Types of Paragraph

Developing a paragraph by narration 

•      Narration is telling or relating of occurrence or a series of events. It requires us to tell what happened. It is a method used in personal letters, diaries, journals, newspapers, biographies, and autobiographies.

•      Developing a paragraph by narration means telling a story or relating event by using chronological order or time order. 

Example 

One day when I was a little girl, I had a frightening experience during which I almost drowned. The incident occurred in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, where I spent my vacation last June. One day my brother and I had been sailing a skipper class boat in the lake. As we had gone out quite a distance, we decided to turn back. All of sudden, while the boat was turning back, I found myself in the water with the boat on top of me. Not knowing how to swim, I grabbed my brother who pulled me from under the boat. After a long period of clinging to the overturned boat, I spotted a rescue boat coming out to help us. Then I ashore. I was reminded of that experience when I saw the movie “Jaws”. I know I shall never forget it. 

Time order used in the story

•      As you can see from the previous paragraph, the writer tells the reader a series of event in the order in which they happened by using time order words and phrases such as: one day, last June, all of sudden, after a long period of time, and finally. 

Developing a paragraph by description

•      When you describe the way something looks, for example, its physical description, you have to describe it according to space. You organize the idea in spatial order. You should arrange your sentences and details according to where the objects being described are located. 

Description of a place

In describing a room, for example, the following should be taken into consideration:

1.     The location of the objects in the rooms should be clear.

2.     The details should be arranged logically and systematically so it is easy for the readers to visualize the description in his/her mind.

3.     Most importantly is that there should be controlling idea which gives the paragraph a focus. 

Example

My dormitory room, on the second floor of Asrama Daksinapati, is small and crowded. The blue walls and rather yellowish ceiling make the room seem dark, and it looks even smaller than it is. My bed occupies about half of the room. The two windows over the bed are covered with heavy blue drapes. Against the wall on your left is a large bookcase which is crammed with paper, books, and other things. Between the bookcase and the wall opposite the bed is a small desk with a chair. Under the desk is a rattan waste paper basket full of paper and debris. The wall above the bookcase and desk is covered with small posters of my favorite rock singers. On the right hand side of the room is a narrow closet with clothes, shoes, badminton racket, and boxes bulging out of its sliding doors. Can you imagine how cram-full my room is? It is like living in a closet. 

Spatial order used in the story

•      The spatial expressions are called adverb of place; usually they are prepositional phrases: preposition + noun phrase.

•      Some expressions used in the paragraph:

On the second floor, under the windows, on your left, next to the bookcase, opposite the bed, on the right-hand side, against the wall, above the bookcase, underneath the desk.

•       Special sentence construction:

   Adverb of place + verb phrase + subject

   Under the desk       is       a basket     (or a basket is under the desk)

Description of a person

You can describe a person’s appearance in many ways such as his/her clothes, manner of speaking, color and style of hair, facial appearance, body shape, and expression. 

Example

Karmila is as beautiful as any Indonesian film star. Her thick, wavy long black hair falls down to her shoulders and surrounds her beautiful, diamond shaped face. A golden suntan usually highlights her smooth, clear complexion. Her slightly arched dark brown eyebrows draw attention to her deep brown eyes. Her eyes are large, but not too large, with thick eyelashes. Her nose is straight and neither too long nor too short. A small black mole on the left side of her mouth adds to her beauty. And her mouth is small and looks delicate and feminine. Her lips are rather thin, but not too thin; her light pink lipstick adds another touch of feminine beauty. When she smiles, which is often, her well-formed and even white teeth brighten up her whole face. There is nothing but extraordinary beauty in the face of Karmila.