Paragraphing II

Paragraphing II Badge

Paragraphing II

WHAT IS PARAGRAPHING?

We use the term "paragraphing" in this badge to point to the care taken to ensure that paragraphs accomplish something in a text. In the paragraphing badge taught in ENGL 101, we focus on the way you can construct a particular paragraph with purpose. In this badge, "Paragraphing II," we look to a more global sense of construction and consider how a series of paragraphs work together.

WHY IS PARAGRAPHING IMPORTANT?

This badge addresses important questions not specifically covered by the "MEAL Plan": What are paragraphs for? Why is paragraphing important? These may seem like simple or even unnecessary questions because everyone knows that paragraphs break up long texts into smaller sections, but the answer is more complex than it might seem at first.

Students don't always ask what paragraphs are for, but they do often ask how long a paragraph should be. How many sentences? How many words? How many lines? Writing teachers usually avoid giving specific answers to these kinds of questions, though.

To help answer that question, it may be helpful to think of a paper or essay as a complex machine that is composed of separate but linked parts, similar to the way an automobile is composed of separate but linked parts. Each part accomplishes a specific task and plays a specific role in the functioning of the entire automobile. The engine provides power, the radiator cools the engine, the transmission transfers the power to the wheels, and so forth.

HOW DO I WRITE STRONG PARAGRAPHS?

In the same way, individual paragraphs serve specific functions within an essay. There are multiple types of paragraphs, each serving a unique function. A good way to understand these various paragraph types is to think of each one as a way to answer a specific type of question. It would be impossible to list every possible type of paragraph and every question that these paragraphs might answer, but writing instructors generally agree that these are some of the most common and useful paragraph types that writing students need to be aware of:

PARAGRAPH TYPE QUESTION(S)
Description What does ____ look like, sound like, feel like, smell like, or taste like? What are its physical characteristics?
Definition What does a specific concept or term mean? How is that term or concept commonly used?
Narration What happened? Who did it? Where and when did it happen? Why are these events important?
Process How does ____ work? How many parts or stages are there in this process? What is the result of the process?
Comparison How is ____ similar to ____? Why does it matter that ____ and ____ are similar in these ways?
Contrast How is ____ different from ____? Why does it matter that ____ and ____ are different in these ways?
Example What example(s) best illustrate a specific idea, trend, concept, or principle? Why are these the best examples to illustrate it?
Cause What makes ____ happen? Why is it important to know that ____ leads to ____?
Effect What happened or will happen as a result of ____? Why is it important to know that ____ is a result of ____?
Persuasion Why is ____ a good idea/bad idea, true/false, right/wrong, etc.? Why should people believe ____ and not ____?

As you can see from the table above, each type of paragraph addresses different kinds of questions. In academic writing, then, you should begin a new paragraph not when you feel that the paragraph you are writing may be getting too long, but when you need to answer a different kind of question.

MIXING TYPES

Before moving on to some examples, let's take a moment to summarize four important points we have discussed up to this point:

Paragraphing may sound simple in theory, but as every developing writer discovers, good paragraphing is somewhat more complex than the above bullet list suggests.

Experienced writers don't usually consciously decide to write a particular type of paragraph when they begin a new paragraph. Instead, they think about how they can best support their thesis, and in so doing, they write paragraphs that tend to fall into the patterns mentioned above, but they often mix elements of two or more patterns in the same paragraph. For example, a good writer might include some description along with some narration in a paragraph. A well-written paragraph might be primarily about causes or effects but could also include some persuasion.

It is important for developing writers to be able to identify and make use of the various paragraph types described above. However, it is also important to keep in mind that few paragraphs — perhaps none — can be described as exclusively one type or another. Most good paragraphs are a mix of two or more types, as is further illustrated by the examples in the next section.

WHAT DOES CAREFUL PARAGRAPHING LOOK LIKE?

LOOKING AT A SINGLE PARAGRAPH

Let's look at an example from a piece of published writing to illustrate a few of the paragraph types listed above. Stephen Ambrose's book Citizen Soldiers tells the story of the Allied invasion of continental Europe during World War II from the perspective of the soldiers who fought the war.

In one chapter of the book, Ambrose discusses some of the most difficult challenges American and British soldiers faced during the fall of 1944 as they worked to break through the Siegfried Line, a complex system of linked defensives designed to protect Germany from invasion by an army marching through France. The thesis of the chapter is that these soldiers not only faced these challenges but overcame them through a combination of hard work and clever planning. In the process of painting a clear picture of these crucial months in the lives of these Allied soldiers in World War II, the writer employs a variety of paragraph types from the list above, including description, definition, narration, and other types of paragraphs.

In the 1st Division, the officers had come to realize that sweat expended during preparations saved blood in combat and won battles. They had spent much of the last two weeks in September doing weapons training — essential, as by then more than 70 percent of the men were replacements — and practice assaults. Rifle companies had tanks assigned to them, along with flamethrowers and radios that could reach the fighter pilots overhead and the artillery to the rear. By the beginning of October, the combined arms team was ready to go.

We'll begin our discussion of this paragraph by showing how the writer followed the "MEAL Plan." The main idea (M) is stated in the first sentence. The writer wants his readers to know that the officers in the 1st Division put a great deal of effort into preparing their troops for combat because they wanted to limit casualties and win upcoming battles. The next two sentences provide specific evidence (E) and analysis (A) relating to the main idea. The writer mentions, for example, that the troops had been engaged in "weapons training" (evidence) and that this training was "essential" (analysis) because so many of the troops were replacements who probably had not yet seen battle. The final sentence provides a clear link (L) to the thesis of the chapter by showing that the soldiers overcame one of the key challenges they faced when they engaged in extra preparations for battle.

Now we can go beyond the "MEAL Plan" and talk about what type of paragraph this is and why the writer chose this type of paragraph. This is a good example of a narration paragraph because it tells the story of some of the 1st Division's actions during the last two weeks of September 1944. Please also note that the paragraph is organized by time markers such as "the last two weeks in September" and "by the beginning of October." Narrative paragraphs are often organized around these kinds of time markers or with transitions such as "first," "then," "finally," and so forth to indicate the sequence or timeline of events in a particular story. Narrative paragraphs briefly tell a story — usually in chronological order — that relates in some way to the thesis the writer is trying to establish or prove in a larger piece of writing.

Narrative paragraphs answer a key question: What happened? The above paragraph from Citizen Soldiers explains what happened during the 1st Division's battle preparations in late September 1994. After reading the writer's comment that "sweat expended during preparations saved blood in battle," a good reader will be curious about what kinds of preparations the soldiers made. What specifically did they do to become more prepared for battle? In other words, they will ask "What happened?" and expect a satisfying and relevant answer.

The rest of the paragraph then gives a number of specific details ("weapons training," "practice assaults," and the assignment of tanks and flamethrowers to each rifle company) to illustrate the kinds of preparations the 1st Division engaged in before going into battle later in October. These specifics are included in the body of the paragraph, and the final sentence returns to the main idea by stating that the soldiers were "ready to go" after their preparations. The paragraph ends when the writer has finished answering the "What happened?" question and needs to address a new question in a subsequent paragraph.

LOOKING AT A SET OF PARAGRAPHS

In this section, we will analyze a three-paragraph section from the same chapter of Citizen Soldiers. This section discusses General George Patton's attempts to seize a fort near the French city of Metz.

He [General Patton] lusted for Metz. To get it, he had to take Fort Driant. The fort stood on a dominating hill, with clear fields of fire up and down the Moselle [River]. The Americans could not cross the river above or below Metz until Driant was theirs. It had been built in 1902 and later strengthened by both the French and Germans. In size, thickness, and firepower, it was greater even than the monster at Douamont outside Verdun, and indeed had been renamed by the French after World War I in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Driant, who had met his death in gallant fashion at Douamont in 1916.

The fort covered 335 acres of ground. It was surrounded by a twenty-meters-wide and ten-meters-deep moat, which in turn was surrounded by a twenty-meter band of barbed wire. It had living quarters for a garrison of 2,000. Its big guns rose from the earth, sniffed around, fired, and disappeared back into the earth. Most of the fortification was underground, along with food and ammunition supplies, aid stations and radio rooms, enough for a month or more of battle. The only way in was over a causeway. There were four outlying casement batteries, each with three 100 mm or 105 mm guns, and a detached fifth battery. Concealed machine-gun pillboxes were scattered through the area.

On September 27, the Third Army had made its first attempt to take Driant. The Americans had assumed that the fort would be lightly garrisoned by inferior troops. Although they only had a vague idea of the fort's works and surrounding terrain, they figured that a pre–World War I fortress system couldn't possibly stand up to the pounding of modern artillery, much less air-dropped bombs of 500 to 1,000 pounds, not to mention napalm. From dawn to 1415 hours [2:15 pm], the Americans hit the fort with all the high explosives in their arsenal. The men of the 11th Infantry Regiment, who led the assault, were confident that nothing could have survived inside the fort.

Now, take some time to consider each of the following questions in detail before you move on to the analysis following the questions:

A detailed analysis of the above section demonstrates how each paragraph functions within this section and how these paragraphs function together as a unit to help develop the thesis of the whole chapter.

The first paragraph provides some description of Fort Driant, but the main purpose of the paragraph is not description. Instead, this is a cause/effect paragraph because it explains why General Patton and the Americans felt they needed to take Driant. Patton "lusted for Metz," but in order to take over that city, he first had to seize the fort protecting it. The writer needs a cause/effect paragraph here because the reader will want to know why taking the fort was a priority for Patton and the Allies. What caused them to want it?

The second paragraph is devoted primarily to description of Fort Driant. This paragraph not only further explains why the Allies wanted to take Driant, but also gives a clear idea of the serious challenges associated with taking it. The fort was well-equipped and defended. In addition to providing a vivid description of the fort and its surroundings, the paragraph explains the process of firing Driant's "big guns." All of the descriptive and process-oriented details in this paragraph help to explain why the taking of Fort Driant is considered an important turning point in the Lorraine campaign.

The third paragraph is predominantly a narration paragraph, but it also has some cause/effect elements. In it, the writer tells the story of the first assault on the fort, but also shows why this first attack was unsuccessful. He says, for instance, that the Third Army underestimated the number of soldiers garrisoning the fort and overestimated the effect of bombing the fort before the assault began. Simply referring to this attack as the "first assault" provides a good clue that there will be a second or third follow-up attempt to take the fort, so readers will want to know why the first attempt was unsuccessful. This paragraph helps to explain why subsequent assaults were needed.

These three paragraphs function well as a unit and contribute to the overall thesis of the chapter. After finishing this short section of the chapter, the reader understands that the job of taking Fort Driant was necessary but far from easy. This idea helps to reinforce the writer's main thesis in the chapter: that the Allies faced and overcame many challenges on their path to the German border in the fall of 1944.

When you read and write, you should think about how paragraphs work individually and how they work together to develop the thesis in a larger piece of writing. If you have any questions above how paragraphs function after completing this badge, you should bring them up in class so that your instructor can address these issues not only for you, but for other students who may have the same questions.

For citation, use:

Coastal Carolina University, Department of English, First-Year Writing Program. "Paragraphing II." Coastal Composition Commons, 24 August 2017, https://ccc.coastal.edu/task/paragraphing-ii/. Accessed xx xxxxxx xxxx.