A paragraph is a distinct section of a piece of writing, which comprises a group of sentences that come together to develop one main idea. In writing, a new paragraph is usually shown by the use of indentation, or a line space in the block format. You should always use the same method in a piece of writing. If there are five paragraphs, there are five main ideas.
Topic Sentences
The major idea of a paragraph is usually expressed in a topic sentence. The topic sentence is therefore the one in the paragraph that expresses the main idea. It may appear in any position in a paragraph, but it is usually best to make the topic sentence the introductory sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. This helps the reader to know at a glance what the paragraph is all about. It also helps the writer to know what to include in the paragraph without deviating from the topic of discussion. Then, when the topic sentence is written, every other sentence coming into the paragraph must help to develop the main idea.
Qualities of a Good Paragraph
Unity: The quality of unity demands that every sentence in a paragraph must be relevant to the development of the main idea as contained in the topic sentence. A writer violates the quality of unity if, in the course of writing, he/she includes a sentence that is irrelevant to the central idea.
Coherence: A paragraph is said to be coherent if the sentences in it are logically arranged to achieve the smooth flow of information from beginning to end.
Completeness: The information contained in the paragraph must be complete, so that the reader is not left in doubt about the main points.
Sentence Variation: A good paragraph does not contain only one type of sentence. The writer adopts varieties of sentences to make the paragraph an interesting piece of work.
Error-Free: A good paragraph contains sentences that are grammatical and acceptable within the language written, in our own case English. Therefore in developing your paragraph in any piece of writing, ensure that the sentences you use are error free.
Last Word
So, go ahead and apply these qualities in your paragraphs in order to write good essay!