2.1: Introduction
- Page ID
- 293690
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This unit will review the key parts of a paragraph and four common sentence structures in academic writing.
Definition of a Paragraph
A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea. The goal of a paragraph is to communicate to the readers what you think of a topic (your main idea) and why you believe this way (your supporting ideas). A paragraph also follows a certain format. Paragraph writing is the foundation (basis or groundwork of something more complicated) for all types of academic writing assignments such as essays and research papers.
- Content above was adapted from Building Academic Writing Skills (Cui)(opens in new window), which was shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0(opens in new window) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lin Cui(opens in new window).
Key Elements to a Paragraph
- A clear topic sentence that expresses the topic and the controlling idea
- Supporting sentences providing more information about the topic
- Further explanations, details, and examples for each support
- Transition words and phrases indicating the organization pattern of the paragraph
- Concluding sentence which generally restates the thesis or summarizes the paragraph
Objectives:
By the end of this unit, you will be able to
- Write a clear topic sentence for an organized paragraph.
- Provide clear and specific support for the topic sentence.
- Write a clear concluding sentence.
- Use transitional expressions to show organization of ideas.
- Edit a paragraph for unity and relevance.
- Combine simple clauses to form compound or complex sentences.
- Identify the four sentence types.