Writing academic papers requires students to follow a clear and approved structure. For instance, when writing an essay, there are different sections students must include the required information in a clear manner. There is an introduction part, the main body, which is divided into paragraphs, and the conclusion, which sums up all the points explained in the essay. This article aims at exploring the types of paragraph structures, and when to use them. Read on to understand better
What are the 4 types of paragraphs?
Before we explore forms of paragraphs, a paragraph is a collection of ideas explained in a few sentences. For instance, in essay writing, when explaining different points to support the thesis, each point stands on its own in a paragraph, with a few sentences explaining more about the topic.
Again, in academic writing, different topics and concepts require different paragraph structures to ensure a student meets all the writing requirements. Let us explore the paragraphs below:
Persuasive Paragraph:
Just like essay topic ideas, we have a narrative, persuasive, expository, and descriptive essays. The same applies to different types of paragraph structures. In a persuasive paragraph structure, the writer has one obligation; to capture the interest of the reader and make them understand a concept according to your understanding. These types of paragraphs enable the writer to create good arguments. However, the writer must have strong facts that support their understanding of a given idea. Besides, when writing a persuasive paragraph, always be confident with your points since they must sound credible to the one reading them. Even if the reader has other beliefs on the subject matter, you as a writer must convince them to think otherwise when writing a persuasive paragraph.
Descriptive Paragraph:
Here, the writer has to describe something or an incidence to the reader. You assume the reader doesn’t have any clue about the subject you are talking about. As a result, you start describing to them from the finer details until they have a clear picture of the whole story. The story is always based on the writer’s experience with something. These paragraph structures enable the readers to put themselves in another person’s world of the events that happened and feel a personal touch of the same experience.
Expository Paragraph:
When your essay topic requires you to explain a process, a method, or an instruction, it means you are writing an expository essay. When illustrating paragraph structures in an expository essay, you need to believe that the reader doesn’t know anything concerning the topic and start explaining in fine detail. These paragraph structure types require the writer to conduct extensive research to give accurate information to the reader. So, in most cases, the writer of such types of paragraphs has the freedom to choose their desired topics. By explaining the processes or instructions about something, the writer extends the knowledge to the reader, which is why the writers of such paragraphs need to pick topics they are confident with and understand them better.
Narrative Paragraph:
Writing a narrative paragraph structure means telling an incident or a story to the reader. However, it isn’t just any story. You should base your story on factual incidences that the reader can easily relate to. Again, these types of paragraphs require the reader to give the storyline in a flowing manner. For instance, when narrating about your trip experience to another country, start from the point when you started planning for the trip, the requirements, the expenditure, places you explored while in a new country, those who accompanied you, the aim of the trip, the return process, and any other details. The goal is to feed the reader fully with the story. Don’t leave the reader wondering what happened after some events. Instead, narrate the whole story until the reader feels they were part of the trip, but only in the mindset.
Conclusion
As a student, when you have an essay topic, you must ask yourself, what is the ideal paragraph structure to use? What does the reader intend to get from my writing? After establishing the required paragraph structures, start creating content that reflects the topic’s intentions. Also, ensure you establish paragraph transitions, to help the reader follow your ideas well.
