When learning to write an essay, you must think about how to structure each individual paragraph. This lesson teaches the basics of internal paragraph structure, including unity and coherence.

1. How to write effective paragraphs
Paragraph Structure

2. The Basics
An Overview of how Paragraphs Function

3. Writing an Essay
Write
sentences
Write
paragraphs
Write essay
When learning to write essay, these are the steps
you should follow:

4. What is a Paragraph
A paragraph consists of some sentences (the
number may vary, of course) focused on one idea.
You should always plan an essay before writing so
that you don’t stray off-topic.

5. How to Structure a Paragraph
Like an essay, a paragraph needs a beginning,
middle, and end. More specifically, it needs:
 A topic sentence – a very general sentence which
explains the main idea of the paragraph
 Supporting sentences – any number of sentences
which provide details or examples to support or
explain the main idea
 Concluding sentence – one final sentence to
summarize and, possibly, further connect the
topic and supporting sentences

6. Topic Sentence
This sentence is usually the first in a paragraph and
it will present the main idea in general or vague
terms. It could be as simple as:
 A lot of people enjoy classical music.
It should not contain any specific information, and
rather than a definite number you might want to say
words like “several” or “many.”

7. Supporting Sentences
This is the meat of the paragraph, and it provides
all the necessary detail to support the idea
expressed in the topic sentence.
 These will include evidence, explanation, or
examples.
 They may involve facts, figures, or other particular
details.
 They may tell a story, connect ideas, or express
degrees of importance.

8. Supporting Sentences
An example, carrying on from the previously stated
classical music topic sentence, could be:
 In fact, songs classified as “classical music” were
downloaded over twenty million times on Spotify
last month.

9. Concluding Sentence
In this final sentence, you need to restate the main
idea without repeating any part of the paragraph.
You will want to allude to or reference ideas from
the supporting sentences while paraphrasing your
topic sentence.
An example, continuing from the previous ones:
 It is clear, then, that classical music enjoys a high
degree of popularity.

10. Looking Deeper
How to Develop and Build Strong Paragraphs

11. Although they are beloved by many, tigers face many
dangers that are driving them to extinction. All across
Asia, their natural environment is being destroyed the
expansion of agriculture, as the human population
continues to grow. They are also being hunted and
sold for Chinese medicine. Logging is another big
problem, as we cut down the forests where they used
to live. For these reasons, it is clear that humans are
causing tigers to become increasingly endangered.
Topic sentence
Concludin
g
sentence

12. Overview
Main idea: tigers are endangered because of
people
Support: 3 examples
- agriculture
- Chinese medicine
- logging
We could easily expand this further to make a more
complex paragraph.

13. Developing
Agriculture
- why expanding
- how damaging
- example
Chinese medicine
- why used
- how damaging
- details
Logging
- why it happens
- how damaging
- example
Remember
to plan your
essay in
advance to
avoid
straying off-
topic.

14. Although they are beloved by many, tigers face many
dangers that are driving them to extinction. All across
Asia, their natural environment is being destroyed the
expansion of agriculture, as the human population
continues to grow. As jungles are cut down for farmland,
tigers lose their home and often starve to death. In China,
over the past 40 years, 99% of the tiger’s forest habitat
has been destroyed for this reason. They are also being
hunted and sold for Chinese medicine. Poachers kill tigers
and sell their body parts on the black market, where
wealthy Chinese will pay vast sums of money for them.
This multi-million dollar trade has decimated the tiger
population of Southeast Asia. Logging is another big
problem, as we cut down the forests where they used to
live. This pushes tigers into conflict with human
settlements as resources became scarce. When this
happens, the tiger is usually killed. For these reasons, it is

15. Developing a Paragraph
After the topic sentences, you will use supporting
sentences to give:
 Examples
 Explanations
 A story
 A chronology
 Quotations
 Evidence
 Argumentative reasoning

16. Developing a Paragraph
My hometown is famous for several amazing
natural features. First, it is noted for the
Wheaton River, which is very wide and
beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is
Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is
very steep. The third amazing feature is the Big
Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall
and is probably about six hundred years old.
Topic
Sentence
Supporting
Sentences

17. Unity
Every sentence in a paragraph should support the
main idea expressed in the topic sentence.
This means:
 Each supporting sentence develops and supports
the topic sentence.
 All sentences are relevant to the focus of the
paragraph and the overall essay.

18. Coherence
This means that all ideas in the paragraph should
not only be linked, but should flow logically from
one to the next.
The order of sentences, then, is of utmost
importance.
There should be no jumps or gaps in the flow of
sentences.

19. Concluding Sentence
This sentence must also relate to the rest of the
paragraph. It should restate, summarize, and
reinforce the main idea of the paragraph.
We’ll look at an example built on an earlier
paragraph:

20. My hometown is famous for several
amazing natural features. First, it is
noted for the Wheaton River, which is
very wide and beautiful. Also, on the
other side of the town is Wheaton
Hill, which is unusual because it is
very steep. The third amazing feature
is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands
two hundred feet tall and is probably
about six hundred years old. These
three landmarks are truly amazing

21. Transitions within
Paragraphs
chronological
order
first
meanwhile
later
afterwards
finally
objects in relation to
one another
next to
in front of
beside
between
behind
in order of
importance
however
furthermore
as a result
in fact
yet
Common transition words

22. Thanks and Good Luck
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