Writing Effective Paragraphs

Writing effective paragraphs is easy once you know what to do. Use the “Point-Proof-Explanation-Summary” method to paragraph writing and watch how quickly your writing improves! 

An effective paragraph includes:

• a topic sentence that expresses the main point of the paragraph.
• a piece of proof, evidence, details, or examples to support your topic sentence. 
• an explanation where you explain how the proof reinforces the point you are trying to make
• another piece of  proof, evidence, details, or examples to support your original topic sentence. 
• another explanation where you explain how the second proof reinforces the original point you are trying to make
• A summary sentence that sums up the main point found in the topic sentence.

A well written paragraph consists of 5 to 7 sentences and contains three parts: a topic sentence, a body, and a closing sentence. 

I) The Topic Sentence

A topic sentence tells what a paragraph is going to be about. A good topic sentence 1) names the subject and 2) states your feelings about it.  Here is a simple formula for writing good topic sentences:

Formula:

An interesting subject + your specific feeling about it = a good topic sentence.

Example:

Sony’s Playstation 3 interesting subject) has taken home videogame systems into the future and beyond (specific feeling).

II) The Body

The sentences in the body of a paragraph must give readers all of the information they need to understand the topic.

Hint

• Use a lot of specific details
• Organize your sentences in the best possible order. There are three main ways to organize your sentences: chronological order, order of location, and order of importance.

Example:

The Playstation 3 offers the best games with the best graphics like Little Big Planet which was last year’s game of the year and can only be played on Sony’s little black box. Unlike Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony does not charge Playstation 3 users for their online service The Playstation Network which is free of charge. The Playstation 3’s multimedia capabilities also make it great for storing music, photographs or watching blue-ray movies with the entire family.

III) The Closing Sentence

The closing sentence comes after all of the details have been included in the body. This sentence should remind readers about the paragraph topic.

Example: 

The Sony PS3 gaming platform is the future of video-gaming but available today for serious home gamers.