writing a paragraph

Writing a paragraph- Parishkrit Jain

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WRITING A PARAGRAPH

Introduction

You would have certainly read some books in your life. And if you have done that

then you might have observed that the text is always divided into some sort of

sections, which may be of varying lengths. A new section usually begins with a line

left blank after the previous section, or sometimes the first line of each section is

slightly intended towards the right. These sections are nothing but ‘Paragraphs’.

Consider the following illustration which shows the page of a book:

Now let us thing what would happen if all the paragraphs disappear and we begin

writing all the sections together. It would not be easy to read the book or the

Paragraph

Space left

Intended

towards

the right


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piece of composition. In fact, paragraphs not only make the book easier to read

but also mark the change of a topic in each section. So, it is quite required to

know how to divide articles into longer paragraphs for ease of understanding.

Moreover, if the articles are not divided into paragraphs they would be quite

uninteresting to read.

From this discussion it follows that we can’t simply divide articles into paragraphs

where we like, but this has to be done very carefully and according to the change

in ideas since a single paragraph deals with only one idea. Now we are in a

position to define paragraphs.

But what about the length of a paragraph? How long it could be? The answer is

the there is no firm rule regarding this and the length of a paragraph depend on

the necessity of the case. It may consist of a single sentence or even a hundred

sentences.

Writing a paragraph

In order to write a good paragraph there are certain principle and tips which can

be followed, however, practice makes a man perfect. So, it is always better to

read many books and write some paragraphs by our own. Now, let us consider

some important principle of writing a good paragraph.

1. It has already been stated in the definition of a paragraph that a paragraph

deals with only one topic or idea; this makes our first rule. Write your

paragraph such that it deals with only single idea. To do this it is often better

to collect ideas first, note them down, and select the ones which go with the

main idea or topic and develop then into a paragraph.

Always remember that all the sentences in the paragraph must be connected

to a single topic or idea only.

2. The topic or theme of the paragraph is usually contained in the first sentence

called the topical sentence or sometimes key-sentence. So, try to give your

A paragraph is a number of sentences grouped together and relating to one

topic; or, a group of related sentences that develop a single point.


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paragraph a good and an interesting topical sentence, so that it would arouse

the interest of the reader in your paragraph.

3. Arrange all the events in a paragraph according to some logical order or

sequence of thought. Ideas in the paragraph should be arranged properly and

according to their importance of order.

4. Use variety of sentence formations and different words in your paragraph to

make it more interesting. While writing an article, paragraphs of varying

lengths should be used to arouse the interest the interest of the reader.

5. The last sentence or the concluding sentence of the paragraph should really

bring your paragraph to some conclusion or in other words, sum up the entire

paragraph. The first sentence arouses the interest of the reader and the last

one must satisfy the reader. These are the two most important sentences in a

paragraph.

Now let us see an illustration to see how these principles can be applied

effectively to write a good paragraph.

An illustration

In this section we will see an example showing the complete process to write a

good paragraph. Let us suppose that we need to write down a short paragraph on

Mahatma Gandhi. Our first step is to collect some information about him. Thus,

we have the following notes:

Born- 2nd October 1869, Porbandar, Gujarat, India

Defended rights of immigrants in South Africa

Main leader of India’s great freedom movement

Lead Non-Cooperation and Civil disobedience movements

great man and exemplary leader

Father of nation of India

Taught the path of non-violence

Called Mahatma- great soul

Believed in simple living and high thoughts

Assassination- 30 January 1948

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MKGandhi.jpg


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So, we have collected the notes about Gandhi and also organized them in proper

order. Now we need to select a good topical sentence for our paragraph. We

could start with a quote on Gandhi or simply his birth. Let us try to do both of

these in one go. Here is our topical sentence:

In Porbandar in India, a great soul, an exemplary leader, was born on October 2,

1869.

Thus we can now build a paragraph. Remember to put up a good concluding

sentence and use variety of sentence formation. Thus we write our paragraph:

In Porbandar in India, a great soul, an exemplary leader, was born on October 2,

1869. Gandhi did not build up a century but was a century in himself. Right from

the beginning in South Africa, he defended the rights of the immigrants. After

arriving in India, he became one of the main leaders of India’s greatest freedom

movement. He successfully led the Non-cooperation and civil disobedience

movements following the path of Satyagraha and non-violence. He always

believed in simple living and high thinking. Unfortunately, the great leader left the

world on January 30, 1948 after being assassinated. He has rightly been called

Mahatma- a great soul.

The best ever

In this section we will examine some of the best paragraphs written by some

standard authors.

The following paragraph is from Cardinal Newman's famous description of a

‘’Gentleman” in his ’The Idea of a University’-

“Hence it is that it is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never

inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate. He is

mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and

unembarrassed action of those about him; and he concurs with their movements

rather than takes the initiative himself. His benefits may be considered as a

parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a

personal nature, like an easy chair or good fire, which do their part in dispelling


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cold and fatigue, though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat

without them.”

- J.E. Newman.

Can you figure out the central theme of the paragraph around which the whole

paragraph revolves? Yes, it is the character of a gentleman. Notice that it is clearly

stated in the topical sentence (first sentence) - ‘’he is one who never inflicts pain”.

The rest of the paragraph is simply a nothing but a development and illustration

of the topical sentence. And the concluding sentence drives home the statement

of the subject with its similies of the easy chair and the good fire.

Let us not stop here and examine some another paragraph-

"The Road is one of the great fundamental institutions of mankind. Not only is the

Road one of the great human institutions because it is fundamental to social

existence, bin also because its varied effects appear in every department of the

State, It is the Road which determines the sites of many cities and the growth and

nourishment of all. It is the Road which controls the development of strategies and

fixes the sites of battles. It is the Road that gives framework to all economic

development. It is the Road which is the channel of all trade, and, what is more

important, of all ideas, In its most humble function it is a necessary guide without

which progress from place to place would be a ceaseless experiment; it is a

sustenance without which organised society would be impossible, thus the Road

moves and controls all history."

- Hilaire Belloc.

Again, in this paragraph, the topical sentence states the subject, the last sentence

sumps up the entire theme, and the rest consist of just some examples and

statements which prove the topical sentence.

We have one more paragraph to examine:

"Poetry is the language of the imagination and the passions. It relates to whatever

gives immediate pleasure or pain to the human mind. It comes home to the bosoms

and businesses of men; for nothing but what comes home to them in the most


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general and intelligible shape can be a subject for poetry. Poetry is the universal

language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for

poetry cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else. Wherever there

is a sense of beauty, or power, or harmony, as in the motion of a wave of the sea,

in the growth of a flower, there is poetry in its birth."

- William Hazjitt.

Here again, the first sentence is the topical sentence. The sentences that follow

enforce or restate the statement that "poetry is the language of the imagination

and the passions"; and the concluding sentence reinforces it by showing that

poetry exists wherever men feel a sense of beauty, power or harmony.

Some examples

In this section we will look at some of the examples which deal with some short

separate paragraphs like that we saw in the illustration. These include subjects of

ordinary interest. Let us suppose that we are asked to write a paragraph on

‘Mercy’. Such a paragraph would be reflective as it expresses thought on an

abstract subject. What we did in the illustration is called a descriptive paragraph.

The other kind of paragraph includes narrative paragraphs which tell a story. Let

us now switch back to our topic- ‘Mercy’.

MERCY

‘To forgive an injury is often considered to be a sign of weakness; it is really a sign

of strength. It is easy to allow oneself to be carried away by resentment and hate

into an act of vengeance; but it takes a strong character to restrain those natural

passions. The man who forgives an injury proves himself to be the superior of the

man who wronged him, and puts the wrong-doer to shame. Forgiveness may

even turn a foe into a friend. So mercy is the noblest form of revenge.’

Observe that the topical sentence of a paragraph is usually the first, or at latest

the second; and this is the best place for it. But for the sake of variety it may be

placed in a different position. In this paragraph, it comes last - "So mercy is the

noblest form of revenge". But the opening sentence is also a good introduction to


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the subject, and is calculated to arouse interest by stating an apparent paradox.

Let us now look at some more examples below:

AN ANT

‘Ants are probably one of the smallest and commonest creatures in the world, yet

the lives of these tiny insects, sometimes only as large as specks of dust , are truly

fascinating. There are more than 10,000 known varieties of ants, and they have

lived on earth for over 100 million years, almost everywhere except the cold Polar

regions. Ants could be red, black, brown, yellow, blue, green and even purple.

Ants are most highly developed social insects. These tiny creatures always live in

organised colonies, which may have hundreds, thousands or millions of members

all following the rules of their society perfectly. There are varying types of ants

found on this earth. There could be army ants or gardener ants or even dairying

ants. Ants are ingenious architects and builders. This way, ants truly live a very

fascinating life.’

PATIENCE: THE KEY TO SUCCESS

“Those who are impatient are the most unsuccessful people” – John Ruskin

‘Well, the opposite is also true- Those who are patient are the most successful

people. Our daily routine tests our patience, which in turn leads to depression.

This upsets our relationship and we begin to think that we are facing objections

and restrictions, which finally distract us from the path of success. An ordinary

person loses patience in seconds, but scientists claim that if one can remain

patient for just 20 to 30 minutes, one can be successful in his life. A patient man

often deals with the adversities of life in an easy and pre-planned manner. Thus

maintaining your cool at tough times leads to success. So, the quality of being

Patient can be rightly called the key to success.’

writing a paragraph

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