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Overview
These paragraphs serve two purposes: they give you a chance to compose your thoughts on the work, and they help you practice writing concise body paragraphs -- the basic component of the essays you'll be writing later this semester. Each of your paragraphs should work as an independent body paragraph: think of them as part of a larger essay on a particular aspect of the literary work.
Your focus for each of these paragraphs will vary. Usually, you'll copy out the topic sentence and use it as the first sentence in an argumentative paragraph. You should base your paragraphs on specific quotes from the text, and explain, in detail (and perhaps by making analogies/comparisons to "real life") how and why these quotes prove your point. Avoid summarizing the stories or just explaining what the quotes mean: your purpose is to make an argument.
When writing your paragraphs, the most important things to remember are planning, drafting, revision, and proofreading; in other words, the things you learned in your introductory writing course. Writing a good body paragraph will take more than one draft, but since they're short, you should have the time to complete them.
Length? About ½ to ¾ of a page. Additionally, since you will be citing from the individual works, you must include a works cited entry.
Suggestions
Remember that the core of literary writing is the use of quotes. My own planning typically starts off with a typed list of quotes from the story that I can use to support the points I'm making.
Parts of a Body ParagraphIncorporating Quotes
Three parts to setting up a quote
Student Example
Student's focus was on Puritan use of fear as control. The sentences below illustrate the three parts used to incorporate quotes noted above:
In "A Model of Christian Charity," Winthrop warns his community of the atrocities that will befall it should it fail to keep the covenant with God. If secular and ethereal pitfalls such as greed and the worshipping of "other gods" (216) cannot be avoided, the Church will suffer devastating and far reaching repercussions. He writes, "We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause prayers to be turned to curses upon us until we are consumed out of the good land" (216). So it is Winthrop's contention that not only will the town receive the wrath of God in heaven, but they will receive the wrath of the Puritan Church on earth, for they would be held responsible for the disgracing and moral downfall of the entire religion (a hefty weight for one community to bear).
Work Cited
Winthrop, John. "A Model of Christian Charity." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. A. Eds. Nina
Baym, et al. New York: Norton, 2003. 147-158. Print.
Breakdown of sentences:
Introduction to quote
In "A Model of Christian Charity," Winthrop warns his community of the atrocities that will befall it should it fail to keep the covenant with God. If secular and ethereal pitfalls such as greed and the worshipping of "other gods" (216) cannot be avoided, the Church will suffer devastating and far reaching repercussions. |
Note that the introduction to the quote is as long as the explanation. This is as it should be: it's your goal to prepare the reader to "read" the quote a certain way. Part of this preparation takes place before they even read the quote -- steer the reader's attention and thinking in the direction you want it to go so read they read the quote they'll say "yeah . . . she's right . . ." instead of "what's this doing here?".
Quote itself -- note quick "He writes" to set up quote
| He writes, "We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause prayers to be turned to curses upon us until we are consumed out of the good land" (216). |
Page number is included after the quote with not Page or pg. needed.
Explanation of quote
So it is Winthrop's contention that not only will the town receive the wrath of God in heaven, but they will receive the wrath of the Puritan Church on earth, for they would be held responsible for the disgracing and moral downfall of the entire religion (a hefty weight for one community to bear). |
This is where you clinch your argument. Help the reader see how the quote you chose makes your point valid. Work here on explaining how particular words or ideas in the quote support the argument in the paragraph.
More help? Try following the suggestions on the Body Paragraph Tips page.
Submission Requirements
Use the appropriate Canvas dropbox.
David Bordelon