WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?Lesson 6 and 7

Part Two

Visible Speech

a short course in the

fundamentalsof writing / lesson six

By Joe Napora

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What is a paragraph?

What is a paragraph?

Answer:

Organized Writing

Hey! Isn’t this the same answer for “What is an essay?”

Yes, but it is organized differently.

How is a paragraph organized?

A paragraph is organized writing, organized in three very simple ways:

Deductive

Inductive

Mixed

Deductive Paragraphs

Topic Sentence

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Most books are arranged deductively: they have a chapter title and the supporting details make up that chapter.

Most of your Body paragraphs are arranged this way.

Inductive Paragraphs

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Topic Sentence

Detective stories are arranged inductively: they give the details first and involve us in arriving at the solution, or topic.

Nature writers often use a lot of inductive paragraphs.

Mixed Paragraphs

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Topic Sentence

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Sometimes writers put some significant information before the topic sentence, acting like the introduction to an essay.

Transition Paragraphs

Transition paragraphs are usually small and don’t contain topic sentences. They link paragraphs together to help make the whole essay read smoothly, instead of chopped up into pieces.

Paragraph A

Paragraph B

Transition paragraph linking A and B

Dialogue Paragraphs

Dialogue paragraphs are simply paragraphs that are made when you use quotes to indicate speech.

Each time another person speaks, you begin a new paragraph.

“Dialogue paragraphs,” I said, “are simply paragraphs that indicate speech.”

“Do you mean that each time another person speaks I have to begin a new paragraph?” she asked.

This is the end of lesson 6

Lesson 7: Visual CluesParagraphs, like all of writing, are visual as

well as logical ways to organize information. Paragraphs are visual blocks help us read the essay.

On paper, we indent for each paragraph.

On the internet, we can’t easily indent so we skip a line between paragraphs.

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The EndOf Part Two