Which One Of The Following Techniques Will Help You Control The Length Of Your Paragraphs?

What this handout is about

This handout will assistance you sympathise how paragraphs are formed, how to develop stronger paragraphs, and how to completely and conspicuously express your ideas.

What is a paragraph?

Paragraphs are the building blocks of papers. Many students ascertain paragraphs in terms of length: a paragraph is a group of at to the lowest degree five sentences, a paragraph is half a page long, etc. In reality, though, the unity and coherence of ideas amid sentences is what constitutes a paragraph. A paragraph is defined equally "a group of sentences or a unmarried sentence that forms a unit" (Lunsford and Connors 116). Length and advent do not determine whether a section in a paper is a paragraph. For instance, in some styles of writing, particularly journalistic styles, a paragraph can be just one sentence long. Ultimately, a paragraph is a sentence or group of sentences that support one master idea. In this handout, we will refer to this every bit the "controlling idea," because it controls what happens in the remainder of the paragraph.

How do I decide what to put in a paragraph?

Earlier you can brainstorm to make up one's mind what the limerick of a particular paragraph will be, you must commencement decide on an argument and a working thesis argument for your paper. What is the most important thought that y'all are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions similar a seed from which your newspaper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic i—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships betwixt all of the ideas in the paper.

The conclusion about what to put into your paragraphs begins with the germination of a seed of ideas; this "germination process" is better known equally brainstorming. There are many techniques for brainstorming; whichever one you cull, this phase of paragraph development cannot be skipped. Building paragraphs tin can be like building a skyscraper: in that location must be a well-planned foundation that supports what you are building. Any cracks, inconsistencies, or other corruptions of the foundation tin can crusade your whole paper to crumble.

And then, let'due south suppose that you accept done some brainstorming to develop your thesis. What else should you lot keep in heed as you begin to create paragraphs? Every paragraph in a paper should be:

Unified: All of the sentences in a single paragraph should be related to a unmarried decision-making thought (oftentimes expressed in the topic sentence of the paragraph).
Clearly related to the thesis: The sentences should all refer to the fundamental thought, or thesis, of the paper (Rosen and Behrens 119).
Coherent: The sentences should be arranged in a logical mode and should follow a definite program for development (Rosen and Behrens 119).
Well-adult: Every thought discussed in the paragraph should exist adequately explained and supported through prove and details that work together to explain the paragraph's controlling thought (Rosen and Behrens 119).

How exercise I organize a paragraph?

At that place are many different ways to organize a paragraph. The system you cull will depend on the controlling idea of the paragraph. Beneath are a few possibilities for organization, with links to brief examples:

Narration: Tell a story. Go chronologically, from beginning to stop. (Meet an example.)
Description: Provide specific details nigh what something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels like. Organize spatially, in order of advent, or by topic. (See an example.)
Procedure: Explain how something works, step by step. Perhaps follow a sequence—first, 2d, 3rd. (Run across an example.)
Classification: Dissever into groups or explicate the various parts of a topic. (See an case.)
Analogy: Give examples and explain how those examples back up your point. (See an instance in the 5-step process below.)

Illustration paragraph: a five-step example

From the listing above, let'due south choose "illustration" as our rhetorical purpose. We'll walk through a v-step procedure for building a paragraph that illustrates a indicate in an statement. For each pace in that location is an explanation and example. Our example paragraph will exist near human misconceptions of piranhas.

Step 1. Decide on a controlling idea and create a topic sentence

Paragraph development begins with the conception of the controlling idea. This thought directs the paragraph'due south development. Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will appear in the form of a topic judgement. In some cases, you may need more than 1 sentence to limited a paragraph'south decision-making thought.

Decision-making idea and topic sentence — Despite the fact that piranhas are relatively harmless, many people continue to believe the pervasive myth that piranhas are dangerous to humans.

Step ii. Elaborate on the controlling idea

Paragraph evolution continues with an elaboration on the controlling idea, perhaps with an explanation, implication, or statement about significance. Our example offers a possible caption for the pervasiveness of the myth.

Elaboration — This impression of piranhas is exacerbated by their mischaracterization in popular media.

Footstep 3. Give an example (or multiple examples)

Paragraph evolution progresses with an case (or more) that illustrates the claims made in the previous sentences.

Instance — For example, the promotional poster for the 1978 horror movie Piranha features an oversized piranha poised to bite the leg of an unsuspecting adult female.

Pace 4. Explain the case(s)

The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example and its relevance to the topic sentence. The explanation should demonstrate the value of the example equally evidence to support the major merits, or focus, in your paragraph.

Proceed the design of giving examples and explaining them until all points/examples that the writer deems necessary accept been made and explained. NONE of your examples should be left unexplained. Yous might be able to explain the human relationship betwixt the example and the topic sentence in the same judgement which introduced the example. More oft, however, yous will need to explain that human relationship in a separate sentence.

Explanation for example — Such a terrifying representation easily captures the imagination and promotes unnecessary fright.

Discover that the case and explanation steps of this five-footstep process (steps 3 and iv) can be repeated as needed. The thought is that you go on to use this pattern until y'all have completely developed the main idea of the paragraph.

Footstep five. Complete the paragraph's thought or transition into the next paragraph

The terminal movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of the paragraph. At this signal, you tin can remind your reader about the relevance of the information to the larger paper, or you tin brand a concluding point for this example. Yous might, however, simply transition to the next paragraph.

Sentences for completing a paragraph — While the trope of the homo-eating piranhas lends excitement to the take a chance stories, it bears lilliputian resemblance to the existent-life piranha. Past paying more attention to fact than fiction, humans may finally be able to permit go of this inaccurate belief.

Finished paragraph

Despite the fact that piranhas are relatively harmless, many people go on to believe the pervasive myth that piranhas are dangerous to humans. This impression of piranhas is exacerbated by their mischaracterization in popular media. For example, the promotional affiche for the 1978 horror film Piranha features an oversized piranha poised to bite the leg of an unsuspecting woman. Such a terrifying representation easily captures the imagination and promotes unnecessary fearfulness. While the trope of the man-eating piranhas lends excitement to the adventure stories, it bears little resemblance to the existent-life piranha. By paying more than attention to fact than fiction, humans may finally exist able to let get of this inaccurate conventionalities.

Troubleshooting paragraphs

Trouble: the paragraph has no topic sentence

Imagine each paragraph as a sandwich. The existent content of the sandwich—the meat or other filling—is in the centre. It includes all the evidence you need to make the signal. Merely it gets kind of messy to eat a sandwich without any bread. Your readers don't know what to do with all the evidence you lot've given them. And then, the top slice of bread (the first sentence of the paragraph) explains the topic (or controlling idea) of the paragraph. And, the bottom slice (the last sentence of the paragraph) tells the reader how the paragraph relates to the broader statement. In the original and revised paragraphs below, notice how a topic sentence expressing the controlling idea tells the reader the point of all the show.

Original paragraph

Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' get-go instinct is to abscond, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more than piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten past piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won't bite humans.

Revised paragraph

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, for the most part, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won't seize with teeth humans.

Once yous have mastered the use of topic sentences, you may decide that the topic sentence for a particular paragraph actually shouldn't exist the first sentence of the paragraph. This is fine—the topic sentence can actually go at the beginning, middle, or stop of a paragraph; what'southward of import is that information technology is in there somewhere so that readers know what the main thought of the paragraph is and how it relates dorsum to the thesis of your paper. Suppose that we wanted to starting time the piranha paragraph with a transition sentence—something that reminds the reader of what happened in the previous paragraph—rather than with the topic sentence. Let'due south suppose that the previous paragraph was almost all kinds of animals that people are afraid of, like sharks, snakes, and spiders. Our paragraph might expect like this (the topic judgement is bold):

Like sharks, snakes, and spiders, piranhas are widely feared. Although most people consider piranhas to exist quite unsafe, they are, for the nearly part, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' first instinct is to abscond, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won't bite humans.

Problem: the paragraph has more than 1 controlling idea

If a paragraph has more than one main idea, consider eliminating sentences that chronicle to the second idea, or split the paragraph into two or more paragraphs, each with merely i main idea. Watch our brusk video on reverse outlining to learn a quick way to exam whether your paragraphs are unified. In the post-obit paragraph, the final 2 sentences branch off into a dissimilar topic; so, the revised paragraph eliminates them and concludes with a judgement that reminds the reader of the paragraph'due south main idea.

Original paragraph

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, for the most part, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. ~~A number of South American groups swallow piranhas. They fry or grill the fish and and then serve them with kokosnoot milk or tucupi, a sauce made from fermented manioc juices.~~

Revised paragraph

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite unsafe, they are, for the near role, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on big animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' first instinct is to flee, not attack. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten past piranhas. If the fish are well-fed, they won't bite humans.

Problem: transitions are needed inside the paragraph

You lot are probably familiar with the idea that transitions may exist needed betwixt paragraphs or sections in a paper (run across our handout on transitions). Sometimes they are also helpful within the body of a single paragraph. Inside a paragraph, transitions are often unmarried words or short phrases that help to establish relationships between ideas and to create a logical progression of those ideas in a paragraph. This is specially likely to exist truthful within paragraphs that discuss multiple examples. Let's take a look at a version of our piranha paragraph that uses transitions to orient the reader:

Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, except in two main situations, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they consume smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' instinct is to flee, not attack. Only in that location are two situations in which a piranha bite is likely. The starting time is when a frightened piranha is lifted out of the water—for example, if information technology has been caught in a fishing net. The second is when the water level in pools where piranhas are living falls as well low. A large number of fish may be trapped in a single pool, and if they are hungry, they may set on anything that enters the water.

In this example, you tin see how the phrases "the first" and "the second" help the reader follow the organization of the ideas in the paragraph.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resource on the handout'southward topic, and we encourage you to practice your own research to discover additional publications. Please do non employ this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may non match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries commendation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Lunsford, Andrea. 2008. The St. Martin'due south Handbook: Annotated Teacher's Edition, 6th ed. New York: St. Martin'south.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Salary Handbook, 5th ed. New York: Longman.

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