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When writing a paragraph, it's important that all the things you are going to talk about are put into a logical order, rather than just randomly distributed throughout it. It is also important that all the things you include in a paragraph stay on the same topic. Another thing to keep in mind is to avoid repeating yourself.
- Improve Your Paper by Strengthening Your Paragraphs
- What is a paragraph and how long should it be?
- Consider what makes a paragraph, a paragraph.
- Three points about paragraph length.
- Two Principles of Effective Paragraphs
- Topic sentences or first sentences
- Body sentences or main sentences
- Concluding sentences or last sentences
- SOME SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS
To improve your writing at the university and in the workplace, you can develop your skills at composing effective paragraphs. Effective paragraphing allows you to construct paragraphs that achieve a specific purpose in your writing. Why paragraph with purpose? Think intentionally about what a paragraph needs to do in your paper. You need to write ...
By the time you are writing at the university-level, you will of course have composed many paragraphs. Most writers have some intuition about what makes a good paragraph. Here we’ll teach you how to turn good intuitions into good technique. So what is a paragraph, and should there be a prescribed length? To start answering this question, let’s re...
The two sample paragraphs above illustrate well the key principles by providing well-constructed topic sentences, by developing ideas into logical units of thought, and by concluding with purposeful concluding sentences. You might think of paragraphs as units of thought: a paragraph develops one coherent idea into a structured thought. You compose ...
About shorter paragraphs: depending on the unit of thought you are working with in a paper, it’s quite typical for some paragraphs to be shorter. Too many short paragraphs, however, may indicate that your ideas need more development. One strategy is to draft with short paragraphs conveying your main points or units of thought, and then as you revis...
If you organize enough sentences—in an effective order—to present one thought, or point, in a paragraph, you will promote paragraph unity (some books call this coherence). Remember this writing mantra: “One point per paragraph!” or “Good paragraphs unite!” If each sentence supports the paragraph’s idea, or point, then you’ll write a paragraph that ...
Many effective paragraphs begin with topic sentences that signal an idea and argument: the two first sample paragraphs begin with topic sentences. Sometimes, however, writers begin with a transitioning sentence or bridge sentence before their topic sentence. When the topic sentence is the second or third sentence in a paragraph, you may call this a...
Through some recognizable or logical order, body sentences develop the topic of the paragraph. These sentences work to analyze data or quotations, describe a text or event, set up a comparison, showcase evidence, and sometimes they enumerate the logical points for readers to give them a sense of a paper’s bigger picture. In body sentences, you need...
When concluding a paragraph, writers may need to consider several factors. Depending on the paragraph’s position in the paper, and often its function, your last sentence needs to accomplish one of several rhetorical, or writing, tasks. Last sentences may relate back to the paper’s main argument by recasting the main argument in light of the work yo...
To illustrate these concepts, let’s look at four more samples to see how effective paragraphs work. SAMPLE A A paragraph from a September 2006 article published in The Atlantic, by Marshall Poe. The article is about Jimmy Wales (the internet revolutionary), Wikipedia, and collaborative knowledge. Here’s what to notice: it’s an expanded version of a...
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The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph. What does it do? It restates the main idea of your paragraph. How do I write one? Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words. Example: Canada is one of the best countries in the world to live in. First, Canada has an
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Writing effective paragraphs In general, in order for a paragraph to be effective, it must have three characteristics: unity, development and coherence. Unity The first characteristic of an effective paragraph is unity, which means that all sentences in the paragraph explain, develop, and support a central idea in some way. In other
Give details about your topic. Make sure you have at least 3. Close out your writing with a finishing sentence about your topic. Use this hamburger to help you write a paragraph about your topic!
Step 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea or transition into the next paragraph The final movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of the paragraph and reminding the reader of the relevance of the information in this paragraph to the main or controlling idea of the paper. At this point, you can remind your reader about the
point of the paragraph. ! Write three supporting or “detail” sentences that are about the topic and help illustrate the main point. ! Write a concluding sentence that restates the topic using different words and indicates why the topic of the paragraph is significant. ! Don’t forget to proofread and polish!
