Paragraphs

A paragraph is the unit of ideas in an written document. The unit of meaning in a written document is the sentence. Individual sentences mean things, of course, but on their own they have limited power. Put several sentences together and it is possible for a writer to generate ideas and create arguments. Moreover, a cluster of ideas ranging over an essay-length document articulates the point of view of the writer of some topic of interest. This is built from ideas raised in individual paragraphs.

Paragraphs are therefore critical components of essay writing. They are the building blocks that integrate sentences into ideas, and they present the point of view of a writer.

Let’s look in detail at some key features of paragraphs.

Unity and coherence

Good paragraphs exhibit two features:

  • Unity (there is only one main idea)
  • Coherence (everything in the paragraph fits together, there are no “loose” or disconnected sentences)

These features are not as easy to maintain as it might seem. Learning advisors frequently see paragraphs what start well but then go off on a digression or tangent. This can even be seen in the work of native English speakers.

Unity

There should be only ONE new idea in each paragraph. A good writer can manage more than one idea in a paragraph, but for learners, this is a dangerous thing to do and it is best avoided. If English is your second or third language, you should always avoid having more than one idea per paragraph.

Coherence

Coherence means that all the sentences in the paragraph are centred on the ONE point the paragraph is trying to make. If you are writing a paragraph about the beauty and usefulness of gold, for example (a single idea with two elements), you don’t discuss the price of gold, the chemical structure of gold, or how gold is an investment alternative to share trading. You do nothing else except give examples of beauty and usefulness. 

Here is an example of a paragraph with both unity and coherence:

  • Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important reasons: it is both beautiful and useful. First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was minted twenty three centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its utility in industry and science. The most recent application of gold is in astronauts’ suits (Oshima & Hogue, 1999).

Here is an example of a paragraph that has unity but no coherence:

  • Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important reasons: it is both beautiful and useful. First of all, gold can be purchased as a alternative investment to stocks as it retains its value, and can even increase, under conditions of market volatility. Second, gold has a unique chemical structure, with the symbol AU and an atomic number of  79–one of the highest such numbers. Third, women enjoy wearing gold as it is a status symbol. It can, for example, be worn in a necklace when showing off at fancy restaurants.

None of the sentences in the paragraph support the central idea. Now here is an example of a paragraph with no unified controlling idea:

  • First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was minted twenty three centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its utility in industry and science. The most recent application of gold is in astronauts’ suits.

A unified paragraph will contain a single controlling idea. A coherent paragraph will only support that controlling idea, and do nothing else. The guiding principle that provides unity and maintains coherence is the topic sentence.  Without this, there is no paragraph.

The topic sentence

We have seen that paragraphs should have one main point or idea. This idea is expressed in one sentence: The topic sentence. This usually appears at the beginning of the paragraph. In the example just given, the topic sentence was:

  • Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important reasons: it is both beautiful and useful.

Each sentence in the paragraph expands on the topic sentence providing evidence and justification for that idea. In the example just provided this was as follows:

  • Beauty of gold: it is lustrous and Macedonian coins do not tarnish
  • Usefulness of gold: used in industry and science, e.g., astronaut suits

The structure of a paragraph therefore contains the following critical elements:

Topic sentence This is your idea (developed through your research) expressed in your own words and not an idea from a cited source.
Supporting sentences These sentences are cited examples, theories or information from other sources that support or otherwise justify your topic sentence.

Topic sentences are usually placed at the start, but not always. Here is an example where it appears at the end:

  • Albert Einstein, one of the world’s geniuses, failed his university entrance examinations on his first attempt.  William Faulkner, one of America’s noted writers, never finished college because he could not pass his English courses. Sir Winston Churchill, who is considered one of the masters of the English language, had to have special tutoring in English during elementary school.  These few examples show that failure in school does not always predict failure in life (Oshima & Hogue, 1999).

And here is a paragraph where the topic sentence frames the paragraph:

  • Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always have the same emotional meaning. For example, the words “stingy” and “frugal” both mean “careful with money.”  However, to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has a much more positive connotation. Similarly, a person wants to be slender but not skinny, and aggressive, but not pushy.  Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called synonyms are not really synonymous at all (Oshima & Hogue, 1999).

These alternate forms of topic sentences are hard to manage and best avoided.

Take a look at a visual model of the topic sentence and supporting material on our helpsheet, Structuring your Essay.

Connecting ideas within a paragraph

To make your ideas flow from one sentence to another, you can use linking words or phrases to great effect as show below.

Key: Topic sentence     Linking words/phrases     Supporting evidence

  • Exploring the world on long-distance ocean journeys can have considerable impacts on the health of sailors. For example, the sea voyage itself is shown to have lasting effects on the body’s immune system resulting in an array of illnesses (Lu et al., 2010). In particular, cardiovascular disease is the most common ailment identified amongst seafaring crew members (Hearty, 2009). Moreover, studies by Sponge and Lope (2011) indicate that these health effects are mainly due to two contributing factors: diet and lack of physical exercise on board the ship. “There’s too many worm infested crackers and not enough deck scrubbing” explains one ship captain (Blackbeard, 1720).

Activity: Paragraph structure

Below is a paragraph from the body of the essay, ‘Violent video games should be banned. Discuss’. Identify the following parts of the paragraph:

Key: Topic sentence     Linking words/phrases     Supporting evidence

Companies that produce video games, as well as many gamers, claim there is no link between increased violence in the community and violent video games. To support their opinion, they cite studies by psychologists which indicate that gamers are no more likely to commit violent crimes than non-gamers. Specifically, a report by Braxton College in the United States found that among 234 gamers, arrest and conviction levels for any form of crime were actually 8% lower than from non-gamers (Malone, 2012). Indeed, both those who produce and those who play the games claim they are being unfairly blamed for the problems of society (Falloy & Croydon, 2011). As Carrox (2013) points out, no one would ever demand that books with violent themes should be blamed for their negative influence.

(Adapted from Powell, 2013)

Answer: Paragraph structure

Key: Topic sentence     Linking words/phrases     Supporting evidence

Companies that produce video games, as well as many gamers, claim there is no link between increased violence in the community and violent video games. To support their opinion, they cite studies by psychologists which indicate that gamers are no more likely to commit violent crimes than non-gamers. Specifically, a report by Braxton College in the United States found that among 234 gamers, arrest and conviction levels for any form of crime were actually 8% lower than from non-gamers (Malone, 2012). Indeed, both those who produce and those who play the games claim they are being unfairly blamed for the problems of society (Falloy & Croydon, 2011). As Carrox (2013) points out, no one would ever demand that books with violent themes should be blamed for their negative influence.

Organising paragraphs

In the body section of essays, reports and similar assignments, your paragraphs should be presented in a logical order according to how one main idea connects with the next main idea. The best way to achieve a logical order is through planning.

Set out your paragraph topics before you start writing the paragraphs themselves so that you avoid accidentally talking about the explorer being locked away and the difficulty for the crew being on the high seas for three years in the same paragraph. Remember: one paragraph = one idea.

As a general rule, begin a new paragraph when you want to do any of the following:

  • start or end a part of your argument
  • introduce a new idea or point contrast information or ideas
  • break up an overly long paragraph

Download our helpsheet, Paragraphs (basic version).