Writing a good and clear paragraph allows the writers to make their readers understand the ideas they want to imply. The ideas are well organized if these ideas are written into a clear paragraph.
A writer should consider that a good and clear paragraph have unity, coherence and emphasis.
Paragraph unity means that a paragraph should be united as a whole. It means that the sentences inside the paragraph should directly support the topic sentence.
The unity in the paragraph can be established when every sentences connect to the main idea.In writing, some writers have no clear topic, have insufficient materials or
have an indefinite purpose which will result into a paragraph disunity.Paragraph coherence means that every sentences in the paragraph sticks, together, linking together in a continues line of thought that is establishing unity of idea. The topic sentence should be link by the support sentences.
There are some suggestions in order to establish coherence in the paragraph. First is to formulate a clear topic sentence, the topic sentence should contain the idea of the main paragraph.
Second is to use question and answer pattern in formulating the topic sentence. The question and answer pattern may be in the form of problem-solution or in general to particular to general format.
Third suggestion is by positioning the topic sentence in the paragraph. Topic sentence might be place in the first sentence of the paragraph or it might be serve as a transitional information before the paragraph. It is also possible to put the topic sentence in the last sentence of the paragraph or the topic sentence is not explicitly stated but is being implied.
The fourth suggestion is to connect the sentences inside the
paragraph using some ordering pattern such as the question-answer pattern, the problem-solution pattern and the topic-restriction-illustration pattern.The fifth suggestion is to used some devices to be able to established coherence in the paragraph. These devices are may be in the form of logical order, parallelism, transitional expressions, the use of pronouns, time or chronological order, repetition and statement and spatial order.
Paragraph coherence means that the main idea in the paragraph should be dominant. The main idea should stand out against the supporting ideas.
There are certain suggestions in achieving emphasis in the paragraph, these are the by; establishing emphasis by position, establishing emphasis by repetition and establishing emphasis by climactic order.
In establishing emphasis by position, it should be considered that the important material should be put at the beginning, at the end,or in both parts within the paragraph. The paragraph should be indeed with a relevant statement and not with minor detail. To end the paragraph with a summary of recapitulation is also possible.
In establishing emphasis by repetition, the idea is repeated in different words. This strategy usually impresses the readers more forcefully with what the writer is trying to say.
In establishing emphasis by climactic order, it should be consider that the detail in the paragraph must be arranged from simple or least important to the complex or the most important detail of the idea.