Intro

How paragraphs build off each other is a common confusion for JI students, particularly observed in our VY courses. What are the reasons behind it and what writing techniques is this issue related to? This little article will briefly overview the knowledge of paragraph, and analyze the core skills that would be helpful to address this problem. Particularly, it will be discussed in the zone of academic writing, which we confront most often.

Paragraph

Paragraphs can be viewed as the building blocks of our writings. Their goals are to pick up your ideas and give pauses for readers to take a breath. Basically, dealing with paragraphs is to deal with the writing’s structure, whose ultimate goal is to convey the main idea. In academic writing, the ultimate goal is your claim. The structure of the article is the magic of division and combination. Dividing helps the claim to go detailed and in-depth; then combining connects them together logically. In academic writing, dividing is to decompose your claim into subtopics (in the body are usually reasons or supporting arguments); in each paragraph, these segments are fully illustrated. Then, with the sequence and transitions between paragraphs, the whole article is built up organically. In conclusion, ideas come first, followed by paragraphs.

How to Deal with This Issue

Think about the construction of ideas first. Apparently, “how paragraphs build off each other” is a question about the “combination” part of the structure. However, the cause of confusion is rooted in the organization of ideas, because it’s the map of the overall structure. Based on your claim, consider approaching it with a solid foundation and smooth logic. You can consider asking yourself the following questions:

• Firstly, are there any terms to define?
• Progressively, what are the premises or assumptions underlying?
• Everything prepared, what are the reasons that support your claim?
• What are the relationships among the reasons: are they set up upon each other, in parallel, or as a combination?

The key to this process is to check the ideas’ reasonability and comb through the logic between them.

Take emailing professors for a due extension as an example (although our academic writing is usually longer and more complex). You may first need an “introduction” to define your focus (for what assignment) and state your claim (request for the due extension). Then to set up the background underlying your request (“I really want to finish it on time, but my work was impeded by a bunch of tasks and illness…”) After that come the most important body paragraphs that convey your reasons. For instance, objective obstacles prevent me from finishing it on time (problem); I can finish it by xxx time (solution); at that time I can hand in the best work that I can ever do (compensation)… Finally is the “conclusion” that wraps up your goal for this email.

After organizing your ideas, it’s time to consider how to deposit them into the paragraphs separately. It’s worth emphasizing that each paragraph should only contain one idea or one point, which appears in the topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph; the body of a paragraph is filled in with concrete evidence and the derivation process to this main point. Considering these characteristics, it’s suggested to put the ideas of the same hierarchy and scope into parallel paragraphs. Also, the idea in one paragraph has a small enough scope to be sufficiently illustrated in one paragraph. Such a scope means that the idea is the smallest one that requires illustration or proof of evidence without unclarified subtopics.

For this email, ideas can be separated into three paragraphs according to the topic and size: intro (request and background); reasons; “conclusion”. If it’s a longer article, the reasons part is likely to be further decomposed for each reason.

Finally, we will reach our primary goal: “How paragraphs build off each other”. It’s the issue with the relationship between paragraphs. The tasks in this step are determining the paragraphs’ arrangement (linearly speaking, sequence) and the transitions between them. Actually, things are natural after going through the previous two steps. The paragraphs’ orientation follows the map of your ideas’ distribution. The inclusive relations sort topics and subtopics together; then parallel or progressive relations link paragraphs one after another.

With the inner logic determined, it’s time to link the paragraphs by transition, embodying their relationships. Transition serves as cues, clues, or most significantly, bridges between ideas. The following messages can be contained in the transition sentence: the previous content (remind the readers what you just wrote about), the next topic, and their relationships. The effective position of the transition sentence is the beginning of a new paragraph, rather than the end. Such that readers can quickly pick up your idea at the first glance. Besides, no new info at the end of the paragraphs that distracts the illustration or confuses the readers.

Suppose the length of the writing is not so long and the ideas are not too complex with simple relationships (for example, an argumentative essay within 5 pages with 3 reasons all in parallel). In that case, the topic sentence may combine the role of the transition sentence. Specifically, various transition expressions can be chosen depending on the logical relationship.

Take the email’s reasons as an example for transition sentences. “I have no choice but to ask for an extension due to my extreme workload and physical issues.” For this first reason, the transition connects the request just mentioned above and gives the first reason, which is also the following topic clearly and specified enough. “Although I need an extension for the current due date, I can promise to submit my work by xxx.” This second reason transits the first reason by giving a solution to a problem. The expression showcases a little contrast logic in the “late” and “on-time” situations. “If you permit my extension, I will hand in a much better-constructed work.” This reason resembles a compensation idea as additional support. The sentence recalls the previous content as an assumption (extended due time), based on which progressively presents the new topic.

Reasons behind the issue of how paragraphs build off each other are mainly unclear logic of the ideas of the overall logic, as well as how to present it in writing expression. By following the three steps: map, decomposition, and combination, hopefully, the confusion can be solved.

Reference

• Tybon, Joelle. “VY100 Fall 2024 Week 8: 11.7 Gendered Foodwork and Paragraphs.” Lecture slides, 7 November 2024.
• Tybon Joelle. “VY200 Spring 2024, Transitions and Verbs Recorded Lecture.” Recording lecture.