CHARACTERISTIC OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH

There are the Characteristic of a Good Paragraph:

—  Unity and Completeness

—  Coherence and Cohesion

UNITY

—  When a paragraph has unity, all the supporting sentences relate to the topic sentence.

—  all sentences within the paragraph relate to the main point—only one main idea is discussed.

—  All supporting sentences must also directly explain or prove the main idea that is stated in the topic sentence.

Look at the following paragraph.

We had a terrible storm last night. The wind blew up to fifty miles an hour, and it rained very hard. Eucalyptus trees by the river blew over, and one three hit a power line and blacked out the area for five hours. Downtown, the main street was flooded, and cars were left stranded in bumper-deep water. Before morning, the river flooded its banks, and people living nearby were forced to flee their homes with whatever belongings they could gather. It was the worst storm in the country since 1958.

—  The paragraph is unified

—  All the sentences relate to the main point of the paragraph.

—  The main point of the paragraph is that storm was terrible.

—  The rest of the sentences relates to the main point by showing how bad the storm: It knocked down the trees, flooded main street, caused blackout, and forced people from their homes.

Next, look at the following paragraph. Read each of supporting sentences carefully.

A National Treasure

The Smithsonian Institute,located in Washington, D.C., was established in 1846 for two reasons. The first was to do fundamental research and then publish the findings of this research. This research is used by historians and scientists all over the world. The second reason was to preserve the history and culture of United States. The Smithsonian Institute established a museum to do this. The original building still stands today and is called the Smithsonian Museum. Since that first museum, many more have been built to house artifacts from various areas of U.S. society and history. Some of the most famous of these museums are the National Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Museum of Natural History. The president of the United States also lives in Washington, D.C. These two functions of the Smithsonian Institute continue to be very important to the American people

—  The paragraph above is not unified.

—  The a paragraph above is about the Smithsonian Institute

—  The president of the United States is not about the Smithsonian Institute

—  A sentence that does not belong in a paragraph is called an irrelevant sentence.

COMPLETENESS

—  Your paragraph is complete when it has all major supporting sentences it needs to fully explain the topic sentence and all minor supporting sentences it needs to explain each major supporting sentence.

—  A paragraph that is not complete does not have enough sentences to follow through on what the topic sentence promises.

Read the following paragraph and pay particular attention to the topic sentence.

Thomas Alva Edison is famous for his many useful inventions. The most useful certainly has to be the electric lightbulb. Before this invention, people had to light their homes after dark with candles or gas lighting. Both of these could be dangerous. Another one of Edison’ inventions was the motion picture projector. This invention was the beginning of the movie business, which employs millions of people and entertains millions more. In short, Edison contributed a lot of the world through his inventions.

                                                                                 

—  The topic sentence says that Thomas Edison created many inventions, but only two are discussed. The word many means at least three, so in order for this paragraph to be complete, we would need to talk about at least one more invention.

Read the following paragraph.

Melisa has chosen five possible future careers. Firstly, she wants to become a journalist for an English magazine. Her friends at campus plan to do much more challenging jobs, anyway. Secondly, she might become a dress designer. Finally, she could possibly be a tourist guide.

·              The paragraph is both irrelevant and incomplete.

·                     This paragraph does not fully explain what it must explain.

·                  If the topic sentence states that Melisa has five choices, the paragraph has to inform the readers about five choices.

·                  The third sentence “Her friends at campus plan to do much more   challenging  jobs, anyway,” is irrelevant; it does not add useful information to develop the topic sentence.

COHERENCE

1. A coherent paragraph is made up of sentences that are ordered according to a principle.
2. The principle changes depending on the type of paragraph that you are writing.
3. The three types of ordering are chronological ordering, spatial ordering, and logical ordering.

1. Chronological ordering is usually used for a narrative paragraph. The events of a story must be ordered according to time.
2. Spatial ordering is used for a descriptive paragraph. The descriptive paragraphs have sentences that are ordered according to space. For example, this could be top of bottom, head to foot, left to right, or front of back.
3. Logical ordering is used for expository paragraphs. They are written based on logic or reason.

COHESION

— When a paragraph has cohesion, all the supporting sentences “stick together” in their support of the topic sentence.

Three types of cohesion techniques.

1.The use of pronouns

2.The repetition of keywords and phrases

3.The use of transitional words and phrases

1. The use of pronouns

Personal Pronoun

Examples

— When Yuko moved from Japan to the U.S., she found that people were more friendly than she had anticipated.

— English is considered an international language. It is spoken by more than 300 million people all over the word.

— The little boy looked at the birthday cake. He stuck out his finger and took a taste of it.

Demonstrative Pronouns

         Another way to connect sentences in a paragraph, or to give a paragraph good cohesion, is to use demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those. Demonstrative pronouns require antecedents in order to help connect sentences to those that came before. For Example:

— On top of the table was a present. This present had purple wrapping paper.

2. The repetition of keywords and phrases

Example:

—  Atmospheric (air) pollution of our environment has occurred for centuries, but it has become a significant health problem only within the last century. Air pollution contributes to respiratory disease and lung cancer in particular. Other health problems directly related to air pollutants include heart disease, eye irritation, and severe allergies.

Example of repetition of key words

—  Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For example, a Macedonian coin remains untarnished today as the day it was minted twenty-three centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields for protection outside spaceships. In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

4. The use of transitional words and phrases

—  Transitional words and phrases help the readers move from one sentence, paragraph, or idea to another.

—  Transitions (sometimes called connectors) also help to establish the relationships between parts of the sentences and paragraphs in an essay.

Sentence connectors

—  Many transitions can go at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence, but no matter where they are, they are set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Examples:

—  For example, Memorial Day honors soldiers who died in wars.

                                                OR

—  Memorial Day, for example, honors soldiers who died in wars.

                                                OR

—  Memorial Day honors soldiers who died in wars, for example.

Some of the most common transition words and phrases in English.

Meaning	Transition words/phrases
Example	For example For instance
Chronology	After that Later on First, second, third, etc. Next Then
Result	Consequently As a result Therefore
Difference	However In contrast On the other hand
Addition	Moreover In addition Furthermore
Conclusion	In conclusion In short All in all

Note:

If the transition is a short, single-syllable transition, and it comes at the beginning of the sentence, it is acceptable to eliminate the comma.

Examples

— First, we went to the movie.

                        OR

— First we went to the movie

Note:

The use of for example and such as can be confusing. For example is a transition, so a complete sentence (with a subject and a verb) must follow it. Use such as, preceded by comma, if you want to make a list of words and phrases. See the following examples.

Examples

—  There are many memorials for soldiers in the United States. For example, the USS Arizona honors soldiers who died at Pearl Harbor at the beginning of World War II.

                                                            OR

—  There are many memorials for soldiers in the United States, such as the USS Arizona, the Korean Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Clause Connectors

—  Subordinating Conjunctions

—  Coordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

—  Subordinating conjunctions are the words or phrases that connect the two clauses. These words or phrases introduce a dependent clause, which are joined to an independent clause to form a complex sentence.

—  When a sentence begins with these subordinators, there must be a comma before the independent clause.

Examples

—  Because he was sixty-five, he was forced to retire.

—  If I have enough time, I will make a cake for the retirement party.

—  Although he loved his job, the company forced him to retire.

When the subordinator (sometimes called adverbial clause) come after the independent clause, we do not use a comma.

Examples

—  He was forced to retire because he was sixty-five.

—  I will make a cake for the retirement party if I have enough time.

—  The company forced him to retire although he loved his job.

The most common subordinators

Meaning	Subordinators
Chronology	after before while when until
Causation	because since
Unexpected result	although even though
Difference	whereas while
Condition	If unless

One exception to the comma rule

When a dependent clause beginning with subordinators while and whereas comes after an independent clause, use comma.

Examples

—  Labor Day is celebrated in September in the United States, while it is celebrated in May in most other countries in the world.

—  Some businesses recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday, whereas other businesses do not.

Coordinating Conjunctions

—  Coordinating conjunctions are words that establish a relationship between two independent clauses.

—  They are used to form compound sentences.

—  There are seven coordinating conjunctions, and you can easily remember them by remembering the word FANBOYS.

	Conjunction	Purpose
F	for	Shows a reason (the second clause gives a reason for the first)
A	and	Shows addition
N	nor	Shows a negative alternative (It’s the negative form of or, and it must follow a clause containing a negative word such as not. When we use nor we must use question word order after it.
B	but	Shows contrast
O	or	Shows an alternative or choice
Y	yet	Shows an unexpected contrast (It’s similar in meaning to although)
S	so	Shows a result (The first clause results the second)

When these words are used to connect independent clauses, they are preceded by a comma.

Examples

—  He was sad, for he had lost his favorite pen.

—  The pen was expensive, and it was comfortable to use.

—  He could not find the pen in his bag, nor could he find it at home.

—  Someone offered to lend him a pen, but he did not want it.

—  Perhaps he did not like that pen, or the ink was the wrong color.

—  A new pen would be expensive, but he did not care.

—  He wanted a new pen, so he bought it.

Note:

—  The part of the sentence that comes after the coordinating conjunction is an independent clause with a subject and a verb.

—  If  it doesn’t have a subject and verb, do not use a comma

Example

—  Annie got up late and forgot to call her mother on Mother’s Day.

Note

—  Although you may see coordinating conjunctions begin a sentence after a period, it is not considered good academic style to use them in that position.

—  Using a transition with the same meaning is preferable.

Examples

Non academic style

—  We were going to the movie. But, we didn’t know what time it started.

Academic style

—  We were going to the movie. However, we didn’t know what time it started.