Good paragraphing is key to concise writing as it creates a flow of related ideas that fit together in an accumulative way, moving the argument forward coherently and relevantly towards its conclusions.
But paragraphing has to be relevant; you cannot simply make a paragraph break because your current section looks a bit long. In other words, paragraphs should not be random. They should contain a series of sentences that discuss a single topic. When that topic changes, change your paragraph.
Good paragraphs should have the following.
Having indicated the general area of this discussion, what exactly is the evidence for the childhood connection among the three writers? Is it open to any challenge? What might be said on this topic if the conventional accounts turn out to be untrue, or at least unprovable?
But paragraphing has to be relevant; you cannot simply make a paragraph break because your current section looks a bit long. In other words, paragraphs should not be random. They should contain a series of sentences that discuss a single topic. When that topic changes, change your paragraph.
Good paragraphs should have the following.
- Cohesion. A paragraph should be about a specific topic, announced in the opening sentence and discussed by all following sentences.
- A clear structure. There are many ways of organizing the sentences, depending on your own discussion (chronology, order of importance, etc.), but the order should be clear and easily understandable. This will guide your reader through your argument and force you to stay relevant.
- Coherence. This refers to the ways in which the sentences relate to each other through transition words (for example, indicating order, contrast, continuation, logic, etc.). Other elements of coherence include using the same tense in each sentence and ensuring that the dominant point of view (yours, a critical source, etc.) is the same throughout.
- Roundedness. A rounded paragraph is one that clearly establishes its topic and develops that topic through well-connected sentences. But it also means that the sentences suitably perform the function of introducing, discussing, supporting and concluding the paragraph topic, which basically means that a good academic paragraph should have at least four sentences.
 | This discussion considers the marginalisation of the Porter sisters’ contribution to Walter Scott’s historical novels, a marginalisation arguably caused by Scott himself. It is relevant to remark that, unlike Scott, the sisters have now almost entirely fallen into what Clifford Siskin termed “the Great Forgetting”. But this also leads me to consider how literary history is written, how women novelists are silenced and, perhaps, how the traditional subjects of women’s fiction are assumed to be strictly domestic. However, the foundation for the Porter-Scott rift that I am discussing here is actually the nature of childhood, and how its recording and recollection is partisan and partial. This debate ought to be primarily literary; instead, it has conventionally been presented as an overly sentimental reaction by the Porters to perceived slights and disloyalties. Or, to express this in a more nineteenth-century way, “Ladies who assume masculine functions must learn to assume masculine gravity and impartiality” (Phillips, C. S. M., The Edinburgh Review, 1849, p. 436). |
Having indicated the general area of this discussion, what exactly is the evidence for the childhood connection among the three writers? Is it open to any challenge? What might be said on this topic if the conventional accounts turn out to be untrue, or at least unprovable?
Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics
Darrera actualització: 15-7-2022
Recommended citation:
«Paragraphs» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=3469> [consulta: 18 desembre 2024].
