Thesis writing advice roundup: Crafting convincing paragraphs
How to write a paragraph Dr Katherine Firth, Research Degree Insiders
In this blog post, Katherine discusses how academic writing can be improved by using the metaphor of a staircase. She explains that each paragraph should be like a step, clearly delineated and leading smoothly towards the goal of the argument. The whole staircase that this step is a part of should be aligned and well-lit for easy navigation. While your thesis 'building' may contain different kinds of staircases, within a single 'flight' all the steps should be consistent in purpose, tone and structure - so your reader doesn't stumble! To further ensure your reader doesn't get lost, provide signposts when you change direction or come to a stop, and use safety rails such as consistent terminology, formatting, numbering, and effective section headings to keep them on track.
Paragraphs Professor Rachel Cayley, Explorations of Style
Rachel emphasizes the importance of paying attention to paragraphs as a crucial strategy for improving academic writing. To work well, most paragraphs need a topic sentence and the sentences in the paragraph should be linked thematically as well as using obvious linguistic links (e.g. strategic repetition, use of key terms). The length of the paragraph should be determined by the demands of the content, not by the number of sentences or space taken up on the page (but you knew that!)
The uneven U Professor Inger Mewburn, The Thesis Whisperer
In this blog post, Inger discusses Eric Hayot's book The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities. In particular, she focuses on Hayot's concept of the "Uneven U" for structuring paragraphs, a method that's quite different to the commonly used MEAL/TEEL formats. In this approach, sentences in a paragraph move back and forth between those that are more concrete/raw and those that are more abstract/general. The idea is that a paragraph should start with a statement that is at level 4 (less general and oriented towards a problem), then move down to as low as level 1 (concrete, evidentiary) and finally back up to level 5 (abstract and oriented towards a solution or conclusion). The result is a graph that looks like an uneven U shape. The benefit of this approach is that it allows for more flexibility in paragraph structure, as not every paragraph needs to follow the same formulaic structure. Additionally, it can help to avoid repetitive writing and create a more interesting and engaging flow of ideas.
Getting to grips with 'the paragraph' Professor Pat Thompson, Patter
Pat discusses the importance of paragraphs in academic writing, highlighting that an over-inflated paragraph is associated with a muddle of ideas. She focuses in on the importance of the topic sentence and suggests that these can be used to effect both in planning a section of writing (by using topic sentences rather than words or short phrases in an outline) and revising a draft (by using the topic sentences to create a 'reverse outline'). While noting that writers need to find the paraph structuring mnemonic that makes the most sense for them, she does spotlight one that she has found useful - the MEAL structure:
- Main idea: A sentence which introduces the concrete claim made in the paragraph
- Evidence: Support for the claim made as the main idea
- Analysis: Explanation and evaluation of the evidence for the claim
- Link back/Lead out: Conclusion of the idea and preparation for the next step
That's a roundup of some of my favourite resources for PhD students on how to write better paragraphs. Do you have any tips or tricks you keep going back to?
Image credit Mourizal Zativa