A paragraph is a unit of written discourse (may be spoken discourse also). It may be self contained i.e. complete in itself, or may be used as part of a longer discourse such as an essay or other assignments.
The main idea of a well-written paragraph is usually expressed in one sentence. This is called the topic sentence. Then the idea is developed sentence by sentence. It is usually N
o made up of a number of logically connected sentences written on one single
topic. Each sentence of a paragraph should be closely related to the topic, and the paragraph should have a good structure with a beginning, middle and end.
An effective paragraph, according to Donald et al (1978) should have 3 major characteristics which are:
❖ The beginning or topic sentence introduces the topic or subject of the
paragraph.
❖ The middle or body develops and provides support to the topic or
thesis statement.
❖ The conclusion or end sums up and reaches a conclusion about the
topic/subject.
