"Thinking is the talking of the soul with
itself."-Plato We think for three purposes. We think to translate our
thoughts in speech for the listeners, we think to render our ideas in script
for the readers and we think to realise something within ourselves.
Here we are concerned with our thoughts that we express in
writing for our readers. This rendering of thoughts into writing is Paragraph writing.
Writing on anything must have a purpose behind it and, as such, writing must
have a befitting technique for the benefit of its better expression. This
technique may differ from man to man, but even then, it has a fundamental
agreement that is found in all good Paragraph writing.
Here goes the general format of the paragraph construction: -
(i) The Controlling Idea of the Key Sentence of topic. It
depends Don what the writer as an individual intends to say on the topic bot
chosen. Though the writer may put his broad idea in many types oof topic
sentences, he would do better to restrict or limit the number of such sentences
in order to develop these into a compact and attractive paragraph.
(ii) The Controlling Idea is usually put in the Opening portion
of the paragraph. It is at times given in the last sentence also.
(iii) The sentence that embodies this idea is called the Topic
Sentence or the Key Sentence. The other sentences are meant to lend the topic a
Coherent Sequence of thought, a Logical Uniformity and Variety
(iv) Variety removes monotony. The use of different forms of
sentences, like Simple and Compound or Complex, Positive and Negative and also
the use of various length of sentences can give this variety.
Thus, a Paragraph is a group of cohesive sentences combined
together forming a single uniform idea or thought, elaborate sometimes, to give
its readers an enjoyable reading. CA paragraph is a number of sentences grouped
together and relating to one topic; or, a group of related sentences that
develop a single point-Wren and Martin.)
(v) To embody a conversation In a paragraph, the speeches of the
different persons are to be inserted in a separate paragraph.
(vi) The length of a paragraph may be short or long with a
single sentence or many sentences, unless mentioned categorically.
(vii) The first line of a paragraph runs a little to the right
in comparison with the rest of the sentences therein.
(viii) The students must be very judicious in coining their
words while writing a paragraph. Not on copious use of words,-they should, on
the contrary, concentrate on the most appropriate and essential number of words
they would need to nourish their thoughts. ("When words are scarce they
are seldom spent in vain.". Shakespeare)
