Paragraph Organization
For the most part, we write paragraphs without a specific method or plan of organization. When you sit down to write, you don’t usually tell yourself, “I am going to write eight paragraphs that are four sentences long each.” Effective and mature writing is more organic. However, it is still important to consider the most effective way to structure each paragraph in a way that provides support for its topic sentence. A few popular structures include:
- Rank Order: Paragraphs can be organized to build toward a main point, with the most important part of the message coming at the end. This last point is sometimes the key/topic sentence, but not always. This method of organization is useful in building up to a problem or claim that will be further developed in later paragraphs.
- Spatial: Spatial organization for paragraphs makes sense for exposition or description. If you are describing the appearance of a sculpture or statue, it makes sense to write the description in a way that is analogous to the appearance of the statue itself.
- Chronological: Just like you would describe physical appearance using spatial paragraph organization, you would describe sequential events chronologically. If you were writing a paragraph about all the things you ate on Tuesday, it makes sense to start with breakfast and end with your midnight snack.
- General to Specific: A good metaphor for the general to specific method of organizing a paragraph is the top part of an hourglass. The top of the hourglass has a lot of sand, but only a small amount of sand passes through the middle. For example, a writer begins by claiming that all roads in the U.S. can be improved. He gradually narrows this focus to state at the end of the paragraph that the main focus of this improvement should be dealing with the specific issue of steep grades on existing roads.
