Paragraphs are individual chunks of text that are part of a larger piece of writing such as an essay, article, story, novel, or a creative/professional writing piece. Their purpose is to make the larger composition easier to read and understand. Thus, writers can improve the readability of their work immensely if they are skilled at constructing good paragraphs.
Writing good paragraphs is one of the most important factors for successful academic writing. In any academic writing composition, the first paragraph is the introduction and the last is the conclusion. Both of these are critical to writing a great essay. The body paragraphs – the ones that are placed between the introduction and the conclusion – form the major part of the essay and put forth the author’s main argument. Authors’ organizing decisions can further control – that is, raise or reduce – readers’ engagement with the subject. These decisions include determining what goes into each paragraph and how the paragraphs and ideas relate to each other.
This article looks at the structure of a paragraph and provides key paragraphing tips to help student authors craft a successful college essay.
Structure of a Paragraph
A typical college essay consists of six components that generally follow the order in which they are commonly found.
1. Topic Sentence
Each paragraph in a college essay needs a topic sentence, which has two main functions:
- It summarizes the main point of the paragraph.
- It specifies how the main point supports or moves forward the main thesis of the essay.
In a well-structured argument, the topic sentence creates a smooth transition between paragraphs and shows connections between ideas.
2. Explanation and Elaboration
Unlike the five-paragraph essay, college essays tend to be built around more complicated ideas. This means that, in addition to the topic sentence, each paragraph needs several sentences to elaborate, explain, and expand the main point. These sentences also sometimes give background information or support the argument.
3. Evidence
The claim made by the topic sentence must be supported by facts, data, quotations, and arguments from reliable and reputable sources. This evidence can be culled from primary sources and research, including books, journal and newspaper articles, studies, and personal or first-hand accounts.
4. Analysis
The evidence provided in a paragraph must be accompanied by analysis. The author’s job is to connect the evidence to the main ideas the paragraph seeks to support. This can be done by interpreting or commentating on the evidence, or by providing a counterargument where possible.
5. Proof of Objective
The next step in the process of paragraphing is to restate what the paragraph has proven. Here, the body paragraph must be concluded neatly by restating the topic sentence in a different way (to avoid repetition). Also, after every three or four paragraphs, the claim must be tied back to the paper’s thesis statement. Doing so, creates a concrete link between each paragraph and the essay’s main thesis.
6. Transition
A transition sentence forms a bridge between two paragraphs. It leads the reader out of a topic or paragraph into a new, albeit related, one. The transition must be smooth, and the connection between the two paragraphs must be strong and clear.
Tips for Writing a Good Paragraph
- Simplify Complex Topic Sentences
An overly complex and long topic sentence will lead to a long paragraph. And as every author knows, readers generally find it hard to stay on long paragraphs. The solution is to break down and simplify a complicated topic sentence into several smaller, more manageable ideas and devote a separate paragraph to each idea.
- Shift the Transition to the Next Paragraph
As a rule of thumb, a paragraph should begin with a topic sentence and end with a transition. However, when the paragraph has a direct connection to the essay’s thesis, the transition may be placed just before the topic sentence of the next paragraph.
- Be Succinct
A paragraph should ideally take up no more than half to three quarters of a double-spaced page. Slightly longer paragraphs are acceptable on occasion, but they should never fill or exceed one page.
- Know When to Insert Paragraph Breaks
Starting a new paragraph is necessary when the author wants to introduce a new topic or speaker; contrast other ideas or points of view; give readers a pause; or just provide some white space. Paragraph breaks control the pace of the writing and can evoke certain moods or feelings in the reader. While there is no prescribed limit to the number of sentences in a paragraph, all the sentences should support the central idea and not overwhelm the reader with too much information.
- Avoid Repetition between Paragraphs
If the same analysis or evidence applies to other points or paragraphs, it need not be repeated. Instead, the author can help readers make these connections using signal phrases like “As suggested earlier…” and “As the above paragraphs indicate…”
