What Makes a Good Paragraph? Holland Park SHS A paragraph has a topic sentence that states the main idea and links back to your thesis. It organises your paragraph and helps the reader understand what the paragraph is about. All the sentences in the paragraph are about one topic. They are connected to and they support the topic sentence. All information in the paragraph must be connected to one or more of the controlling ideas in the topic sentence. The last sentence (concluding sentence) brings the paragraph to a logical conclusion. It usually summarises the main idea of the paragraph and links back to the thesis. If it is not the final paragraph in the response then it also links forward to the next paragraph.

Within each paragraph you should include: P – Statement of a point This will usually be your topic sentence. This is where you will include the strategy used E – Explanation of particular point This is where you demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the point stated in your topic sentence. E –Evidence to support the point This should include either direct quotes which are referenced and/or indirect references to specific information. E –Evaluation of the evidence (not always required) Why is this evidence significant? What does it mean? How is it supporting the topic sentence? ( The EEE process may be repeated a number of times but make sure that you keep the evidence and evaluation of the evidence that supports each part of the explanation together.) L – Link back to your point (and forward, if required) Link back to your main idea – what is the relevance to the overall argument? Link forward to the next paragraph if it is not the final paragraph in the response.

What Makes a Good Topic Sentence? It controls & guides the whole paragraph. When you read the topic sentence, you know what to expect in the paragraph. Your topic sentence should clearly relate to an aspect of the thesis. It should outline the key organising idea for the argument that you will develop in that paragraph, and it often uses key words or phrases from the question to help guide the flow of ideas in the paragraph. A good topic sentence is specific - but not so specific that it limits the topic too much, thereby restricting the writer’s scope to argue in depth.