ces is very important to good writing.
The following simple rules will be of great assistance in sentence
formation. They should be carefully learned and the pupil should be
drilled in them.

1. Let each sentence have one, and only one, principal subject of
thought. Avoid heterogeneous sentences.

2. The connection between different sentences must be kept up by adverbs
used as conjunctions, or by means of some other connecting words at the
beginning of the sentence.

3. The connection between two long sentences or paragraphs sometimes
requires a short intervening sentence showing the transition of thought.

_The Paragraph_

The proper construction of paragraphs is also of great importance. The
following rules will serve as guides for paragraphing. They should be
learned and the pupil should be drilled in their application.

1. A sentence which continues the topic of the sentence which precedes
it rather than introduces a new topic should never begin a paragraph.

2. Each paragraph should possess a single central topic to which all the
statements in the paragraph should relate. The introduction of a single
statement not so related to the central topic violates the unity.

3. A sentence or short passage may be detached from the paragraph to
which it properly belongs if the writer wishes particularly to emphasize
it.

4. For ease in reading, a passage which exceeds three hundred words in
length may be broken into two paragraphs, even though no new topic has
been developed.

5. Any digression from the central topic, or any change in the viewpoint
in considering the central topic, demands a new paragraph.

6. Coherence in a paragraph requires a natural and logical order of
development.

7. Smoothness of diction in a paragraph calls for the intelligent use of
proper connective words between closely related sentences. A common
fault, however, is the incorrect use of such words as _and_ or _but_
between sentences which are not closely related.

8. In developing the paragraph, emphasis is secured by a careful
consideration of the relative values of the ideas expressed, giving to
each idea space proportionate to its importance to the whole. This
secures the proper climax.

9. The paragraph, like the composition itself, should possess clearness,
unity, coherence, and emphasis. It is a group of related sentences
developing a central topic. Its length depends upon the length of the
composition and upon the