writing, your primary audience is your instructor.
Outside school, you have different audiences for
different kinds of writing.
10. #
THINKING CRITICALL Y WHILE WRITING A
SUMMARY
Purpose Audience
FOCUS Remember that you
are writing for a
reason.
Remember
that someone
will read what
you write.
11. #
THINKING CRITICALL Y WHILE WRITING A
SUMMARY
Purpose Audience
ASK
What is my
assignment?
What topic will I be
writing about?
Who is my
audience?
What does my
audience
already know
about the topic?
12. #
THINKING CRITICALL Y WHILE WRITING A
SUMMARY
Purpose Audience
ASK
What point do I want
to make about my
topic
What do I want my
audience to think
about my topic?
What does my audience
want or need to know
about my topics?
Does my audience have
a particular attitude or
opinion about my topic?
Do I need to address
that specifically?
13. #
THINKING CRITICALL Y WHILE WRITING A
SUMMARY
Purpose Audience
WRITE Always write with
your purpose and
your audience in
mind
14. #
Topics
• The Writing Process
• Understanding the Role of Purpose and Audience
• Understand What A Paragraph Is
• Understand What An Essay Is
15. #
UNDERSTAND WHAT A PARAGRAPH IS
• Definition:
A paragraph is a group of sentences that work
together to make a point. A good paragraph
has three necessary parts – the topic
sentence, the body, and the concluding
sentence – which serve specific purpose.
16. #
UNDERSTAND WHAT A PARAGRAPH IS
PARAGRAPH PART PURPOSE OF THE PARAGRAPH PART
1. The topic sentence States the main point. The topic sentence
is often the first sentence of the paragraph.
2. The body Supports (show, explains, or proves) the
main point. It is usually made up of about
three to six support sentences, which
contain facts and details supporting the
main point.
3. The concluding
sentences
Reminds readers of the main point and
often makes an observation.
17. #
Understand What A Paragraph Is
Paragraphs often have a standard format or
arrangement, moving from topic sentence to
body to concluding sentence. When writers
follow this format, they give readers
important clues about how to understand
what they see on the page.
19. #
Topics
• The Writing Process
• Understanding the Role of Purpose and Audience
• Understand What A Paragraph Is
• Understand What An Essay Is
20. #
Understand What An Essay Is
Definition:
An essay is a piece of writing with more than
one paragraph; it is usually between three
hundred and six hundreds of words long. A
good essay has three necessary parts: an
introductory paragraph, the body, and a
concluding paragraph.
21. #
Understand What An Essay Is
ESSAY PART PURPOSE OF THE ESSAY PART
1. An introduction paragraph States the main point in a thesis
statement.
2. The body Supports (shows, explains, or proves) the
main point. It generally has at least three
support paragraphs, which contain facts
and details supporting the main point.
3. A concluding paragraph Reminds readers of the main point.
It may also summarize the support or
make an observation in a concluding
sentence.
22. #
The parts of an essay correspond to the
parts of a paragraph:
The thesis statement is like a paragraph’s
topic sentence.
The support paragraphs are like a
paragraph’s supporting sentences.
The concluding paragraph is like a
paragraph’s concluding sentence.