If you find the sentence difficult to read, or if you would be embarrassed to be caught speaking such a sentence to another human being, rewrite the sentence immediately. A vacuous opening sentence earns -8. Papers should begin with a vivid, direct, complex, precise assertion, from which the rest of the essay flows inexorably. Under no circumstances should an opening sentence contain a passive or impersonal construction. A paragraph rarely consists of one sentence.
Most paragraphs contain at least three sentences.
On the other hand, paragraphs longer than one page are not likely to be paragraphs. Truth is in detail. Only assertions supported by specific, significant detail are acceptable. Make no generalizations that cannot be supported by referring to specific passages, phrases, words, in the texts you are discussing. A paragraph consisting entirely of unsupported assertions earns -10. 5.