Paragraphs Paper One Skills

Paragraphs If you wish to do well in English, it is essential that you master the basics of how to organise your work into paragraphs. This powerpoint will provide you with an overview of proper paragraphing, revising what you have already learned.

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH? Essentially, a paragraph is a collection of one or more sentences that relate to the same idea. Because essays seek to relate ideas together in a coherent discussion, paragraphs are one of the most important elements of writing.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PARAGRAPH? The first line of each paragraph is normally indented. Another option is that a line is skipped to indicate the start of a new paragraph. The subject or topic of a paragraph is often stated in the first sentence, which is called a ‘topic sentence’. The remaining sentences develop the topic sentence and are known as ‘body sentences’.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PARAGRAPH? The paragraph is unified, with all the sentences contributing to create a single idea. A paragraph is complete when the idea the writer wants to express is brought clearly into focus.

PARAGRAPH LENGTH Be sure that your paragraphs are concerned with only one idea. The whole purpose of paragraphs is to make it easier for the reader too see how the different issues you discuss connect with each other. This only works if each paragraph deals with only one idea.

PARAGRAPH LENGTH There is no ‘correct’ length for a paragraph. The length of a paragraph is decided by how important the idea you are discussing is, or how much you have to say on the topic. However, in general, try to avoid writing paragraphs that are too long or too short.

STARTING A NEW PARAGRAPH Paragraphs should be distinguished from each other in one of two ways – either the first line of a new paragraph is indented, or a line is skipped. When skipping lines, always skip from the line containing the last word of the previous paragraph, even if this line only contains one word. You must choose one style of paragraphs and stick with it, do not use the two different styles in the one essay or answer.

FOR EXAMPLE . . . . INDENTED PARAGRAPHS SKIPPED-LINE PARAGRAPH It had happened at last. The expected message had come. All his life, it seemed to him, he had been waiting for this to happen. He was walking down the long corridor at the Ministry and he was almost at the spot where Julia had slipped the note into his hand when he became aware that someone larger was walking just behind him. At last they were face to face, and it seemed that his only impulse was to run away. SKIPPED-LINE PARAGRAPH It had happened at last. The expected message had come. All his life, it seemed to him, he had been waiting for this to happen. He was walking down the long corridor at the Ministry and he was almost at the spot where Julia had slipped the note into his hand when he became aware that someone larger was walking just behind him. At last they were face to face, and it seemed that his only impulse was to run away.