ThePortableEditor
Volume 9, No. 1
Writing Effective Paragraphs
Part 1
Adapted (but mainly stolen) from the University of Houston-Victoria website:
http://www.cateringcomplete.com/laura/english/Writing_Effective_Paragraph2.htm
Welcome to the latest edition of The Portable Editor. This month, we offer the first of a two-part
newsletter on successful writing. Successful writing involves a great amount of thought and
revision, especially at the paragraph level.
For example, effective paragraphs:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Are well-organized
Include effective topic sentences
Present ideas in an orderly manner
Avoid presenting conflicting arguments
Ensure there are no major gaps in ideas
Pay close attention to verb tense and
Avoid discussing too many complex ideas in one paragraph.
Organized Paragraphs
Ineffective paragraphs are disjointed or unorganized and are most likely to occur when
writers don’t review their work for a single thought that develops in a logical manner.
Ex. of an unorganized paragraph:
Overall, what establishes pop-culture is its widespread acceptance. Pop-culture can take
many forms, such as a clothing style, a saying, a toy, a television show, a movie, or a type of
music. For example, the midcentury design aesthetic that was the rage in America during the
1950s fell out of favor by the mid-60s but saw resurgence to pop-culture status in the new
millennium. The term pop-culture refers to a trend or an idea that is accepted by society in
general, or at least a broad demographic within the population. The nature of pop-culture is that
it is cyclical, meaning that one accepted idea will pass and be replaced by another, but the
discarded idea might return to pop-culture status later.
Ex. of an organized paragraph:
The term pop-culture refers to a trend or an idea that is accepted by society in general or
at least a broad demographic within the population. Pop-culture can take many forms, such as a
clothing style, a saying, a toy, a television show, a movie, or a type of music. The nature of popculture is that it is cyclical, meaning that one accepted idea will pass and be replaced by another,
but the discarded idea might return to pop-culture status later. For example, the midcentury
design aesthetic that was the rage in America during the 1950s fell out of favor by the mid-60s
but returned to pop-culture status in the new millennium. Overall, what establishes pop-culture is
widespread acceptance.
Write Effective Topic Sentences
Well-written paragraphs present the general idea in the topic sentence (usually within the
first sentence), creating a reader expectation that the discussion will explain one main idea.
Example:
Animal therapy provides cognitive benefits for geriatric patients. Physicians report that
having an animal around helps ease the stress of many older adult patients. Older adults
can often adopt animals from local shelters. These animals are usually lost pets. People
who care for animals in need focus less attention on their own aches and pains.
In the previous paragraph, the reader expects to learn of the benefits of animal therapy. Two of
the four sentences support the topic sentence, but two do not. Sentences 2 and 5 explain the
beneficial points of animal therapy. But sentences 3 and 4, although they may be important
points, are not related to the topic sentence. In fact, Sentence 3 could be a topic sentence for a
paragraph about matching older adults with companion pets, and Sentence 4 could be a
supporting sentence for that paragraph.
Present Ideas in an Orderly Manner (i.e., the order the reader needs to process the
information)
Paragraphs not only need to stay on the subject identified in the topic sentence but also need
to avoid wordiness and tangential ideas.
Example of a paragraph with irrelevant information:
Aromatherapy, the use of scents to affect a mood or condition, has become the snake
oil of the 21st century. Overpriced scented candles, bath salts, and essential oil diffusers
for the home and car are being offered by many of the companies that have made
unsubstantiated claims for the benefits of aromatherapy. Many aromatherapy products
are made in Japan, which results in lower costs to consumers. Some proponents claim
that aromatherapy has healing powers that act on the body’s energy pathways, echoing
similar claims made for acupuncture. Although popular, acupuncture has never
achieved the success in the United States that it has known for centuries in Asia.
Aromatherapy has been touted as the new miracle cure for all that ails, and its advocates
claim to have evidence showing scents are effective for everything from stimulating the
body's circulation to boosting the immune system to ridding patients of athletes’ foot.
Sentences 3 and 5 (in bold) introduce tangential ideas that do not contribute to the development
of the main argument. These ideas should be omitted or addressed in separate paragraphs.
Sentence 2 gives a list of items and then explains the list. However, this structure is not helpful to
readers because they have to mentally “hold onto” the list while they read the entire sentence to
understand how to process the list. Moreover, with complex topics, it is unlikely that a reader can
mentally hold on to a complicated list and discern the intended message. Some readers might
backtrack to re-read the list in its correct context, but most will forge ahead, hoping (or
assuming) they got the correct message. However, if the reader takes away the wrong message,
the writer is blamed for the misinformation. To make the writing more reader-friendly, give the
“big picture” before the list to provide the context the reader needs to understand the relevance of
the list of items or ideas.
Example reorganized with information presented in the order needed by the reader:
Aromatherapy, the use of scents to affect a mood or condition, has become the snake
oil of the 21st century. Some proponents claim that aromatherapy has healing powers that
act on the body’s energy pathways, echoing similar claims made for acupuncture. Many
of the same companies that have promoted aromatherapy with unsubstantiated claims of
its benefits are also involved in selling a vast array of overpriced goods and equipment,
such as scented candles, bath salts, and essential oil diffusers for the home and car.
Aromatherapy has been touted as the new miracle cure for all that ails, and its advocates
claim to have evidence showing scents are effective for everything from stimulating the
body's circulation to boosting the immune system to ridding patients of athlete’s foot
fungus.
Next month, we’ll conclude with Part 2 of our tips on writing effective paragraphs.
APACitationWorkshops
ChapelHill–Sept.13&19,NoonRm.300
Winston-Salem–Sept.23,Noon
Triangle–TBA
Bringyourlunchandquestions!
SUBSCRIBE to The Portable Editor – It’s FREE!
This issue of The Portable Editor has been sent to all MSW students. Typically, this monthly enewsletter is sent only to those who request to be added to our e-mail list. If you are not a current
subscriber and would like to continue receiving The Portable Editor, please send an e-mail to
[email protected] with “Subscribe to The Portable Editor” in the subject line.