Activity 2 Types of Paragraphs

Activity 2 - Types of Paragraphs

There are four main types of paragraphs: descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive.

	descriptive (vivid imagery) used to entertain	tells what the subject looks, sounds, feels, tastes, and/or smells like
	narrative used to entertain	tells about something that happened - tells a story
	expository used to inform	provides information or explains a subject, or gives steps and shows how to do something
	persuasive used to persuade	proves your belief or feeling about something

In this unit you will learn how to write an expository paragraph (to inform).

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Paragraphs:

consist of one or more sentences about a single thought. usually have more than one sentence. never have more than one idea. (Sentences must be related to the main idea.)

Example Paragraph
Yellow-spotted lizards are a deadly threat to all humans at Camp Green Lake. They invaded the area after the life-giving lake dried up. Their bite is always fatal. It was a yellow-spotted lizard that killed Kate Barlow. The yellow-spotted lizards threatened Stanley and Zero while they were digging for Stanley's great-grandfather's suitcase. The reason Stanley and Zero survived is because they had eaten so many onions that the lizards, who do not like onion blood, did not wish to bite them. With this one exception, meeting a yellow-spotted lizard at Camp Green Lake meant certain death.

Structure of a Paragraph

Part of a Paragraph	Reason	Example
Topic Sentence	To generate interest States the main idea	Yellow-spotted lizards are a deadly threat to all humans at Camp Green Lake.
Details First Point and Support	Introduces Main Point #1 and gives information or examples	They invaded the area after the life-giving lake dried up. Their bite is always fatal.
Details Second Point and Support	Introduces Main Point #2 and gives information or examples	It was a yellow-spotted lizard that killed Kate Barlow.
Details Third Point and Support	Introduces Main Point #3 and gives information or examples	The yellow-spotted lizards threatened Stanley and Zero while they were digging for Stanley's great-grandfather's suitcase. The reason Stanley and Zero survived is because they had eaten so many onions that the lizards, who do not like onion blood, did not wish to bite them.
Conclusion	Restates the topic sentence Often leaves the reader with something to think about.	With this one exception, meeting a yellow-spotted lizard at Camp Green Lake meant certain death.

Questions

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
2. What is the concluding sentence?
3. What do you notice about the first line of the paragraph?
4. Do all the sentences in the paragraph support the main idea?
5. What is the first main point? second main point? third main point?