Classes of paragraphs

1. Types of Paragraph
A brief description, by,
Astrid Romero
Gina Martinez
Daniel Vasquez

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
paragraph, this one is also considered a delimiter of the text.

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 understand the text itself. Example: to
explain the origin or the meaning of a word.

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 larger, general thesis
(quantitative to qualitative)” (Björk & Räisänen 1997).

10. The Logic Structure
- Conclussion: 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.