DEVELOPMENT BY EXAMPLE.

 
     In this type of paragraph development, you start by making a statement, and then you give various examples to support this statement.  Therefore, unlike many of the other types of paragraph development, you must consider the TS (Topic Sentence) first, because S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 will stem directly from the TS.  Here. It is very important that you choose a topic that is “fruitful”: that is, you can say many things about it easily.  Too often, many students follow “pure interest” in their selection of topic, and this leads them into a subject they like, but which they cannot talk about.  It is better to choose some topic which, although boring or distasteful, can yield many interesting sentences.  Sometimes, it is something we dislike which gives us much to talk about (perhaps that is why we talk about our enemies more than we talk about our friends...). 
 
     As with the other “development” paragraphs, take your time to think about your topic, the title, the brainstorming, the plan, the “first draft”, the correction of your “first draft” by a friend, the “second draft”, the correction of your “second draft” by another friend, and the
final corrections (all before you give in your paragraph to your writing teacher).  This takes time!  You should NOT think that you can do all these things the night before your next writing class!  The more you “space out” the planning and execution of your “writing process” (and remember, it is a “process”), the better your final product will be. 
 
     For this example, I will write something for all my English 05 Class students, “I know that I miss my old students.” 
Development by:    Example. 
Written by:    SVW. 
Topic:    SVW misses his old students in English 05 Class. 
Title:    “I know that I miss my old students.” 
Brainstorming:    Feelings–loneliness–staring out window–associations–the weather–voices in dreams–forget things–follow inner “clock”–see faces–recollections–feelings, with different classes–past laughter–past quarrels–happiness–boredom–jokes–more faces–the naughty students–quiet ones–home works–unfamiliar life, here–miss XJ–different culture–telephone calls–confuse people “here”, with “there”–jokes, only you can understand–memories for no reason–unhappy loneliness–talks with friends–want to fly back to XJ–late-night phone calls–IP cards, all used up–collect magazines–write this book–faces in dreams–recollections–regrets–distracted mind, at times–misunderstood, here–ask for news–plastic flowers, window–red scarf, warm coat–talking, “cell” phones–late or undone home works–sit up in bed–thinking a lot–do not eat my food–lost in mind–unhappy for no reason–cannot explain to father–counting days–wait for e-mails–realize, past good. 
     This “brainstorming” session is very long, and many of the things I wrote down have no relationship to the immediate topic–“I know that I miss my old students”.  This all right, for a number of reasons.  First, when you are “brainstorming”, you should not “screen” your thoughts; you should let everything come out, and come out some more, until there is nothing left; it is like crying and crying, after some boy has “dumped” you, and you go into the shower and cry, and cry, until there is nothing left.  Once you have all this “raw material”, you will have enough for your paragraph... and maybe some other writing project, too.  Second, you can “screen out” all this raw information after the “brainstorming” is all over; do not do this during the “brainstorming” process, or you will very quickly lose the flow of your creativity, and this flow is sometimes very hard to catch a second time.  So, get it all out now, then “sift” the information later, like flour.  Once it is written down on paper, it belongs to you, and is very useful. 
 
     Before you work on the “body” part (i.e., S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5), you should select a brief phrase for the TS–after all, this is a “development by example” paragraph, and you need to know what you are starting from.  Try this: 
     TS:   Miss students, strange changes. 
     There is too much raw information here; however, you do not need to use all of it.  Good writing is not really about what you do say, for everyone is striving to shout and be heard; it is about what you do not say, and which is obvious by its very absence.  Therefore, do not feel that you must use everything you wrote down in the “brainstorming” part. 
 
     Look for “patterns”, again.  Are there any patterns in all this raw information?  I would suggest that the following patterns emerge: 
     Inner feelings–behavior now–various communications–past memories–future plans. 
 
     These patterns are not arranged in any order; I just wrote them down quickly, to get them “on paper”.  They should now be prioritized, as follows: 
     (#1) Inner feelings–(#3) behavior now–(#4) various communications–(#2) past memories–(#5) future plans. 
 
     Why so?  If you study these four “patterns”, you will see they fall into three groups: what is inside your brain (#1 and #2), what you are doing (#3 and #4) , and what you will do (#5). 
 
     It is very useful to do this part on five small pieces of scrap paper, which you can move around on the table-top, like playing cards.  Sometimes, the computer is not the best place to select what comes first, and what comes last.  You decide. 
 
     Also, you can use “double-word” sequences, (such as “past memories”); this way of writing down information is short and simple, but these carefully-chosen pairs of words carry a lot of meaning. 
 
     Please, please!  Do not write down sentences, here!  If you do, you will have committed yourself to a language structure too early, and it will be much harder to
alter your thinking later on.  So, only use “minimalist” language structures, at this (planning) stage of the writing process. 
 
 
     You can now write down your plan outline, as follows: 
Plan outline:   
     [TS]    Miss students, strange changes. 
     [S1]    Inner feelings. 
     [S2]    Past memories. 
     [S3]    Behavior now. 
     [S4]    Various communications. 
     [S5]    Future plans. 
     [CS]    Cannot now, daily choices.                   
 
     This plan is very “lean”; from it, you can develop many different kinds of sentences.  I think you should leave the writing for a while, and let some time elapse between the “planning” and “drafting” stages of the “writing process”.  Elapsed time sometimes helps.
 
     Here is the paragraph, with simple sentences: 
 
Paragraph Text:  
     [TS]    I miss my students, and I know this because there are strange changes in my life.
     [S1]    In my inner feelings, I am often sad and depressed. 
     [S2]    The past memories, of the time I spent with 05 Class, are often in my mind. 
     [S3]    Although I am living here in this land, I act as if I never left XJ, or am planning to return in a few days. 
     [S4]    I constantly send letters to old students, or call them on the telephone. 
     [S5]    I am always making future plans for the next time in XJ. 
     [CS]    I cannot go away now, as I must carry on with life here; however, I look forward to the future. 
 
     Here is the same paragraph, with longer and more complex sentences.  You choose your own way to make your paragraphs! 
Paragraph Text:  
     [TS]    I often miss my former students in 05 Class, and I know this is happening, because there have been many strange changes in my recent life. 
     [S1]    Deep inside my inner feelings, where nobody can see me, I am often sad and depressed; as I stand by the windows, watching spring touch the land, my heart remains in a state of lingering winter. 
     [S2]    All the many memories of the past few years, of the times I spent with different classes in 05, are often in my brooding mind. 
     [S3]    Even though I live in this land day by day, I behave in most things as if I had never left XJ; my body is here, but my heart and my intentions are there. 
     [S4]    Almost every morning and evening, I will send a letter to some old friend, or call a former student on the telephone. 
     [S5]    There is not a day which goes by, in which I am constantly making future plans for the next trip or teaching contract somewhere. 
     [CS]    I realize that I cannot “go away” now, as there are certain things to do here; I still look forward to the future, and the possibility of seeing Class 05 again.