E content for B.A.
1st Year
Paper 1st
Methods and Techniques of Paragraph Writing
Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh
Dept of English
D.D.U.G.U., Gorakhpur
Methods of Paragraph development
• We can develop a paragraph by using
following orders/methods:
Chronological method-
• 1When activities or events are described in
order of their occurrence of time, the passage
is in chronological order. That is to say the
earlier events come first followed by more
recent events.
• This method is natural order of narration in
which one event leads to another. This
method is preferred in historical narration.
.
Cont…
• Example
• The demand for electricity is high during
winter mornings. It is not so high in middle
part of the day, specially a sunny day, in the
evening; the demand for electricity is
maximum. It again comes down a little after
midnight
Sample
• Sample:
• The Stone Age began in approximately 2 billion B.C and
lasted till 3000 B.C. Its name was derived from the
stone tools and weapons had made. This period was
divided into Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic ages.
During the first period that is 2 million B.C and 8000
million B.C man learnt to use fire for heating and
cooking. During the Mesolithic age that is from 8000 to
6000 B.C. People made crude potter, the first hooks,
took dogs for hunting and developed bow and the
arrow. During the Neolithic period, that is from 6000 to
3000 B.C man domesticated animals useful to him and
established permanent settlements.
Spatial order
• (Relating to the space and the position, size,
shape etc)
• A paragraph is in a spatial order when a
technocrats or writer describes a particular place,
a building, a location or a person and the details
spatially i.e. left to right, right to left, one part to
another, most important to the least important
and so on.
• In other words we can say area wise description
is known as special order.
Example
The consumption of electricity is the maximum
in the metropolitan cities, even in big,
industrial urban areas it is enormous, the
smaller towns do not consume so much
electricity. The rural parts of the country get
the least of it.
Linear Method:
• Linear means ‘consisting of ‘lines’ or ‘one
dimensional’, the writer goes from one thing
to another in a single series of stages. Each
sentence leads to the next one in a paragraph,
with the purpose of maintaining a forward
movement. The linear method also
contributes to the unity of a paragraph.
The structure should look like this:
• (a) Topic (b) develop point one (c) develop point two
and so on
• Example: The animal kingdom can be divided into four
categories: the first category comprises diurnal animals
which are active during the day. Next we have the
nocturnal animals which move about at night and so
on. Then we have first of two known less known
variety, the crepuscular animals which are active during
twilight hours. The arrhythmic animals that move
about during day and night are less known variety.
Probably such a division began when simple and weak
animals began to come out in the dark to escape from
the diurnal animals.
Inductive method:
• In inductive method an author moves from
specific or particular statements to the
general statement or central idea or topic of
the paragraph. The author gives details,
arguments or illustrations which lead finally to
the conclusion. The paragraph that begins
with certain information concludes with a
topic sentence, often known as conclusion
Example of Inductive Method
• Example: 1 Shyam dies Sohan dies, they are
human beings hence we can say that man is
mortal.
• Example 2: The location of the plant is within
easy approach. The building is quite impressive,
spacious and quite strong. The machinery is not
very old and the technique used is the newer
one. The staff is well trained and disciplined all
these factors lead to one conclusion, that the
plant should be purchased.
Deductive method:
• The most popular method used by the writer is
the deductive method. It is the reversal of the
logical arrangement of the inductive method. In
the deductive method author moves from
general statement to particular statement. The
topic sentence is usually the first sentence in the
paragraph, stating some general statements. The
author finally tries to get particular information
with the help of example. This gives the
paragraph a direct, straightforward style which
most report reader prefers.
Example:
• Man is mortal. Since Shyam and Mohan are
men so they are mortal.
• Both Inductive and Deductive methods are
significant tools of paragraph writing.
Techniques of Paragraph
Development-
You can develop the central idea of paragraph
your through various techniques. These are
following:
1. Illustration
• In Illustration techniques, examples are
provided to present the main idea.
2. Comparison and contrast
• Comparison and Contrast- Comparison and
contrast is very useful technique for paragraph
development. It develops similarities and
differences to develop the main idea.
• 3. Cause and effect: It explains the reason for
the end result.
• 4. Classification: In classification the writer
breaks the main idea into specific categories.
5. Problem and solution:
• Problem and solution: In this technique we
discuss about the solution of given problem.
Writer starts his paragraph with question
mark and then provides its solution.
References
1. A course in English Literature and Language, Orient B,2009lacksw
2. Technical Communication Raman Sharma Oxfor
3. Remedial English Language by Malti Agarwal
3. web sources
Thank You