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CollegeWriting.info |
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H3. Paragraphing |
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Another vital element of easy-to-read writing is the development of paragraphs. Sometimes the easy-to-read paragraph is symbolized by an inverted triangle:
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A longer paragraph starts with a general statement that in some way
summarizes or announces the subject of the paragraph. Then the paragraph
develops this statement or summary by giving specifics. Writing paragraphs like
this makes them easier to read: in fact, one method of skimming books that is
taught by speed-reading courses is to read just the first sentence of each
paragraph. (This method got the author of this book through a graduate
research-writing course requiring the reading of one novel per week by Charles
Dickens (over 800 pages). If the first sentence of your paragraph summarizes
your subject well, then this lead sentence not only gives the reader a quick
idea of what the paragraph is about, but also prepares the reader for
understanding the purpose of the details in the rest of the paragraph.
One
of the most basic and simple units to revise is the paragraph, and groupings of
paragraphs. If we can create paragraphs
and paragraph groups in a number of different ways, then we know most of the
basics that are universal to organizing papers for school, for work, for
advertising, and for publication. The
unit of the paragraph works because it creates breaks in our writing--spaces--that
help readers pause, take a mental breath, and swallow what we have just
said. This chapter discusses nine
different ways--or reasons--to create paragraphs. They are basic ways used by top academic and professional
writers, and all of them will help you become a more polished, successful, and
impressive communicator both in the classroom and in your professional
jobs.
Keep in mind as you paragraph that
most of the paragraph guidelines are just that: guidelines, not rules. Here are nine important guidelines—nine
important reasons for starting, using, or having a paragraph:
Introduction
Conclusion
Idea Shift
Place Shift
Event or Time Shift
Dialogue Shift
Variety of Paragraph
Size
Emphasis of Important
Idea
Transition between
Major Sections
The following diagrams illustrate, first, a basic paragraph. Then they illustrate the nine reasons above,
along with a few other helpful paragraph arrangements.
THE
WELL-DEVELOPED LONGER PARAGRAPH:
a Basic, General Pattern
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
│
│
Title │
│
by │
│
Your Name │
│_______________________________________________│
│\
/│ A paragraph
│ \ general statement of subject / │ usually is in-
│
\-----------------------------------------/ │ dented and,
│ \ /
│ usually, must
│ \ / │ have at least
│ \
details, facts, figures,
/ │ 2 sentences.
│ \ / │ Its maximum
│ \ /
│ length usually
│ \
examples, stories, / │ is 100-150 words,
│ \ / │ or 10-15
typed
│ \ /
│ lines.
│ \ numbers, / │
│ \ /
│ A longer para-
│ \ /
│ graph starts more
│ \ etc. / │ broadly--with a
│ \ / │ sentence that
│ \-------------/
│ states or
│ \ final /
│ summarizes the
│ \statement/
│ subject of the
│ \ / │ paragraph.
The
│ \ / │
remaining sen-
│ \ / │
tences will “get
│ \ / │ to the point”:
│ . │ give specific
│
│ details.
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
│
│
Title │
│
Your Name │
│
│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │ Introduction:
│ │
INTRODUCTION: 2 sentences to 100- │ │ 1-2 paragraphs
│ │
200 words summarizing the subject.│ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ │ │
│ │
(Rest of paper)
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│
│ │ │
│
│ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ . . │
│ . . │
│ . . │
│
│
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
CONCLUDING AND INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
│
│
Title │
│
Your Name │
│
│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
Introduction:
│ │
INTRODUCTION: 2 sentences to 100- │ │ 1-2 paragraphs
│ │
200 words summarizing the subject.│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ │ │
│ │
(Body of paper)
│ │ Body or
│ │ │ │ Middle of Paper
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ . . │
│ . . │
│ . . │
│ │ │ │
│
│ │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │ Conclusion:
│ │
CONCLUSION: 2 sentences to 100-
│ │ 1 paragraph
│ │
200 words summarizing the subject.│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
│
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
IDEA, TIME, or PLACE SHIFT
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
Title │
│
Your Name │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │ Introduction:
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ 1-2 paragraphs
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│ │ Main topic (idea, place, │ │ Body:
│ │ or event shift) #1 │
│ several
│ │ │ │
paragraphs
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│ │ Idea, place, or event #2 │ │
│ │ │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
│ Idea, place, or event #3 │ │
│ │ │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
Conclusion:
│ ┌───┘
│ │ 1 paragraph
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
│
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
TOPIC SHIFTS WITH MULTIPLE PARAGRAPHS
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │ Introduction:
│ ┌───┘ INTRO │ │ 1 paragraph.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│- - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ Topic #1:
sub-shift one &
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
Topic Section #1:
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
2 or more
│ ┌───┘
two. │ │ paragraphs.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│- - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ Topic #2:
sub-shift one &
│ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Topic Section #2:
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │ 2 or more
│ ┌───┘ two. │ │ paragraphs.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│- - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ Topic #3:
sub-shift one,
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
Topic Section #3:
│ ┌───┘ two, & │ │ 2 or more
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
paragraphs.
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
three. │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│- - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │ Conclusion:
│ ┌───┘ CONC. │ │ 1 paragraph.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
EXAMPLE OF PARAGRAPHING
THERE ARE TOPIC SECTIONS & SUBTITLES
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
Title │
│
Introduction │ Intro Subtitle
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ INTRO │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│ Xxxxx │ Body Subtitle #1
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
Xxxxx │ Body
Subtitle #2
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ │
│
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
Xxxxx │ Body Subtitle #3
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
Conclusion │ Conc. Subtitle
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ CONC. │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PARAGRAPHING &
TOPIC SENTENCES TO START TOPIC SECTIONS
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
Title
│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
Summary sentence
│ ┌───┘ Xxxxx
xxx. INTRO │
│ for entire paper.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘Xxxxx
xxx xxxx.
│ │ Topic Sentence #1
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘Xxxxx
xxx xxxx.
│ │ Topic Sentence #2
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘Xxxxx
xxx xxxx.
│ │ Topic Sentence #3
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘
│ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -│
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
Summary sentence
│ ┌───┘Xxxxx
xxx. CONC. │
│ for entire paper.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
DIALOGUE-SHIFT PARAGRAPHS:
A New Paragraph for Each
New Speaker (Usually Required)
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│
┌───┘"How are you?" Chris asked. │ │
Almost all paragraphs
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
should be at least 2
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
sentences in length.
│
┌───┘"Fine," said Hali. "Are you going │ │
However, dialogue is
│ │out tonight?" │ │
different: There must
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
be a new paragraph
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
every time any speaker
│
┌───┘"Maybe," Chris answered. │ │
takes a new turn. This
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
rule must be followed
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
even if it results in
│
┌───┘"Why 'maybe'?" Hali asked. │ │
some paragraphs being
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
only one sentence
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
long.
│ ┌───┘Chris
shrugged. "I'm waiting for │
│
│ │someone to call. If they do, then I │ │
│ │will. If they don't, I won't." │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘"I
was thinking about us finding
│ │
│ │something to do," said Hali. │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│
┌───┘"Really?" │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│
┌───┘"How about dinner first, then a │ │
│ │movie, and then going somewhere to │ │
│ │dance. Afterwards, we could drive to
│ │
│ │to my place. Interested?" │
│
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│
┌───┘"Who's paying?" asked Chris. │ │
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PARAGRAPH
VARIETY: Making
Paragraphs
of Different Sizes on a Page
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
A variety of
│ ┌───┘
│ │ paragraph lengths
│ │ │ │
on each page is
│ │ │
│ important because
│ │ │ │ it better main-
│ │ │ │ tains
reader
│ │ │ │
attention. A
│ │ │ │ lack of variety
│ │ │ │
is similar to
│ │ │ │
the "white noise"
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
of a radio tuned
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
between stations
│ ┌───┘
│ │ or of a fan or
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
humidifier: it
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
tends to lull
│ ┌───┘
│ │ readers.
Variety
│ │ │ │
makes them feel
│ │ │ │ more alive.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
Try to mix
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
the lengths. If
│ ┌───┘
│ │ you make too many
│ │ │ │ short paragraphs,
│ │ │ │
revise and merge
│ │ │ │
some. If you make
│ │ │ │
some paragraphs
│ │ │
│ too long, break
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
them up.
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
AN EMPHASIS PARAGRAPH:
Making a Short Paragraph To Emphasize an
Important Point
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘The
giant inland lakes are well
│ │ Sometimes a
│ │ │ │
short paragraph
│ │ worth seeing, especially at
night. │ │
is useful to
│ │ │ │
emphasize an
│ │ At night, the wind is calm and
the │ │ important or
│ │ │ │
interesting
│ │ full moon dances on a path of
silky │ │
idea. Short,
│ │ │ │
emphatic para-
│ │ wavelets brushing the shore. Gulls,
│ │ graphs are good
│ │ │ │
to use from
│ │ brilliant white in the moonlight,
sit │ │ time to time,
│ │ │ │
especially be-
│ │ like lighthouse sentinels on
half- │ │ cause of the
│ │ │ │
need for a
│ │ submerged rocks, sleeping. │ │ variety of
para-
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
graph lengths.
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘The
human soul lives for such
│ │ In addition,
│ │ │ │
short emphasis
│ │ nights. They make life worthwhile.
│ │ paragraphs
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
provide a form
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
of transition
│ ┌───┘On the
shore behind, especially in │
│ or break when
│ │ │ │
shifting from
│ │ the wilder regions of some
lakes, │ │
one idea, place,
│ │ │ │
or event to
│ │ owls hoot and crickets
chirp. Night │ │ another. The
│ │ │ │
example to the
│ │ life never is quiet
there. │ │ left shows this.
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
A TRANSITION PARAGRAPH:
To Transit Smoothly from One Main Section
to the Next
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ┌───┘ In the
course of human affairs, │ │
One of the more
│ │ │ │ important
ways of
│ │ sometimes one finds he or she
must │ │ making
short para-
│ │ │ │ graphs
is to create
│ │ choose between two evils. For
│ │ transition paragraphs
│ │ │ │ such
as the short one
│ │ example, should one lie to comfort a │ │ to the left. Such
│ │ │ │
paragraphs summarize
│ │ dying parent, or tell her the
bald │ │
what came before and/
│ │ │ │ or
what will come
│ │ truth, making her feel miserable? │ │ next. Cover the small
│ │ │ │
paragraph and see how
│ │ And should starving people take
food? │ │ the other two look
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ without
it. Then read
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │
Then read them again
│ ┌───┘ Choices
aren't always easy. Our │
│ with the middle para-
│ │ │ │
graph added back in.
│ │ ethics sometimes must be
"relative." │ │
You should notice how
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ much
the middle para-
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │ graph makes this page
│ ┌───┘
"Relative" means that in some
│ │ read more smoothly.
│ │ situations, especially difficult
ones,│ │ You also may want
│ │ │ │
to notice how the
│ │ situations a person must consider all
│ │
short, middle para-
│ │ │ │
graph summarizes: the
│ │ sides, then choose the least worst.
│ │ first sentence summar-
│ │ │ │ izes the paragraph
│ │ most religions accept this. Some
│ │ before it, and the
│ │ │ │ second
sentence summar-
│ │ people use this system all the
time. │ │ izes the
sentence
│
└───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ after
it.
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Conclusion
This chapter has shown you how to organize paragraphs for strong,
purposeful expression of your writing ideas.
Remember that you can use this knowledge about paragraphs in the REVISING
stage--the third step of writing--for strong improvements.
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Contents and Page Design © 2002-2004 by Richard Jewell. Nonprofit copying for education is allowed. Images courtesy of
Barry's Clip Art, Clip
Art Warehouse, The Clip Art
Universe, Clipart Collection,
Microsoft Clip
Art Gallery and Design Gallery
Live, School Discovery, and Web
Clip Art |
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Sub-headers to incorporate:
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Grammar Book © 1984-2004 by R. Jewell. |