A Writer's Alphabet of Concepts and Clues

Other Writers on Paragraphs


Dietsch: "Summary: The two basic elements of a standard paragraph are the topic sentence and support sentences. Some paragraphs have a third part, a concluding sentence. The topic sentence identifies the subject and makes a claim about it. The support sentences supply proof. The concluding sentence gives a sense of completeness.

Effective paragraphs have five distinct features: clarity, interest, unity, coherence, and completeness. A topic sentence should be narrowed sufficiently to interest the reader and unify the paragraph. Although most topic sentences are placed at the beginning, they may appear in the middle or at the end of the paragraph. In special circumstances, a paragraph may not have a topic sentence.

Paragraph length is determined by audience, subject, and purpose.

Paragraphs may be arranged according to chronology, importance, complexity, generality, familiarity, emphasis, or some other logical order. A special type is the transitional paragraph, which may serve as a bridge between ideas." (REASONING AND WRITING WELL, 3rd ed., 90).


Troyka: "Three characteristics of effective body paragraphs: UDC
U=Unity: Have you made a clear connection between the main idea of the paragraph and the sentences that support the main idea?
D=Development: Have you included detailed and sufficient support for the main idea of the paragraph?
C-Coherence: Have you progressed logically from one sentence to the next in the paragraph smoothly and logically?" (SIMON & SCHUSTER HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS, 6th ed., 77).

"The hardest decision about any article is how to begin it," Zinsser claims. "The lead can be as short as one paragraph and as long as it needs to be. You know it's over when all the necessary work has been done and you can take a more relaxed tone and get on with your narrative." (ON WRITING WELL, 6th ed., 266).

"The perfect ending should take your readers slightly by surprise and yet seem exactly right." (Zinsser. ON WRITING WELL. 6th ed., 65).

How do you know when you have reached the end of your piece? "For the nonfiction writer, the simplest way of putting this into a rule is: when you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit. Often it takes just a few sentences to wrap it up." (Zinsser. ON WRITING WELL. 6th ed., 66).

"The qualities of a good paragraph--things like unity, coherence, organization, completeness--have been stressed in every writing course you have taken. When you revise your paper, look carefully at each paragraph to see if it exhibits those qualities. How often have you paragraphed? If you have only one or two paragraphs in a several-page essay, you have not clearly indicated the structure of your essay to your reader or your essay does not have a clear, logical organization. On the other hand, if you have many short paragraphs, you are over paragraphing, probably shifting ideas too quickly and failing to develop each one adequately. A good paragraph is meaty; it is not a string of undeveloped ideas or bare generalizations." ( Miller. THE PRENTICE HALL READER. 3RD ED., 14).