COLEGIO

TÉCNICO PROFESIONAL ZARCERO

EXECUTIVE SERVICE CENTER
TEACHER: JUAN DIEGO GUZMÁN VEGA


TYPES OF PARAGRAPHS

There are four types of paragraphs that you need to know about: descriptive, narrative,
expository, and persuasive. A quick search around the internet will yield other types, but to
keep this simple, it's a good idea to consider just these four.

the descriptive paragraph: This type of paragraph describes something and shows the
reader what a thing or a person is like. The words chosen in the description often appeal to
the five senses of touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. Descriptive paragraphs can be artistic
and may deviate from grammatical norms.

the narrative paragraph: This type of paragraph tells a story. There's a sequence of action
or there's a clear beginning, middle, and end to the paragraph.

the expository paragraph: This type of paragraph explains something or provides

instruction. It could also describe a process and move the reader step by step through a
method. This type of paragraph often requires research, but it's possible that the writer is able
to rely on his or her own knowledge and expertise.

the persuasive paragraph: This type of paragraph tries to get the reader to accept a
particular point of view or understand the writer's position. This is the type of paragraph that
many teachers focus on because it's useful when building an argument. It often requires the
collection of facts and research.
It important to point out that many paragraphs are a combination of these four types, but for
the purpose of instruction, let's consider some examples of each:


Taken from:
http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/Write_in_English/WL10_types_of_paragraphs.html


____________________________________ :

“Let’s walk,” she says serenely, slipping her arm in mine and heading into Central Park. As
she strolls along, folks check her out and occasionally point. She is tall, strong, and straight-
backed, glowing with vegan health and moving confidently through the crowds in her all-
black ensemble. In videos and photos, she looks like she has a prominent jaw, but in
person it is much softer, as are her other features (Windex-blue eyes, glossy black hair).
Her voice is gentle and melodious, and she looks you square in the eye when she speaks.
—from Jancee Dunn’s “The Cole Truth,” Rolling Stone 786, May, 1998.

By: Diego Guzmán Vega


PRACTICE:
A. Read the following paragraph and identify what kind of paragraphs they are:

__________________________________:
It's been almost ten years since I first ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time, four
years out of law school, recently married, and generally impatient with life. A seat in the Illinois
legislature had opened up, and several friends suggested that I run, thinking that my work as a
civil rights lawyer, and contacts from my days as a community organizer, would make me a
viable candidate. After discussing it with my wife, I entered the race and proceeded to do what
every first-time candidate does: I talked to anyone who would listen. I went to block club
meetings and church socials, beauty shops and barbershops. If two guys were standing on a
corner, I would cross the street to hand them campaign literature. And everywhere I went, I'd
get some version of the same two questions.

___________________________________:
All toilet flush tanks work about the same. When the toilet is flushed, the trip handle lifts the tank
ball, opening the outlet and letting water flow into the bowl. When the tank is nearly empty, the
ball falls back in place over the outlet. The float falls with the water level, opening the water-
supply inlet valve just as the outlet is being closed, and the tank is refilled through the filler tube.
Water also flows through the bowl refill tube into the overflow pipe to replenish trap-sealing
water. As the water level in the tank nears the top of the overflow pipe, the float closes the inlet
valve, completing the cycle.

___________________________________:
The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is
playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier
minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change
more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are
wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable,
become from a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group, and then, excited with triumph,
glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing
light.

___________________________________:

Immigration contributes to the overall health of the American economy. Despite recent
concerns related to the costs created by illegal and some legal immigration to the United States,
this country has largely benefited from the skills, talents, and ambition that immigrants bring
with them. American businesses gain from a good source of affordable labor, while town and
cities are revitalized by immigrant families who strengthen communities through civic
participation the generation of new economic activity. The United States must continue to
welcome new arrivals and help those who already here; otherwise, the country will lose the
advantages it has over other industrialized countries who compete against us in the global
marketplace and seek to recruit from a vast pool of unskilled and skilled global workers.

By: Diego Guzmán Vega

 ____________________________________ :
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn’t pointed it out, Harry wouldn’t have
noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn’t glance at it. Their eyes slid from the
big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn’t see the
Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid
could see it. Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside. For a famous
place, it was dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny
glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was
talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The
low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in.
—from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling (Scholastic, 1999)

____________________________________ :
None of it came up until my early thirties, when I got involved with a woman. Her name
was Jeanne. We had been classmates at Cornell, both pre-med, both of us seeing
someone else. Years afterward I was working for a drug company in N— that was
coming under fire for manufacturing an anti-depressant that had bad side effects. We
were trying to gather some support for the drug from the medical community, and I met
Jeanne again at a conference. She had become a shrink. Excuse me, a psychiatrist. And
yes, she had done a lot of research on posttraumatic psychosis and even had a healthy
share of Holocaust survivors and incest victims and Vietnam veterans among her clients.
—from Pink Slip, by Rita Ciresi (Delta Publishing, 1999)

_________________________________________:
During the final years of his life, [Franz] Kafka’s health deteriorated rapidly. In 1923 he
fell in love with Dora Dymant and settled in with her in Berlin; he asked Dora’s father for
permission to marry her but was refused. In the winter of 1923-24 he moved into a series
of clinics and sanitariums. He died, Dora at his side, on June 3, 1924, at a sanitarium in
Kierling, near Vienna. His surviving family, including his sisters, all perished several years
later in Nazi concentration camps.
—from “The Modern Period” of Literature of the Western World, Vol. II, 3rd edition. Eds.
Brian Wilkie and James Hunt (Macmillan, 1992)

By: Diego Guzmán Vega

 LET’S PRACTICE

Instructions: This quiz tests students ability to identify the following types of paragraphs:
expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive.

1. In this type of paragraph, the author is writing about what a person, place, or
thing is like.
a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

2. This type of paragraph is used to present information, ideas, or opinions.

a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

3. Which type of sentence would this topic sentence best go with: The Himalayan
Mountains are the tallest mountains in the world.
a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

4. Which type of sentence would this topic sentence best go with: The day I won
first place in the box car derby race was the proudest day of my life.
a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

5. Which type of sentence would this topic sentence best go with: Despite what
dog lovers might believe, cats actually make better pets.
a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

6. The goal of this type of paragraph is to convince another person to change, or

at least think about changing, their opinion about something.
a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

7. Which type of sentence would this topic sentence best go with: My best friend's
freckled face always has a glowing, crooked smile.
a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

8. This paragraph is used to tell a story. There is a logical sequence of events.

a) Expository b) Narrative c) Persuasive d) descriptive

By: Diego Guzmán Vega

ANSWERS
1. DESCRIPTIVE
2. NARRATIVE
3. PERSUASIVE
4. NARRATIVE
5. NARRATIVE
6. PERSUASIVE
7. DESCRIPTIVE
8. NARRATIVE

Sample Descriptive Paragraph—Nonfiction

“Let’s walk,” she says serenely, slipping her arm in mine and heading into Central Park. As
she strolls along, folks check her out and occasionally point. She is tall, strong, and straight-
backed, glowing with vegan health and moving confidently through the crowds in her all-
black ensemble. In videos and photos, she looks like she has a prominent jaw, but in person
it is much softer, as are her other features (Windex-blue eyes, glossy black hair). Her voice
is gentle and melodious, and she looks you square in the eye when she speaks.
—from Jancee Dunn’s “The Cole Truth,” Rolling Stone 786, May, 1998.

This is a descriptive paragraph:

The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing
yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by
minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change more swiftly, swell
with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are wanderers, confident girls
who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become from a sharp, joyous moment
the center of a group, and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and
voices and color under the constantly changing light.
This excerpt is taken from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this paragraph you can hear,
see, and feel the setting in which the story takes place. When you practice writing a descriptive
paragraph yourself, you should address all aspects of the physical world.

This is a narrative paragraph:

It's been almost ten years since I first ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time, four years
out of law school, recently married, and generally impatient with life. A seat in the Illinois legislature
had opened up, and several friends suggested that I run, thinking that my work as a civil rights lawyer,
and contacts from my days as a community organizer, would make me a viable candidate. After
discussing it with my wife, I entered the race and proceeded to do what every first-time candidate
does: I talked to anyone who would listen. I went to block club meetings and church socials, beauty
shops and barbershops. If two guys were standing on a corner, I would cross the street to hand them
campaign literature. And everywhere I went, I'd get some version of the same two questions.
This opening paragraph from Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope tell and interesting story about
how a man entered the arena of politics. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it raises the
reader's curiosity about what will happen next.

This is an expository paragraph:

All toilet flush tanks work about the same. When the toilet is flushed, the trip handle lifts the tank
ball, opening the outlet and letting water flow into the bowl. When the tank is nearly empty, the ball
falls back in place over the outlet. The float falls with the water level, opening the water-supply inlet
valve just as the outlet is being closed, and the tank is refilled through the filler tube. Water also flows
through the bowl refill tube into the overflow pipe to replenish trap-sealing water. As the water level in
the tank nears the top of the overflow pipe, the float closes the inlet valve, completing the cycle.
This paragraph from Reader's Digest Complete Do-it-yourself Manual gives detailed information about

By: Diego Guzmán Vega

how how the water moves through a toilet when it is flushed. It's instructive, and if you like this kind of
thing, it may even be interesting.

This is a persuasive paragraph:

Immigration contributes to the overall health of the American economy. Despite recent concerns
related to the costs created by illegal and some legal immigration to the United States, this country
has largely benefited from the skills, talents, and ambition that immigrants bring with them. American
businesses gain from a good source of affordable labor, while town and cities are revitalized by
immigrant families who strengthen communities through civic participation the generation of new
economic activity. The United States must continue to welcome new arrivals and help those who
already here; otherwise, the country will lose the advantages it has over other industrialized countries
who compete against us in the global marketplace and seek to recruit from a vast pool of unskilled
and skilled global workers.
This is the paragraph that appeared on the page describing what a paragraph is. Your teacher wrote
it. I have an opinion about a particular topic, and in this paragraph I want the reader to accept or
consider my position. The persuasive paragraph is, perhaps, the most difficult to write but there is a
good method I can show you in order to be successful in writing one.

Sample Descriptive Paragraph—Fiction

It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn’t pointed it out, Harry wouldn’t have
noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn’t glance at it. Their eyes slid from
the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn’t see
the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he
and Hagrid could see it. Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.
For a famous place, it was dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a
corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little
man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like
a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in.
—from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling (Scholastic, 1999)

Sample Narrative Paragraph—Fiction

None of it came up until my early thirties, when I got involved with a woman. Her
name was Jeanne. We had been classmates at Cornell, both pre-med, both of us
seeing someone else. Years afterward I was working for a drug company in N— that
was coming under fire for manufacturing an anti-depressant that had bad side
effects. We were trying to gather some support for the drug from the medical
community, and I met Jeanne again at a conference. She had become a shrink.
Excuse me, a psychiatrist. And yes, she had done a lot of research on posttraumatic
psychosis and even had a healthy share of Holocaust survivors and incest victims
and Vietnam veterans among her clients.
—from Pink Slip, by Rita Ciresi (Delta Publishing, 1999)

By: Diego Guzmán Vega

Sample Narrative Paragraph—Nonfiction
During the final years of his life, [Franz] Kafka’s health deteriorated rapidly. In 1923
he fell in love with Dora Dymant and settled in with her in Berlin; he asked Dora’s
father for permission to marry her but was refused. In the winter of 1923-24 he
moved into a series of clinics and sanitariums. He died, Dora at his side, on June 3,
1924, at a sanitarium in Kierling, near Vienna. His surviving family, including his
sisters, all perished several years later in Nazi concentration camps.
—from “The Modern Period” of Literature of the Western World, Vol. II, 3rd edition.
Eds. Brian Wilkie and James Hunt (Macmillan, 1992)

By: Diego Guzmán Vega