Elements of a paragraph :
Elements of a paragraph A strong paragraph will usually include the following:
A topic sentence that makes your point and guides the remainder of the paragraph
Sentences that explain or develop your point
Evidence such as quotations or facts that support your point
Your comments on the evidence --connecting the evidence to your point
Consideration of alternative viewpoints
A conclusion and transition to the next paragraph
Beginning a paragraph :
Beginning a paragraph Every paragraph should begin with a topic sentence (or more than one, if necessary) that makes your point. Here is an example from a student essay. The topic sentences are underlined: Common logic says that recycling should be a bigger part of the waste management world, and I fully agree. However, many things keep recycling at a much lower popularity level than it needs to be. For starters, “recycling is more expensive than just throwing it away. That is because the cost of recycling includes hauling and also the sorting and bailing. Then the materials [which have been recycled] still need to be made into new products and there is a cost to that as well” (Kirkland). Many companies have tried to make recycling more popular by offering varying amounts of money depending on the amount of recyclable products brought to the plant.
Ending a paragraph :
Ending a paragraph Wrap up the paragraph and transition to the next idea. In this example, the student is transitioning from the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the next. The transition sentences are underlined: . . . An improved general public awareness of the dangers that everyday chemicals possess would prevent many of these accidents, and more importantly, most of the deaths caused by poisonous chemical exposure.
Even by making the general public more aware of the dangers that chemicals pose to humans and the environment, random accidents can and would still occur. For example, NASA’s Genesis satellite crashed into earth right next to the Skull Valley Goshute reservation which is under serious consideration of become a dumping ground for 40,000 tons of nuclear waste (LaDuke 21). If a satellite were to crash . . .