THE PARAGRAPH

Module 3

Methods of Paragraph Development

Learning Outcomes

Enumerate the methods of developing a paragraph

Determine the method used to develop the paragraph
Evaluate if the method used in developing the topic is appropriate
Develop a topic sentence using any two of the methods

Brainstorm
To write a paragraph effectively is very essential in communication. To be able to write an
effective paragraph, aside from observing the three very important characteristics: unity, coherence and
emphasis; it is also very significant to know the different methods of developing it.

Delve Deeper
There are several ways of developing the thought of a paragraph. An analysis of these methods
will help the inexperienced writer develop the habit of orderly writing. A beginner usually benefits from
the conscious use of proven methods.
The methods of paragraph development are generally conditioned by the nature of the topic.
They may be employed individually or in combination with one another. You will realize that the same
topic may be effectively expanded by any one of the several ways, and that some of these methods
overlap, but it is important to keep in mind that every good paragraph is constructed on some sort of
pattern and is the product of careful planning.

Development by Definition
There are three kinds of definition. The first is the informal definition which is also called
dictionary definition wherein the unfamiliar word is substituted only with a synonym. The second is the
formal definition which is composed of three parts: species, genus and the differentiae.

Example:
A sonnet
Species (term)

is a

lyric poem

with fourteen iambic pentameter lines.

genus (class)

differentiae (specific characteristic)

The third is called amplified definition wherein the species is defined elaborately. The definition is
strengthened by a series of concrete examples and details. When you develop a paragraph with the
method of definition you will use the amplified definition. Here you may explain what something is or is
not. This is usually used in expository paragraphs.
Example:
HIV is an acronym for the human immunodeficiency virus that eventually leads to the disease known as AIDS. HIV is
transmitted among people through body fluids like blood and breast milk. When this virus attacks a person, it causes the
immune system to break down. This weakening of the bodys natural defense system allows certain deadly diseases to attack
and spread. Some people develop symptoms shortly after infection. According to the centers for Disease Control (CDC), as
many as 34.3 million people may be infected with this virus. As many as one in three individuals with HIV is not aware that he
or she is infected. The spread of the virus greatly concerns doctors because there are no obvious signs that a person has HIV.
In fact, the only certain way of determining whether a person is carrying HIV is through a blood test.

Development by Elimination
The process of elimination points out what a thing or idea is not and then proceeds with an
explanation of what it is.
Example:
Tolerance is not the bridge to build a lasting friendship; neither is it the adequate basis for a healthy, happy, and
rewarding marriage. In the relations among nations, it is merely the beginning of the ideal relationships among the nations on
earth. Ultimately, with individuals as with nations, (we) want to build a world in which respect is mutual, and based on real
understanding of differences as well as similarities, and on this ground, where men and nations will complement each other for
the good of all mankind.
Carlos P. Romulo, A New World is Emerging

Development by Comparison and Contrast

A paragraph may be effectively developed by comparison which is a long simile. It is pointing
out the similarities between two objects, persons, or ideas through the use of comparative expressions
like like, as if, as though, looks like, resembles, might be compared to, and the likes. The unfamiliar or
difficult idea is made clear and more understandable through comparison.

Example:

The Catanduanes State Colleges after the devastating typhoon Reming is like a wet, motherless chick.
The main building is like the body of the chick: right and left wings are both broken. The scattered leaves, paper and debris
are like the feathers plucked off from its young and wounded body. The flag pole looks like a foot of the chick which is broken.
The acacia trees around it are old Christmas trees without any leaf or decoration, forgotten by the owners, abandoned by the
ephemeral presence of time.
The opposite of development by comparison is development by contrast. Here, the differences
of two similar things or situations are emphasized.
Example:
China and America treat their old citizens in a very different way. In China, children take care of their old parents. It is
a shame to put them into the house of the aged. There are even children who buys large house purposely for their aging
parents. In America, aging parents are considered burdens by their children so they send them to nursing houses and let the
government take care of them. Southeast Asian nations like China value family unity so much while Western nations like
America value independence and productivity at the cost of ignoring ones own parents.
Sometimes a paragraph may employ a combination of comparison and contrast.

Development by Analogy
This method points out the similarity in some respects between things or ideas otherwise unlike.
It is particularly useful in clarifying something abstract and unfamiliar by likening it to something
concrete and familiar.
Example:
The Philippines today is like a young, impoverished, beautiful, scintillating Cinderella in tattered clothes who is being
courted by four wealthy suitors in the guise of the United States, the Soviet Union, China and Japan. Each one has its
motives, dowry and promises of future happiness for Cinderella and her people. However, Cinderella must have leadership,
and must be smart, prudent and exacting.
Of the four superpower suitors, Japan is the most anxious. It is also the most vulnerable and least prepared to assert
its personality in the region and most reluctant to part with its hard-earned reserve surplus. The shy suitor, moreover, is the
most reticent nation to admit that it has already the third largest defense budget in the world after the US and the USSR.
Hector R. Villanueva, Wooing the Philippines, Daily Globe

Development by Details
A very common method of developing a paragraph is presenting details that explain and illustrate
the central theme. Skillfully chosen and arranged details contribute to concreteness and clarity. There are
four kinds of details with which paragraphs can be amplified: facts, examples, incidents, and reasons.

A. Development with factsA topic sentence can be supported by facts, as in the following
example:
Smoking deaths in China, home to the worlds largest smoking population, will double to two million a year
by 2020 if the country does not do more to reduce tobacco use, health experts predict. The country has 300 million
smokers who consume a third of the worlds cigarettes. Nearly 60 percent of Chinese men smoke, putting an average of
15 cigarettes per day. A study by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung diseases reveals that a million
Chinese die each year from smoking-related illnesses. The longer the people smoke, the worse their disease gets, the
worse the death rates get.
The Philippine Star

B. Development with examplesA paragraph may be developed with examples which illustrate or
support the main point.
The seventeenth century was a period of great advances in science. For example, early in this century Galileo perfected the
telescope and in 1609 published The Sidereal Messenger, in which he reported the results of his observations of the Milky Way, the
moon, and the planet Jupiter. Only a few years later, the Dutch scientist Anton van Leewenhoek performed pioneering research with
the microscope, discovering among other things that weevils, fleas, and other minute creatures come from eggs rather than being
spontaneously generated. Not long after this, William Harvey, an English physician, discovered the method by which blood circulates
in humans and other animals and in 1628 published his findings in the historic treatise On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in
Animals. Finally, in the 1660s, Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravitational and the laws governing the physics of light, and he
also invented differential calculus.

C. Development with an incidentAnother method of developing a paragraph is to relate an

incident which illustrates the topic idea. the following paragraph is an example:
In May, 1973, Taiwan newspapers carried a story about a Filipino student, a stowaway who was found out
after several months in Taiwan. As he faced deportation, he was asked how it had been in Taiwan. No regrets.
Taiwan is a wonderful place, he said.
This Filipino student wasnt the first foreigner to be attracted to the shores of Taiwan. In the 17 th century, a
group of Dutchmen were so fascinated by the beauties of Taiwan that they settled down. At the time Taiwan had only
natural beauties of and a bit of sugar to attract the people. All the beauties of nature are still present in 20 th century
Taiwan. They wont go away. But after 400 years of exposure to Chinese culture, Taiwan has acquired something
more than the beauties of naturesomething that cannot be found elsewhere.
Free China Today,III
D. Development with reasonsA topic sentence which states an opinion is developed with reasons which
may be facts, examples, incidents, or supporting opinions.
The reasons for the African self-confidence were not really obscure. They were the same reasons
as those that enabled Africans to resist invasions: the steady growth of Iron Age, concentrations of power,
the evolution of central government, the raising of armies, the swearing-in of vassals, or the elimination of

rivals that had accompanied much of African social development for the previous thousand years. They
were, in short, the reasons that had enabled African types of feudal rule to emerge and grow strong.
Clark D. Moore and Ann Dunbar, Africa Yesterday and Today

Development by Illustration
Often a topic sentence is amplified by illustrations. Usually the pattern is a general statement
followed by an illustration, or a series of illustrations, in which case the method is very much the same
as amplification by details, as in this example.
The process of dying and the moment of death have been regarded as occasions of the gravest crisis in many
religions. The dying must be especially prepared for the awful experience. In China, the head of a dying person is shaved, his
body washed, and his nails pared, and he is placed in a sitting position to facilitate the exit of the soul to return, to make
certain that its departure from the body is definitive. Muslim custom decrees that the dying be positioned facing the holy city of
Mecca. In Catholic Christianity, great care is devoted for good death. The dying person makes his last confession to a priest
and receives absolution. Then he is anointed with consecrated oil during a rite known as anointing of the sick. The medieval
Christians believe that the last moments of life were the most critical, for demons lurked about the deathbed ready to seize the
unprepared soul as it emerged with the last breath.
The New Encyclopedia Britannica

Development by Repetition
Repetition does not only secure coherence and emphasis bit it also means amplifying a central
thought. Thus, each sentence pattern that is repeated carries the thought forward. The repetition
clarifies and expands the idea.
Example:
As I watched with seriousness the ten competitors wound the rope on the flat surface of the discus-shaped
Kelanton tops, releasing them on the mound where they are scooped one by one by spatula to a stand on which they spin for
as long as two hours; as I watched the ceremonious preliminaries observed by the combatants in the dance-like Malay art of
self-defense; as I watched the many faces of the people, always the people, staggered faces in crowd after crowd, I knew that
I understood the meaning of release. Release from the deadening core of day-to-day living, release from routine, release from
anonymity!
Amelia Lapena Bonifacio, In Pursuit of the Cultural Heritage of Southeast Asia
There in the mist, enormous, majestic, silent, and terrible, stood the Great Wall of China. Solitarily, with the
indifference of nature herself, it crept up the mountain side and slipped down to the depth of the valley. Menacingly, the grim
watch towers, stark and four-square, at due intervals stood at their posts. Ruthlessly, for it was built at the cost of a million
lives and each one of those grey stones has been stained with the bloody tears of the captive and the outcast, it forged its
dark way through a sea of rugged mountains. Fearlessly, it went on its endless journey league upon league to the furthermost
regions of Asia, in utter solitude, mysterious like the great empire it guarded. There in the mist, enormous, majestic, silent and
terrible, stood the Great Wall of China.
W. Somerset Maugham, On a Chinese Screen

Development by Enumeration
A paragraph may begin with a topic sentence which states the number of points to be covered.
The points then follow in numerical order accompanied by clarifications or explanations, or if they
require lengthy discussions, the paragraph of enumeration serves only as an introduction. In both
cases, the numerical border automatically insures good organization.
Example:
Recent studies have identified the positive and negative qualities of Filipinos. The first include the Filipinos
humanity, his basic sense of justice and concern for others, his strong family commitment, his cheerful approach to life and his
flexibility to adapt harsh foreign conditions in order to survive. The second include his extreme family centeredness, his lack of
discipline and initiative, and his colonial mentality.
Of all the ASEAN countries, it is Singapore that can teach Filipinos and their leaders how to lose some of these
negative qualities. Here the rule of law is something you can almost touch, institutions are sacrosanct, personal relationships
crumble on the rock of that single standard that must apply to all Singaporeans.
Francisco S. Tatad, A Drive To Achieve, Daily Globe

Development by Cause and Effect

In a paragraph developed by cause and effect, the writer points out the relationships between
certain events or situations and their consequences. The discussion may move from cause to effect or
from effect to cause.
Example:
Even if little research has been carried out about the importance of climatic conditions for development, it is clear
that, generally speaking, the extremes of heat and humidity in the most South Asian countries contribute to a deterioration of
soil and many kinds of material goods; bear a partial responsibility for the low productivity of certain crops, forests, and
animals; and not only cause discomfort to workers but also impair their health and decrease the participation in, and duration
and efficiency of work. It is possible in some small ways to alter the climate; more important, the effects of climate on
production and consumption can be better adapted to the climate. But it requires expenditure, often of the investment type.
Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama

Development by Question and Answer

The question and answer method of development is effective in explanations and arguments.
Sometimes a series of related questions which are meant to be unanswered (rhetorical questions)
make up a paragraph or the succeeding paragraphs answer the questions.

Example:

Are the dreams of the new age realistic? Can men ever live together in peace and mutual respect? My answer is a
resounding yes! And I say so with all the moral conviction I can muster after many years of pursuing this seeming will o-thewisp. I do not have to go far to show that it may not be such an impossible dream after all. Here in your schoolyou have
been seeing this ideal in practice, you have here the world in a little cosmos of your own, where students of various
nationalities and backgrounds are thrown together in splendid, tranquil surroundings.
Carlos P. Romulo, A New World is Emerging, Philippine Panorama
Why does the U.S need to learn a little frugality? Because healthy savings rates, including government and business
savings, are one of the surest indicators of a countrys long term financial health. High savings lead, over time, to increased
investment, which in turn generated productivity gains, innovation, and job growth. In short, savings are the seed corn of a
good economic harvest.

Development by Classification
Classification groups items or subjects into categories to help the audience understand them
better. When you classify, you divide the members of a group into categories whose members share
similar characteristics. You need a principle of classificationa guideline for your classifying procedure.
Example:
Horse experts categorized horses by size into three categories. Ponies are any horses under 14.2 hands high. A
hand is a unit of measure that is equal to 4 inches. A horses height is measured from the ground to the ridge between its
shoulder bones. Some ponies such as Shetland can be as little as to 8 to 10 hands high. Light Horses have small bones and
slim legs and built for speed. This group includes the breeds of Arabian, thorough breeds, quarter horses, and the morgan.
They are used for riding, ranching and various sports. Heavy Horses are massive, muscular animals that were bred to pull
wagons or plows. Shire Horses and Clydesdales are heavy horses that measure 17 or 19 hands.

Skill Fixer 1

Score:

Directions: Determine the method/s of development used in the paragraph.

Tornadoes can be devastating. Take for example the tornado that hit Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1997. This tornado
destroyed an entire blocks of homes and damaged many other houses and places of business. In addition, the tornado
caused death of over twenty people. More recently, in 1982, at least twenty-five tornadoes hit Arkansas, Texas,
Mississippi, and Florida, killing 26 people, injuring over 3000, and causing more than $ 50 million in property damage. In
1984, the town of Barneveld, Wisconsin, was leveled by a tornado that killed 7 and injured about 200. Even though not all
tornadoes cause such massive devastation, if they touch down in populated areas, you can expect considerable damage.
Method/s of Development: ___________________________________________________________________________

Skill Fixer
Skill Fixer 2

Score:

____1.
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Directions:
In 20 minutes, read and determine the method of development used in each
paragraph.
1. When someone catches a heavy cold, he asks himself, How did I ever catch this cold? sometimes he knows, but
quite often he cannot remember. The cold may be the result of exposure to a cold wind when the body temperature
is heated and the person is perspiring profusely. It may be caused sudden drop in temperature, such as when a
person gets wet in a summer rain. Whatever it is, there is surely definite cause for a person catching cold.
Method/s of Development: __________________________________________________________________________
2. AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a severe disease that cripples the bodys immune system so
severely that other diseases are able to ravage the body. The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of
HIV infection. More specifically, the Centers for Disease Control says that a person has IADS when his or her T4 cell
count drops to less than 200. Tangible signs that indicate that an individual might have this illness include coughing
and shortness of breath, serious weight loss, extreme fatigue, brain tumors, various cancers, and other health
problems. All of these effects are serious and, without proper treatment, can kill a person.
Method/s of Development: __________________________________________________________________________
3. The Lord Buddha has taught us that there are four causes of death: Karma, frame of mind, weather, and food.
Under the system of class exploitation, how can the Have-nots enjoy the good food and protect themselves from
extremes of weather? Can there be any sense of happiness or contentment for them? Can even a good Karma
favor one who is cheerless? Thus, one who is born into the class of Have-nots is handicapped in all the above
factors, and disease is the inevitable result.
Method/s of Development: __________________________________________________________________________
4. For a long time to come, marriage and children will remain the priorities of Malaysian women whether or not they
have been exposed to more liberal influences. Many Malaysian women in the professions, for instance simply do not
buy the concept of spouses equally sharing domestic responsibility even if the wife is a breadwinner. Mrs. Rajah
Bani, a successful lawyer politician, puts it well: We (Malaysian women) enjoy this role of mother and there is no
resentment on the demands in makes on us. It will never be a sacrifice if we have to give up our careers for the
children. It is the womans role to be wife and mother. I would not expect my husband to lose out on his comforts
because I am a working wife. It is my choice to be a career woman and wife and mother at the same time.
Method/s of Development: __________________________________________________________________________

Mnemosynes Challenge

Score:

Directions: Identify the method of paragraph development referred on each item.

1. This presents question/s which are intended to be answered or not

Answer:
________________________________________________________________
2. This is presentation of various data that explain the main topic
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
3. Involves the amplification of a thought by more than just dictionary meaning.
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
4. This points out similarities between an abstract idea and a concrete idea
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
5. It is pointing out similarities and differences of two dissimilar things or ideas.
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
6. This starts with a general statement followed by an illustration or series of illustrations
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
7. Points out the relationship between certain events and their results
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
8. This method is the recurrence of pattern or words in the paragraph
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
9. This points out what a thing or idea is not and proceeds explaining what it is
Answer:
________________________________________________________________
10. Begins with a topic sentence which states the number of points to be covered
Answer:
______________________________________________________________________

Relax, Think and Answer

Score:

Directions: Answer each question below briefly yet accurately.

1. Which kind of detail presents reliable and accurate data?
Answer:
_____________________________________________________
2. Which kind of detail recounts an experience of a person?
Answer:
_____________________________________________________
3. Which kind of detail presents information that will convince the reader to accept an opinion?
Answer:
_____________________________________________________
4. Which method presents one long and elaborate example?
Answer:
_____________________________________________________
5. Which method is also used to achieve coherence and emphasis?
Answer:
_____________________________________________________

Dip Your Pen

Directions: Write a paragraph about anything that interests you and wherein you are knowledgeable
using any method/s convenient for you. (not less than100 words)

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Method/s of Development: ______________________________________________________

Prepared by: franztatel