See the lesson for Unit 1 here!

1. UNIT 2
• Writing genre: A biographical paragraph
• Topic: Overcoming obstacles in life

2. Unit objectives
• By the end of this unit, you will be able to …
- Identify and write topic sentences, supporting
sentences and a concluding sentence in a
paragraph
- Learn about unity and coherence in a paragraph
- Recognize inappropriate supporting ideas within a
text
- Edit and revise writing for content, language, and
conventions
- Write a biographical paragraph

3. How do you understand the following proverb?

4. 1. STEPHEN HAWKING
3. NGUYEN NGOC KY
2. BARACK OBAMA
Do you know these men?
What do they have in
common?

5. What is biographical paragraph?
• Biography (n): a book that tells what
happened in someone’s life, written by
someone else.
• A biographical paragraph is a paragraph that
describes a person’s life with a focus on one
particular aspect.

6. Unity in a paragraph
• Unity means that a paragraph discusses
one and only one main idea from
beginning to end.
• Unity also indicates that every supporting
sentence must directly explain or prove
the main idea

7. Read the sample paragraph below, do you think this is a good
paragraph? Why (not)?
Jay Gatsby was my favorite character in the novel
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is a classic
American novel. One of the qualities I valued most about
him was his generosity and loyalty to his friends and
neighbors. For example, he gave many extravagant parties
and never thought about the cost. He invited anyone he
knew and liked regardless of their social status. His large
home was situated on the water on Long Island. In fact, he
befriended a struggling young man and offered to help
him earn more money. This book is required reading in
many college courses because it reveals the lifestyles of
the 1920s. Although this young man remained faithful to
Gatsby, others took advantage of his good nature.

8. Jay Gatsby was my favorite character in the novel
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is a classic
American novel. One of the qualities I valued most
about him was his generosity and loyalty to his friends
and neighbors. For example, he gave many extravagant
parties and never thought about the cost. He invited
anyone he knew and liked regardless of their social
status. His large home was situated on the water on
Long Island. In fact, he befriended a struggling young
man and offered to help him earn more money. This
book is required reading in many college courses
because it reveals the lifestyles of the 1920s. Although
this young man remained faithful to Gatsby, others
took advantage of his good nature.

9. PRACTICE
• Do exercise 1 and 2 on pages 57-59 in
your course book (Northstar Reading and
Writing 4)

10. Coherence in a paragraph
• Coherence in a paragraph means that all the ideas fit
together in a logical flow.
• In a coherent paragraph, each sentence should flow
smoothly into the next one.
• There are four ways to achieve coherence:
1. Repeat key nouns
2. Use consistent pronouns
3. Use transition signals to link ideas
4. Arrange ideas in logical order (either by chronology, by
importance or by logic)

11. Coherence in a paragraph
• In a biographical paragraph, ideas can be
arranged in a chronological order that is the
‘time order of events’.
• You can use transitional words for time order to
link the ideas in your paragraph:
In [year] / after/before/then/afterward/at the
same time/in the meantime, etc.

12. Writing Portfolio Entry 2
Choose a well-known person who
overcame obstacles in his or her
life to succeed and write a
biographical paragraph about him
or her.

13. BRAINSTORMING
• Use the following questions to guide your
search:
1. Who is that person?
2. When and where did/does that person live?
3. What was/is that person famous for?
4. What obstacles did he/she have to face?
5. How did he/she overcome those obstacles?
6. What achievements did he/she have after
overcoming those obstacles?
7. What have you learned from that person?

14. Paragraph outline
• Topic sentence:
- Topic : the name of the person
- Controlling idea: what you think about him/her
Ex: Nick Vujicic is an inspirational example for me to follow.
• Supporting sentences:
+ Facing obstacles:
-…..
-….
+ Dealing with obstacles:
-….
-….
+ Achievements after overcoming obstacles:
-….
-….
Concluding sentence:
What you have learned from that person?