“What Makes a Good Paragraph?” “We have to be able to understand it!” “What can we do to make our reader understand our writing?”

“What do all of these mean?” 3 Things Make a Good Paragraph: Unity Coherence Elaboration “What do all of these mean?”

“What does unity mean to you?” Let’s Start with Unity… “What does unity mean to you?” When a paragraph has unity, all the sentences relate directly to the main idea. If there is a sentence off topic at all, this begins to create confusion for your reader. Use only the most important details!

LET’S SEE AN EXAMPLE… Find the sentence in the paragraph that destroys the unity and doesn’t belong. The disappearance of Amealia Earhart remains a mystery. Earhart, who was the first woman pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, crashed into the Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the world. She was born in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897. Some researchers believe that she survived the crash into the Pacific, because radio distress calls were received. An intensive search for the source of the signals was made. Searchers were not able to find her, however. Finally, the distress signals ceased. In spite of continued searches by airplane and ship, no clue about what became of Amelia Earhart has yet been found. She was born in Atchison, Kansas in 1897. = Doesn’t relate directly to main idea.

#2: COHERENCE A coherent paragraph is one in which all of the sentences logically fit together. When a paragraph has coherence, your reader can easily see how all of the details are connected.

“How can we create coherence?” There are 2 ways! Order details in a way that makes sense. 2. Show a connection by using transitional words.

“Order Please!” “Look at the chart!” Not that kind of order! Organizing your details in a specific order is 1 way to make your paragraph clear and coherent. Coherence “Look at the chart!” Chronological Order Presents details in the order they occur Spatial Order Presents details according to location Order of Importance Details are least important to most or the reverse Logical Order Groups related details together Coherence

2nd Way to Create Coherence: Transitional Words “We want to see a connection!” Transitional words help the reader see a relationship between ideas. after finally soon later meanwhile first next before then They tie things together! across beyond under around inside down because therefore consequently

3rd Way to Create Coherence: Paragraph Hooks “We want to see a connection!” In addition to transition words, writers often tie paragraphs together by repeating a key word or idea from a previous paragraph in the opening sentence of the next paragraph This “hooks” the paragraphs together, creating for the reader a logical flow of thought.

First, Next, Finally… While beginning paragraphs with basic transition terms such as "First," "Next," and "Finally" is better than having no transitions at all, it still makes for a fairly bumpy movement from one idea to the next. Your job as the writer is to try to highlight the connections between ideas, between paragraphs, for your reader, making the essay as smooth and unified as it can be. Beginning paragraphs with paragraph hooks requires only a little more effort than using the basic transition terms, but it goes a long way toward making a smoother and more coherent essay.

FOR EXAMPLE! To create a paragraph hook, include an important word or idea from the previous paragraph in the first sentence of the next paragraph. The idea of hooks is that the first sentence of the new paragraph will briefly remind the reader (through the use of that keyword) of the topic that has just been covered, while introducing the new idea to be covered in the new paragraph, and showing the connection between the two. Choose this hook carefully, however. Not just any word will do. It should reflect the topic you want to develop in your second paragraph and should not merely repeat what is said in the paragraph that comes before.

FOR EXAMPLE! One important element of most popular music is the rhythm section. Usually featuring a drummer and a bass player, the rhythm section keeps the beat of the music and makes sure the other band members play together. In addition to the rhythm section, the singers are also extremely important... (In this example, the phrase "the rhythm section" early in the second paragraph creates the paragraph hook. You also can see the transition words "in addition" at the beginning of the sentence.)

FOR EXAMPLE! Having looked at the arguments against stem cell research, we see that they are erroneous because the opponents of stem cell research assume that embryonic stem cells come only from fetuses, which is not true.      While such opponents ignore scientific facts to oppose embryonic stem cell research, many of those same opponents try to base their arguments solely on religious texts. However, such opponents should consider additional arguments, since many Americans do not believe in those same sacred texts and since religious Americans hold varying interpretations of those texts. See how that works? Now the first paragraph gives rise to the second paragraph, and the reader has a smooth ride from one paragraph to the next. The ideas now relate, showing unity—but, even more important, the writer has facilitated the reading experience by emphasizing precisely how those paragraphs relate.

FOR EXAMPLE!

FOR EXAMPLE!

# 3: Elaboration “Give us more detail! Elaboration means: to add more detail, so your reader can get a clear picture of what you mean!

Here are are Nine Ways to Elaborate! Use Highly Descriptive Words: vivid adj.’s & adv.’s, precise V’s & N’s. 2. Give a detailed Definition of the subject or detail. 3. Provide an Example that shows your point. 4. Use Comparison: Similes and/or Metaphors. 5. Use Contrast to show how your idea is different from something else. 6. Include a Fact to support your main idea. 7. Use a Statistic (a fact in numerical form) to support your main idea. 8. Use Sensory Details that appeals to one or more of the 5 senses. 9. Use Cause & Effect to explain how 1 thing causes another.

“Now we see what you’re talking about!”

LET’S