Writing Effective Paragraphs

1
Writing Effective Paragraphs

• Content and Construction

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What is a paragraph?

• A group of sentences
• Related to each other through topic
• Organized in a progression
• The progression is either Deductive or Inductive

3
A paragraph should

• Demonstrate Unity
• Not Digress
• Contain a topic sentence
• Contain topic support

4
Deductive Paragraph

• Begins with a topic sentence in a general manner
• Offers support or proof of that topic sentence
  through smaller supporting statements
• Support is provided through examples, statistics,
  testimonials, anecdotes, definitions and many
  others

5
Inductive Paragraph

• Begins with smaller statements
• Offers support first
• Grows the topic toward a more general statement
• Ends with the proven statement, or general
  statement

6
Effective Paragraphs Contain

• One topic
• Transition words such as Adverbial Conjunctions
• Use similar language and tone
• No more than ten sentences

7
Paragraph Checklist

• One idea
• Direct or Indirect (Deductive or Inductive)
• Use of support
• Use transitions
• Limit length
• Uniform tone and language