Writing Paragraphs
A thesis is a single, focused argument, and most paragraphs prove or demonstrate a thesis through explanations, examples and concrete details. This chapter will help you learn to write and analyse the types of paragraphs common in academic essays.
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Start with an Outline
- A brief outline will make it easier to develop topic sentences and to arrange your paragraphs in the most effective order.
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Writing Topic Sentences
- A topic sentence (also known as a focus sentence) encapsulates or organises an entire paragraph, and you should be careful to include one in most of your major paragraphs. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning.
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Dividing your Argument
- Starting a new paragraph is a signal to your reader that you are beginning a new thought or taking up a new point.
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Developing Unified and Coherent Paragraphs
- A paragraph is unified when every sentence develops the point made in the topic sentence. It must have a single focus and it must contain no irrelevant facts.
