Paragraph Development- Techniques and styles

 When writing essays, research papers,
books, etc., new paragraphs are indented to
show their beginnings. Each new paragraph
begins with a new indentation.
 The purpose of a paragraph is to express
a speaker’s thoughts on a particular point in
a clear way that is unique and specific to
that paragraph. In other words, paragraphs
shouldn’t be mixing thoughts or ideas. When
a new idea is introduced, generally, a writer
will introduce a new paragraph.

 Every paragraph should include a topic
sentence that identifies the main idea of
the paragraph. A topic sentence also states
the point the writer wishes to make about
that subject. Generally, the topic
sentence appears at the beginning of
the paragraph.

Unity
Coherence
Emphasis

Unity means oneness of ideas
 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.

1.Deductive/General to Specific order
2.Inductive/Specific to General order
3.Chronological order

4.Spatial order
5.Question to answer order
6.Exposition
7.Linear/Enumeration order
8.Comprision and contrast

 Description:Logical org.of moving from the
general to the particulars
 Advantages:
 Generalisation help readers to understand the
details
 Readers have clarity about the theme or thesis
Disadvantages:
Retaining audience attention may become a
problem.
May create boredom

Description: Logical moving from particulars to general.
Advantages:
Objective&scientific
convincing
Effective examples and illustrations help readers to
understand the generalisation.
Disadvantages:
getting audience attention in the beginning could be
difficult.

 Description Logical org. of events in the order in
which they occur in time.
 Advantages:
Easy to use.
Time connectives provide coherence.
Presents a clear and logical picture.
Disadvantages:
May create boredom .
creates monotony.

 Description: Logical division of a subject on the
basis of how they are arranged in space.
 Advantages
easy to use.
presents a clear and logical picture
Disadvantages
creates monotony in longer presentations
Does not provide proper emphasis

Here the writer begins the
paragraph with a question which
is answered with the same
paragraph.
 opening question announces the
purpose of the paragraph.

The topic sentence is usually the first
sentence.
The entire paragraph is then devoted to an
explanation of the topic sentence.
The emphasis is more on definition,
explanation ,comments rather than on
illustration.

Useful in writing about two
subjects.
It can take place within a single
paragraph. Where every sentence
compares or contrasts one
subject with another.


This order is used in
narration ,but with visible markers
like ‘firstly,secondly ,finally’
etc

 In a paragraph, every sentence should
logically follow the one preceding it. Thus,
every sentence should be linked to the one
that went before. This provides coherence to
the paragraph and there are four significant
devices which help, namely-pronouns,
synonyms, and connectives.


 1.Pronoun-A pronoun is used as a substitute for
noun, and this always serves as a reminder of the
noun in the earlier sentence. Thus it maintains a
continuity of thought.

 2.Repetition-The repetition of some key words
or phrases in the paragraph serves not only to
make a paragraph coherent but also to
emphasize the author’s point of view. But
repetition should be used with care, as too much
of it can make the paragraph monotonous.


 3.Synonyms-Synonyms are substitute for
words already used, and have similar
meanings. This device is useful because it
helps the writer avoid excessive repetition.

 4.Connectives-These are words or phrases
which usually occur at the beginning of the
sentence to show the relationship between
the new sentence and the preceding
sentence. Some of these connectives are
‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘therefore’, ‘next’,
‘further’, ‘secondly’, etc.

 Emphasis means force or prominence. It
means making important points stand out in
the paragraph. It is essential because when a
person reads a paragraph he should know at
once what the author is writing about .Also
the most important idea should stand out.
There are five devices which help to give
proper emphasis to significant ideas in a
paragraph.


 Balance-Balance here means to give a statement balance
of form, that is, to make various parts of the sentence
parallel to one another. It can also be used to give equal
importance to two or more ideas or statements. Thus,
balance may involve single words, phrases, clauses, and
even whole sentences.

 Emphatic position-This device is used to give emphasis
to the most important idea in the
paragraph. Usually the most
emphatic portion of the paragraph is the last sentence,
and the second most emphatic part is the first sentence.


 Space-This is the most commonly used
device; it simply means to give more space
to the idea to be emphasized

 Repetition-Emphasis may be achieved either
by repeating some key words or by
introducing synonyms of the words used
earlier. However, repetition as a device for
giving emphasis to an idea should be used
judiciously.


 Contrast-This device states the negative side
of an issue, to emphasize the writer’s
positive point of view. This is a subtle device
and should be used with care.

 Emphatic words-.The use of certain words
can also emphasize the writer’s point of
view.

Paragraph Development- Techniques and styles

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