Paragraphs
Paragraphs• A group of related sentences set off by
a beginning indention or sometimes, extra space
• Paragraphs give you and your readers a breather from long stretches of text and they indicate key steps in the development of your thesis.
Unity
• “ An effective paragraph develops one central idea- in other words, it is unified.”
Coherence:• “When a paragraph is coherent,
readers can see how it holds together : the sentences seem to flow logically and smoothly into one another.”
Paragraph organization
• General to specific: “…a downshift from more general statements to more specific ones.”
• Climactic: “Sentences increase in drama or interest, ending in a climax.”
Paragraph Organization:
• Spatial: “Sentences scan a person, place, or object from top to bottom , from side to side, or in some other way that approximates the way people actually look at things.”
• Chronological: “ Sentences present events as they occurred in time ; earlier to later.”
Parallelism:• Parallelism helps tie sentences
together with the use of similar language structures.
• I came. I saw. I conquered.
Repetition and Restatement:
• “Repeating or restating key words helps make a paragraph coherent and also reminds readers what the topic is.”
Consistency:
• Be consistent in person and number with pronoun usage and verb tense.
Transitional Expressions:
• Transitions forge specific connections between sentences and paragraphs. They form a bridge between what has been said and what is going to be said.
Paragraph Development:
• Narration : retells a significant sequence of events, usually in the order of their occurrence ( that is, chronologically).” Storytelling.
Description :• Description details the sensory
qualities of a person, scene, thing or feeling using concrete and specific words to convey a dominant mood, illustrate an idea or achieve some other purpose.”
Illustration or support :
• Use of several specific examples Providing reasons for stating a
general idea
Definition:• “ Defining a complicated, abstract or
controversial term often requires extended explanation.”
Division or Analysis:
• Separation of a subject into its elements to provide an analysis through examination of its parts.
Classification:• Sorting items or ideas into specific
groups.
Comparison and Contrast:
• Illustrating similarities and differences.
Cause and Effect:• Explanation for the reason something
happened or for what did or may happen.
• What led to an event. The reason- the “Why?”
Process Analysis:• Analysis of how something is done or
how something works.
Source:• Aaron, Jane E. , The Little Brown
Compact Handbook, New York: Pearson, 2010.