Paper season is upon us, and I am giving feedback on students’ drafts. They are pretty good so far. Most of my comments concern paragraph and essay organization. As this very useful website notes, “Rational, skimming readers do not treat all parts of paragraphs in the same way.”
Following the site’s advice is part of my rubric, in fact. Here is a taste (emphasis mine):
- The author starts with a backward link to the previous paragraph…
- The paragraph begins with a ‘throat-clearing’ sentence, or some formalism or other form of insubstantial sentence… The effect is again to bury the real topic sentence one or two sentences deep in the paragraph…
- The author starts the whole paragraph with another author’s name and reference…
The advice can be hard to follow. I find that struggling with it improves my writing by making me clarify my thinking. Sometimes the struggle involves this:
The solution to very long paragraphs has to be brutal. Once a paragraph passes 250 words, it must be partitioned, usually as equally as feasible, and separate topic and wrap sentences provided for each part.
Have a look!