WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?

(adapted from Oshima and Hogue, Writing Academic English)

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that develops one main idea. It has
three major structural parts: (1) a topic sentence, (2) supporting sentences, and
(3) a concluding sentence. The writer may add a final comment after the
conclusion.

Let us have a look at an example of such a paragraph:

River Rafting

River rafting is a challenging sport with important requirements. First of all, planning
your trip carefully ensures your safety at all times. Therefore, the river-rafting
company you choose should have a good safety record. You can select a river-
rafting trip from level I (no experience) to level VI (the most experience). At level I,
the river moves slowly and does not
 have many dangerous rocks and boulders, so
you can actually enjoy the scenery. At each level up the scale, there is an increasing
number of powerful waves and dangerous rocks. When the river is high from melting
snow, the current is fast, and the ride is rough. Therefore, it is only for
 the most
experienced river runner. In addition, river rafting requires
 special equipment. You
ride an inflatable rubber boat with an expertly trained guide and a group of six to
eight people. Everyone must wear a
 life jacket and a helmet and be able to use a
paddle at the most difficult levels. Finally, you must be alert at all times. You must
stay safely in the raft as it makes its way down the raging river. The guide will shout
instructions, and the passengers must obey instantly and work as a team
 to avoid
disaster. The chances of falling overboard are great. When someone does, the
passengers will try to grab and pull him or her aboard. Because river conditions can
be dangerous at the higher levels of difficulty, the wild, exciting adventure is only for
the courageous and experienced.
 In short, if you are fearless and in good physical
condition and can react quickly, river rafting is the ideal outdoor sport for you.
In the paragraph titled ‘River Rafting’, the first sentence is the topic sentence. It tells
the reader what the paragraph is about: 'requirements for river rafting'. The fifteen
supporting sentences that follow supply the details about river rafting. The
seventeenth, or next to last sentence, is the concluding sentence. It makes a final
statement about the topic and tells the reader that the paragraph is finished. The
very last sentence is the writer’s comment about the subject.

Now, let’s study each part of the paragraph in detail.

The Topic Sentence

A topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph as it indicates what

the paragraph is going to discuss. For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful
guide both to the writer and the reader: The writer can see what information to
include. The reader can see what the paragraph is going to be about and is,
therefore, better prepared to understand it. It is a complete sentence and is usually
(but not always) the first sentence in the paragraph.

Determining the subject of a topic sentence is a process of narrowing down

an idea from general to specific. If you are given a specific writing assignment,
such as an essay question in an examination, then what you can write about is
limited. But, when your instructor suggests a very general topic, such as
environment, education, or nuclear power, then you must narrow the subject to a
particular aspect that can be discussed in one paragraph.

For example, suppose you are interested in writing about sports. It would be
impossible to cover such a big topic in one paragraph, so you narrow the subject to
perhaps water sports, if that is your interest. Water sports is still, however, too broad
a topic for a paragraph, so you might even further narrow the topic to a type of water
sports, such as river rafting. The point is, you must narrow the subject of your
paragraph to a specific focus so that you can write about it clearly, completely
and effectively.

The diagram below illustrates the process of narrowing down a general topic to a
specific one.

At this stage we have narrowed the topic down to the specific subject of the topic
sentence, which is now ‘river rafting’.

TOPIC
 SENTENCE: River rafting......................................................

But what can we write about river rafting? The number of points we can make about
it are endless. So, what we need is an idea that controls or limits the topic - a
controlling idea.

The controlling idea is the main point opinion or feeling that you have about the
subject. The controlling idea makes a specific comment about the topic, which
indicates what the rest of the paragraph will say about it. It limits or controls the topic
to a specific aspect of it to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph.

Putting your ideas in a funnel, as you did in the preceding exercise, can help you
arrive at a controlling idea for a topic sentence. Asking questions about the topic,
like why, who, what, which, when, where, and how, can help you narrow down your
ideas further.

So the paragraph will be about ‘the important requirements of river rafting’. Now we
have found the topic sentence of our paragraph:

TOPIC
 SENTENCE: River rafting is a challenging sport with important

requirements.

Look at this topic sentence:
 Convenience foods are easy to prepare.

In this example, the topic is convenience foods. A specific comment is made about
this topic - they are easy to prepare. From this sentence, the reader immediately
knows that the supporting sentences in the remainder of the paragraph will explain
or prove how quick and easy it is to prepare convenience foods and perhaps give
examples.
Here’s another topic sentence:
 The native foods of Australia’s immigrant population
are reflected in Australian cooking.

In this example, the controlling idea is that Australians eat many foods from other
countries. The reader can expect to read about examples of foreign food and how
they are now part of Australian cooking.

Important points about writing topic sentences

1. A topic sentence is always a complete sentence. The following are NOT complete
sentences and, therefore, cannot be topic sentences:

-Eating junk food


-The importance of gold

-How to open a bank account

A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea. It names the topic and
then limits the topic to a specific area to be discussed in the space of a single
paragraph. The following examples show how a topic sentence states both the topic
and the controlling idea in a complete sentence:

The average Australian teenager consumes enormous quantities of junk food. Gold
is prized for two important characteristics.

Opening a new bank account can be a frustrating experience for the newly arrived
migrant.

A topic sentence should neither be too general nor too specific. If it is too general,
the reader cannot tell exactly what the paragraph is going to discuss. If it is too
specific, the writer may not have anything left to write about in the rest of the
paragraph.

Too general: Australian food is terrible.

Too specific: Australian food is tasteless and greasy because Australians use too
many canned, frozen and pre-packaged foods and because everything is fried in oil
or butter.

Good: Australian food is tasteless and greasy.

 Do not include too many unrelated ideas in your topic sentence:

 Do not use too many ideas Melbourne is famous for its cosmopolitan
atmosphere, its many tourist attractions and inconsistent weather.

The three parts of this controlling idea are too unrelated for a single paragraph. They
would require three separate paragraphs.

Good: Melbourne is famous for its cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Supporting sentences

Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain the topic
sentence by giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and quotations. In order to
choose details to support the topic sentence, rephrase it as a question. The answers
will be your supporting sentences.

Let’s look at a paragraph about ‘Gold’:

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First, of all, gold
has a 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 as 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 the spaceship.
In conclusion, gold is treasure not only for its beauty but also for its utility.
Remember that the topic sentence is: Gold is prized for two important characteristics.

If we turn that into a question and ask, “What are those two characteristics”? The
supporting sentences give us the answer:

 First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.


 Another important characteristic of gold is its utility in industry and science.

What about all the other sentences in the paragraph? Aren’t they supporting
sentences?

YES. There are two kinds of supporting sentences - major and minor supporting
sentences. Major supports directly support and develop the topic sentence, (and
answer the topic sentence rephrased as a question), as the two supports above do.
The minor supports, on the other hand, aim to develop the major supports. Going
back to the paragraph above, the major and minor supports are:

Major support: First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.

Minor supports: - never needs to be polished

- example of Macedonian coin

Major support: Another important characteristic of gold is its utility in industry and
science.

Minor supports: - used in industrial applications

- recent use in astronauts’ suits.

How to support

One of the biggest problems in student writing is that students often fail to prove their
points. They fail because they do not support their points with concrete details. Their
papers are too often full of opinions and generalizations without the factual details
needed to support them. A paragraph should contain concrete support for the topic
sentence.

There are several kinds of concrete supporting details that you can use to support
or prove your topic sentence. Among the most common are facts, statistics,
examples, illustrative incidents and quotations (quotations will be discussed in the
lecture on referencing).

Figures and Statistics

In academic writing quotations are perhaps the kind of support most often used, but
most academic disciplines also require the occasional use of statistics as well.
Figures and statistics from charts and tables are often used.

Facts versus opinions

Facts are objective statements of truths.

- At sea level, water boils at 100° C.
 - Smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. -
Women live longer than men.

Opinions are subjective statements based on a person’s beliefs or attitudes.

- Men are better drivers than women.
 - Australians are lazy.
 - Education students
are the most responsible university students.

It is certainly acceptable to express opinions in academic writing. In fact, most

lecturers will expect you to express your own ideas. However, you must support your
opinions with concrete details. The more specific you are, the better you will be
understood.