What's a paragraph?

[Dimandja]

I have just finished writing documentation for an application. My overseer went through it with a fine comb, and adamantly wants me to rewrite some paragraphs. The reason? They consist of 1 sentence.

Why can't a single sentence constitute a paragraph? Also, one of those paragraphs only held one word: he went apoplectic over that one.

 

[SQLSister]

Paragraphs are used to describe one idea. Typically it is introduced in the topic sentence and follow-on sentences add additional detail. There is no reason whatsoever that a paragraph cannot consist of one sentence and I can find lots of literature examples of this. However many people were taught that they should have 2-3 sentences. Since he is your boss, do what he wants even if it is silly. Can you break any of your single sentence paragraphs down into multiple sentences?

Usually the problem is the that people put too much into a paragraph rather than the reverse.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[CajunCenturion]

I agree with SQLSister. Paragraphs can be a single sentence, but that sentence needs to function as both the topic and exposition. It may be, in some cases, that no exposition is required, but that requires assumption(s) about the knowledge level of the reader, which can be perfectly acceptable, such as assuming "common sense" (whatever that may be), but is still, nevertheless, an assumption.

As for a single word paragraph, that generally only makes sense in context because usually the subject of that sentence is implied, and can only be determined by context. It only works if it's aboslutely clear what is implied.

As said above, most people have problems by putting too much information in a paragraph by including irrelavent details, or off-topic information, which by the way, is known as paragraph sprawl.

Good Luck
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[columb]

CajunCenturion's third paragraph is a single sentence. Maybe that was the point. In my program specifications I often end up with single sentence paragraphs as I want each aspect of the specification to have its own, usually numbered, paragraph.

Columb Healy
Living with a seeker after the truth is infinitely preferable to living with one who thinks they've found it.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Good point, columb, but the one sentence is topical (too much information in a paragraph), expository (by providing a couple of examples), and concludes by defining the condition. Those are the three primary parts of a paragraph. However, if I worked for someone who had a problem with single sentence paragraphs, I could easily rewrite that sentence as follows:

As said above, most people have problems by putting too much information in a paragraph. Such inclusions often include adding irrelavent details and off-topic comments. This condition is known as paragraph sprawl.

In this example, the topic, the exposition, and the conclusion are in separate sentences.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Dimandja]

I find this one sentence fully informative in all it's nuances:

As said above, most people have problems by putting too much information in a paragraph by including irrelavent details, or off-topic information, which by the way, is known as paragraph sprawl.

By contrast, the following broken up paragraph reads exactly as broken up. Each subsequent sentence pretty much forces you to reread the preceding one. It loses its flow and seamlessness. (I highlighted the offending phrases). Reading it is like having a tooth pulled (Ok, not really ):

As said above, most people have problems by putting too much information in a paragraph. Such inclusions often include adding irrelavent details and off-topic comments. This condition is known as paragraph sprawl.

 

[columb]

I think what we have here is a classic example of someone, in this case Dimandja's overseer, taking a style guideline as a hard and fast rule. I suspect that the overseer was badly taught in school. Prose where the writer breaks every sentence into single paragraphs is as ugly as paragraph sprawl and increasingly common in e-mails. However the rule is not about the number of sentences but the content of the paragraph. As long as the paragraph is a complete idea it doesn't matter how many sentences it contains.

As to what Dimandja should tell his overseer, that's a different matter. We've all had to work for philistines and no-one likes their pet grammar rules being questioned. I'd bite the bullet. He who pays the piper call's the tune, however discordant!

Columb Healy
Living with a seeker after the truth is infinitely preferable to living with one who thinks they've found it.