Chapter 6: Paragraphs

 

What is it?

A paragraph is a group of sentences that are all related and that all deal with a single subject. This subject is stated in a topic sentence. A paragraph has a beginning that introduces the reader to the subject at hand, a middle that develops the point by further explication and supporting details, and an end that emphasizes the significance of the insight you have arrived at or provides a transition to the next paragraph.

What is the purpose?

Imagine someone ranting at you without stopping to take a breath. You wouldn’t be able to take in all they were saying and would lose the point. This is what happens in writing that doesn’t use paragraphs. Without paragraphs, a piece of writing doesn’t provide pauses for the reader to take in the points being made. Also, the points are not organized so the reader can easily get confused. This is why all writing uses paragraphs: to organize each point or topic as its own unit so the reader can take in everything that is said.

Your paragraphs might contain one “main idea” and discuss only one topic, but you’re still being told that they are undeveloped or unorganized. What does this mean? Clearly there is more to the paragraph than discussing only one idea. Readers expect much more from the paragraph than a discussion of one main topic. They expect its sentences to have cohesion, to connect to each other so that their content “flows.” Readers also expect a paragraph to have coherence, a sense of purpose so that its sentences stay on track and accomplish the writer’s rhetorical goal. When a paragraph is both cohesive and coherent, we say that it has focus.

Definition: A paragraph is coherent when its sentences are related to each other. Remember that the purpose of a sentence is to communicate the objectives of a piece of writing. Sentences serve little purpose, therefore, unless they have something to do with the other sentences in a paragraph. Paragraph coherence exists when each sentence in a paragraph serves a purpose and the readers know what that purpose is.

The relatedness of sentences comes from coherence techniques (see below). If these techniques are absent, sentences may seem only randomly or marginally relevant to the paragraph.

 An incoherent paragraph rambles from idea to idea, with no sign that the writer has thought about what communicative purposes its sentences serve.

Coherence and Purpose: Consequently, at some point a writer must know the purpose of each paragraph she has written. Paragraph classification (see the separate handout) aids in determining paragraph purpose (the function and rhetorical strategy classifications are particularly relevant).

The coherence techniques in a paragraph should mirror the writer's intellectualization of that paragraph's purpose. If a writer doesn't know the purpose of a paragraph, coherence techniques may not work. However, if a writer doesn't know the purpose of a paragraph, a writer can try to apply coherence techniques as a way of figuring out what that paragraph's purpose is. It is possible, I am arguing, to use coherence techniques self-consciously to interrogate one's own writing. In other words, in trying to "fake" coherence by mechanically applying these techniques, a writer may achieve "real" coherence. The writer will be forcing himself to think about what he is trying to write and also forcing himself to look at what he has actually written. Recognizing the discrepancy between thought and word is a key moment in fixing weaknesses in coherence.

Paragraph-to-Paragraph Coherence: Furthermore, paragraphs must be coherent with respect to each other. Each paragraph must contribute to a piece of writing's objectives, and the reader must understand the relationship between adjacent paragraphs to know the reason for each paragraph's existence. If an essay contains a series of paragraphs with no indication of why one paragraph follows another, the essay is incoherent. To create coherence between paragraphs, use the same coherence techniques as for coherence within paragraphs.

The Writing Process:  Coherence results from strenuous revision. During drafting, writers ought to have a sense of what paragraphs might assist in fulfilling the writers' communicative objectives, especially in the sense of what ideas the written work must express. In the early stages, however, the writer may only have a tenuous grasp of what purposes her paragraphs serve, and even what order the paragraphs should be in. I recommend that writers establish coherence between paragraphs by the end of the revision stage. Writers should pay attention to coherence within paragraphs during revising, but coherence within paragraphs might not be fully developed until the editing stage.

Common Coherence Techniques

1.      Use transitional expressions.

2.      Use pronouns.

3.      Use deliberate repetition.

4.      Use parallelism.

 

1.                  Transitional Expressions

Transitional expressions are words and phrases that indicate connections among ideas. Their use is crucial in writing. Particularly in argumentative writing, the writer should consider issues related to critical thinking (such as soundness of arguments, fallacies, and flaws in premises).  Try not to use the same expressions in the same piece of writing (especially if the text is short). A thesaurus may be helpful in coming up with relevant transitional expressions (but avoid weird ones). Elegant use of transitions takes practice, but inelegant use is better than no use.

 

Common transitional expressions (others are possible)

 

Relationship	Expressions
Addition	also, in addition, too, moreover, and, besides, furthermore, equally important, then, finally, as well, further, indeed, in fact, ; [semicolon]
Alternative	either…or, if only, instead, instead of, in that case, neither…nor, otherwise, rather than, unless, whether…or, or, in other words
Causation	as a result of, because, due to, for, on account of, since
Comparison	similarly, likewise, in the same way, not only…but also, as…as [e.g., as big as a house]
Concession	of course, to be sure, certainly, granted
Contrast	but, yet, however, on the other hand, nevertheless, nonetheless, conversely, in contrast, by contrast, still, at the same time, although, despite, even if, whereas, by comparison
Degree or Extent	for the most part, so…that [e.g., she is so loud that she doesn't need a microphone], to some extent, to some degree, to a certain extent, such…that [e.g., it is such a long way that I can't walk], in part, partly
Example	for example, for instance, thus, as an illustration, namely, specifically, such as, : [colon], in that
Place	in the front, in the foreground, in the back, in the background, at the side, adjacent, nearby, in the distance, here, there
Purpose	so that, to, so as to, in order to, in such a way as to
Result	therefore, thus, as a result, so, accordingly, as a result, it follows that, consequently
Summary	hence, in short, in brief, in summary, in conclusion, to sum up
Time Sequence	first, second, third, next, then, finally, afterwards, before, soon, later, meanwhile, subsequently, immediately, eventually, currently

 

EXAMPLE [from George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"]: 

In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is to surrender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualizing you probably hunt about till you find the exact words that seem to fit it. When you think of something abstract you are more inclined to use words from the start, and unless you make a conscious effort to prevent it, the existing dialect will come rushing in and do the job for you, at the expense of blurring or even changing your meaning. Probably it is better to put off using words as long as possible and get one's meaning as clear as one can through pictures or sensations. Afterwards one can choose--not simply accept--the phrases that will best cover the meaning, and then switch round and decide what impression one's words are likely to make on another person.

2.      Pronouns

Use pronouns to connect specified nouns in earlier sentences to the content of later sentences.

EXAMPLE: [the first two paragraphs of Lenore Keeshig-Tobias' "He Was a Boxer When I Was Small"]

His thundering rages are most vivid, his tears subtle. Watching and feeling for them, but unable to bridge the gap, I learned to love, hate him all in the same breath. No one ever knew this. They saw a kid in love with her father.

      He was a boxer when I was small. People say he was good and would have made it had he started younger, but he had a wife and growing family to provide for. Amateur boxing paid nothing, but he loved it. I think he must have been about twenty-two then. He claims that we were too young to have seen him fight, but I remember.

[Note that the pronoun "he" creates coherence between the two paragraphs as well.]

3.      Deliberate Repetition

Repeat a key term or phrase if that term or phase is central to the ideas in a paragraph. To establish coherence in this way, synonyms of that key term are not useful. Furthermore, the shorter a paragraph is, the less often a writer should use repetition (since too much repetition can be monotonous and wordy). But deliberate repetition can be an uncomplicated way of indicating the centrality of an idea to a paragraph.  This technique often occurs together with parallelism.

4.      Parallelism

Parallelism (or parallel structure) is the use of grammatically equivalent syntax in adjacent sentences or within sentences. The repeated rhythm of parallel structures notifies the reader that the ideas in parallel structures are related to each another. Like deliberate repetition, overuse of parallelism can at times cause monotony and wordiness: but consistent parallelism is extremely effective in promoting coherence, and I recommend erring on the side of overuse in this case. Indeed, lack of parallelism at times creates ungrammatical structures.

EXAMPLE

WEAK: James was not only a prolific novelist but wrote essays, too, and also several plays.

STRONGER: James was not only a prolific novelist but also an essayist and a playwright.

EXAMPLE [from Winston S. Churchill's speech on the evacuation at Dunkirk ("Wars Are Not Won by Evacuations")]

Revising for coherence

Lack of coherence means abrupt changes in topic or idea from sentence to sentence
 Use the following questions to determine whether your paragraphs create adequate coherence for readers.

•      Does the paragraph highlight and repeat words naming the topic and main points? 
• Do transition words alert readers to relationships between sentences? 
• Do parallel words and structures highlight similar or related ideas? 
• Do sentence beginnings identify a topic and stick to it?

Writing focused paragraph

 

Unfocused paragraph in which the writer confused about the topic, their ideas were not clear about the topic.

One way to keep a paragraph focused as you write and to help readers recognize that focus is to state your topic and your main idea or perspective in a single sentence, a topic sentence.

As you write, you can use a topic sentence as the focal point for the other sentences in a paragraph. When you revise, you can often easily improve an unfocused paragraph by adding a topic sentence and placing it in an effective position in the paragraph. You can then easily omit or relocate sentences that are not relevant to your topic sentence.
Look over your drafts by scanning paragraphs and reading just the topic sentences. Check for missing, misleading, or inadequate topic sentences. When you find such paragraphs, decide whether they also need revision for focus. In addition, this is a good way to identify paragraphs that take the discussion in misleading or irrelevant directions.

The focus is the particular idea you want to present at that point in the composition. This idea is stated in a topic sentence. It is better for beginners to start out stating the focus clearly in a topic sentence at the start of the paragraph to make sure readers can follow the ideas presented. Expert writers can avoid stating the topic outright or can put the topic sentence anywhere in the paragraph because their language and organization can let you know what the focus is in sophisticated ways.

 

Revising for focus

•      Is taking another look at our ideas to make them clearer, stronger, and more convincing.

•      When revising, we are evaluating how well, we have made our point

 

Poorly developed paragraph

Poorly developed paragraphs will leave your readers confused, wanting more information and looking for something else to read.

Avoid making vague or abstract statements without adequate supporting details. A well-developed paragraph provides enough details and illustrations to enable the reader to clearly understand and accept the paragraph's central point

 Poorly developed

Because we didn’t have much money, we didn’t always have a lot of food. Sometimes all we had were sandwiches. I remember being hungry a lot.

There isn’t much to the above paragraph, is there? The author doesn’t show the significance of the examples or how they support the thesis of the essay.

Below is a different version of the same paragraph.

 

 Well developed

Because we didn’t have much money, we didn’t always have a lot of food. Sometimes all we had were sandwiches. I remember being hungry a lot. This made me appreciate the value of money. Today, I always make sure to save and budget enough money for food, because I never want to go hungry again. I have also learned to be smart about how I spend money on food. I’m always looking for good bargains and creative ways to use my leftovers so that I do not waste anything.

 

Revising for development

After focusing your paragraphs and making sure they are coherent, you may find that the information they contain isn't quite enough to effectively convey your purpose for writing. The paragraphs may be lacking in information or simply uninteresting. The next step in your writing or revising process is to develop your paragraphs.

Development means that the idea is discussed in enough depth and supported by enough illustration or evidence that it is clear and convincing to the reader. It also means that the ideas and information are presented in a logical order, such as: from specific to general, from general to specific, from least to most important or chronological way.

Paragraph development provides the examples, facts, concrete details, or explanatory statements that make a paragraph informative and validate or support your ideas and opinions.

Here are some ways to develop a paragraph:

• Use Examples. Use brief, specific examples or an extended, detailed example.
• Include Concrete Details. Invoke the five senses. Re-create sights, sounds, tastes, smells, movements, and sensations of touch.
• Include Facts and Statistics. Offer precise data from your own field research or from authoritative sources, perhaps in numerical form. Summarize the results, or quote your sources. Facts and statistics are the kinds of evidence many readers consider convincing proof of generalizations and opinions. They also help readers understand complicated social and natural phenomena.
• Summarize. Summarize other people's opinions, conclusions, or explanations. Tell how they agree with and support your conclusions. Or point out their omissions and weaknesses as a way of arguing for your conclusions or insights.
• Add Quotations. Use statements you have gathered from field, electronic, or library research as ways of supporting your conclusions or as ways of taking your discussion more dramatic and memorable.

 

 

Special- purpose paragraphs

There are several types of paragraphs, each with a purpose. A writer comes to rely upon some paragraph styles more than others. Detecting this favoritism helps a reader understand the writer. You might try to balance your paragraph choices, or cling to a few.

Details

Detail paragraphs give background information or provide depth to improve a reader’s understanding. Lengthy detail paragraphs were a fixture in nineteenth century novels. Current trends include shorter detail paragraphs.

Comparisons

Comparison shows similarities between persons, places, things, ideas, or situations.

Contrast points out the differences between persons, places, things, ideas, or situations.

Your topic sentence should identify both items (subjects) to be compared or contrasted and tell the reader exactly what you are going to say about these items (attitude).

Reasons

A reason or rhetorical paragraph argues a theory or opinion, giving a list of reasons why the author’s opinion is correct. These paragraphs do not offer examples or details of the current condition except in passing. Strong rhetorical writing uses “reasons” with other paragraph types.

Dialogue

Within conversations, the words of individual characters stand as paragraphs. It is increasingly common to include “on-line” dialogue, while previously it was considered proper to start a new paragraph when a character spoke.

“I think he’s a wonderful singer,” Margie sighed.

“He’s a better neurosurgeon,” his wife said, smiling.