WRITE YOUR OWN PARAGRAPH. WRITE YOUR OWN PARAGR...

EXERCISE 2. Write your own paragraph.

Lesson 33 Developing a

Paragraph with

Examples

Lesson 32 showed how reasons can be used to develop a unified paragraph. Another

method is the use of examples. Examples add interest to your writing and support your

ideas. They help to explain a topic by putting a “face” to the “name” of things.

Consider the following. Suppose a speaker is describing the Bill of Rights. We listen,

but we do not really understand. Seeing that we are confused, the speaker says, “Let me

give you an example of what the Bill of Rights means. If there were no Bill of Rights, you

could be thrown into prison without being informed of the charges against you. And you

could be kept there for the rest of your life without being brought to trial.”

Thanks to the example, we begin to understand the protection that the Bill of Rights

gives us.

Examples, then, are valuable in explaining. The following paragraph shows how to de-

velop a topic sentence by giving examples:

Model Paragraph

1

Often, we see a lack of respect for the law.

²

There are laws against

dumping in this town, but they are not being obeyed.

³

Go to any vacant lot

and look around.

⁴

Under the “no dumping” signs you will find old tires,

rusting sinks, junked refrigerators, and other trash.

⁵

There are also laws

about the care of dogs, but some dog-owners seem to be ignorant of them.

6

They let their dogs run loose and do not clean up after them.

⁷

It is against

the law to put out garbage in open containers, yet we find uncovered

garbage cans almost everywhere.

⁸

Animals get into these cans and knock

them over, creating an unsightly and unsanitary mess.

⁹

Perhaps the most

disregarded of all laws are our traffic regulations.

¹⁰

More and more drivers

are speeding, going through red lights, and double parking.

¹¹

And some

drivers, apparently not even worrying about being fined, have been parking

in spaces clearly marked as reserved for the disabled.

Comments on the Model Paragraph

S1 (the topic sentence) indicates that there is a lack of respect for the law.

The rest of the paragraph explains that lack of respect by means of examples:

dumping violations (S2–S4)

dog-care violations (S5–S6)

garbage violations (S7–S8)

traffic violations (S9–S11)

Why are the violations of the traffic laws discussed last?

They are the most disregarded of all laws. The breaking of these laws

furnishes the writer with the strongest examples of a lack of respect for

the law.

Remember that the end of the paragraph is the all-important place for

making the final impression on the reader. It is a good place for your

strongest material. As with reasons, example can be arranged in order

of increasing importance, though sometimes there is no clear order

(see, for example, Number 3 of Exercise 1).

Why is there no clincher sentence?

None is needed. The examples in the paragraph all make the point that

there is a lack of respect for the law. The last sentence (S11) is as em-

phatic as any clincher sentence can be.