How to Write an Effective Paragraph

Before we have our conversation about paper outlines and thesis statements, I wanted to address writing at the paragraph level by discussing how to write an effective paragraph.  The best paragraph will always have a topic sentence, or a sentence that expresses the main point of the entire paragraph.  A topic sentence can occur at the beginning, end, the middle, or for that matter anywhere else in the paragraph.  However, it is considered more effective to place the topic sentence at or toward the beginning of the paragraph. 

Purdue OWL notes that one paragraph should contain one idea.  When you want to introduce a new idea, you should begin a new paragraph.  You should also be sure to effectively transition between ideas from paragraph to paragraph, and between sentences within a paragraph.  In order to make this transition between sentences more effective, Purdue OWL states, you should employ these strategies for the sake of coherence:

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

You should also make sure that your paragraph is well-developed, which means employing these rules:

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

I find that using quotations, in particularly, can help to really put across the main topic of a paragraph.  All of these strategies, however, are helpful and can be used to craft expert paragraphs.  Good luck with writing your papers, and I will see you next week!