Structure Your Paragraphs!

If you want NO confusion in the mind

of the reader, each paragraph you write

needs to be laser focused on a single

idea! In general, structure your

paragraphs like this ->

1. Topic sentence (main claim of the paragraph).

2. Supporting detail #1 (a combination of evidence and explanation).

3. Supporting detail #2 (a combination of evidence and explanation).

4. Supporting detail #3 (a combination of evidence and explanation).

One paragraph = One Idea:

Structured Paragraph: Immigrants today have an happier life than immigrants in the past because communication has greatly improved. In the 1800s, people could mail letters or use the telephone, but letters took a long time, and very few people owned a telephone because it was new and expensive. For immigrants, the need to communicate with distant family is vital to happiness, so these slow and expensive communication methods lowered their quality of life. Today, email and video chat provide fast and personal communication at a reasonable cost. This ability to communicate instantly from great distances makes the immigrants of today far happier than those who lived in the past.

Structured Paragraph: Immigrants today have an happier life than immigrants in the past because communication has greatly improved. In the 1800s, people could mail letters or use the telephone, but letters took a long time, and very few people owned a telephone because it was new and expensive. For immigrants, the need to communicate with distant family is vital to happiness, so these slow and expensive communication methods lowered their quality of life. Today, email and video chat provide fast and personal communication at a reasonable cost. This ability to communicate instantly from great distances makes the immigrants of today far happier than those who lived in the past.

The claim of the paragraph usually appears in the first sentence of the paragraph.

Sometimes it appears in the second sentence if your paragraph includes a

transition sentence first.

The claim is usually 1-2 sentences long. This is also called the “topic sentence.”

Structured Paragraph: Immigrants today have an happier life than immigrants in the past because communication has greatly improved. In the 1800s, people could mail letters or use the telephone, but letters took a long time, and very few people owned a telephone because it was new and expensive. For immigrants, the need to communicate with distant family is vital to happiness, so these slow and expensive communication methods lowered their quality of life. Today, email and video chat provide fast and personal communication at a reasonable cost. This ability to communicate instantly from great distances makes the immigrants of today far happier than those who lived in the past.

The evidence and explanation work together as a pair to support the claim or main topic of the paragraph.

Structured Paragraph: Immigrants today have an happier life than immigrants in the past because communication has greatly improved. In the 1800s, people could mail letters or use the telephone, but letters took a long time, and very few people owned a telephone because it was new and expensive. For immigrants, the need to communicate with distant family is vital to happiness, so these slow and expensive communication methods lowered their quality of life. Today, email and video chat provide fast and personal communication at a reasonable cost. This ability to communicate instantly from great distances makes the immigrants of today far happier than those who lived in the past.

The evidence and explanation work together as a pair to support the claim or main topic of the paragraph.

These are also called “supporting details”. You can have as many or as few supporting details as you want in a paragraph, but they ALL must directly work to prove that the claim of the

paragraph is true. If they don’t directly support the claim of the paragraph, they should be in another paragraph!

Structured Paragraph: Immigrants today have an happier life than immigrants in the past because communication has greatly improved. In the 1800s, people could mail letters or use the telephone, but letters took a long time, and very few people owned a telephone because it was new and expensive. For immigrants, the need to communicate with distant family is vital to happiness, so these slow and expensive communication methods lowered their quality of life. Today, email and video chat provide fast and personal communication at a reasonable cost. This ability to communicate instantly from great distances makes the immigrants of today far happier than those who lived in the past.

Here is another piece of evidence with explanation.

Structured Paragraph: Immigrants today have an easier life than immigrants in the past because communication has greatly improved. In the 1800s, people could mail letters or use the telephone, but letters took a long time, and very few people owned a telephone because it was new and expensive. Today, email and video chat provide fast and personal communication at a reasonable cost.

Compare how this paragraph sounds without any additional explanation.

Remember:• Every paragraph needs a single

focused topic / claim • Everything in that paragraph needs

to support the stated topic or claim… no additional information!

• Use evidence and explanation together within the paragraph to support the stated point

Introduction • Hook and/or background knowledge • Thesis statement (main claim for entire essay)

Paragraph • Supporting claim (topic sentence) • Evidence + explanation (supporting detail 1) • Evidence + explanation (supporting detail 2)…

More Paragraphs • Same structure as above

Conclusion • Review most important points of the essay