Paragraph is the main building block of every piece of writing. Paragraphs are used in all kinds of writing: in newspaper articles, Internet blog posts, essays, short stories, reports, etc. This list can go forever, because any text to be comprehensible must be divided into paragraphs. Generally, a paragraph is a part of a bigger piece of writing, although sometimes it is possible to see a paragraph to stand alone as an independent unit. Such independent paragraphs most often appear in academic writing assignments. Regardless of where the paragraph appears, whether it is a part of an essay or dissertation, it consists of four main elements and must follow particular rules in order to be successful and comprehensive.

Crafting perfect paragraphs requires having well developed writing skills and some theoretical knowledge. Moreover, for your essay or dissertation to be excellent it needs to have not only perfectly structured paragraphs, but proper grammar and punctuation as well. Academic writing is one of the most complicated forms of writing because it focuses not only on the content of the text, but on the way it is organized and presented. Therefore it is crucial to take it seriously and polish your material before you submit it. If you don’t have all the special knowledge, skills and experience to turn your text into an exemplary piece of academic writing, you can rely on our editors to have all those qualities and more. Royal Editing specializes on revising, rewriting, editing and proofreading of academic papers. Our certified editors know how to craft perfect paragraphs and can help you to do the same for a very friendly price. You can placeyour first order now and we will offer you a generous discount.

The Main Elements of a Perfect Paragraph

First of all, before discussing main elements of a paragraph it is necessary to understand some characteristics of a paragraph. Paragraphs are units of thought that present ideas in logical, comprehensible order. A paragraph is focused only on one single idea or topic. If you want to begin a new thought then you need to start a new paragraph. You can see examples of paragraphs, their order, and the way they develop only one idea, in one of the free essay samples on our blog. In those posts you will also be able to learn about different types of paragraphs such as descriptive, discursive, contemplative, and others. However in order to learn how to craft perfect paragraphs you need to get acquainted with main elements that build a paragraph.

Similarly to an essay, which is build of an introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs and a concluding one, every paragraph has its main building blocks, which are:

• A topic sentence;
• Supporting sentences;
• A concluding sentence;
• A linking sentence;

Topic Sentence

A topic sentence, also called a thesis, identifies the main idea of the paragraph and states what will be discussed in it. As a rule, a topic sentence appears at the beginning of the paragraph, but on some rare occasions it can also be placed at the end. In this case it rather summarizes what was said in the paragraph. A perfect topic sentence must be brief, clear and precise. It must not give any explanation or bring up the examples. Academic writing distinguishes two types of topic sentences: a statement of intent and a statement of opinion.

A statement of opinion topic sentence expresses some form of judgment, an author’s personal opinion about the topic. For example: Playing computer games is the most exciting leisure activity. A statement of opinion may include emotionally colored words, such as: wonderful, boring, exiting, terrifying, etc. After the author states his opinion he will have to explain or justify with the aid of supporting sentences.

A statement of intent topic sentence expresses no judgment or opinion, but informs the reader of what will be discussed in the paragraph. For example: The traditional tea ceremony in Japan has several rituals.

Supporting Sentences

Supporting sentences are those that follow directly after the topic sentence. Their purpose is to explain, justify or clarify the statement made in the topic sentence. There are several options you can use when composing your supporting sentences:

• Physical or sensory description;
• Personal experience;
• Examples;
• Facts, data and statistics.

Concluding Sentence

As it becomes obvious from its name, a concluding sentence brings final touches to the topic that was explained in the paragraph. As a rule concluding sentence is one the last sentences, although it is acceptable to omit it, if the subject was clarified enough in the supporting sentences. If you choose to write a concluding sentence, you can apply one of the following methods:

• Summarize the information given in the paragraph;
• Offer a solution to the issue that was brought up in the paragraph;
• Make a recommendation concerning the problem stated in the paragraph;
• Predict a situation that might arise from the issue discussed in the paragraph;
• Make a conclusion to the material explained in the paragraph.

Linking Sentence

Linking sentence, sometimes called a transition sentence, is one that offers a smooth transition between two paragraphs. Its purpose is to make sure that transition from one idea into another is not too abrupt. It prepares the reader to what will follow next. When the topic of the next paragraph is very contrasting then it is necessary to use a linking sentence. However, if you have a well developed concluding sentence, it is possible to end a paragraph without a linking sentence. Linking and concluding sentences can be considered interchangeable.

Perfect Your Paragraphs Online

Paragraph is a main unit of every well structured piece of writing. Academic papers, such as, essays, dissertations, reports, etc., must particularly follow the rules of constructing the paragraph. In its turn, a paragraph has its own building blocks: a topic sentence, supporting sentences, concluding and linking sentence. If you want to craft perfect paragraphs, you have to make sure that each of your paragraphs has these elements, and that each of its elements performs its main function in the best possible way. It might be complicated for inexperienced writer to keep all these matters of structure in head, simultaneously watching grammar, spelling and punctuation. However, you should not get discouraged to write, because our editing and proofreading services are always at your disposal. You only have to write down your thoughts and our editors will do the rest for you. In addition, if you strive to improve your grammar and writing skills, you can find a lot of helpful information on those matters in our blog. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any question or suggestions.