Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > English Grammar

Paragraph Writing

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Mustafizur rRhman:
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. 
A topic sentence needs to grab readers’ attention in order to make them want to continue to read. The topic sentence should also give readers an idea of what’s to come. As if that ouren’t enough, the writer must make sure the topic sentence is well written and free of errors. Remember, what makes someone’s writing stand out isn’t always what they say, but also how they say it.
Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and other information.

Mustafizur rRhman:
Paragraph Structure
Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. We 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 our meaning to our 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.

Mustafizur rRhman:
Types of paragraphs
There are four types of paragraphs that we need to know about: descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive. A quick search around the internet will yield other types, but to keep this simple, it's a good idea to consider just these four.
1.   The descriptive paragraph: This type of paragraph describes something and shows the reader what a thing or a person is like. The words chosen in the description often appeal to the five senses of touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. Descriptive paragraphs can be artistic and may deviate from grammatical norms.
2.   The narrative paragraph: This type of paragraph tells a story. There's a sequence of action or there's a clear beginning, middle, and end to the paragraph.
3.   The expository paragraph: This type of paragraph explains something or provides instruction. It could also describe a process and move the reader step by step through a method. This type of paragraph often requires research, but it's possible that the writer is able to rely on his or her own knowledge and expertise.
4.   The persuasive paragraph: This type of paragraph tries to get the reader to accept a particular point of view or understand the writer's position. This is the type of paragraph that many teachers focus on because it's useful when building an argument. It often requires the collection of facts and research.

Mustafizur rRhman:
Importance of Paragraph Writing
Paragraphs are used to help our reader follow the logic of our argument. They should not be too long (generally speaking, paragraphs that are longer than 3/4 of a page are probably too long) or too short (one or two sentence paragraphs probably haven't given our reader enough information).

Mustafizur rRhman:
PARAGRAPHS
Definition: 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 we do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. ... Paragraphs can contain many different kinds of information. Paragraph is a distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme.
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.

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