Summary of Principles of Sentences and Paragraphs

Sentence structure:
Fixed     Subject     |  Verb    |  Complement  
Variable  Characters  |  Action  |     - 

1. Express actions and conditions in specific verbs, adverbs or adjectives.
2. When appropriate, make subjects of your verbs characters involved in those actions.

Sentence pattern:
Fixed      Topic         |  Stress
Variable   Old/Familiar  |  New/Unfamiliar

1. Readers need familiar information at the beginning of sentences
2. Readers will take the main characters of the story as the most consistently familiar pieces of information.

Paragraph development:
Fixed    Issue      |  Discussion
Variable     Point  |   (Point)

1. A cohesive paragraph has consistent topic strings.
2. A cohesive paragraph introduces new topic strings in a predictable location: at the end of the sentence(s) that introduce the paragraph.
3. A coherent paragraph will usually have a single sentence that clearly articulates its point; called here the topic sentence.
4. In science writing, a coherent paragraph will typically locate that topic sentence in one of two places: at the start of the paragraph or at the end of the issue.