Length of Paragraphs
No rules are carved in stone tablets dictating how long a paragraph should be. However, for argumentative essays, a good rule of thumb is that, if your paragraph is shorter than five or six good, substantial sentences, then you should reexamine it to make sure that you've developed the ideas fully. Do not look at that rule of thumb, however, as hard and fast. It is simply a general guideline that may not fit some paragraphs. A paragraph should be long enough to do justice to the main idea of the paragraph. Sometimes a paragraph may be short; sometimes it will be long. On the other hand, if your paragraph runs on to a page or longer, you should probably reexamine its coherence to make sure that you are sticking to only one main topic. Perhaps you can find subtopics that merit their own paragraphs. Think more about the unity, coherence, and development of a paragraph than the basic length. If you are worried that a paragraph is too short, then it probably lacks sufficient development. If you are worried that a paragraph is too long, then you may have rambled on to topics other than the one stated in your topic sentence.
