How to Write a Paragraph
Understanding what is Paragraph
Paragraphs serve as a holder for different ideas in an essay. To differentiate the points being described in your work, paragraphs become useful as you will need to place every idea in its paragraph. Having every point put in its paragraphs make your work easy to read and understandable. The flow of your work majorly depends on the organization of your ideas. To come up with a smooth flow be certain to categorize your work into paragraphs.
There are several ways to start a paragraph in your essay by using symbols for a paragraph. You can choose to use indenting style at the beginning of the first sentence of the paragraph while using this method you will need to space your first sentence a few inches from the margin at the start of the paragraph. The second method of paragraphing is skipping a line and starting a sentence at the margin.
When you skip a line, the reader would be able to know that you are starting a new paragraph. An essay is usually divided into several parts, the introduction, the body and the conclusion and all the three parts are separated by use of paragraphs. A paragraph helps to make your work neat and appealing to the reader. An essay that is not separated into paragraphs is usually boring to read due to monotony.
Recommended Reading on Chicago Style Format.
Paragraph definition
You can define a paragraph as a group of descriptive words that are sensible and centered on a particular point in an essay. Several sentences that have a meaning put together make up a paragraph. Good paragraphing enables the reader of your work to understand your content without confusion. Mixing up of points in an essay is one common problem that most people do and it results to a low-quality essay; understanding how to put your work into paragraphs will save you the challenge of bringing confusion and help earn your marks. Every topic in an essay usually has several points that a writer needs to put it across, and it is by use of a paragraph that you will be able to organize your work well. There is the importance of paragraphing your work:
- To motivate the reader to go through your work without getting tired- most of the essays written are usually long and the reader may find themselves lazy to go through the whole content. Once our work is categorized into paragraphs, the reader will be encouraged to go through it one after another, and at the end, they will be able to finish your essay without getting bored.
- To make scanning easy – there are different types of reading, and one of them is scanning. When you scan an essay, it means that you go and look for the main ideas quickly without necessarily going through everything. It is much simpler to scan content put in paragraphs because every idea would be in its paragraph. Scanning of essays is usually done by examiners, for instance, biological essays, where the examiner has so many essays of students to mark and the marking rubric follows major points in the essay, so paragraphing makes works easier for them as they can easily determine the points and allocate marks to students.
- Short attention span is favored by paragraphing- it is normal that the concentration span of some individuals is short and therefore while going through a long essay they have to hurry up to get the points and this can only be made possible by use of paragraphing in your work.
- To make filtering easy – in writing an essay, a writer is usually examined on their ability to express themselves and find points about a particular topic. The reader would always want to get your points clearly as it is the simplest thing to remember in an essay, so when you place your essay into paragraphs, the reader can easily get the points you are talking about.
- It helps in classification of supports for your claims – some of the essays such as argumentative essay requires you to put down a claim and support it. You may have several supports for a particular argument and paragraphing it will communicate to the reader that that support belongs to a specific argument hence avoiding confusion.
- It limits errors in our essay – when you divide your work into short paragraphs, there is less chance of making errors unlike when you write your content in long continuous prose. While proofreading your work after writing you can be able to note an error easily when your work is classified into paragraphs.
- It also raises the suspense of the reader – given the fact that every paragraph has a new idea, the reader would be anticipated to move to the next paragraph to know about the next idea.
Paragraph structure
Before writing a paragraph, you have to understand how to classify your ideas in paragraph structure. Several parts of a paragraph should be put into concern before writing a paragraph. A paragraph has a structure that ensures that your work becomes readable and understanding to the reader. The structure of a paragraph is divided into different elements:
Coherence – this is the flow in your paragraph that creates understanding to the reader. As a writer, you should make sure that the sentences in our paragraph connect to each other and bring out an idea as a whole. To bring up a good coherence, use of transition words will be of help because it creates a bridge between your sentences. Two bridges will ensure the success of your linking objective, namely, verbal and logical bridges.
- Verbal bridges – in the application of verbal bridges you have to adhere to the following guide:
- Using pronouns in place of nouns used previously in your sentences.
- The main keywords can be used many times in a sentence.
- Using synonyms instead of repeating yourself in your sentences. You should adopt a variety of synonyms to apply in the description of your ideas in the paragraph.
- You should use transition words to link your sentences to smoothen the flow of your paragraph.
- Logical bridges – while using logical bridges be sure to:
- Carry the same idea about the topic from one sentence to another.
- Construct sentences successfully parallel to each other.
Unity – at the start of every sentence in a paragraph, there has to be a thesis to act as a guide to the idea you are going to expound. Every paragraph should have one central focus. You should unite your paragraph by majoring on one central idea. To make sure that you center on a specific idea, always start by introducing a claim then support it.
Order – In your paragraph, you have to order your support sentences to adopt a specific pattern. You can decide to follow regarding their weight of logic, whichever way creates a smooth flow for the reader to comprehend.
Completeness – a paragraph should not be left hanging, you should be able to exhaust all the points about the idea to the satisfaction of the reader. To ensure that your paragraph is complete, always use as many support sentences as you can. You should clarify your thesis satisfactorily. For your paragraph to be considered complete, you have to understand how to end a paragraph by use of conclusion paragraph format words.
A topic sentence – every paragraph should start with topic sentences. A topic sentence is a short sentence that contains the content to be discussed, but in summary form, it simply introduces the idea in your paragraph. The topic sentence can be placed anywhere in the paragraph so long as you are starting a sentence but it is good to place your topic sentence at the start of your paragraph so that the reader can easily get what you are talking about.
Good grammar – every sentence in the paragraph should be grammatically correct to facilitate the clarity of your points.
Introduction paragraph
The introductory paragraph is usually unique compared to the other paragraphs in an essay. The reader should be able to know that they are reading an introduction and not the body through the choice of words that you use. Your intro should serve three main objectives: introduce the topic to the reader, illustrate the structure of the essay and state the main aim of writing the essay. While introducing the topic to the reader, it is good to give a small background of the topic to help the reader connect what you are about to discuss in your essay.
You should strive to attract the attention of the reader in your introductory paragraph because it sets the pace for the rest of the essay. You can create suspense by introducing your paragraph with a simple question that should drive the reader to go to the body to get answers to your question. A good introduction should not mention the intention of the essay because the reader would get bored reading the rest of the essay, it is good to create suspense to give them a reason to continue.
Body Paragraphs
The body is the main part of your essay as it contains the content which the reader is looking for in the essay. It is in the body where all the points and supports are outlined for the reader. Understanding how to start a body is fundamental for every writer. For you to become successful in encryption of your body, you should place each point in its paragraph backed up with evidence. The body paragraphs are not limited to a certain number.
Depending on the length of your essay you can write as many paragraphs as you deem appropriate, following up with the available points on the topic. It is the body of your essay that determines the length of your essay, so you should either extend or reduce the number of paragraphs in the body to cater your expected length because the introduction and the conclusion are usually limited to one paragraph.
Conclusion paragraphs
When concluding your essay, you have to use conclusion paragraph format to bring the attention to the reader that you are about to finish your essay. There is a conclusion paragraph outline that applies to all genres of writing essays. In writing the conclusion paragraph start of the sentence using transition words for conclusion such as ’to finish with’ to prepare the reader psychologically for an ending.
The body of the conclusion paragraph can adopt two forms depending on the type of essay and the topic. You can choose to state the main points quickly in summary just to remind the reader of what the whole essay topic was. The second method is by giving lessons and recommendations. You can give recommendation for a challenge outlined in the body or lessons to act as warning against bad actions.
Read also: How to make a good structure of a research paper?
Examples of paragraphs
There are several types of paragraphs designed for writing essays. Paragraphs are classified depending on the type of essay being written. Some of the common types of paragraphs include:
- Persuasive paragraphs – usually meant to persuade the reader over something
- Narrative paragraphs – aimed at giving clarity in narrative essays
- Descriptive paragraphs – these are usually used to describe things, people, situation or events.
- Expository paragraphs – these are paragraphs that are meant to explain the reason behind a certain claim.
Learn More Here Regarding How to Format a Business Letter.
How long should a paragraph be?
The length of a paragraph is important in developing a paragraph because when a paragraph becomes too long, it feels boring to the reader and you might end up scoring low for your essay. Having a shorter paragraph than expected is also not good because you will not be able to support your claims to the reader’s satisfaction.
How many sentences are in a paragraph
Many students find a problem when it comes to the length of their paragraphs. You should be able to determine how many sentences are fit for your paragraph and be consistent with it throughout your essay. A standard paragraph should have 3-5 sentences.
Paragraph example
Going through various examples of paragraphs is good for your proficiency in writing because you will know when to apply the different types of paragraphs. Several sources on the internet can guide you on the right type of paragraphs to use in different essays. It is good to go through these samples as they enhance your writing skills and by the end of the day, you will turn out to be a pro.
