confidence

5-step process to paragraph development
1. Controlling idea and topic sentence(s)
—the expression of the main idea, topic, or
focus of the paragraph in a sentence or a collection of sentences.
• Paragraph development begins with the formulation of the controlling idea. This idea
directs the paragraph’s development. Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will
appear in the form of a topic sentence. (See the section below for more detailed
information about topic sentences.) Here’s how you might begin a paragraph on
handing in homework:
Idea
—
Learning how to turn in homework assignments on time is one of the most valuable
skills that college students can take with them into the working world.
2. Explanation of controlling idea
—the writer’s explanation of his/her thinking about the
main topic, idea, or focus of the paragraph
• Paragraph development continues with an expression of the rationale or the
explanation that the writer gives for how the reader should interpret the information
presented in the idea statement or topic sentence of the paragraph. Here’s the
sentence that would follow the controlling idea about homework deadlines:
Explanation
—
Though the workforce may not assign homework to its workers in the
traditional sense, many of the objectives and jobs that need to be completed require that
employees work with deadlines. The deadlines that students encounter in the classroom
may be different in content when compared to the deadlines of the workforce, but the
importance of meeting those deadlines is the same. In fact, failure to meet deadlines in
both the classroom and the workforce can have serious consequences.
3. Example
—the example serves as a sign or representation of the relationship established
in the idea and explanation portions of the paragraph
• Paragraph development progresses with the expression of some type of support or
evidence for the idea and the explanation that came before it. Here are two
examples that you might use to follow the homework deadline explanation:
Example A
—
For example, in the classroom, students form a contract with the teacher and
the university when they enroll in a class. That contract requires that students complete the
assignments and objectives set forth by the course’s instructor in a specified time to receive
a grade and credit for the course.
Example B
—
Accordingly, just as a student risks failing in the classroom if he/she does not
meet the deadline for a homework assignment, so, too, does that student risk termination
in the workforce.
University 401
!
4. Explanation (of example)
—the reasoning behind why you chose to use this/or these
particular examples as evidence to support the major claim, or focus, in your paragraph.
• The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example
and its relevance to the topic sentence and rationale given at the beginning of the
paragraph. This pattern continues until all points/examples that the reader deems
necessary have been made and explained. NONE of your examples should be left
unexplained; the relationship between the example and the idea should always be
expressed. Look at these two explanations for the examples in the homework
deadline paragraph:
Explanation for example A
—
When a student fails to complete assignments by the
deadline, the student breaks her contract with the university and the teacher. This often
leaves the teacher with no other recourse than to fail the student and the university with no
other recourse than to deny the student credit for the course.
Explanation for example B
—
A former student’s contract with his/her employer functions
in much the same way as the contract that student had with his/her instructor and with the
university in a particular course.
5. Completion of paragraph’s idea or transition into next paragraph
—a review for
your reader about the relevance of the information that you just discussed in the paragraph,
or a transition or preparation for your reader for the paragraph that follows.
• The final movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of
the paragraph and reminding the reader of the relevance of the information in this
paragraph to the main or controlling idea of the paper. You might feel more
comfortable, however, simply transitioning your reader to the next development in
the next paragraph. Here’s an example of a sentence that completes the homework
deadlines paragraph:
Idea
—
Developing good habits about turning in assignments now will aid your performance
as a future participant in the working world.
University 401