This consistency and repetition will bind the paragraph together and help your reader understand your definition or description. Create parallel structures. Parallel structures are created by constructing two or more phrases or sentences that have the same grammatical structure and use the same parts of speech.
By creating parallel structures you make your sentences clearer and easier to read. In addition, repeating a pattern in a series of consecutive sentences helps your reader see the connections between ideas. In the paragraph above about scientists and the sense of sight, several sentences in the body of the paragraph have been constructed in a parallel way.
The parallel structures which have been emphasized help the reader see that the paragraph is organized as a set of examples of a general statement. Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and number. Consistency in point of view, verb tense, and number is a subtle but important aspect of coherence.
Such inconsistencies can also confuse your reader and make your argument more difficult to follow. Use transition words or phrases between sentences and between paragraphs. Transitional expressions emphasize the relationships between ideas, so they help readers follow your train of thought or see connections that they might otherwise miss or misunderstand. To help your reader see how the evidence in each paragraph serves your main idea or argument, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence.
The remainder of the paragraph then supports the idea expressed in the topic sentence, describing your reasoning and offering well-explained evidence for that idea. Ideally, if a reader carefully reads your introduction, the topic sentence of each paragraph, and your conclusion, they should understand not only your main argument or claim but how you construct the evidence and support for that claim, piece by piece.
In order to clearly see how each piece of your argument fits together, it is important that the reader can pick apart the boundaries between the individual ideas and chunks of information you use to build your discussion. Therefore, paragraph length matters, and paragraphs that are too long can make your paper harder to follow.
Often a paragraph that runs longer than a page should be broken apart to mark the distinct ideas it contains. The following index makes searching for a specific topic easier and links to the most relevant page for each item. Direct quotations have a place later in the paragraph, where they may be incorporated to support the topic sentence. In this second paragraph, the topic sentence appears first, immediately orienting readers to the main focus or topic of the paragraph.
The quotation is used later in the paragraph as a form of evidence or support for the topic sentence. If you are finding it challenging to create effective topic sentences, you might consider outlining before beginning to write a paper. The points and subpoints of an outline can then become the topic sentences for the paper's paragraphs. Additionally, because the topic sentence functions similarly at the paragraph level to the thesis at the essay level, you may also find it helpful to check out our thesis statement construction information.
Our resource on paragraphs has helpful information about the scope of a paragraph, as well. Paragraphs: Topic Sentences. Print Page Report a broken link. Overview The best way to understand the role of the topic sentence in paragraph development is to imagine that any given paragraph is a miniature essay that has its own thesis, support, and conclusion.
They set the tone for a particular paragraph. Make sure they relate to your thesis. They also help you avoid miscommunication. There are certain qualities that all of your topic sentences must have to be a strong foundation for your essay writing :. Rambling and long constructions are confusing. What are they? If you lack enough inspiration or face other challenges, use the following ideas to come up with your own interesting suggestions and elaborate on them.
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