Understanding paragraphs

Identifying the Topic of a paragraph The topic is the word or phrase that best describes what all of the sentences in the paragraph are about. Words relating to the topic are usually repeated several times in a paragraph. Looking for these words can help you focus on the topic.

Example: Read the paragraph and underline the words that are repeated Example: Read the paragraph and underline the words that are repeated. Then write a topic that is not too specific or too general. The Everglades is in the center of south Florida. It is a wild area with no towns or houses. The Everglades is famous for its wildlife and plants. Some of these plants and animals live only in the Everglades. They live there because of the warm climate and water. In fact, the Everglades has lots of water. In the middle of the Everglades is a very wide river, called the “River of Grass.” It changes with the seasons. In the rainy season it is 50 miles wide in some places.

What is the topic? A. The climate in Florida B. The Florida Everglades C. Plants and wildlife (B) is the correct answer. (A) and (C) are both too general (big).

Topic Sentences A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. It comes at the beginning of the paragraph.

Example: English speaker use many borrowed world. English speaker relaxing at home, for example, may put on kimonos, which is a Japanese word. English speakers who live in a warm climate may take an afternoon siesta on an outdoor patio without realizing that these are Spanish words. In their gardens, they may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word that came into English from Persian. They may even relax on a chaise while snacking on yogurt, words of French and Turkish origin, respectively. At night they may shampoo their hair and put on pajamas, words from the Hindi language of India. The Topic sentences is (English speaker use many borrowed world)

Main Idea LOOKING FOR EXAMPLE IN THE PAGE 109 The Main Idea of a paragraph is usually stated in one sentence. It tells the writer’s idea about the topic. The main idea sentence is important. There can be many paragraphs about the same topic, but they do not all have the same main idea. LOOKING FOR EXAMPLE IN THE PAGE 109

The different between topic and Main Idea The topic: what the paragraph is about. The main idea: what the author says about the subject.

INFERRING THE MAIN IDEA In some paragraphs , the topic sentence may not state the complete main idea . The topic may be stated in one sentence , and the writers idea about the topic may be expressed in another sentence or in several sentence in the paragraph . In this case , the reader must combine ideas from several sentence to infer the complete main idea.

Connecting ideas in paragraphs Pronouns as connectors Personal Pronouns: he ,I t , him , us, etc. Possessive Pronouns: his , her , our , their , etc. Demonstrative Pronouns: this ,that ,these, those Relative Pronouns: which,who,where,whose,etc.

Exercise 6: page: 116 Referents Pronouns increase It women in the home Who Husbands They taking out trash or mowing the lawn These women those who woman She she

Transition words and phrases as connectors Also As a result At this point But Finally First For example However In fact Such as Then That is LOOKING FOR EXAMPLE IN THE PAGE 117

Exercise 13 page: 129 1- ( c ) add to 2- ( c ) people 3- ( b ) send 4- ( a ) goes beyond 5- ( b ) in addition 6- ( b ) wasted 7- ( a ) use again 8- ( a ) today's 9- ( a ) are different from 10- ( b ) beside 11- ( c ) undrinkable 12- ( b ) positioned 13- ( c ) great 14- ( b ) news 15- ( c ) obvious

Exercise:15 1-contrast 2-distributs 3-evidant 4-inadeuate 5-supplement 6-furthermore 7-consum 8-considerable 9-Current 10-factors

إعداد الطالبة : راوية محمد الجهني نورة محمد الحقباني نورا علي العبيدي