Paragraph

Paragraph Writing: Take a wild guess as to what will you say to describe a paragraph? From whatever you may know so far, many students describe paragraphs as what consists the story, or a set of sentences that are grouped together to form a paragraph or a set of sentences that cover half a page of your story, and so on.

Although these ideas may look true in many instances, they don’t really define what the idea behind a paragraph is. This is one of those subtle things in English writing that never really gets explained on priority making it one of those commonly used things that are barely understood. Which is why this read is going to be great.

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A Paragraph explaining Paragraph

The true intent of a paragraph is to express coherent points. It could be one sentence or through many sentences. The idea or what we call the “main idea” of the paragraph always flows in one direction. As soon as this idea changes, we change the paragraph too.

So what goes into a Paragraph Writing?

• It all begins with one idea and everything familiar that naturally flows with it fits into one paragraph.
• Every paragraph you have should have points or sentence/s related and referring to the central idea.
• These ideas should not be random. It always helps to jot down quick points quickly in a rough sheet, arrange them into a logical chronological order that flows in one direction making it easier to read.
• Don’t leave any point or sentence hanging loose without any substantiation or explanation. Every statement you make should be backed by logical reasoning that stays in one paragraph.

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Fitting your Paragraph

Once you know the central idea and a rough plan for your paragraphs, you need to arrange them in a certain manner to get your story across. Following are some possible ways of organizing your paragraphs:

• Narration: Tell a story. Go chronologically, from start to finish.
• Description: Provide specific details about what something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels like. Organize spatially, in order of appearance, or by topic.
• Process: Explain how something works, step by step. Perhaps follow a sequence—first, second, third.
• Classification: Separate into groups or explain the various parts of a topic.
• Illustration: Give examples and explain how those examples prove your point.

How to develop Paragraphs?

Create the Main Idea

Have the central idea in your mind and convey it right at the beginning. A lot of times the central idea is conveyed right in the first sentence. “Oceans are slowly becoming human dust-bins.”

Once the statement of your main idea is out there, you will be explaining or providing validation points. This way, your main idea isn’t hanging loose. This is going to make sure how the reader is going to interpret the main idea, because of you leading them to it.

This is where the writer explains the focus point. “Garbage in the ocean comes from trash from trash cans, the streets, and landfills that gets blown into sewers, rivers, or directly into the ocean. The trash makes its way into storm drains. Trash travels through sewer pipes, into waterways, and finally into the ocean.”

Use an Example

Examples always clarify without explanations. People understand better when you give them something to relate to. They provide the necessary evidence or support required to prove our central idea. “A new study – based on what researchers called a mega-expedition to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2015 – suggests there is about 16 times more waste than previously thought floating there. The mass of waste spans 617,763 square miles(1.6 million square km), about three times the size of France.”

Elaborate on the Example

Connect the dots and show how the example is relevant to the central point. Always unite the furthest link to the closest idea. This idea holds every point together unified. Do not leave any of your examples unexplained. You might be able to explain the relationship between the example and the topic sentence in the same sentence which introduced the example. More often, however, you will need to explain that relationship in a separate sentence.

“This plastic accumulation rate inside the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which was greater than in the surrounding waters, indicates that the inflow of plastic into the patch continues to exceed the outflow. The fleet collected a total of 1.2 million plastic samples, while the aerial sensors scanned more than 116 square miles (300 square km) of the ocean surface.”

The final always ends in a broader summarization and coalition of all points. This will also tie all the loose ends in the paragraph. The conclusion should focus on the central idea we started with. This should put focus and importance to the main theme. A lot of times, we come back to the point we literally started with at the beginning of the first paragraph in order to come full circle on our topic.

If we have to put our examples now in one paragraph writing, here’s how it looks like:

Oceans are slowly becoming human dust-bins. Garbage in the ocean comes from trash from trash cans, the streets, and landfills that gets blown into sewers, rivers, or directly into the ocean. The trash makes its way into storm drains. Trash travels through sewer pipes, into waterways, and finally into the ocean. A new study – based on what researchers called a mega-expedition to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2015 – suggests there is about 16 times more waste than previously thought floating there. The mass of waste spans 617,763 square miles(1.6 million square km), about three times the size of France. This plastic accumulation rate inside the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which was greater than in the surrounding waters, indicates that the inflow of plastic into the patch continues to exceed the outflow. The fleet collected a total of 1.2 million plastic samples, while the aerial sensors scanned more than 116 square miles (300 square km) of the ocean surface. `The need of the hour is to focus on waste management and keeping our oceans clean.

Well, that brings us to the end of our chapter on Paragraphs. Try structuring a few, looking at it objectively, seeing the difference, getting it read by your teacher and see how it literally changes your writing flows. Happy learning!

Solved Question for You on Paragraph Writing

The essential elements of paragraph writing are:

1. understanding topic, writers intelligence and length
2. unity, order, coherence and completeness
3. details, continuity and information
4. introduction, conclusion and body.

Answer: B – unity, order, coherence and completeness.