Types of Paragraphs
{Types of Paragraph} 6
The type of paragraph you use will depend on your purpose for writing. To entertain readers or express themselves, writers use narration or description. Exposition and narration are used to inform readers about something. Writers use persuasion to influence people. Several paragraphs written about the same subject might be very different, depending on why the writers wrote them. The four paragraphs that follow all talk about roller coasters, but in different ways.
* Narrative paragraphs
Tell about an event or series of events, usually in chronological order. Most short stories and newspaper articles are examples of narrative writing. [
* Descriptive paragraphs
Do exactly what you think they do; they describe a person, an object, or a scene in detail. [
Example: Rising ominously from the frozen Muskegon landscape, it is a sight exhilarating and unnerving, this man-made mountain range of wood. Under a cold grey sky, the soul of this creation waits in silent hibernation for the warmth of spring. Then, when the clouds part, the snows melt, and the earth awakens, it shall be silent no more. A gorgeous, textbook example of the classic “out-and-back” roller coaster, Shivering Timbers will be Michigan’s largest coaster. Even more, this humongous lumber wonder will rank as the third longest wooden coaster in the United States.
“1998 Preview,” Thrill ride! Web site
Example:
Your knuckles are white, your palms are drenched, and it feels like your dentist has just switched on the drill. Worse still, as the click of the chain pulls the train skyward, you glance back at the gum-chewing guy who strapped you in and wonder what possessed you to put your life in the hands of a kid you wouldn’t trust to wrap your sandwich. That’s when you realize: This is all a big mistake. Only now you’re at the top, staring into the air, the track seems to have vanished, and the car teeters on the edge of nothingness. Then gravity takes hold and
The type of paragraph you use will depend on your purpose for writing. To entertain readers or express themselves, writers use narration or description. Exposition and narration are used to inform readers about something. Writers use persuasion to influence people. Several paragraphs written about the same subject might be very different, depending on why the writers wrote them. The four paragraphs that follow all talk about roller coasters, but in different ways.
* Narrative paragraphs
Tell about an event or series of events, usually in chronological order. Most short stories and newspaper articles are examples of narrative writing. [
* Descriptive paragraphs
Do exactly what you think they do; they describe a person, an object, or a scene in detail. [
Example: Rising ominously from the frozen Muskegon landscape, it is a sight exhilarating and unnerving, this man-made mountain range of wood. Under a cold grey sky, the soul of this creation waits in silent hibernation for the warmth of spring. Then, when the clouds part, the snows melt, and the earth awakens, it shall be silent no more. A gorgeous, textbook example of the classic “out-and-back” roller coaster, Shivering Timbers will be Michigan’s largest coaster. Even more, this humongous lumber wonder will rank as the third longest wooden coaster in the United States.
“1998 Preview,” Thrill ride! Web site
Example:
Your knuckles are white, your palms are drenched, and it feels like your dentist has just switched on the drill. Worse still, as the click of the chain pulls the train skyward, you glance back at the gum-chewing guy who strapped you in and wonder what possessed you to put your life in the hands of a kid you wouldn’t trust to wrap your sandwich. That’s when you realize: This is all a big mistake. Only now you’re at the top, staring into the air, the track seems to have vanished, and the car teeters on the edge of nothingness. Then gravity takes hold and