“NINE PARAGRAPHS.”

 
Introduction of the nine paragraph types.  In this section of the book, I will discuss nine “paragraph types”, following the format usually employed in most writing textbooks.  This part of the book will try to show you how to write basic paragraphs, using the “six sentence types” discussed in the previous two sections.  However, each of these paragraphs will follow a “seven-sentence” format; that is to say, their internal structure will be very closely controlled.  In this part of the book, you will see many of the ideas covered in standard writing textbooks, but with some modifications.  Please choose what is useful to you, and discard the rest. 
     The nine paragraph types are as follows: 
 
     Type One–Development by Time    
     Type Two–Development by Process. 
     Type Three–Development by Space. 
     Type Four–Development by Example. 
     Type Five–Development by Comparison. 
     Type Six–Development by Contrast. 
     Type Seven–Development by Cause. 
     Type Eight–Development by Effect. 
     Type Nine–Development by Classification. 
 
Rationale for dividing paragraphs into nine paragraph types.  There are a number of reasons for taking the English language, with its variety of paragraph structure, and reducing it to nine paragraph types, each of which follows a “seven-sentence structure”, and which are limited to the six sentence types. 
 
     Concerning the nine paragraph types.  Most writing textbooks introduce paragraphs, according to their “development”:  by Time, Process, Space, Example, Comparison, Contrast, Cause, Effect, and Classification.  This is what writing students are familiar with; I therefore want to use what is familiar.  Of course, there are other paragraph types, and these are treated in other writing manuals; the reader can refer to them.  I wish to use just nine types, so as to keep things simple for many writers, who are beginning to study the writing of good, effective paragraphs. 
 
     Concerning the “seven-sentence structure”.  Most paragraphs have three parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.  In this book, each paragraph will have seven sentences: one for the introduction, five for the body, and one for the conclusion.  Although it may seem simplistic and strange to always have seven sentences for each and every paragraph, learning to write this way is good training in language. 
 
     Concerning the continued use of the six sentence types.  The six sentence types, which were used in the first two parts of this book, will be used here as well.   This is for the sake of continuity.  Writing a good sentence needs sensitivity to language, especially the “right word” or sequence of words; writing a good paragraph is very much about how meaning is organized and structured, with seven unified and meaning-related sentences coming together into a whole. 
 
     My hope is this: if you can write seven-sentence paragraphs, according to the different paragraph types, using the six sentence types, and can do it “mechanically”, and then freely according to your own creativity, then you should be able to write about many things of interest to you–in English.  Following this method of writing paragraphs will force you to think in a certain way, but it will also give you a framework within which to operate.  Remember, the final aim of this book is to show you how to write basic sentences and paragraphs, so that you can write about simple things of interest to you.  People may ask, “Why only sentences and paragraphs?  This is so little!”  Please note that most of the everyday writing that college graduates do in English is at this level.  I am not referring to English exams, here; I am referring to the common, everyday writing we need and use in daily life. 
 
     Writing paragraphs is about structure, logical arrangement of ideas and sentences; it is planning of thought, rather than crafting of language.  As a result, planning of paragraphs will be given much prominence. 
 
     The “seven-part” paragraph.  Most of the paragraphs discussed in this section will look like this (with the exception of the Compare / Contrast paragraphs): 
 
     [TS]     Introduction (Topic) sentence.  . 
     [S1]     Body sentence #1. 
     [S2]     Body sentence #2. 
     [S3]     Body sentence #3. 
     [S4]     Body sentence #4. 
     [S5]     Body sentence #5. 
     [CS]     Conclusion sentence. 
 
     [TS] introduces the paragraph. [S1], [S2], [S3], [S4] and [S5] are developments of the topic sentence. [CS] concludes the paragraph, and sometimes “points” ahead to the next paragraph. 
 
     For each paragraph, you have seven sentences only.  You may think this is too much, but actually, the opposite is true: it is hard to “compress” everything into a mere seven sentences, and still have a unified paragraph!  Try it, and you will see. 
 
     General instructions on how to write “development” paragraphs.  When you want to develop an idea into a paragraph, you can follow these guidelines: 
 
     Choose a topic.  Before you do anything, choose a topic!  (Not a title, but a topic.)  You need to start from a seed of an idea, and that idea must be in English.  Get a piece of paper, and write down all sorts of ideas of what you want the topic of this paragraph to be.  Do not “screen” your thinking; just write down all the ideas that come to you–even the “silly” ones.  There are no “wrong” topics, just topics.  Take your time; do not feel you must choose a topic all at once.  If you are doing something different (not writing), and a topic comes to mind, then write it down at once.  Do not think if it is “suitable” of not; just write it down.  In time, you will have a list of topics, which you can then reduce, until you have the one you want.  Although many writers have to write “on demand” quickly (such as journalists), it is good to let time and thought go by.  Like good French brandy, time and contemplation yield a good topic.  You may wonder why I
stress this so much.  Look at the opposite: when people choose a topic quickly and without too much care.  A good topic can make a good paragraph; a poor topic gives you more and more trouble over time.  Ideally, you should have ten or twenty topics, and one survivor.  A “good” topic is not always one that you like; it is one that will yield you plenty of material to write about.  It is far better to write a paragraph about something you might not like, but which is a gold mine of material, rather than something you really like, but lacking any potential  development.  Let some time go by, before going on to the next stage....
 
     Choose a title.  “Topic” and “title” are not the same thing.  As with the topics, you should choose a title that says everything about your paragraph–all in a few words.  The title is a sort of summary, which a reader can read at once, and know what the paragraph is about.  You need to think (and write) like the newspaper journalist, who says everything important “up front”, giving the reader control over knowing what the article is about, and therefore able to decide whether to read the article or not.  Some titles can be too broad, and some too narrow; you must choose something in the middle, which says it all.  Again, let some time go by.... 
 
     “Brain-storming”.  Once you have a topic and a title, then you brainstorm your material.  To “brainstorm” means you get some scrap paper (or use the blackboard), and you write down all the things you can think about, concerning this topic.  Do not use sentences; use isolated words, fragments, key words.  Do not try to “evaluate” what you write down, or want to write down; just put it down!  Later on, you can sort through all the material, and take what is useful, and then screen it.  Often, only a small part of what you write will be selected: that is the way it should be.  Once more, let some time go by, until you are sure you have written down (in isolated word form) all you want to say.... 
 
     Choosing “Body” ideas.  It is often hard to start writing a paragraph from the Introduction, so start from the Body itself.  Why not?  Look at all the brainstorming ideas you have generated.  Out of all that “mess”, you should be able to see a pattern.  Can you see five ideas in all that mess of words?  If you can, then list, then prioritize them.  You now have the framework of the Body part of your paragraph. 
 
     Choosing the “Introduction” and “Conclusion” ideas.  Once the Body part is done, finding ideas for the Introduction and the Conclusion is relatively easier.  Fill them in.  The Introduction should introduce what comes after; the Body sentences should all have their root in the Introduction.  The Conclusion should tie it all together, and possibly point the way to the next paragraph. 
 
     Develop key words into sentences.  Once you have a paragraph plan, you take each key word, and develop it into a sentence.  If the plan is good, then the full-length sentence will follow after the plan. 
 
     Here is the outline of the paragraph development process: 
 
 
      
Development by:   
Written by:   
Topic:   
Title:   
Brainstorming:             
 
Plan outline:   
     [TS]   
     [S1]   
     [S2]   
     [S3]   
     [S4]   
     [S5]   
     [CS]                    
 
Paragraph Text:  
     [TS]   
     [S1]   
     [S2]   
     [S3]   
     [S4]   
     [S5]   
     [CS]   
 
 
     The rest of this section will illustrate the above theory, for each of the nine types of paragraph.  Later on, many examples will be provided, for you to analyze.  Remember, the aim is not to “copy” what others have already done, but to understand how the process works, so that you can creatively synthesize your own paragraphs.  Much thanks to certain students from the classes of 0501 / 0503 / 0505 / 0507 / 0509, from the English Department of Zhi Ye Da Xue, in Urumqi, Xin Jiang, P.R. China.  (You know who you are.)