Arrangement - Write a Description Paragraph

This is ONE structure of a description paragraph.

• There are many others
• In my class I want you to practice 3-4 sentence types.
• Any one of those types can expand to a whole description paragraph of its type (e.g. a compare-contrast paragraph).

Arrangement (6 sentence description)

• 1) Topic sentence (“This paragraph describes X in detail”)
• 2) Definition OR Partition (not both) (one sentence)
  • A definition sentence
  • A partition sentence
• 3) Comparison OR Time Order (not both) (one or two sentences)
  • Write a compare-contrast sentence
  • Write a time-order sentence
• 4) Write a Detail sentence
  • unrelated to “problems” is OK
  • just an interesting fact is OK
  • if you haven’t already used them, compare contrast or time order are OK.
• 5) Another detail sentence with a number
  • related to the topic. Give a number.
  • e.g. how many of endangered animal left
  • e.g. how many tonnes of unethical product is produced
• 6) Link
  • “The next paragraph looks at some problems that….”
  • (No summary!)
• Templates below have all sentence types, but remember - you can choose not to write some of them
• No more than 1-2 sentences of each
• Don’t forget the citations

Template for Ethical Consumption

This paragraph describes TOPIC in detail. TOPIC is a CATEGORY which UNIQUE FEATURE. There are three kinds of TOPIC - A, B, and C - of which B is the most ADJECTIVE, and is the topic of this essay. TOPIC is similar to SIMILAR THING WE KNOW BETTER in that it is X, however unlike SIMILAR THING, it is Y. In order to make TOPIC, first X, then Y, and finally Z. A sentence with more detail. A sentence with more detail. A sentence with more detail. The next paragraph looks at some problems production of X can cause.

This paragraph describes chocolate in detail. Chocolate is a kind of sweet food which is made from cocoa beans (Bensen, 2008). There are three main kinds of chocolate - milk, dark and white (FDA, 1993) - of which the most popular, and the topic of this essay, is milk. Milk chocolate is similar to the other two in that it uses cacao, however it contains more milk than dark chocolate, and unlike white chocolate it contains cocoa solids (“Differences,” n.d.). In order to make milk chocolate, first cocoa beans are roasted to produce cacao, then it is mixed with various amounts of milk, and finally it is coated in insects (“Cacao,” n.d.). The most popular chocolate in Japan is the wasabi flavoured Kit-Kat - students buy this at exam time because “Kit-Kat” is similar to the sound a pencil makes when you break it in half on realising you cannot answer any of the questions (“Chocolate attack,” n.d.). In Japan, around 325 kg of chocolate is consumed per person per day, with more at certain times of year (“Valentine’s day,” n.d.). The next paragraph describes three problems production of chocolate can cause.

Template for “Endangered Animals”

This paragraph describes TOPICs in detail. TOPICs are CATEGORY which UNIQUE FEATURE. There are three kinds of TOPICs - A, B, and C - of which the most ADJECTIVE, and the topic of this essay, is B. This species is similar to SIMILAR THING WE KNOW BETTER in that it is X, however unlike SIMILAR THING, it is Y. X was first discovered in Y …then…in 1956 it became….After that…until at last in 2015 it…. A sentence with more detail. A sentence with more detail. The next paragraph looks at some problems which X are facing.

This paragraph describes Bengal Tigers in detail. The Tiger is a kind of big cat - it is the largest of these, famous for its striped coat (“Tiger,” n.d.). There are six kinds of tiger - Bengal, Siberian, Sumatran, Malayan, Indochinese, and South Chinese - of which the most endangered, and the topic of this essay, is the Siberian. This species is similar to the more famous Bengal in that it has he same striped coat and approximate size (“Siberian Tiger,” n.d.). However, they live in much colder weather, and hunt mostly students who do not do their homework, whereas the Bengal eats mostly natto (“Tiger,” n.d.). The Siberian Tiger enjoys playing tennis in summer, even though it has no thumbs (“Wimbledon success,” n.d.). Additionally, most Siberian Tigers are fluent in both Russian and French (“Bonjour,” n.d.). The next paragraph looks at three problems that are causing the Bengal tiger to become endangered.

Note that this one has no time order.

Tips

• Don’t give obvious information (“Siberian Tigers are a kind of tiger that lives in Siberia”)
• Careful with “First/Firstly…Secondly…Thirdly”
  • It’s OK with similar things (three problems, three solutions).
  • It’s NOT OK with different things without keywords (comparison, partition, process)
  • It IS OK inside the time order, though. (“To make X, first”)
• Definition and partition don’t combine well sometimes.
  • Be careful if you use both! Define at a HIGHER level.
  • “The Indian Elephant is a kind of elephant. There is only one kind of Indian elephant”
  • “The Elephant is the largest land mammal in the world. There are three kinds of elephant.”