Ensuring that your paragraphs are FUCT helps to you avoid having paragraphs that are — well, something else that sounds a lot like FUCT if you say it out loud. Here’s how to make sure your paragraphs are Fully developed, with Unity, Coherence and a Topic sentence.

  1. For Fully Developed paragraphs, at least some of the following must be true. (Remember that even a fully developed paragraph won’t have all of these traits. But if you have a paragraph without at least a few of them, chances are the ideas in that paragraph are not developed enough.) Fully developed paragraphs should
    — be of adequate length — two or three sentences probably isn’t enough
    — use examples, illustrations, anecdotes
    — cite data
    — include enough details
    — examine what others say (with quotes and/or paraphrasing)
    — define terms
    — offer comparisons and contrasts
    — evaluate causes and reasons
    — examine effects and consequences
    — offer analyses
    — and/or
    — offer chronologies
  2. Paragraphs with Unity concern themselves with a single focus (there is one main idea that drives and structures the content of the paragraph). If you have a paragraph that begins with one major point of discussion and ends with another, or that wanders among a range of separate ideas, it probably lacks unity.
  3. Paragraphs with Coherence are understandable to readers because their sentences stick together. That is, in terms of content and structure, the sentences flow from one to the next, and readers are guided through each sentence with things like:
    — Logical connectors: words and phrases that establish the logical relationships between ideas within and between sentences. Examples: therefore, thus, because, if-then, as a result
    — Other transition words: these might indicate additional ideas, contradictory ideas, or the passage of time. Examples: also, moreover, furthermore, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, although, but, when, during, meanwhile
    — Verbal connectors: key words and phrases that are repeated in several sentences; synonymous words used across sentences; pronouns referring clearly to nouns in previous sentences
  4. A Topic Sentence is a sentence that indicates what main idea a given paragraph is going to deal with; think of it as a mini-thesis. A topic sentence can occur anywhere in a paragraph (at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end), but an easy way to make sure your reader understands the topic of your paragraph — and to make sure your paragraph has a strong structure — is to put the topic sentence at the beginning.