develops her main idea by a number of sentences known as support. She lets the reader concludes the main idea from the contents of the paragraph.
A paragraph or a group of paragraphing can serve as one link in a chain of thought.
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The statement refers to the second point above. It explains as a group of sentences relate to each other and to main idea. So a
group of paragraphs relate to another and to the thesis of a theme or an even longer pieces of writing.
However, Elizabeth Cowan stated some uses of function paragraphs are to:
a. Add drama and get the reader’s attention.
b. Make a transition from one part of the writing to another.
c. Set off conventional dialogue.
d. Break up long paragraphs or making paragraphs of about equal length.
e. Accommodate the author’s personal writing style.
f. Emphasize a point, develop an example, or add detail.
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Those function paragraphs are amusing and fascinating to learn. But the main thing about them is that they are useful. By knowing about
function paragraphs, the students are not confused when they read writing in books or others reading materials and find paragraphs that do not
always begin with a new thought and give a develop message.
5. The Paragraph Development
Developing a paragraph A paragraph might be organized as follows:
a. Transition, to relate a paragraph to the one previous
b. Generalization or topic sentence, to state the subject.
c. Supporting material, to elaborate the generalization.
d. Summary, to restate the generalization, perhaps in a modified form.
e. Transition, to lead to the following paragraph.
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117
Canavan, Paragraph and…, p. 33.
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Cowan, Writing Brief..., p. 138-142.
The important feature of an effective paragraph is development. There are four requirements of a good paragraph namely unity,
completeness, order of movement, and coherence.
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a. Unity
One important feature of an effective paragraph is unity: all sentences within the paragraph are related to the main point.
Unity in a paragraph is internal consistency. If the paragraph is unified, each succeeding sentence will support that idea. A
unified paragraph makes clear reading. There are two important features to remember about paragraphs:
1
A paragraph is a group sentences that develops one main point or idea.
2 A paragraph has unity when all of its sentences are
related to the main point. The best way to keep a paragraph unified is to be sure what
writers intend it to do. If the topic sentence accurately reflects the intent, then all writers have to do in the paragraph is what
they meant to do when they wrote the topic sentence. The topic sentence is their guideline through the paragraph.
b. Completeness
Completeness is relative. How much explanation an idea requires depends on how much the reader needs. This a
decision the writer must make out of knowledge of the subject and of the audience. It is an error to give either too
much explanation or not enough. Unless you give your readers the information they need, you make it difficult for
them to understand you. Incomplete paragraphing is a common fault in freshman writing, once a student realizes the
important of developing his generalizations with supporting details.
c. Order of Movement
The movement of a paragraph should follow some clear order. The order of sentences within a paragraph is largely
decided by the pattern of organization your purpose requires. A well-constructed paragraph moves in some consistent
direction, there are some directions in the movement of a paragraph.
1
General to particular The paragraph begins with a general statement, then
moves to particular which explain or illustrate, or
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Baker, Reading and…, p. 128.
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McCrimmon, Writing with..., p. 84-97.
persuade the reader to accept the generalization. In effect, the topic sentence at or near the beginning of the
paragraph is an introductory summary of the content. That sentence may be followed by one or more
explanatory statement which help to make its meaning clear. Then the paragraph proceeds with the number of
specific examples or supporting details which illustrate the meaning of the topic sentence.
2 Particular to general
The paragraph begins from a series of explanatory or illustrative statements to the conclusion drawn from
them. Topic sentence at or near the end of paragraph. 3
Whole to parts Paragraph moves through a succession of parts or stages
of the whole. Often in the first, second, or third order. This kind of paragraph is sometimes called enumerative,
because it lists or enumerates the parts of a topic. It is useful in summaries which show only the headings under
which a topic is to be discussed.
4 Question to answer Effect to cause
Less common is the paragraph that begins with a question and gives the answer, or begins with an effect and moves
toward the cause. Such a paragraph may have no explicit topic sentence, since the answer or the cause is given by
the paragraph as a whole.
d. Coherence
Literally, the word cohere means to hold together. A paragraph is said to have coherence when its sentences are
woven together or flow into each other. If a paragraph is coherent, the reader moves easily from one sentence to the
next and reads the paragraph as an integrated unit, not a collection of separate sentences.
6. The Types of Paragraph
