A paragraph is defined as "a collection of sentences on one topic, often identified by an indentation."

Notice that nothing in the definition says anything about how many sentences are required for a paragraph to be a paragraph. Your teacher may tell you, "Your paragraph needs such-and-such number of sentences," but this has to do with how much evidence, support, effort, and thought they want you to put into your writing, not with what makes a paragraph a paragraph. A paragraph is as long as it needs to be to do what you or your teacher needs it to do.

There are a few standard formats for stand-alone paragraphs; three will be introduced here. The ACE format and the RACES format are both typically used when writing about literature or when using texts. Science Writing is done when facts and figures are needed. Notice that these are similar the body paragraphs in a longer essay.

Jump to Examples of Stand-Alone Paragraphs

In the ACE format, you are going to ANSWER the question being asked, CITE the text evidence that supports your answer, and EXPLAIN what the text evidence shows in your own words.

Answer

• answer the question in a sentence

• use key words from the question

• this is your claim

Cite

• use evidence from the reading, text, film, video, etc. to support what you answered above

• if you are using an exact quote, introduce the quote and use quotation marks around the quote

• you might need to provide context for the quote, explaining what is happening in the moments around it

Explain

• in your own words, explain how the evidence connects to your answer

• answer the question "So what? Why does this matter?'

• Elaborate as needed

Sometimes, you might need to also tack on some Elaboration to further explain what you mean.

Here's an example:

Your teacher asked, "What primary character trait does the emperor demonstrate in the short story 'The Emperor's New Clothes'?"

Your ACE response would look something like this:

ANSWER: In the short story "The Emperor's New Clothes," the emperor's primary character trait is that of being gullible.

CITE: Despite never seeing a stitch of clothing that the con men make, he is led to believe that they are spinning the finest cloth made of gold. He doesn't want anyone to believe him to be a fool, so instead of admitting he can't see the cloth, he says, "I will never tell that I can't see the stuff" (2).

EXPLAIN: Like everyone else in the kingdom, he goes on believing that the cloth exists, when in reality he is naked.

Put it all together:

In the short story "The Emperor's New Clothes," the emperor's primary character trait is that of being gullible. Despite never seeing a stitch of clothing that the con men make, he is led to believe that they are spinning the finest cloth made of gold. He doesn't want anyone to believe him to be a fool, so instead of admitting he can't see the cloth, he says, "I will never tell that I can't see the stuff" (2). Like everyone else in the kingdom, he goes on believing that the cloth exists, when in reality he is naked.

This short slideshow gives an example of how to write an ACE format response.

Jump to Examples of Stand-Alone Paragraphs

In the RACES format, you are going to RESTATE the question, ANSWER the question, CITE the text evidence that supports your answer, EXPLAIN what the text evidence shows in your own words, and SUM IT ALL UP.

Restate

• use keywords to change the question into a statement

Answer

• answer the question

• this is your claim

Cite

• use evidence from the reading, text, film, video, etc. to support what you answered above

• if you are using an exact quote, introduce the quote and use quotation marks around the quote

Explain

• in your own words, explain how the evidence connects to your answer

• answer the question "So what? Why does this matter?'

• Elaborate as needed

Sum it up

• state why this matters, why we should care, what the outcome of the situation was, etc.

Here's an example:

Your teacher asked, "In the book Jackie and Me, how did Jackie Robinson demonstrate the trait of perseverance?"

Your ACE response would look something like this:

RESTATE: In the book Jackie and Me, Jackie Robinson demonstrated perseverance.

ANSWER: The best example is when he doesn't quit the baseball team despite the discrimination he faced.

CITE: According to the author, “At every game, he had to put up with abuse from the stands. But something inside him would not let him give up” (64).

EXPLAIN: This "something" is Jackie's perseverance.

SUM IT UP: By not giving up, Robinson was able break color barriers to become the first African-American to play major league baseball and became a role model to others.

Put it all together:

In the book Jackie and Me, Jackie Robinson demonstrated perseverance. The best example is when he doesn't quit the baseball team despite the discrimination he faced. According to the author, “At every game, he had to put up with abuse from the stands. But something inside him would not let him give up” (64). This "something" is Jackie's perseverance. By not giving up, Robinson was able to break color barriers to become the first African-American to play major league baseball and became a role model to others.

Jump to Examples of Stand-Alone Paragraphs

In Science Writing, you are going to write a CLAIM, provide EVIDENCE to back up that claim, and provide SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE to further back up the evidence.

Claim

Evidence

Science Knowledge

Here's an example:

Your teacher asked, " "

Your Science Writing response would look something like this:

CLAIM:

EVIDENCE:

SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE:

Put it all together: