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How to Write a Well-Developed Paragraph Using our Paragraph Recipe
It is important to start off with a strong topic sentence to set up for the reader what the
rest of the paragraph will be about. I usually (when I am demonstrating this on the
board) type my sentence in GREEN to make it stand out. Like, “All systems GO — I
can’t wait to read what you are going to write about this topic!”
Then, it is time to write in your “reasons, details, or facts” related to your topic. I write
these in YELLOW sentences. These are the reasons that support the topic sentence;
the details that support the topic; or the facts that support the topic. I call them RDFs for
short. If, for example, we were writing a paragraph on advantages and disadvantages of
Japan’s geographical features, I would write some details or facts down that I know
about how Japan is prone to natural disasters, how the fact that it is an island nation
means that it has enjoyed a defensive advantage that other Asian nations haven’t
enjoyed, etc. If I was writing a paragraph about factors that contributed to the decline of
feudalism in Europe, I would write reasons down in the RDF blocks. It is important to
“skip around” as you are writing your paragraph(s) and to take care of the yellow RDFs
first, before they write any of the RED elaboration and/or explanation sentences.
Once the green topic sentence is written, and after any yellow RDFs have been written,
it is time to get more detailed and offer explanation for what is written in the RDF boxes.
I make these in RED when I am demonstrating because it is kinda like, “Wait, stop and
tell me more!”
Lastly, it is time to add on a conclusion sentence, again in GREEN. These are tough to
craft! One strategy to use to write these is to write what you wrote in the introduction
topic sentence, but phrase it differently. You might be tempted to sometimes take the
easy way out by saying something like, “Japan is a beautiful country, but what do you
think?” and ending with a question — but don’t do this! This is not a sophisticated way
to conclude a paragraph.
So . . . rough sketch for a Japan paragraph might be something like:
Topic sentence
!
RDF - Advangages
!
!
E - Island nation
!
!
E - Proximity to water
!
!
E - Temperate climate
!
RDF - Disadvantages
!
!
E - Prone to natural disasters
!
!
E - Mountainous
!
!
E - Poor natural resources
Conclusion sentence
!
!
The cool thing about this “recipe” is that the RDF, E, E pattern can be repeated for a
longer paragraph as needed . . .
A finished paragraph might look like:
How to Write a Well-Developed Paragraph Using our Paragraph Recipe
!
Japan is a beautiful archipelago — or chain of islands —located in the western
Pacific Ocean whose geography is full of advantages and disadvantages for the
Japanese citizen living there. First, it may not seem like it, but living on an island has its
blessings. For one, in the medieval era, it would have been harder to invade and
conquer Japan since an invasion force would have had to sail across the Sea of Japan
and deal with rough weather just to make it to Japan’s shores. Also, no destination in
Japan is more than 100 miles from the ocean, which is wonderful for a nation that has
fish as a staple of their diet. Japan enjoys a moderate climate similar to that of San
Francisco, although temperatures vary by latitude and altitude. Nevertheless, the
Japanese have suffered terribly in their history due to factors related to the geography
of their country. Unfortunately, Japan is located on the Pacific plate’s “ring of fire,”
making it prone to experiencing volcanic activity and strong earthquakes which, in turn,
may trigger devastating tsunamis that wipe out life in coastal lowlands. Additionally,
Japan is an extremely mountainous country; only about 15% of land is flat enough for
agriculture, requiring the Japanese to become very resourceful with how they use their
available space. Speaking of resources, Japan has little in the way of coal or other
important soil nutrients, and it is one of the world’s largest importers of oil for energy.
The Japanese have proven they can maximize the advantages of living in such a
beautiful location, as well as manage to thrive despite the geographic disadvantages
they have faced throughout their history.