The Structure of Opinion Paragraph- Composition

A description of the strcture of an opinion paragraph

1. WRITING OPINION PARAGRAPHS ENGL 101 – ENGLISH COMPOSITION I SEM. 471 – M. DIALLO

2. REMEMBER A paragraph = topic sentence + supporting sentences and details + concluding sentence A paragraph = ONE ( 1 ) main idea A topic sentence = topic of paragraph + controlling idea 2

3. THE PARAGRAPH 3 Concluding Sentence Topic Sentence Supporting Sentences & Details

4. WHAT IS AN OPINION ? 4 An opinion is a subjective statement based on what you think . It is a statement that expresses a feeling , an attitude , or a value judgment . An opinion is neither true nor false , or it may feel true for some, but false for others. Examples : Men are better drivers than women. Television is bad for children. English is an easy language to learn. Yanbu Industrial College is the best technical college in Saudi Arabia. Midterm exams should be cancelled.

5. WHAT IS A FACT ? 5 Facts are objective statements of truths. A fact is a statement that can be verified . It can be proven to be true or false through objective evidence . Examples : Jeddah is not the capital of Saudi Arabia. More than 70% of smartphone apps report personal data to third-party tracking companies like Google Analytics , the Facebook Graph API , or Crashlytics . According to five studies, 20-50% of smokers in Saudi Arabia started smoking at or before the age of 15.

6. FACTS THAT NEED PROOF 6 Sometimes, even facts need proof. Although these statements below are facts, they need proof . You have to use specific supporting details to prove that these statements are true facts. Examples : Women live longer than men. [How do we know this is true?] Cigarettes are addictive. [What’s the proof?] Identity theft is increasing at a rapid pace. [Prove it!] Students’ writing skills are improving. [Really?! This needs proof.]

7. The TOPIC SENTENCE 7 A topic sentence clearly shows the topic of the paragraph and the controlling idea . For the opinion paragraph, the controlling idea is your opinion or your feeling . You can start with phrases such as: Please note that you do not have to use any of these phrases in the table. I believe I think I am against I agree It is my opinion that I am in favor of In my opinion I oppose I support It is my belief that I disagree I do not think

8. Examples of Topic Sentences Television is the best / the worst invention ever . Children should (not) not be given smart devices. Social media is destroying social relations . Cheating in exams should never be tolerated . It is my opinion that cigarettes should be banned on campus . I think that midterm exams are useless . 8

9. The SUPPORTING SENTENCES 9 After the topic sentence , you need reasons to explain or support your opinion or feeling. Provide details that explain each reason . Use examples and/or facts . Opinions are not acceptable as support. If you express an opinion, you must support it with facts . Remember that you want your reader to agree with you. Therefore, you have to be convincing.

10. The CONCLUDING SENTENCE 10 WRAP UP your paragraph with the concluding sentence . Start it with a signal word for ending a paragraph like: Then, either paraphrase (restate) the topic sentence , or summarize the main reasons /points in your paragraphs. To sum up, To end, To conclude, To finish, All in all, In brief, For all these reasons, In short, In conclusion, In the end, Overall, In summary,

11. STRUCTURE 11 Topic Sentence Topic + Controlling Idea (opinion) Supporting Sentence #1 Reason #1 Supporting Details Explanation of Reason #1 Supporting Sentence #2 Reason #2 Supporting Details Explanation of Reason #2 Supporting Sentence #3 Reason #3 Supporting Details Explanation of Reason #3 Concluding Sentence Paraphrase or Summary

12. SAMPLE OPINION PARAGRAPH Smartphones should not be allowed in class. One reason is that smartphones are distractive . Many students do not understand lessons or instructions because they are messaging their friends instead of listening to the teacher. For example, in one English class, the teacher asked his students to read a particular paragraph. One of the students didn’t even hear the teacher’s instructions as he was on his phone. When the teacher asked him a question about the paragraph, the student could not answer since he had not even read the paragraph. Furthermore, when a phone rings, beeps, or vibrates, either the owner of the phone is distracted, or the entire class is. Another reason is that the phones limit students’ creativity and thinking . Even though they may use their phones to look up some words or find some information, students’ skills are negatively affected. For instance, if students use their phones to type, spelling errors are automatically corrected; consequently, students benefit very little from the corrections. Also, with the availability of applications such as ChatGPT, students put little efforts in thinking about anything. Like with the menu in a restaurant, a student is able to customize his or her assignment to his or her taste, and get marks and grades that he or she didn’t really work for. A final reason is that smartphones may be used for cheating . For example, in 2023, many cheating cases were reported at Yanbu College during final exams where some students had hidden their phones and were using them to communicate with outside parties to get solutions to Math questions. In short , these are the reasons why smartphones should be prohibited in classrooms. 12