WRITING AN ORGANIZED PARAGRAPH

There are four important parts of a good paragraph: the topic sentence, the support sentences, the support-
ing details and the conclusion. Although the topic sentence can be placed within the paragraph or even at the
end, students learning to organize a paragraph will benefit from placing the topic sentence at the beginning.
Subsequent sentences should all then relate back to the topic sentence and either discuss the point raised or
support the point through the provision of evidence and examples. The last sentence, the conclusion, should
then wrap the points presented in the paragraph by echoing the idea in the topic sentence.

The parts of a paragraph may also be illustrated using the acronym P.E.E.L where:

The example below illustrates how the different components make a unified paragraph .

Point The significant purpose of communication is to pass on information to the receiver in

such a manner that it does not lose its significance; however, there are certain obsta-
cles which sometimes hinder the process of communication.
Evidence These barriers may be classified as: barriers involving words, barriers involving people’s
background and physical barriers.
Explanation 1 Barriers related to words may include the differences in the languages used by the
communicators, ambiguity or overuse of abstractions, disorganized message and in-
formation overload.
Explanation 2 On the other hand, those involving people’s background may be related to attitudinal
differences, demographic differences, lack of common experience or perspective and
jumping to conclusion.
Explanation 3 Lastly, those categorized as physical barriers include physical distance, noise and
physiological barriers like headache or hunger.
Link Thus, we can say that the presence of barriers during the communication process
greatly impacts the success or failure of communication.
The resulting paragraph would then be:

The significant purpose of communication is to pass on the information to the receiver in

such manner that it does not lose its significance; however, there are certain obstacles
which sometimes hinder the process of communication. These barriers may be classified as:
barriers involving words, barriers involving people’s background and physical barriers. Barriers
related to words may include the differences in the languages used by the communicators,
ambiguity or overuse of abstractions, disorganized message and information overload. On
the other hand, those involving people’s background may be related to attitudinal
differences, demographic differences, lack of common experience or perspective and
jumping to conclusion. Lastly, those categorized as physical barriers include physical
distance, noise and physiological barriers like headache or hunger. Thus, we can say that
the presence of barriers during the communication process greatly impacts the success or
failure of communication.

An especially important component of a well-written paragraph are transitional devices, which,

in other instances are also called signal words. Transitional devices are like bridges between
parts of the paper. They are cues that help the reader to interpret ideas a paper develops. Transi-
tional devices are words or phrases that help carry a thought from one sentence to another, from
one idea to another, or from one paragraph to another. And finally, transitional devices link sen-
tences and paragraphs together smoothly so that there are no abrupt jumps or breaks between
ideas.

In the paragraph provided above, the transitional device ‘on the other hand’ used in the third
sentence (On the other hand, those involving people’s background may be related to attitudinal
differences, demographic differences, lack of common experience or perspective and jumping to con-
clusion.) indicates the contrast in the ideas presented by the second and third sentences. Moreo-
ver, ‘lastly’ as used in the fourth sentence (Lastly, those categorized as physical barriers include
physical distance, noise and physiological barriers like headache or hunger.) signals the last item in
the list enumerated in the second sentence.