The amount of information contained
in one paragraph may differ depending on what you are
writing and the culture in which you are writing. In some types of writing,
paragraphs may consist of one or two sentences. Although you may have noticed
short paragraphs in newspaper articles which are written in English, they are
not common in academic writing.
In academic English, paragraph
writing often tends to observe the conventions listed below.
While many writers may not follow these conventions, they are useful for
you to follow, especially if you have trouble organising your writing. It is
always worth
trying to visualise how easily a reader will be able to follow your writing,
and these
conventions are designed to facilitate reading.
(a) A paragraph should usually
deal with one main topic.
(b) The main topic may be
expressed in a topic sentence. This is a sentence which expresses
the central idea of a paragraph and serves to unify its content.
The topic sentence is often (but not always) the first sentence in a paragraph.
This position helps the reader follow the ideas presented in an orderly
fashion.
(c) The idea expressed is
developed from one sentence to the next by sentences which
add information closely related to the topic sentence.
(d) A new main topic should be
dealt with in a new paragraph.
Sources:
Mackay, John T & S.E. (1998). Study Skills For Academic Writing. London: Prentice Hall
Internaional English Language Teaching.
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