Paragraph Cohesion Dr. Heather Blain Vorhies Office of Writing Initiatives The Graduate School

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?

One-Minute Essay Using only one side of the index card, describe what makes a paragraph. In other words, what makes a paragraph different from a bunch of sentences grouped together? Label this side of the index card #1.

UNITY A paragraph treats one controlling idea.

What is the controlling idea? A paragraph must have unity. Each sentence within the paragraph contributes to one controlling idea. Readers need to be able to easily discern what this controlling idea is and how all other ideas relate to it.

Glossing the controlling idea

Paragraph Structure All sentences contribute to the controlling idea.

ORGANIZATION Paragraphs show hierarchies of ideas.

Paragraph Organization General  Specific

Claims/evidence/analysis It can be useful to think of your paragraphs as needing a claim, evidence, and analysis. Not every paragraph will have this structure, but most should.

COHESION Making sentences family.

Old  New Information Flow This is also referred to as the Known/New contract or as the Topic/Comment pattern. The first sentence of the paragraph sets up the pattern.

Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. The collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble creates a black hole. So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways. Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. A black hole is created by the collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble. So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways An example from Williams

How to Revise Begin sentences with information familiar to your readers. End sentences with information readers cannot anticipate. From Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace Alexander Bain

An example from Gopen Old  New Up to the time of Darwin, Lamarck was the only biologist to develop a theory of organic evolution in extensive fashion. Its failure as a scientific theory was discussed in the last chapter. No information flow Up to the time of Darwin, the only biologist to develop a theory of organic evolution in extensive fashion was Lamarck. The last chapter demonstrated how much a failure was this scientific theory.

Revision Practice Re-write a paragraph of your own, revising for the old  new information flow.

Sample Text

Some Other Revision Techniques Glossing Work template sentences into your writingtemplate sentences Keep in mind that most template sentences from They Say/I Say will need to be adjusted for your field and for the graduate level What’s best is to build your own template sentences from literature in your field (“Prior work on X has been reported by Y…”)

A FEW GOOD RESOURCES Campus, Web, and Print Resources

Writing Fellows One-on-One Writing Consultation for Graduate Students

Web Resources Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center Website University of North Carolina Writing Center Website Helen Sword’s The Writer’s Diet Anthony Melchiorri’s The Science of Science Writing workshopThe Science of Science Writing workshop

Print Resources The Sense of Structure: Writing From the Reader’s Perspective (George D. Gopen) The Sense of Structure: Writing From the Reader’s Perspective Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Joseph Williams and Joseph Bizup) Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing (Joe Glaser) Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing The Science of Scientific Writing (In your articles module) The Art of Science Writing (In your articles module)

One-minute Essay Using the back side of your index card, write a one-minute essay to the same question with which we began this workshop. What makes a paragraph a paragraph? Label this side #2. Be sure to give me the index card on your way out.