Organization and Paragraph StructureWriting a well constructed paragraph is not always a straight forward task. Studentsoften want to know exactly how many sentences there needs to be in each paragraph. Irespond by saying that a well developed paragraph is usually six to eight sentences long. Canyou have a paragraph that is ten sentences long? Yes. Can you have a three sentenceparagraph? Certainly. The length of the paragraph is determined by what needs to beincluded in it Use the topic sentence of each paragraph as your guide for what should be inthat paragraph. Think of the topic sentence as a mini thesis sentence but specifically for yourparagraph. Your reader should have a general idea of what the paragraph is going to coverbased on what your topic sentences addresses.It is important to stay focused when you are writing your paper. Your thesis statementshould be specific enough that it gives clear direction to the paper. The order of yourparagraphs should mirror the order that issues are addressed within the thesis statement.Every paragraph of your paper needs to directly support your thesis statement. It doesn

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tmatter how well a paragraph is written if it doesn

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t further the point you are making in yourpaper; that paragraph just takes up space. It is fluff; cut it out of your paper. Some studentsget so overwhelmed with length requirements that they will put just about anything in theirpaper to meet the required length. You are past the point in your academic career where youcan get away with that. Make sure that every paragraph directly supports your thesis, andmake every sentence within a paragraph supports that paragraph

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s topic sentence.I do want to note that you should avoid what I call

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monster paragraphs.

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Monsterparagraphs are paragraphs that spill on for several pages. Sometimes writers aren

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t surewhere to end one paragraph and begin another, so they just give up separating paragraphs alltogether. Don

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t do this. Use topics sentences to help you sort out when to end a paragraph