2. Types of Paragraph
In general, it is said that the classification of paragraphs
is done according to their location in the text or its
content (text-type). Besides those, another concerning to
its logical structure is considered as an important class of
paragraph.
According to that, this presentation will show the classes
of paragraph considering:
- Location
- Content (text-type)
- Logical structure
3. The location
The location of the paragraph is referred to the position
that it occupies in the text.
Which means that it can be:
- An opening one: This kind of paragraph has a very
important function which is being the introduction or
presentation of the text. Something to highlight
here, is that the opening paragraph is perhaps the
main opportunity to catch the attention of the reader
and immerse him in it.
This paragraph can also be considered as the
occasion to present an abstract of the subject or even
the position and questions of the author in front of it.
4. The location
- The middle or transitory one: By means of this
paragraph it is possible for the author to expose and
bridge ideas. Because of that this kind of paragraphs
begins and make use of linkers such as “in
consequence”, “whereas the
above”, “nevertheless”, “on the contrary”, “on the
other hand”, etc.
- The closing one: Well known as summary and/or
conclusion. This paragraph can serve to both
functions, since it can be used to present an abstract
of the subject, as well as the conclusions of the text
and sometimes to suggest questions to be made by
the readers. Sometimes the closing paragraph can
also be used as introduction of a future or continuing
document of the same author. With the opening
5. The Content
- Narrative: By means of this class of paragraph the
author presents a temporal sequence of
events, actions or situations. Example: to present a
biography.
- Descriptive: This class of paragraph is specially used
to make the point on the characteristics of an specific
subject, which can be a place, a situation, a person or
even, an idea. Example: to describe the scene of a
situation.
- Conceptual: The main use of this paragraph is to
explain a concept or idea of the author, that in the
most part of times is going to be used or referred
throughout the text, and it is needed for the reader to
have a comprehension of those concepts in order to
6. The Content
- Expository: This paragraph is used to inform or
explain in a more specific sense. Example: to explain
the fundaments of a theory or the causes of a
situation such as the behavior of the financial crisis of
2008.
- Chronological: Is a paragraph used to present a
temporal succession of events. Example: to tell the
history of a country.
- Persuasive: This class of paragraph is mainly used to
influence or persuade the reader of the ideas of the
author. Example: to defend a theory.
7. The Content
- Of enumeration: This paragraphs are used only in the
cases where it is needed to explain to reader the
order of a text in order to provide him a better
understanding of it. Example: in an academic text
,thesis type one.
8. The Logic Structure
- Comparative: This is a paragraph used in order to discuss the
similarities between two subtopics. First, the ideas in this paragraph
are organized. As usual, the topic sentence is at the beginning of the
paragraph. After that, the paragraph continues by discussing one
point of similarity. Specific details are given to support the
statements, following this; the paragraph briefly discusses a second
point of similarity. Here, the paragraph also gives support details to
illustrate their similarity. Therefore, this kind of paragraph is structured
according to the points of similarity between two things. This
particular paragraph discusses only two points of similarity, but of
course we can imagine a paragraph that gives three, four, or even
more points of similarity (Scott 2000).
- Cause-Effect: generally follow basic paragraph format. That is, they
begin with a topic sentence and this sentence is followed by specific
supporting details. For example, if the topic sentence introduces
an effect, the supporting sentences all describe causes.
Additionally, the topic sentence is followed by the "focusing" or
"prediction" sentence. There are several reasons for this. Such
sentences help the reader anticipate the organization of the
paragraph (Fries 1993).
9. The Logic Structure
- Deductive: reasoning refers to beginning with a
general conclusion or statement and then finding
specific or particular observations/arguments to
support our initial thesis. Most authors writing for
textbooks use this method of writing. “Deductive
starts with a larger, general thesis and goes to find
smaller elements to support it. (qualitative to
quantitative)” (Björk & Räisänen 1997).
- Inductive: reasoning refers to making specific or
particular observations/arguments
which, together, build towards a broader general
conclusion. “Inductive paragraph structure:
The main idea comes at the end of the paragraph as
a kind of conclusion from the aforementioned
information, arguments and examples. In other
words, inductive starts with small things to get to the
10. The Logic Structure
- Concussion: vary widely in structure; nonetheless, it
follows this structure: first, we need to restate our
thesis, then; it comes the summation which tells the
reader what they should have learned, why it is
important and how it relates to the world. Finally, the
Concluding sentence which is the final thought where
we leave the reader something to think about.
(Benson 1994).
11. Bibliography
- Universidad EAN, Facultad de Educación en
Ambientes Virtuales, Teoría Discursiva. Aula virtual
(Blackboard Learn) Ambiente de Aprendizaje, objeto
de aprendizaje “Tipos de Párrafos”. Retrieved on May
18, 2014 from
http://virtual.ean.edu.co/bbcswebdav/pid-271208-dt-
content-rid-4588576_1/courses/0025832014-
1D21E2/AmbienteVirtual/g04_a03_o01.html
- Slideshare.net Paragraph Writing, published on
October 15, 2009. Retrieved on May 17, 2014
fromhttp://www.slideshare.net/lionnagaraju/paragraph
-writing-2226904
12. Bibliography
- Slideshare.net Tipos de párrafos, published on
November 17, 2009
fromhttp://www.slideshare.net/Maritoconde/05-tipos-de-
prrafos
- Tiposde.org Tipos de párrafos. Retrieved on May
17, 2014 from http://www.tiposde.org/lengua-y-
literatura/67-tipos-de-parrafos/
- Scott, F. 2000. Cause and effect paragraph. Tomado el
19 de Mayo de 2014. Disponible en:
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/cause.html
- Fries, P. 1993. The structuring of information in written
English text. Language Sciences, 14, 461-488.
- Björk L. & C. Räisänen. (1997). Academic Writing. A
University Writing Course. Lund. Studentlitteratur.
