What is a paragraph?

            A paragraph is a basic unit of organization in writing in which a group of related sentences develops one main idea. A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long as sentences. A paragraph may stand by itself. It may also be one part of a longer piece of writing such as a chapter of a book or an essay.

            A paragraph has three major structural parts: a topic sentences, supporting sentence, and a concluding sentence.

            Every good paragraph has a topic sentences, which clearly states the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph. It is a complete sentence. It is usually (but not always) the first sentence in the paragraph.

            There are three important points to remember about a topic sentence; that is, it contains a subject, a verb and (usually) a complement. A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea. It names the topic and then limits the topic to a specific sentence area to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph. A topic sentence is the most general statement in the paragraph because it give only the main idea.

            The topic sentence may be the first or last in a paragraph. The topic sentence may also be the first and last sentence of the paragraph (sandwich-style). A sandwich-style paragraph is especially helpful to your reader if the paragraph is very long. The second topic sentence in the sandwich-style paragraph also serves as a concluding sentence.

            Another write a good topic sentence for a paragraph, you should also learn how to write a good concluding sentence. A concluding sentence is not customary for every paragraph in a multiparagraph essay. However, for single paragraphs, especially long ones, a concluding sentence is helpful to the reader because it signals the end of the paragraph and because it is a reminder of the important points. A concluding sentences servers three purposes: it signals the end of the paragraph, it summaries the main points of the paragraph, and it gives a final comment on the topic and leaves the reader with the most important ideas to think about.