The three essential for a good paragraph are unity and order, brevity, variety. Paragraph-writing has assumed great significance in the modern education set-up. It is so because students’ ability can be better judged through Paragraph-writing than through Essay-writing.
Whereas an Essay can afford to contain some digressive matter, a Paragraph cannot afford to do so. A good Essay is, in fact, a combination of a number of good Paragraphs.
A Paragraph contains one main idea on a particular topic, developed through a number of sentences joined together in a coherent, logical sequence.
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The following are the essentials of a good Paragraph.
Unity & Order
A Paragraph must have one and only one idea which is developed through a logical sequence, beginning with a typical or key sentence, called “the topical sentence”. Similarly, the conclusion culminating in “the end- sentence” must be the logical outcome of the expression of all ideas, in the body of the Paragraph, connect with the topical idea.
Brevity
Closely connected with unity and order is ‘Brevity’ which means avoidance of excessive or unnecessary details and sticking doggedly to the main point.
Variety
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Variety in the body of the Paragraph is brought about by writing sentences of different lengths and kinds. This will save the Paragraph from getting monotonous. But effort has to be made to see that arbitrariness (in the selection of sentences) is not given prominence for the sake of variety.
The following examples should be studied carefully to understand the logical growth of a Paragraph from a Topical Sentence.
For the benefit of the students a few paragraphs are given in the coming pages.