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What is a Paragraph? A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points. Paragraphs can contain many different kinds of information. A paragraph could contain a series of brief examples or a single long illustration of a general point. It might describe a place, character, or process; narrate a series of events; compare or contrast two or more things; classify items into categories; or describe causes and effects. Regardless of the kind of information they contain, all paragraphs share certain characteristics. One of the most important of these is a topic sentence. When writing a paragraph think of a hamburger. Hamburgers have many different components to make a "complete" hamburger. In looking at the diagram you can see the specific steps to writing a well written paragraph. If you can keep the hamburger method in mind you can be a successful paragraph writer.
What are Topic Sentences? The topic sentence is the sentence in a paragraph the gives the reader insight into what the paragraph is about. It will give the main idea that the paragraph is going to focus on. How Do You Write A Topic Sentence? There are five different ways you can start a paragraph:
- List Statements A list statement tells the reader exactly what the paragraph will be about by listing the three main ideas. Example: My favorite sports include soccer, football, and baseball.
- Power Number Statements Power number statements do not tell the reader all of the main ideas, but use number words (few, many, a number of, three) to present the general topic. Example: There are several things you can do to become a better writer.
- Two Nouns and Two Commas This topic sentence starts with a noun (person, place, or thing), describes the noun, and then makes a statement about the noun. Example: The St. Louis Cardinals, a major league baseball team, is the best team in the MLB.
- Occasion Position This topic sentence starts with an occasion and use words like whenever, when, although, or even though, and then end with the writers position on the topic. Example: Even though writing an essay is a lot of work, you do learn a lot from the process.
- Hook the Reader This topic sentence grabs the reader’s attention by making a statement that is provoking, controversial, or interesting. Example: Technology should be banned at school! Read the following text and find the problem Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas’ first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense.
Can You Pick Out The Best Conclusion? Topic: Disney World, an amusement park in Florida, is a wonderful place for families. Conclusion A: Mickey is a smart mouse. B: Disney World is clearly a great place to visit. C: If you are in Florida, Disney World is one place you'll want to visit. D: Disney World, an amusement park in Florida, is a wonderful place for people. PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important role in communicating your meaning to your reader. Introduction : the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or provide a transition. Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other information. Conclusion : the final section; summarizes the connections between the information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea. The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of organization. In this paragraph the topic sentence and concluding sentence (CAPITALIZED) both help the reader keep the paragraph’s main point in mind. SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED TO SUPPLEMENT THE SENSE OF SIGHT IN NUMEROUS WAYS. In front of the tiny pupil of the eye they put, on Mount Palomar, a great monocle 200 inches in diameter, and with it see 2000 times farther into the depths of space. Or they look through a small pair of lenses arranged as a microscope into a drop of water or blood, and magnify by as much as 2000 diameters the living creatures there, many of which are among man’s most dangerous enemies. Or, if we want to see distant happenings on earth, they use some of the previously wasted electromagnetic waves to carry television images which they re-create as light by whipping tiny crystals on a screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or they can bring happenings of long ago and far away as colored motion pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-absorbing molecules to force light waves into the patterns of original reality. Or if we want
to see into the center of a steel casting or the chest of an injured child, they send the information on a beam of penetrating short-wave X rays, and then convert it back into images we can see on a screen or photograph. THUS ALMOST EVERY TYPE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION YET DISCOVERED HAS BEEN USED TO EXTEND OUR SENSE OF SIGHT IN SOME WAY. COHERENCE In a coherent paragraph, each sentence relates clearly to the topic sentence or controlling idea, but there is more to coherence than this. If a paragraph is coherent, each sentence flows smoothly into the next without obvious shifts or jumps. A coherent paragraph also highlights the ties between old information and new information to make the structure of ideas or arguments clear to the reader. Along with the smooth flow of sentences, a paragraph’s coherence may also be related to its length. If you have written a very long paragraph, one that fills a double-spaced typed page, for example, you should check it carefully to see if it should start a new paragraph where the original paragraph wanders from its controlling idea. On the other hand, if a paragraph is very short (only one or two sentences, perhaps) you may need to develop its controlling idea more thoroughly, or combine it with another paragraph. A number of other techniques that you can use to establish coherence in paragraphs are described below. Repeat key words or phrases. Particularly in paragraphs in which you define or identify an important idea or theory, be consistent in how you refer to it. This consistency and repetition will bind the paragraph together and help your reader understand your definition or description. Create parallel structures. Parallel structures are created by constructing two or more phrases or sentences that have the same grammatical structure and use the same parts of speech. By creating parallel structures you make your sentences clearer and easier to read. In addition, repeating a pattern in a series of consecutive sentences helps your reader see the connections between ideas. In the paragraph above about scientists and the sense of sight, several sentences in the body of the paragraph have been constructed in a parallel way. The parallel structures (which have been emphasized) help the reader see that the paragraph is organized as a set of examples of a general statement. Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and number. Consistency in point of view, verb tense, and number is a subtle but important aspect of coherence. If you shift from the more personal "you" to the impersonal “one,” from past to present tense, or from “a man” to “they,” for example, you make your paragraph less coherent. Such inconsistencies can also confuse your reader and make your argument more difficult to follow.
