Part One WRITING FOCUSED PARAGRAPHS Definition A Paragraph

Part One WRITING FOCUSED PARAGRAPHS

Definition • A Paragraph is a set of sentences that develop an idea or example in support of an essay’s thesis. Paragraphs break the text into blocks for your readers, allowing them to see how your essay builds step by step.

1. Focusing on one main point or example In a strong paragraph, the sentences form a unit that explores one main point or elaborates on one main example. When you are drafting, start a new paragraph when you introduce a new reason that supports your thesis, a new step in a process, or a new element in an analyses.

Some simple ways to tell if you are on the same topic or a new one. You can have one idea and several bits of supporting evidence within a single paragraph. • You can also have several points in a single paragraph as long as they relate to the overall topic of the paragraph. • If the single points start to get long, then perhaps elaborating on each of them and placing them in their own paragraphs is the route to go. •

2. Signaling the main idea of your paragraph with a topic sentence A topic sentence is not always essential, but it can be a helpful starting point as you draft a paragraph. In general, the first sentence of a paragraph should strongly signal the paragraph’s intended function, as well as provide an easy transition for the reader from the previous paragraph.

People are often upset by the entropy they seem to see in the haphazardness of their own lives. Buffeted about like so many molecules in my tepid kitchen, they feel that they have lost their sense of direction, that they are wasting youth and opportunity at every turn. It is easy to see entropy in marriages, when the partners are too preoccupied to patch small things up, almost guaranteeing that they will fall apart. There is much entropy in the state of our country, in the relationships between nations—lost opportunities to stop the avalanche of disorders that seems ready to swallow s all.

2. Signaling the main idea of your paragraph with a topic sentence Sometimes the sentences in a paragraph will lead to a unifying conclusion, a form of topic sentence, as in the following example

I recently took up playing the flute again after an absence of several months. As the uneven vibrations screeched through the house, my son covered his ears and said, “Mom, what’s wrong with your flute? ” Nothing was wrong with my flute, of course. It was my ability to play it that had atrophied, or entropied, as the case may be. The only way to stop that process was to practice every day, and sure enough my tone improved, though only at the price of constant work. Like anything else, abilities deteriorate when we stop applying our energies to them.

Woman with Small Breasts, Paris (2007) Joel-Peter Witkin

Part Two WRITING PARAGRAPHS WITH CLEAR ORGANIZATION

Introduction The sentences in your essays need to be clearly related to one another. As you are drafting, you make connections among your ideas and information as a way of moving your writing forward. One way to make your ideas work together better is to organize them using one of the common organizational schemes for paragraphs.

1. Developing a Chronological or Spatial Organization The sentences in a paragraph with a chronological organization describe a series of events, steps, or observations as they occur in time: this happened, then that, and so on. The sentences in a paragraph with a spatial organization present details as they appear to a viewer: from top to bottom, outside to inside, east to west and so on.

2. Developing a General-to. Specific Organization As we have seen, paragraphs often start with a general topic sentence that states the main idea and then proceed with specifics that elaborate on that idea. The general topic sentence can include a question that the paragraph then answers or a problem that the paragraph goes on to solve.

2. Developing a General-to-Specific Organization A variation of the general-to-specific organization includes a limiting sentence that seems to oppose the main idea. This structure allows you to bring in a different perspective on the main idea but then go on to defend it with specific examples.

Example: limiting sentence General Topic Sentence Limiting Sentence Specifics Parents do not have the moral right to make decisions for their children simply because of their status as parents. This idea may seem to go against our basic understanding of how families should operate. However, there a number of actual cases that illustrate the weaknesses in the argument for absolute parental rights.

3. Developing a Specific-to. General Organization We have also seen that the general topic sentence can come at the end of the paragraph, preceded by the specific details leading up to that general conclusion. This organizational scheme is especially effective when you are preparing your reader for a revelation.

3. Developing a Specific-to-General Organization (The example below is a variation on this organization; the paragraph begins and ends with general statements that offer an interpretive framework. )

3. Developing a Specific-to-General Organization Introductory General statement. Even the subtlest details of Goya’s portrait convey tension between revealing and concealing, between public and private personae.

3. Developing a Specific-to-General Organization Specific details Dona Josefa’s right ye avoids our gaze while her left eye engages it. Half of her ear is revealed while half is obscured by her hair. Above the sitter’s arms, her torso faces us directly, her legs, however, turn away from us toward the left. The closed fan that Dona Josefa holds atop her stomach, pointed toward her enclosed womb, seems a mere trapping of formality in an otherwise informal setting. The fan reminds viewers that though we intrude on a private domain, Dona Josefa remains aware that she is indeed receiving company.

3. Developing a Specific-to-General Organization Concluding General Statement Thus while our glimpse of her is, in many ways, an intimate one, Goya never allows us to forget that through the act of portraiture, this private self is being brought into the social sphere—and that our voyeurism has not gone unnoticed.

First Casting for Milo (2004) Joel-Peter Witkin

Part Three PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT, UNITY AND COHERENCE

A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and revision stages. Good paragraphing also greatly assists your readers in following a piece of writing. You can have fantastic ideas, but if those ideas aren't presented in an organized fashion, you will lose your readers (and fail to achieve your goals in writing).

Elements of a Paragraph To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: Unity Coherence A Topic Sentence Adequate Development.

• As you will see, all of these traits overlap. Using and adapting them to your individual purposes will help you construct effective paragraphs.

Definition: u·ni·ty (noun) a: a condition of harmony b: continuity without deviation or change (as in purpose or action) c: a combination or ordering of parts in a literary or artistic production that constitutes a whole or promotes an undivided total effect

The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with a one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within different ideas.

Definition: co·her·ence (noun) a: systematic or logical connection or consistency b: integration of diverse elements, relationships, or values

Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal bridges.

Logical bridges • The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence • Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form

Verbal bridges • Key words can be repeated in several sentences • Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences • Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences • Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences

Transitions and Signposts Two very important elements of paragraphing are signposts and transitions. • Signposts are internal aids to assist readers; they usually consist of several sentences or a paragraph outlining what the article has covered and where the article will be going. • Transitions are usually one or several sentences that "transition" from one idea to the next. Transitions can be used at the end of most paragraphs to help the paragraphs flow one into the next.

A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. Although not all paragraphs have clear-cut topic sentences, and despite the fact that topic sentences can occur anywhere in the paragraph, an easy way to make sure your reader understands the topic of the paragraph is to put your topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph

Adequate development The topic (which is introduced by the topic sentence) should be discussed fully and adequately. Again, this varies from paragraph to paragraph, depending on the author's purpose, but writers should beware of paragraphs that only have two or three sentences. It's a pretty good bet that the paragraph is not fully developed if it is that short.

Methods to ensure your paragraph is well-developed: Analyze the topic Describe the topic Define terms in the paragraph Use examples and illustrations Use an anecdote or story Compare and contrast Evaluate causes and reasons Examine effects and consequences Offer a chronology of an event (time segments) Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others) • Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases) • • •

You should start a new paragraph when: • When you begin a new idea or point. New ideas should always start in new paragraphs. If you have an extended idea that spans multiple paragraphs, each new point within that idea should have its own paragraph.

You should start a new paragraph when: • To contrast information or ideas. Separate paragraphs can serve to contrast sides in a debate, different points in an argument, or any other difference.

You should start a new paragraph when: • When your readers need a pause. Breaks in paragraphs function as a short "break" for your readers—adding these in will help your writing more readable. You would create a break if the paragraph becomes too long or the material is complex.

You should start a new paragraph when: • When you are ending your introduction or starting your conclusion. Your introductory and concluding material should always be in a new paragraph. Many introductions and conclusions have multiple paragraphs depending on their content, length, and the writer's purpose.

Bad Student Joel-Peter Witkin 2007