Paragraph how long

Journalists, for example, know that their readers respond better to short paragraphs. News readers generally lose interest with long descriptions and even one-sentence paragraphs are considered both acceptable and impactful.

Firefighters rushed to First Avenue today to extinguish a blaze on the block. That said, remember that the idea behind a paragraph might be short and sweet, or it might merit deeper explanation.

Real-time suggestions, wherever you write. How Long is a Paragraph? How many sentences are in a paragraph? The cat hospital was gone. Grammar What Are Modal Verbs? Paragraphs are units of thought with one adequately developed idea. Listed here are some rules of thumb to use when paragraphing. As your writing improves, you'll be able to break these "rules" to meet your own needs.

Until then, these suggestions can be helpful. Use the following graphics as a tool to organize your paper with one main idea in each box. In the original and revised paragraphs below, notice how a topic sentence expressing the controlling idea tells the reader the point of all the evidence.

Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. Their fear of humans makes sense. Far more piranhas are eaten by people than people are eaten by piranhas. Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, for the most part, entirely harmless. Suppose that we wanted to start the piranha paragraph with a transition sentence—something that reminds the reader of what happened in the previous paragraph—rather than with the topic sentence.

Our paragraph might look like this the topic sentence is bold :. Like sharks, snakes, and spiders, piranhas are widely feared. If a paragraph has more than one main idea, consider eliminating sentences that relate to the second idea, or split the paragraph into two or more paragraphs, each with only one main idea.

Watch our short video on reverse outlining to learn a quick way to test whether your paragraphs are unified. A number of South American groups eat piranhas. They fry or grill the fish and then serve them with coconut milk or tucupi, a sauce made from fermented manioc juices.

You are probably familiar with the idea that transitions may be needed between paragraphs or sections in a paper see our handout on transitions. Sometimes they are also helpful within the body of a single paragraph.

Within a paragraph, transitions are often single words or short phrases that help to establish relationships between ideas and to create a logical progression of those ideas in a paragraph. This is especially likely to be true within paragraphs that discuss multiple examples. Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, except in two main situations, entirely harmless. But there are two situations in which a piranha bite is likely.

The first is when a frightened piranha is lifted out of the water—for example, if it has been caught in a fishing net. The second is when the water level in pools where piranhas are living falls too low. A large number of fish may be trapped in a single pool, and if they are hungry, they may attack anything that enters the water.

We consulted these works while writing this handout. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Lunsford, Andrea. The St. New York: St. Rosen, Leonard J.