Writing the Perfect Paragraph
Your main goal in writing a solid paragraph is to do the following:
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Begin with a discussible point (the topic sentence—what is the paragraph about)
Stick to the point (provide evidence or support for the topic sentence)
Prove the point; don’t merely repeat it (now, explain the evidence or support)
Link your sentences to make your ideas easy to follow (link by using transitional words and phrases,
by repeating key words or pronouns, or by using similar sentence patterns).
The paragraph should be structured as follows:
1st sentence—topic sentence (what the paragraph is about)
2nd sentence—1st piece of evidence or support for the topic sentence
THIS COULD BE YOUR LITERARY ELEMENT/PASSAGE FROM TEXT
3rd sentence—back up the 2nd sentence with more explanation as to how or why this supports the topic sentence.
THIS WOULD BE YOUR BEGINNING ANALYSIS
4th sentence—2nd piece of evidence or support for the topic sentence
THIS COULD BE YOUR OUTSIDE SOURCE.
5th sentence—back up the 4th sentence with more explanation as to how or why this supports the topic sentence.
MORE OF YOUR ANALYSIS ON HOW THIS SOURCE REINFORCES YOUR IDEA.
6th sentence—3rd piece of evidence or support for the topic sentence MORE TEXT AND ANALYSIS THAT
PULLS IT ALL TOGETHER.
7th sentence—back up the 6th sentence with more explanation as to how or why this supports the your thematic
idea.
THIS CAN BE YOUR “SO WHAT” FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU USED.
8th sentence—concluding sentence—sum up the paragraph with even more impressively written “So What!”
Handouts have been modified from “How to write a literary analysis” and “How to write the perfect 8 sentence
paragraph”: From Northeast Alabama Community College Writing Center
(http://www.nacc.edu/englishdept/How%20to%20Write%20a%20Literary%20Analysis.htm and
http://www.nacc.edu/englishdept/Writing%20the%20Perfect%20Paragraph.htm) Sites are also on our
class page.
JMDSherman, revised 2014
Please note there are many different links on our website for suggestions and support to write effective literary
analyses. Please refer to them.