PARAGRAPHING

BY GROUP 1

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?

Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a

writer stay on track during drafting and revision
stages. Good paragraphing also greatly assists your
readers in following a piece of writing.

THE BASIC RULE:

Keep one idea to

one paragraph

ELEMENTS OF A PARAGRAPH

Unity
Coherence
A Topic Sentence
Adequate Development

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO

START A NEW PARAGRAPH
When you begin a new idea or point
To contrast information or ideas
When your readers need pause
When you are ending your
introduction or starting your
conclusion

TOPIC SENTENCE VS THESIS SENTENCE

Topic Sentence
vs
Thesis Sentence

THESIS SENTENCE

Is that sentence or two in your text

that contains the focus of your
essay and tells your reader what
the essay is going to be

A THESIS STATEMENT:
Tells the reader how you will interpret the
significance of the subject matter under
discussion.
Is a road map of the paper; in other words, it
tells the reader what to expect from the rest of
paper.
Directly answers the question asked for you. A
thesis is an interpretation of a question or
subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or
topic of an essay might be World War or Moby
Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to
understand the war of novel.

 Makes a claim that others might dispute.

Is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first
paragraph that presents your argument to the
reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay,
gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade
the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

TOPIC SENTENCE

A sentence, sometimes at the

beginning of the paragraph, that
states or suggests the main idea (or
topic) of a passage.

Not all paragraphs begin with topic

sentences. In some, the topic sentence
appears in the middle or at the end. In
others, the topic sentence is implied or
absent altogether.

GUIDELINES FOR COMPOSING

TOPIC SENTENCE
The topic sentence is the most important
sentence in your paragraph. Carefully
worded and restricted, it helps you generate
and control your information. An effective
topic sentence also helps readers grasp your
main idea quickly. As you draft your
paragraphs, pay close attention to the
following three guidelines:

GUIDELINES FOR COMPOSING

TOPIC SENTENCE
1. Make sure you provide a topic sentence.
2. Put your topic sentence first.
3. Be sure your topic sentence is focused. If
restricted, a topic sentence leads to a
shaky, incomplete paragraph for two
reasons:
- The paragraph will not contain enough
information to support the topic sentence.
- A broad topic sentence will not summarize
or forecast specific information in the
paragraph.

PARAGRAPH
CONTENT

INTRODUCTION: TOPIC SENTENCE

This is the main idea in the

paragraph
Tells the reader what the
paragraph is going to be
about

BODY: SUPPORTING SENTENCE

Discussing the main thesis, using various forms of
evidence
The supporting sentences are the other
sentences in the paragraph. These sentences
either:
-expanded on the main point
-define key terms
-offer explanations
-give examples
-give additional detail

CONCLUSION
Close the paragraph with an
observation that is more than just the
summary of the contents of the
paragraph and provides a final idea

PARAGRAPH LENGTH
When it comes to length, there is no definitive
rule to follow when writing a paragraph for an
essay. Some paragraphs may be short while
others are longer. Either way, it is important
that the length of a paragraph in an essay
matches the length of the essay. In other
words, shorter essays generally require shorter
paragraphs, while longer essays often require
longer paragraphs that contain more
information about a particular main point.