how long should a multi paragraph essay be

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

How Many Paragraphs Should an Essay Have?

6-minute read

• 19th May 2023

You have an essay to write. You’ve researched the topic and crafted a strong thesis statement . Now it’s time to open the laptop and start tapping away on the keyboard. You know the required word count, but you’re unsure of one thing: How many paragraphs should you have in the essay? Gee, it would’ve been nice if your professor had specified that, huh?

No worries, friend, because in this post, we’ll provide a guide to how many paragraphs an essay should have . Generally, the number of paragraphs will depend on how many words and how many supporting details you need (more on that later). We’ll also explore the concept of paragraphs if you’re wondering what they’re all about. And remember, paragraphs serve a purpose. You can’t submit an essay without using them!

What Is a Paragraph?

You likely know what a paragraph is, but can you define it properly in plain English? Don’t feel bad if that question made you shake your head. Off the top of our heads, many of us can’t explain what a paragraph is .

A paragraph comprises at least five sentences about a particular topic. A paragraph must begin with a well-crafted topic sentence , which is then followed by ideas that support that sentence. To move the essay forward, the paragraph should flow well, and the sentences should be relevant.

Why Are Paragraphs Important?

Paragraphs expand on points you make about a topic, painting a vivid picture for the reader. Paragraphs break down information into chunks, which are easier to read than one giant, uninterrupted body of text. If your essay doesn’t use paragraphs, it likely won’t earn a good grade!

 How Many Paragraphs Are in an Essay?

As mentioned, the number of paragraphs will depend on the word count and the quantity of supporting ideas required. However, if you have to write at least 1,000 words, you should aim for at least five paragraphs. Every essay should have an introduction and a conclusion. The reader needs to get a basic introduction to the topic and understand your thesis statement. They must also see key takeaway points at the end of the essay.

As a rule, a five-paragraph essay would look like this:

• Introduction (with thesis statement)
• Main idea 1 (with supporting details)
• Main idea 2 (with supporting details)
• Main idea 3 (with supporting details)

Your supporting details should include material (such as quotations or facts) from credible sources when writing the main idea paragraphs.

If you think your essay could benefit from having more than five paragraphs, add them! Just make sure they’re relevant to the topic.

Professors don’t care so much about the number of paragraphs; they want you to satisfy the minimum word requirement. Assignment rubrics rarely state the number of required paragraphs. It will be up to you to decide how many to write, and we urge you to research the assigned topic before writing the essay. Your main ideas from the research will generate most of the paragraphs.

When Should I Start a New Paragraph?

Surprisingly, some students aren’t aware that they should break up some of the paragraphs in their essays . You need to start new paragraphs to keep your reader engaged.

As well as starting a new paragraph after the introduction and another for the conclusion, you should do so when you’re introducing a new idea or presenting contrasting information.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

Starting a paragraph often involves using transitional words or phrases to signal to the reader that you’re presenting a new idea. Failing to use these cues may cause confusion for the reader and undermine your essay’s coherence.

Let’s consider examples of transitional words and phrases in action in a conclusion. Note that the essay is about too much mobile device screen time and that transitional words and phrases can occur later in a paragraph too:

Thanks to “In conclusion” and “Additionally,” the reader clearly knows that they are now in the conclusion stage. They can also follow the logic and development of the essay more easily.

How Do I Know Whether I Have Enough Paragraphs?

While no magic number exists for how many paragraphs you need, you should know when you have enough to satisfy the requirements of the assignment. It helps if you can answer yes to the following questions:

• Does my essay have both an introduction and a conclusion?
• Have I provided enough main ideas with supporting details, including quotes and cited information?
• Does my essay develop the thesis statement?
• Does my essay adequately inform the reader about the topic?
• Have I provided at least one takeaway for the reader?

 Conclusion

Professors aren’t necessarily looking for a specific number of paragraphs in an essay; it’s the word count that matters. You should see the word count as a guide for a suitable number of paragraphs. As a rule, five paragraphs should suffice for a 1,000-word essay. As long as you have an introduction and a conclusion and provide enough supporting details for the main ideas in your body paragraphs, you should be good to go.

Remember to start a new paragraph when introducing new ideas or presenting contrasting information. Your reader needs to be able to follow the essay throughout, and a single, unbroken block of text would be difficult to read. Transitional words and phrases help start new paragraphs, so don’t forget to use them!

As with any writing, we always recommend proofreading your essay after you’ve finished it. This step will help to detect typos, extra spacing, and grammatical errors. A second pair of eyes is always useful, so we recommend asking our proofreading experts to review your essay . They’ll correct your grammar, ensure perfect spelling, and offer suggestions to improve your essay. You can even submit a 500-word document for free!

1. What is a paragraph and what is its purpose?

A paragraph is a group of sentences that expand on a single idea. The purpose of a paragraph is to introduce an idea and then develop it with supporting details.

2. What are the benefits of paragraphs?

Paragraphs make your essay easy to read by providing structure and flow. They let you transition from one idea to another. New paragraphs allow you to tell your reader that you’ve covered one point and are moving on to the next.

3. How many paragraphs does a typical essay have?

An essay of at least 1,000 words usually has five paragraphs. It’s best to use the required word count as a guide to the number of paragraphs you’ll need.

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Got content that needs a quick turnaround? Let us polish your work. Explore our editorial business services.

5-minute read

Free Email Newsletter Template

Promoting a brand means sharing valuable insights to connect more deeply with your audience, and...

How to Write a Nonprofit Grant Proposal

If you’re seeking funding to support your charitable endeavors as a nonprofit organization, you’ll need...

9-minute read

How to Use Infographics to Boost Your Presentation

Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...

8-minute read

Why Interactive PDFs Are Better for Engagement

Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...

7-minute read

Seven Key Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...

4-minute read

Five Creative Ways to Showcase Your Digital Portfolio

Are you a creative freelancer looking to make a lasting impression on potential clients or...

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Paragraphing (Length Consistency)

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Paragraphs are units of thought with one adequately developed idea. Listed here are some rules of thumb to use when paragraphing. As your writing improves, you'll be able to break these "rules" to meet your own needs. Until then, these suggestions can be helpful.

• Put only one main idea per paragraph.
• Aim for three to five or more sentences per paragraph.
• Include on each page about two handwritten or three typed paragraphs.
• Make your paragraphs proportional to your paper. Since paragraphs do less work in short papers, have short paragraphs for short papers and longer paragraphs for longer papers.
• If you have a few very short paragraphs, think about whether they are really parts of a larger paragraph—and can be combined—or whether you can add details to support each point and thus make each into a more fully developed paragraph.

You can check on whether your paragraphs are balanced by looking at your paper.

Some balanced pages:

Paragraph Balance

Unbalanced pages with ideas not equally developed:

Unbalanced Paragraphs

Use the following graphics as a tool to organize your paper with one main idea in each box. Use as many pages and boxes as needed.

Graphics to Help with Balance and Organization

How to Write a Multi-Paragraph Essay: Tips and Pointers

If you have taken any type of writingclass in high school or college, there is a very good chance that you have been assigned a multi-paragraph essay. In essence, it follows the format that almost all essays take - typically in the form of five paragraphs - although it can be longer when necessary. The content of a multi-paragraph varies depending on the type of essay the writer is being asked to write. If you understand how to structure this type of paper, you will be able to best organize your thoughts and ideas on paper. A multi-paragraph essay example can serve as a guide if you are having difficulties.

What is a Multi-Paragraph Essay Worksheet?

When you are asked to write a lengthy essay, your instruction will sometimes ask you to fill out a multi-paragraph essay worksheet so that you will be able to plan the assignment well. Since this assignment is more complex than the general 5-paragraph essay, it is typically given to students only after they have enough writing experience. The information in the worksheet includes your introduction and conclusion paragraphs and the body paragraphs in between.

Suggestions for Using the Worksheet

The multi-paragraph essay format is ideal for a wide variety of essay types whether it is argumentative, persuasive or comparative. Teachers will often ask students to use the multi-paragraph essay so that they can improve their formal writing. Rather than being limited to three body paragraphs or main arguments, it helps the student utilize far more examples and therefore write a more insightful, comprehensive paper. 

First Paragraph

As with pretty much every essay, you will use the first paragraph to introduce the topic. Since you want to hook the reader, make sure the first sentence is intriguing and memorable. The following sentences provide some context and inform the reader what to expect, and the final sentence will contain the thesis statement, the main idea that the entire paper is centered around. 

The body of the essay is used to highlight your points that provide support for the thesis. In a multi-paragraph essay, the body will contain a minimum of three paragraphs, with each of them focusing on a particular idea that can be linked back to the main idea of the paper. The paragraphs begin with a topic sentence after which you provide more elaboration and thereby strengthen your thesis argument.

If you are writing a conventional multi-paragraph essay, the conclusion will be in the fifth and final paragraph. Use this opportunity to restate your thesis and main points, reaffirm that you have proven your thesis, and finish by discussing the broader implications of your paper. It is the last thing that the reader will see, so make it count! 

Additional Elements

If your paper includes any outside sources, they should not only be cited in the text, they should be attached on a separate page in the form of a reference list/bibliography/work cited. Using reputable sources to support your opinion adds credibility to your paper. Make sure to format this page according to your instructor’s preferred citation style.

How Long Is An Essay

If you are a student, you undoubtedly face the question of how long your essays should be. The short answer to this question is that it depends. However, there are certain constructs that you should keep in mind regardless of the length of time your professor requires. Academic writing is a fine art, after all.

In this article, we will provide an overview of typical essay lengths and the components that they should include. 

One thing that you should keep in mind is that essays are different from research papers and theses. They are significantly shorter, but nonetheless, there is a specific structure to them that you should familiarize yourself with if you are in school.

Are there specific word requirements for essay length?

There may very well be specific requirements for word count for any given essay. This, of course, depends on your professor and the nature of what you are writing about. So, how many words should you include? 

This depends on a number of factors, as we will illustrate below. First, we should provide a breakdown of the components of the standard essay.

Breakdown of essay components

One important thing to keep in mind when constructing your essay is the relative length of your paragraphs. Keep in mind that paragraphs should be roughly equal in length, except for the introduction and conclusion, which can be shorter. 

This does not mean that you have to count every word in each paragraph to make sure they are identical, but you should be able to eyeball the main body of your essay and have the paragraphs be more or less the same length.

By the time you get to high school, your essays should be more substantial in length. You will be required to write essays that are several pages long. Nonetheless, they should continue to follow the same standard format.

Basic essay components

How many words are in an essay? Essential essay components that every essay should contain include the following:

• An introduction, a body, and a conclusion. These are absolute requirements regardless of the instructor or subject
• There are generally five paragraphs to any given essay, with three of them comprising the main body.
• There is a specific breakdown of sentences within any given paragraph. Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that introduces what the paragraph will be about and have a conclusion.

Introductions

Note that introductions should be one paragraph in length for high school-level essays. Your introduction should pique the reader’s interest in what you are going to write. For college admissions essays, the word count should be about 100 words. 

It should open up with a strong statement that leads smoothly into the rest of your essay. The last sentence of an introductory paragraph should be your thesis statement. 

Your thesis statement will describe what your essay is going to be about. For longer essays that you write in college or graduate school, introductions are generally longer.

Body paragraphs

It is in your body paragraphs that you provide the substance of your essay. They should contain a logical writing series of examples that support your main thesis statement. How many paragraphs? It depends.

As you write and review an essay, you should think about the placement of your examples and whether or not they are relevant to the paragraphs you put them in, in the right order, etc. You might want to adjust them as you go along for clarity. Correct paragraph wording and paragraph writing are critical to success. There should be a word limit to any given paragraph if it is too out of proportion with the others.

Your conclusion is where you summarize the points made in the body of your essay and reiterate your main point. 

The conclusion is a short but important part of the essay as it is the last thing that people will read, and it will stay in their minds. So, you should think carefully about the way you word your conclusion and be prepared to revise it as you revise other parts of the essay.

Writing a college essay

By the time you get to college essays, word count requirements will be different. For undergraduate essays, you will be constructing pieces that are at least three pages long. For topics of greater significance or ones that are more broad, essays might be 4 or 5 pages long. 

Be mindful of the fact that an extended essay that exceeds 5 pages in length might be considered a research paper rather than an essay, and this entails an entirely different set of requirements. In other words, you should remain within the page limits of your subject and not be too long or too short. There are often word limits that you need to observe.

Rambling in a college essay will be perceived as empty for the sake of filling up space and will be frowned upon by professors. So, how long is an essay? It depends on the requirements and quality.

Requirements for different levels of education

As mentioned above, there are different requirements for essay length for different levels of education. In the sections below, we will provide general guidelines for every academic level.

University level

By the time you get to college, you should know how to write a decent essay of significant essay length.  An undergraduate college essay should start at a word count of approximately 1500 words or 5 pages and might have a word limit. 

There are many factors involved in how long undergraduate essays should be, including the subject, the college a student is in, and the department. There is also a range of course levels that dictate different lengths of essays. Word count is critical at every stage.

College courses are divided into different course levels: 100-level courses (101, 102, etc.), 200-level courses, and so on, with each level designating a different year that students might be in. 100-level courses are for freshmen, 200-level for sophomores, etc. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that many colleges require freshman-level writing courses for all new students. Some students might enter engineering programs without strong skills, for example. 

Or there may be foreign students who come in with excellent credentials in certain subject areas but are not yet strong writers. For whatever reason, students can have vastly different skills when they first start college, and this is why schools almost universally require freshman courses.

Graduate school

When students get to the point of entering master’s programs, they are expected to have mastered the art of basic writing. Master’s-level analytical essays are similar in structure to undergraduate ones but more substantial in length, although they too usually have a word limit and specific limitations on content. 

And again, the subject has a large bearing on the word requirement. Graduate essays involve data collection and can have a word count of 2000-6000 words, but sometimes shorter. Sometimes, if students have to write on a scientific topic, the length can be much shorter, but the content requirements are significantly more detailed.

Word count for research papers

Truly, academic style really starts to take shape when you get to a PhD program. Serious research papers are much more substantial. By the time you get to doing serious research - whether it be for a master’s thesis, a PhD dissertation, or a postgraduate extensive research study, they can have a word count as long as 10,000 words or even longer.

Research papers generally involve a study of a very particular subject. The goal of writing a research paper is to explore a topic that has not been explored by other authors before. While this is not always possible, you are expected to illustrate your own data analysis skills and try to analyze a subject in your own unique way. This should help you figure out how long an essay is.

Things to keep in mind

As mentioned above, essay length is important, and the length of an essay is an essential part of what professors are looking for, but it is not the only criterion for grading. There are also many specific requirements with regard to how essays are written, the kind of language used, and overall construction.

Major points to keep in mind include:

• You shouldn’t use excessively wordy expressions or run-on sentences. Unless the class you are in is poetry, you should stick to the standard constructs of the subject you are working on.
• Do not leave out any major components required by the essay instructions. When you receive any given assignment, make a note of the major requirements of the topic and devise a plan for constructing your essay. We will discuss the outline further below.

When to use your own style

The idea of expressing your personality should seem like a welcome thing in writing. After all, you want your teachers and professors to hear your own personal voice. Anyone can regurgitate something they read in a textbook, but many writers would rather show their professors what they are all about.

This is fine if you do it right. But you don’t want to simply start expressing ideas in an emotional or unconstructed manner without following the rules. Be sure that you are firmly grounded both in the mechanics and structure of essay writing before you start adding variations. Having a thorough grasp of the finer points of English grammar is an essential part of this. 

Construction and outlining

In order to keep within the expected word count for any given essay, it is a good idea to learn proper essay construction. Essay outlines generally look something like this:

• Introduction
• Example 2, etc

The ability to create a solid outline will do you well in your future academic career. Lower-level outlines are fairly simple, but by the time you get to graduate school, they will become much more complex. 

And you will need them to help you keep sight of your work. It is very easy to get entrenched in the details of writing, particularly at the graduate level. Outlines help us stay organized and keep an eye on the whole product of what we are doing. 

Figuring out how long an essay should be and the right word count is critical to achieving success in writing. There are different requirements for essay length at different levels of education: the high school essay, college essay, etc, are all different. How long your essays are depends on several factors: what level of education you are currently studying, the type of degree course you are in, individual essay requirements, etc.

The important thing is that you familiarize yourself with the process and get in the habit of writing early. By the time you write your college application essay, you should have already written hundreds of essays and know the basic formula. And don’t be afraid to ask people for help or for opinions about your writing; it will only help you grow.

Related articles

What is a dissertation how doctoral students navigate the process.

So, when does a person start getting interested in writing a dissertation? You can still be a university student, thinking about starting the doctorate program, or maybe you are already done with the comprehensive exams, and the dissertation process is about to start. Surely, all doctoral candidates must write a dissertation to get the degree they have been working on for years, yet what else? In this article, you will learn about what a dissertation is, as well as dive into the step-by-step pr ...

How to Write a Hypothesis: Step-By-Step Guide

A hypothesis is a testable statement that guides scientific research. Want to know how to write a hypothesis for your research paper? This guide will show you the key steps involved, including defining your variables and phrasing your hypothesis correctly. Key Takeaways * A hypothesis is a testable statement proposed for investigation, grounded in existing knowledge, essential for guiding scientific research. * Understanding different types of hypotheses, including simple, complex, null, an ...

How to Write A College Essay

Every high school student knows that the college essay is a make-or-break part of the application process. There are, of course, distinct requirements involved and strict scoring criteria. It is a personal statement about you and your character. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive overview of how to write the common application essay, what colleges are looking for, and some important dos and don’ts to keep in mind for college essays. Remember that you should start writing college ...

Chicago Manual of Style: Chicago Style Footnotes

Essays and similar educational papers when you are working on your master's degree are an essential part of any student's life. Even when you become a professional, stating your opinion or establishing a viewpoint might require assembling a written article to reach the necessary audience. And 99% of the time, you will be basing your text on any kind of published work of another specialist. Surely, the process of writing an entire essay requires the most time and effort from the creator. However ...

Perfecting How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay

Struggling to wrap up your college essay? You need a conclusion that ties everything together and leaves a strong final impression. This article will show you exactly how to write a conclusion for an essay, covering how to restate your thesis, summarize key points, highlight broader implications, and avoid common mistakes. Key Takeaways * Restate your thesis in a fresh way to remind readers of your main argument while reflecting on insights from the essay. * Summarize key points cohesively ...

Mastering the Art of Essay Writing: How to Write an Essay

Struggling with how to write an essay? Before you begin writing, it's crucial to brainstorm and organize your thoughts. This guide will cover everything you need to know, from generating ideas to polishing your final draft. Let’s break down the essay writing process into simple, manageable steps that anyone can follow. Key Takeaways * A successful essay involves preparation, writing, and revisions with a clear understanding of your message and audience. * The introduction should hook the re ...

How to Write a Research Paper: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a research paper can seem daunting, but breaking it down into clear steps can make the process manageable and even enjoyable. An essential part of this process is data collection, which involves gathering information systematically to support your thesis or inquiry. This guide will walk you through each stage of writing a research paper, from understanding what a research paper is to choosing an engaging topic, conducting preliminary research, crafting a thesis statement, and more. By fo ...

Top Transition Words for Essays: Enhance Your Writing Now

Transition words are crucial for crafting coherent, engaging essays. They help guide your readers from one idea to the next or from one paragraph to another, ensuring your arguments flow logically. In this article, we’ll explore essential transition words for essays and how to use them effectively. Key Takeaways * Transition words are essential in academic writing as they enhance coherence and clarity by connecting ideas and guiding readers through the text, helping the reader understand the ...

How Do You Write a Multiple Paragraph Essay: How Many Paragraphs Is a Multi-Paragraph Essay

Essay writing is probably one of the never-ending tasks in an academic institution. And with multiple types of essays, sometimes it may get confusing to distinguish one from the other. Nevertheless, it does not have to be that way, as we are here to help you understand one of them- a multiple-paragraph essay.

As the name suggests, a multiple-paragraph essay is one with several paragraphs. And because many students have trouble creating such pieces, this piece will look at the definition, structure, and writing tips of this essay type to help you have the edge over your classmates.

What Is a Multi-Paragraph Essay

Simply put, a multi-paragraph essay is a form of writing with multiple paragraphs. Generally, these types are common in college courses but can also be used in the workplace. Sometimes, these essays have only two sections, but others can have five or seven.

New Service Alert !!!

We are now taking exams and courses

While many factors determine the essay’s length, the final say is your instructor; thus, listening to them is of utmost importance.

The essay’s length varies depending on the topic, but typically, each paragraph has two or so parts. The opening sentence presents the paragraph’s idea, the second part gives evidence, and the concluding part summarizes what you’ve said.

Also see: How to write a three-paragraph essay

However, the entire piece structure is very similar to other types of essays. It will begin with an introduction paragraph, which leads into a body section that contains at least two paragraphs, each with its topic sentence. Each paragraph will have supporting evidence, examples, and details related to the topic sentence you wrote at the beginning of each section.  

The conclusion paragraph will summarize everything you said and restate your thesis statement from the introduction paragraph. This is for readers to understand how all parts fit together and helps them reach a conclusion based on what they have read in this piece.

How Do You Write a Multiple-Paragraph Essay

Generally, the writing process for a multi-paragraphed essay is similar to other pieces. However, there are some finer tips you can follow to help you churn out a spectacular one.

The writing process entails;

Brainstorming ideas

Brainstorming helps you come up with good ideas relevant to your topic. And it is an essential step in the writing process because it allows you to organize your thoughts and decide on relevant points.

This step is crucial because it helps you organize your thoughts and get them down on paper, which allows you to develop a clear thesis statement. A good brainstorming session should be followed by a review of the ideas so that you can pick the most appropriate ones for your essay.

You can brainstorm in two ways;

Freewriting. It involves writing down everything that comes into your head about a particular topic or idea. You don’t stop writing until you have exhausted all that you can think of on the subject. If you find yourself getting stuck, try changing the topic slightly so that it becomes more interesting.

Clustering. Depending on the topic, this involves grouping thoughts under a heading, such as facts, opinions, or examples.

Thesis development

A thesis statement is a statement of your position on the topic or an argument you will support throughout your essay. The thesis should be clear and concise and include the perspective you will take on the issue.

This helps you narrow down the brainstormed ideas and will give readers what the essay is about and why they need to read it.

Creating an outline

An outline lists the main points you want to include in your essay. This step helps you to organize your ideas before you write because it is easier to write about something when you know what you’ll say. Additionally, it helps determine if you have enough information before starting to write.

You can write this list as bullet points or paragraphs, depending on your essay’s complexity and how many points it needs.

Writing the rough draft

This process is the actual writing, although the output is not the final piece. You can view the draft as an experimental version of the final paper, allowing you to assess your understanding of the subject matter and develop ideas through writing.  

The purpose of a rough draft is to get ideas onto paper so that they can be shaped into an effective essay later on

Final draft

This is the ‘real’ paper. The process involves polishing the draft by checking for grammar, editing, structure flow, and tying up other loose ends.

Overall the following tips will help you have a perfect piece.

• Use of transition words

A multi-paragraphed essay needs a good flow, and excellent use of transition words will help you achieve this. These words include similarly, on the other hand, additionally, among others.

• Captivating introduction

An introduction will determine whether a reader will continue with your essay. You must capture their interest if you want them to continue reading.

• Check for plagiarism and grammar errors

Always run your work on plagiarism and grammar checker tools to catch any mistakes

How Many Paragraphs Is a Multi-Paragraph Essay

The standard multi-paragraph essay has five paragraphs, although it may contain more depending on the topic. This essay type has several paragraphs, each with its topic sentence and supporting details. This means each paragraph covers one main idea.

The first paragraph of a multi-paragraph essay should introduce the topic and provide some background information that supports it. The second paragraph should explain why this issue is important, while the third paragraph should support your opinion.  

The fourth paragraph should discuss possible solutions to the problem and address any objections raised against your viewpoint. Finally, the fifth paragraph should summarize all of your ideas and restate them clearly so that readers can understand your point of view entirely.

Nevertheless, you can opt to organize a multi-paragraph essay by covering two or three issues in each paragraph. If you choose to cover multiple topics in a paragraph, you will arrange them in order of complexity and importance.

How Long Is a Multi-Paragraph Essay

As seen, a multi-paragraphed essay has five or more paragraphs. The average length of a paragraph is 5 to 6 sentences, with a typical paragraph containing between 100 and 200 words, although this is not a golden rule. However, the shorter the paragraph, the better.

Generally, the length of each paragraph will vary depending on the number of sentences and words within each sentence. The more information you need to present, the more sentences you will have in each paragraph. Also, if your topic requires a lot of detail, it may be appropriate to use many sentences within each paragraph.

Writing academically: Paragraph structure

• Academic style
• Personal pronouns
• Contractions
• Abbreviations
• Signposting

Paragraph structure

• Using sources in your writing

Jump to content on this page:

“An appropriate use of paragraphs is an essential part of writing coherent and well-structured essays.” Don Shiach,   How to write essays

• A topic sentence – what is the overall point that the paragraph is making?
• Evidence that supports your point – this is usually your cited material.
• Explanation of why the point is important and how it helps with your overall argument.
• A link (if necessary) to the next paragraph (or to the previous one if coming at the beginning of the paragraph) or back to the essay question.

This is a good order to use when you are new to writing academic essays - but as you get more accomplished you can adapt it as necessary. The important thing is to make sure all of these elements are present within the paragraph.

The sections below explain more about each of these elements.

The topic sentence (Point)

This should appear early in the paragraph and is often, but not always, the first sentence.  It should clearly state the main point that you are making in the paragraph. When you are planning essays, writing down a list of your topic sentences is an excellent way to check that your argument flows well from one point to the next.

This is the evidence that backs up your topic sentence. Why do you believe what you have written in your topic sentence? The evidence is usually paraphrased or quoted material from your reading . Depending on the nature of the assignment, it could also include:

• Your own data (in a research project for example).
• Personal experiences from practice (especially for Social Care, Health Sciences and Education).
• Personal experiences from learning (in a reflective essay for example).

Any evidence from external sources should, of course, be referenced.

Explanation (analysis)

This is the part of your paragraph where you explain to your reader why the evidence supports the point and why that point is relevant to your overall argument. It is where you answer the question 'So what?'. Tell the reader how the information in the paragraph helps you answer the question and how it leads to your conclusion. Your analysis should attempt to persuade the reader that your conclusion is the correct one.

These are the parts of your paragraphs that will get you the higher marks in any marking scheme.

Links are optional but it will help your argument flow if you include them. They are sentences that help the reader understand how the parts of your argument are connected . Most commonly they come at the end of the paragraph but they can be equally effective at the beginning of the next one. Sometimes a link is split between the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next (see the example paragraph below).

Paragraph structure video

Length of a paragraph

Academic paragraphs are usually between 200 and 300 words long (they vary more than this but it is a useful guide). The important thing is that they should be long enough to contain all the above material. Only move onto a new paragraph if you are making a new point. 

Many students make their paragraphs too short (because they are not including enough or any analysis) or too long (they are made up of several different points).

Example of an academic paragraph

Using storytelling in educational settings can enable educators to connect with their students because of inborn tendencies for humans to listen to stories.   Written languages have only existed for between 6,000 and 7,000 years (Daniels & Bright, 1995) before then, and continually ever since in many cultures, important lessons for life were passed on using the oral tradition of storytelling. These varied from simple informative tales, to help us learn how to find food or avoid danger, to more magical and miraculous stories designed to help us see how we can resolve conflict and find our place in society (Zipes, 2012). Oral storytelling traditions are still fundamental to native American culture and Rebecca Bishop, a native American public relations officer (quoted in Sorensen, 2012) believes that the physical act of storytelling is a special thing; children will automatically stop what they are doing and listen when a story is told. Professional communicators report that this continues to adulthood (Simmons, 2006; Stevenson, 2008).   This means that storytelling can be a powerful tool for connecting with students of all ages in a way that a list of bullet points in a PowerPoint presentation cannot. The emotional connection and innate, almost hardwired, need to listen when someone tells a story means that educators can teach memorable lessons in a uniquely engaging manner that is   common to all cultures. 

The cross-cultural element of storytelling can be seen when reading or listening to wisdom tales from around the world...

Key:   Topic sentence    Evidence (includes some analysis)    Analysis   Link (crosses into next paragraph)

• << Previous: Signposting
• Next: Using sources in your writing >>
• Last Updated: Aug 16, 2024 3:51 PM
• URL: https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/writing
• Login to LibApps
• Library websites Privacy Policy
• University of Hull privacy policy & cookies
• Website terms and conditions
• Accessibility
• Report a problem