The Paragraph
The purpose of this handout is to give some basic instruction and advice regarding the creation of understandable and coherent paragraphs.
What is a paragraph? A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: Unity, Coherence, Topic Sentence, and Adequate Development. As you will see, all of these traits overlap. Using and adapting them to your individual purposes will help you construct effective paragraphs.
1. Unity:
The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with a one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within different ideas.
2. Coherence:
Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal bridges.
 | logical bridges: |
 | The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence. |
| Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form |
| Key words can be repeated in several sentences |
| Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences |
| Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences |
| Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences |
3. Topic sentence:
A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. Although not all paragraphs have clear-cut topic sentences, and despite the fact that topic sentences can occur anywhere in the paragraph (as the first sentence, the last sentence, or somewhere in the middle), an easy way to make sure your reader understands the topic of the paragraph is to put your topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph. (This is a good general rule for less experienced writers or when you want to make sure your reader understands your writing clearly.
4. Adequate development
The topic (which is introduced by the topic sentence) should be discussed fully and adequately. Again, this varies from paragraph to paragraph, depending on the author's purpose, but writers should beware of paragraphs that only have two or three sentences. It's a pretty good bet that the paragraph is not fully developed if it is that short. Of course, in business correspondence and letters, this is not the case – this applies to essay type writing in particular.
Some
methods to make sure your paragraph is well-developed:
| Use examples and illustrations |
| Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others) |
| Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases) |
| Use an anecdote or story |
| Define terms in the paragraph |
| Compare and contrast |
| Evaluate causes and reasons |
| Examine effects and consequences |
| Analyze the topic |
| Describe the topic |
| Offer a chronology of an event (time segments) |
PARAGRAPHING
Paragraphs are units of thought with one idea developed adequately. Listed here are some "rules of thumb" to use when paragraphing. As your writing improves, you'll be able to break these "rules" to meet your own needs. Until then, these suggestions can be helpful:
| Put only one main idea per paragraph. |
| Aim for 4 or more sentences per paragraph (5-7 is generally about right). |
| Include on each page about 2 handwritten or 3 typed paragraphs. |
| Make your paragraphs proportional to your paper. Since paragraphs do less work in short papers, have short paragraphs for short papers and longer paragraphs for longer papers. |
| If you have a few very short paragraphs, think about whether they are really parts of a larger paragraph--and can be combined--or whether you can add details to support each point and thus make each into a more fully developed paragraph. |