Title: Unit 10: Helping Revise and Edit an Opinion Paragraph
Course: STEP DEV > Section: Tutoring Writing

Helping Revise and Edit an Opinion Paragraph

Objective:

- Recognize how to help a tutee revise and edit an opinion paragraph.

How to Organize an Opinion Paragrapgh

An opinion paragraph explains what you think about a subject. The purpose of the paragraph is to convince your reader to agree with you. By explaining a few key facts that support your opinion, you convince your reader that your opinion is valid.

Topic

To write an opinion paragraph you need a topic about which you have an opinion. An appropriate topic is a subject that people can agree or disagree on.

Topic Sentence

Also, you need a topic sentence.  This sentence contains the topic and your opinion about the topic.   It is usually the first sentence in the paragraph.

E.g. There are three key benefits of knowing more than one language.

E.g. Eating too much sugar can have a negative effect on your health.

A topic sentence such as “I am going to write about being bilingual” is not effective as

it announces the subject but does not explain the writer’s opinion about it. Are you going to discuss the benefits or the difficulties?

Also, a statement of fact such as, “Many people are bilingual in Montreal” is not appropriate because you cannot express an opinion about it. It is a fact that can be verified or not, regardless of your opinion.

Arguments and Transitions

Once you have a strong topic sentence, you have to support it with arguments.  You should have at least three arguments.  Furthermore, use transitions to connect your arguments to each other (e.g. First, Second, Finally).

A strong argument is a convincing statement that supports your position. For example, “One of the benefits of being bilingual is better access to employment” is a good argument because it supports the topic sentence and you can give concrete examples about it using statistics, expert opinion or your own experience.

In order to connect ideas to each other, you should use transitions. You can use  transitions such as “however” or “nevertheless” to show contrast between two ideas. To illustrate, see the connection of contrast between these two sentences: “Many Quebecers refuse to learn French. However, those who learn the official language have better job opportunities.”

Supporting Arguments

Next, you have to support your arguments with facts or evidence.  You can also use transitions to connect your evidence to the argument when necessary (e.g. Moreover).

For example, you can introduce information that clarifies the first statement: “According to 2020 census, Montreal is the most bilingual city in Canada. In other words, more than half of the people here can speak both French and English fluently.”

Concluding Sentence

 Finally, you need to write a concluding sentence, which restates your topic sentence in a different way.  A concluding sentence is never a question. A memorable concluding sentence rephrases the topic sentence in other words or includes a quotation that leaves the reader some food for thought. It should begin with a concluding transition. For example, “In conclusion, now you know that being bilingual is an asset at school, at work and even in your social life.”

Tutoring Writing Resources

Click on the link below to access the resources that will help you prepare for tutoring writing

Introduction

When helping a tutee with a writing text, you should follow the same five steps as any other lesson.   As there are no Step by Step writing lessons, it is important for you to go over the steps before helping your tutee revise and edit a text.

Keep in mind that writing the text for your tutee is considered plagiarism. Nonetheless, you can help them organize their ideas, revise and edit their paragraph.

In the following sub-chapter, you will learn how to organize a paragraph.

Pre-Activity

1.  How can you help your tutee to revise and edit their ideas for the writing task?

Activity

STEP 1. Assessment

·       Find out what help the tutee needs with the writing.

o   What have you written so far?

o   Can I see the instructions?

STEP 2. Theory

·       Read the first draft.

·       Ask questions to find out about the text.

o   What is the topic?

o   What is the topic sentence? Topic Sentence= topic + opinion (main point that you want to make)

o   What are your arguments?

o   Which transitions did you use to connect your ideas?

o   Did you summarize the main ideas in the concluding sentence?

STEP 3. Controlled and Communicative

·       Go sentence by sentence using correction techniques to deal with major grammar errors.

o   Inform your tutee that there is an error.

o   Point out the error if necessary.

o   Instruct your tutee to find the answer in their grammar book or with resources you provide.

STEP 4. Production Task

·       Reread the text.

·       Instruct the tutee to write a second draft at home having revised the grammar and vocabulary.

STEP 5:  Final Review

·       Ask the tutee what they learned.