Paragraphing Your Work
STRUCTURING PARAGRAPHS
Look at the following example:
Stark white and threatening, the letter lay on the brown
door mat. I stared at it; my body became rigid. Although
I hadn’t seen it for years, I’d have recognised my sister’s
handwriting anywhere. Why was she writing to me now?
Forcing my reluctant knees to bend, I stooped down and
picked it up. Holding it as carefully as if it contained a
time bomb, I carried it to the kitchen and dropped it on
the table. Then, turning my back on it, I picked up the
kettle with shaking hands and filled it. Hardly aware of
what I was doing, I plugged it in and took a mug out
of the cupboard. Still in a daze, I made the coffee and
took some scalding sips. Then gingerly I picked up the
envelope and slit it open. It was a wedding invitation!
‘Mr and Mrs Collins’ requested ‘the pleasure of the
company of Miss Cathy Singleton at the wedding of
their daughter Lydia.. .’ I dropped the card in amaze-
ment. Was my niece really old enough to be married?
Had my sister at last decided to bury the hatchet or
had Lydia forced her to send the invitation? I couldn’t
believe that I, the black sheep of the family, had actually
been invited to the wedding of my estranged sister’s
daughter.4
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