An Example of a Well-Written Paragraph. Writing Tutor

by Sue Gench

This paragraph is well written because it includes an introductory topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a conclusion sentence.
an introductory topic sentence	Listening with empathy means you listen from your heart, put yourself in that person's shoe.
supporting sentences	If you listen with empathy, you are not judging the person's way of expressing himself or herself. Listening with empathy means asking yourself, “Why is this person sounding so angry, upset?” “What is he or she asking for?” “What can I say or do to be supportive or helpful?” Listening with empathy is applied to problem situations, especially when anger is circulating between people talking.
a conclusion sentence	If you can figure out what makes this person behave and talk angry and understand this person's feeling of anger, then you must have listened this person with empathy.

Questions: Answer the following questions.

In the above example, what are the parts of the paragraph?
What is the topic of the above paragraph?
What ideas do you find in the supporting sentences?
Do the supporting sentences explain the introductory topic sentence?
Reading the conclusion, do you understand the concept of empathy the author describes?

Exercise 1:

Write a paragraph to describe yourself. Follow the guidelines below to write your paragraph:

Write an introductory topic sentence. The introductory topic sentence must express a fact you want the reader to know about you. For example, if you are into facebook for making friends over the Internet, then write a topic sentence like: "I have been a facebook fan since I was thirteen-years old in sixth grade, living in Tokyo."
Write supporting sentences. 3 to 5 complete sentences are good enough for this exercise. In your supporting sentences, you can make sentences to answer to the "what", "who", "when", and "why" questions. Let me help you with these questions:
1. "what" question. What made you become a facebook fan?
2. "who" question. Who influenced your attraction to facebook?
3. "when" question. When did you first find out about facebook?
4. "how" question. How did you find out about the people you have made friends with in facebook? How did you carry on with these friendships? Are you still fried's with those people? How did you like your experience with facebook?
Write a conclusion sentence. Can you think of a good conclusion sentence? For example: Being a facebook fan has boosted my interest in getting to know all these people I met there. If it wasn't for facebook, I would have never made those friends. To see the entire entire paragraph, click here.

Exercise 2:

Write one paragraph about a friend, your mother or father. In your writing follow the guidelines in the first exercise.