Composing Effective Paragraphs

Identify what part of a paragraph is the underlined sentence.

__________ 1. It is controversial and it is Canadian: the bilingual debate has been going on

for over 100 years, and it continues today. Although Canadians outside of Quebec

agree that francophones should be able to receive federal services outside of

Quebec in their own language, surveys show that the majority do not personally

favor bilingualism for all of Canada (CRIC, 2004). (2)The same survey shows

that these results are reversed for francophones, who are strongly in favor of

bilingualism for all of Canada and somewhat less in favor for their province.

(3)In contrast, overall public support for two official languages continues to be

strong with over 70% of Canadians showing support for citizens receiving federal

services in the language that they speak.(4) Clearly, bilingualism is a policy that

needs to be kept, but it also requires some “revamping” on the government’s part

in order to improve the way it works.

• Topic Sentence

• Supporting Sentence

• Conclusion Sentence

Identify what part of a paragraph is the underlined sentence.

__________ 2. It is controversial and it is Canadian: the bilingual debate has been going on

for over 100 years, and it continues today. Although Canadians outside of Quebec

agree that francophones should be able to receive federal services outside of

Quebec in their own language, surveys show that the majority do not personally

favor bilingualism for all of Canada (CRIC, 2004). (2)The same survey shows

that these results are reversed for francophones, who are strongly in favor of

bilingualism for all of Canada and somewhat less in favor for their province.

(3)In contrast, overall public support for two official languages continues to be

strong with over 70% of Canadians showing support for citizens receiving federal

services in the language that they speak.(4) Clearly, bilingualism is a policy that

needs to be kept, but it also requires some “revamping” on the government’s part

in order to improve the way it works.

• Topic Sentence

• Supporting Sentence

• Conclusion Sentence

Identify what part of a paragraph is the underlined sentence.

__________ 3. It is controversial and it is Canadian: the bilingual debate has been going on

for over 100 years, and it continues today. Although Canadians outside of Quebec

agree that francophones should be able to receive federal services outside of

Quebec in their own language, surveys show that the majority do not personally

favor bilingualism for all of Canada (CRIC, 2004). (2)The same survey shows

that these results are reversed for francophones, who are strongly in favor of

bilingualism for all of Canada and somewhat less in favor for their province.

(3)In contrast, overall public support for two official languages continues to be

strong with over 70% of Canadians showing support for citizens receiving federal

services in the language that they speak.(4) Clearly, bilingualism is a policy that

needs to be kept, but it also requires some “revamping” on the government’s part

in order to improve the way it works

• Topic Sentence

• Supporting Sentence

• Conclusion Sentence

Identify what part of a paragraph is the underlined sentence.

__________ 4. It is controversial and it is Canadian: the bilingual debate has been going on

for over 100 years, and it continues today. Although Canadians outside of Quebec

agree that francophones should be able to receive federal services outside of

Quebec in their own language, surveys show that the majority do not personally

favor bilingualism for all of Canada (CRIC, 2004). (2)The same survey shows

that these results are reversed for francophones, who are strongly in favor of

bilingualism for all of Canada and somewhat less in favor for their province.

(3)In contrast, overall public support for two official languages continues to be

strong with over 70% of Canadians showing support for citizens receiving federal

services in the language that they speak.(4) Clearly, bilingualism is a policy that

needs to be kept, but it also requires some “revamping” on the government’s part

in order to improve the way it works.

• Topic Sentence

• Supporting Sentence

• Conclusion Sentence

__________ 5. It is controversial and it is Canadian: the bilingual debate has been going on

for over 100 years, and it continues today. Although Canadians outside of Quebec

agree that francophones should be able to receive federal services outside of

Quebec in their own language, surveys show that the majority do not personally

favor bilingualism for all of Canada (CRIC, 2004). (2)The same survey shows

that these results are reversed for francophones, who are strongly in favor of

bilingualism for all of Canada and somewhat less in favor for their province.

(3)In contrast, overall public support for two official languages continues to be

strong with over 70% of Canadians showing support for citizens receiving federal

services in the language that they speak.(4) Clearly, bilingualism is a policy that

needs to be kept, but it also requires some “revamping” on the government’s part

in order to improve the way it works.

• Topic Sentence

• Supporting Sentence

• Conclusion Sentence

Fill in the Blanks.

1. Be __________ in your verb tenses and point of view.

• Clear

• Sufficiently

• Quality

• Unifies

Fill in the Blanks.

2. The topic of a paragraph should be discussed entirely and __________ by providing supporting details.

• Clear

• Sufficiently

• Quality

• Unifies

Fill in the Blanks.

3. __________ is a group of several sentences connected together by a single idea.

• Paragraph

• Phrase

• Effective

• Essay

Fill in the Blanks.

4 __________ paragraphs are measured in the ideas and concepts addressed rather than sentences and word counts.

• Clear

• Sufficiently

• Quality

• Unifies

Fill in the Blanks.

5. A paragraph should express a single thought that __________ all the sentences it has.

• Clear

• Sufficiently

• Quality

• Unifies