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Improving Paragraphs For Academic Writing
Improving Paragraphs For Academic Writing
UAB
UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER
ambiguous; content is unified Concise each sentence in the paragraph has purpose and power; no unnecessary repetition Coherent the paragraph is clearly connected to the rest of the essay and to the thesis Emphasis the paragraph is situated within the essay in a way that clearly indicates its degree of importance within the essay Engaging the paragraph keeps the reader interested in the content
Ex. Additionally, researchers have found that the production of biofuels may actually improve soil quality, rather than deplete it. Ex. However, opponents of biofuels argue that grain-based biofuels may be detrimental to under-developed countries who rely on grains to offset food supplies.
should be presented in the same grammatical structure (i.e. nouns, phrases, clauses) Not parallel: The study participants were asked about how much weight they had gained recently, exercising habits, current health status and history, and if they had seen a medical doctor recently. Parallel: The study participants were questioned about current weight fluctuations, exercise habits, health status, health history, and recent doctor visits.
paragraph. For example, contrasting several long sentences with a short sentence creates emphasis and draws attention to the point made. Underline the sentence openers. Vary occasionally. Vary the sentence patterns used within the paragraph: simple, compound, complex, compoundcomplex.
produces choppy and often bland style. Very straightforward; often preferred in medical writing Compound two simple sentences combined by a conjunction (i.e. and, but, therefore) or a semicolon. Complex a simple sentence combined with one or more dependent clauses; preferred in humanities Compound-complex two or more joined simple sentences combined with one or more dependent clauses; frequently used in academic writing
discipline/genre, i.e. sciences, social sciences In other disciplines, writers are generally expected to create a logical framework that readers can follow:
General to specific (deductive reasoning) Specific to general (inductive reasoning) Old information to new information Least important to most important (or vice versa) Chronological sequences Cause/Effect Warrant, Reason, Claim