Paragraphing

Published: 4th of June, 2024 by Patrick Carpen

Paragraphing can be one of the most challenging topics to teach to students of English. A paragraph should contain only “one main idea.” However, it can be difficult to explain what a main idea is. For example, if I’m writing an essay on the increasing road accidents on Guyana, that essay itself is just one idea: the increasing road accidents in Guyana. However, within that general idea is nestled several “smaller ideas.” These smaller ideas are the building blocks of the main idea.

Since there is no clearly definable rule that can be used to delimit a single idea for a paragraph, it is difficult to teach a student how to identify and single out a paragraph idea. This has to come with practice and getting a “feel” of what a paragraph idea is. It’s just like teaching someone to ride a motorcycle. You cannot tell them to rev the throttle one, two, or three degrees to go x, y, or z kilometers per hour. The rider has to develop a “feel” for the degree that the throttle has to be revved. In the same way, by practicing and getting the “feel” of what constitutes a paragraph idea, students can readily identify paragraph ideas and learn how to create well structured single-idea paragraphs.

The Topic Sentence

All good paragraphs should have a topic sentence. The topic sentence may be stated explicitly in the paragraph or it may be implied. The topic sentence may be the first line, last line, or somewhere in the middle if it is stated explicitly. The topic sentence contains the main idea. All other sentences support the main idea of the topic sentence.

Let’s use the essay topic, “The Increasing Road Accidents on the Roadways of Guyana” to construct clearly defined paragraphs with a single idea and a topic sentence whether stated or implied.

Here are the ideas I will incorporate into the essay.

Paragraph 1: Introduction of the idea and the issue to be addressed.

Paragraph 2: Animals on the Roadway

Paragraph 3: There are too many vehicles and too little roadways in Guyana.

Paragraph 4: Young people are eager to drive not knowing the dangers of the driving

Paragraph 5. Corruption within the Police Force Gives Rise to Many Undeserving Drivers Licenses.

Paragraph 6: The Government needs to address the issues in paragraphs 2 to 5.

The Increasing Road Accidents on the Roadways of Guyana

Almost every day that we wake up and open the news, we read of a horrifying accident on Guyana’s roadways. Most of the time, these accidents are caused by young and inexperienced drivers. It’s tragic that so many precious lives are being lost in such painful ways. This not only casts a negative image on our country, it deters tourists and investors. But what’s more, it leaves many citizens mourning the loss of precious lives. As patriotic citizens of this country, we must all put our heads and hearts together in firm resolve to end road accidents in Guyana and make Guyana a safer and happier country.

To begin with, I’d like to raise the issue of animals on the roadways. At any given time in Guyana, there are cows, sheep, horse, dogs, and other animals parading the roadways like patrol officers. These animals are allowed to roam the roadways at will without any consequence whatsoever. They stand or lie in the middle of the road when the please, cross over from one side to the other when they please, and dart across the road suddenly from time to time. Some of them even jump on top of vehicles. Motorists and pedestrians alike are put at risk by these animals on the roadways. Some of these animals are strays, but some belong to farmers. The government needs to implement policies such as heavy fines and impounding for animals on the roadway. A task force should also be implemented to physically remove unwanted animals from the roads in order to make the roads a safer place for all Guyanese.

Another great contributing factor to road accidents in Guyana is that there are too many vehicles and too little infrastructure to take them off. At the turn of the century (2000), the car craze began. Because the economy started booming a little, banks started offering vehicle loans, and owning a vehicle came closer to the hand reach of citizens, everybody wanted one. This car craze has only grown in recent years, and now owning a car has become a fashion and social statement. One feels “up there” when driving a car. This has resulted in an explosive growth in the numbers of vehicles hitting the roadways. Unfortunately, the increase in roadways, highways, bridges, and other relevant infrastructure has not been proportional to the number of vehicles hitting the roadways. This has led to mass congestion, slow traffic,and hazardous driving conditions.

The car craze and the idea of cars becoming a social statement has pushed young people to try their best own a car. For some, owning a car is a necessity, but for others, its a necessary luxury. Today, young people have let go of the benefits of physical exercises such as walking or riding a bike because they feel pressured to own a car to be “up there.” Sadly, many of them are not skilled or well trained enough to handle the roadways of Guyana. Defensive driving is a difficult task for most of the young people hitting the roadways everyday. The lack of experience and the simplicity of the young people acquiring motor vehicles every day have greatly contributed to road accidents across Guyana.

Young people go out of their way to acquire a car, and when they do, the problem is passing the test and obtaining a drivers’ license. That’s the hard part. Well, not really. All you have to do is pass a few dollars to the right traffic cop and you “bought your book.” Word on the street is that these corrupt traffic officers have their touts who do their dirty work while shielding them from blame “for a commission.” For example, a man on the street or a popular businessman would say, “I got contact for drivers license.” You pay him the required sum and he comes back with drivers license in hand. This contributes to the large number of unqualified drivers on Guyana’s roadways. This in turn contributes to the growing number of road accidents on Guyana’s roadways.

The government needs to put its foot down quickly and firmly, and firmly resolve to end road accidents in Guyana. The Guyana Government needs to launch a commission of inquiry into bribery and corruption within the traffic department of the Guyana Police Force. They also need to launch educational campaigns about the “readiness for driving” and the “dangers on the roadways.” The government needs to launch a comprehensive campaign to get animals off the roadways. And finally, they need to build more roads, highways, and bridges, to make driving comfortable and practical. Together, we can put our heads and hearts together and greatly reduce road accidents in Guyana, or better yet, end it altogether.