More resources for writing effective paragraphs:
- Need writing help? Make an appointment at Camosun’s Writing Centre
- Open textbook from OpenOregon Educational Resources: The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Burnell, Wood, Babin, Pesznecker, & Rosevear (n.d.)
- See especially the chapter on Writing Paragraphs for an in-depth look at writing effective topic sentences
- See the subsequent chapters for more paragraph support: The Paragraph Body: Supporting Your Ideas, Developing Relationships between Ideas, Patterns of Organization and Methods of Development
- In-depth advice for developing ideas and linking them together in a paragraph: University of Toronto Writing Advice: Paragraphs
- Check out this great set of colour-coded images from Academic English UK covering the different important considerations when writing a paragraph. They are also available in a short video presentation.
More resources for sentence-level grammar:
The Paragraph Sandwich Metaphor:
- Think of a great paragraph like a great sandwich.
- The main idea is the bread, expressed at the beginning of the paragraph and reinforced at the end.
- In between, the flavour comes from the details and connections you make, like the meat, lettuce, tomato, and condiments in a great sandwich. Make sure to include interesting and well-supported ideas and details to fill out your paragraph.
