Composing effective Paragraphs

1. Composing effective Paragraphs Introduction to the 12 Sentence Paragraph

2. Daily exercise • In your notebook, make a list of the things you believe define a good paragraph.

3. Introduction • As you remember from our previous introduction to 5-paragraph essays, the a paragraph is a group of sentences that work together to develop a unit of thought. • This presentation will particularly focus on how to create effective body paragraphs in a 12-sentence format.

4. Why? • 12-sentence paragraphs will now be the standard for all of your academic writing. By composing paragraphs that follow this outline, you will ensure that your paragraphs provide adequate support for your topic sentences, and ultimately for your thesis statement.

5. Characteristics of effective paragraphs • Unity: • Development: • Coherence: • Have you made clear connection between the main idea of the paragraph and the sentences that support the main idea. • Have you included detailed and sufficient support for the main idea? • Have you progressed smoothly and logically from one sentence to the next?

6. Creating Clear Connections Unity

7. Unity • A paragraph has unity when the connection between the main idea and its supporting sentences is clear. • Unity is ruined when any sentence in a paragraph “goes off the topic,” which means its content doesn’t relate to the main idea or to the other sentences in the paragraph.

8. How to create unity? • A topic sentence contains the main idea of a paragraph and controls its content. It should be placed at or near the beginning of the paragraph. • A topic sentence is your primary tool for creating unity in your paragraph, as each sentence should independently support this statement.

9. Providing Support for your Paragraph Development

10. How to develop a paragraph • A body paragraph’s purpose is to provide detailed support for the main idea of the paragraph (the topic sentence), and ultimately the thesis statement of your essay (in applicable cases). • BE CAREFUL not to simply restate your topic sentence in lieu of supplying support for your main idea. This is redundant. • What separates most good writing from bad is the writer’s ability to move back and forth between main ideas and specific details.

11. Use the Renns test • The RENNS Test: Checking for supporting details • R= Reasons provide support. • E= Examples provide support. • N= Names provide support. • N= Numbers provide support. • S= Senses provide support • In any body paragraph, these elements should be included to ensure that your support is clear, and that your paragraph demonstrates unified, supported development of your topic sentence.

12. Creating Smooth and Logical Transitions Coherence

13. Coherence • A paragraph has coherence when its sentences relate to each other. • This also applies to coherence in grammatical structure and in choice of words. • Are you music smart? Think of coherence in a paragraph in the same way you may think of coherence in the lyrics of your favorite song: the writer uses similar tone, words, and parallel structures to create a quality of smoothness. Each lyric relates to the last and to the next. • Are you body smart? Think of coherence in a paragraph in the same way you may think of connecting dance steps, or linking one stride to the next as you run.

14. transitional expressions=coherence • Your body paragraphs should use transitional expressions to create coherence. This means that one sentence naturally relates to the next, and therefore the use of phrases such as “also, in addition to, yet, however, similarly, hence, subsequently, in short…” • If you can logically use these expressions between your sentences, you can be assured that your sentences relate to one another and that your paragraph is coherent.

15. Arranging a Body paragraph • When you choose how to arrange your paragraph, you should order the paragraph’s sentences to communicate the message of the paragraph most clearly and effectively. • The way you choose to arrange your paragraph should consider the paragraph’s unity, development, and coherence. • There are several ways to do this: • By time • By location • From general to specific • From specific to general • From problem to solution

16. Designing Paragraphs Rhetorical strategies

17. Rhetorical strategies • Rhetorical strategies are techniques for presenting ideas clearly and effectively. Rhetorical strategies reflect patterns of thought long in use in our Western culture. Choose a specific rhetorical strategy according to what you want to accomplish. • Narrative • Description • Process • Examples • Definition • Analysis • Classification • Comparison and Contrast • Analogy • Cause-and-effect analysis.

18. Choosing a rhetorical strategy • Often, the topic of your essay will dictate your choice, as will your assignment. • For the purposes of writing in English and Literature, you will often use the strategies underlined on the previous slide: • Analyze • Use of Examples • Compare and Contrast • We will discuss these on the following slides

19. Analyze • Analysis divides things up into their parts. To analyze something, (a literary character, for example), you investigate and dissect the different elements of that subject. • A thorough analysis provides support and examples of the subject being analyzed.

20. Use of examples • The use of examples is a central way to develop a topic sentence. You simply present a statement or argument in your topic sentence and use thorough examples as your support.

21. Compare and Contrast • Use the compare and contrast technique to analyze a subject by relating two subjects to each other. Compare means to reveal similarities. Contrast means to reveal differences.