|
Every academic
paper you will be working upon contain paragraphs and topic sentences. Please
review this information carefully for you to enjoy the process and for the
customer to be satisfied with your work.
N.B. Any empty
lines between paragraphs are strongly prohibited by our Company. Read more
about Page Format.�
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.
TOPIC SENTENCES
A well-organized
paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in
a sentence called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several important
functions: it substantiates or supports an essay�s thesis statement; it unifies
the content of a paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it
advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how the paragraph will
discuss it. Readers generally look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to
determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph. That�s why it�s often
best to put the topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph. In some
cases, however, it�s more effective to place another sentence before the topic
sentence�for example, a sentence linking the current paragraph to the previous
one, or one providing background information.
Although most
paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations when a
paragraph might not need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able to
omit a topic sentence in a paragraph that narrates a series of events, if a
paragraph continues developing an idea that you introduced (with a topic
sentence) in the previous paragraph, or if all the sentences and details in a
paragraph clearly refer�perhaps indirectly�to a main point. The vast majority
of your paragraphs, however, should have a topic sentence.
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.
George Harrison, �Faith and the Scientist�
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.
Use
transition words or phrases between sentences and between paragraphs. Transitional expressions
emphasize the relationships between ideas, so they help readers follow your
train of thought or see connections that they might otherwise miss or
misunderstand. The following paragraph shows how carefully chosen transitions
(CAPITALIZED) lead the reader smoothly from the introduction to the conclusion
of the paragraph.
I don�t wish to
deny that the flattened, minuscule head of the large-bodied
"stegosaurus" houses little brain from our subjective, top-heavy
perspective, BUT I do wish to assert that we should not expect more of the
beast. FIRST OF ALL, large animals have relatively smaller brains than related,
small animals. The correlation of brain size with body size among kindred
animals (all reptiles, all mammals, FOR EXAMPLE) is remarkably regular. AS we
move from small to large animals, from mice to elephants or small lizards to
Komodo dragons, brain size increases, BUT not so fast as body size. IN OTHER
WORDS, bodies grow faster than brains, AND large animals have low ratios of
brain weight to body weight. IN FACT, brains grow only about two-thirds as fast
as bodies. SINCE we have no reason to believe that large animals are
consistently stupider than their smaller relatives, we must conclude that large
animals require relatively less brain to do as well as smaller animals. IF we
do not recognize this relationship, we are likely to underestimate the mental
power of very large animals, dinosaurs in particular.
Stephen Jay
Gould, �Were Dinosaurs Dumb�
(Retrieved from: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/paragraphs.shtml
)
| 
Paragraphs and
Topic Sentences