Discussion Post Suggestions

Well focused paragraphs lie at the center of academic writing.

Your discussion posts should consist of well focused paragraphs.  Below you'll find some suggestions (from my on campus course site) on how to plan and draft body paragraphs.

Quick Tips | Sample Paragraph

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 Paragraph

Quick Tips for Body Paragraphs

  • Make a list of quotes to use for evidence
  • Define any ideas in topic sentence
  • Provide context to set up quotes
  • Explain how quote is connected to the topic sentence -- focus on the language used (connotation of specific words, symbolism of imagery, tone [sarcasm, irony, humor, etc.], etc.)
    Try using a verb from the following list to shift into argument (see Verb List page for sample sentences using these words)

    agree argue
    believe charge
    claim
    comment conclude consider

    criticize declare
    describe define
    discover
    emphasize explain
    feels

    illustrate imply indicate
    reinforce
    reveals
    shows
    suggests
    supports

    Sample sentences might follow these patterns

This ____ suggests that _______
They indicate the ____
This emphasis on finding ______ suggests that
Supporting this idea of the sea as female, the narrator adds _______
The description reinforces the idea that ______

  • Repeat focus/argument word from topic sentence within your paragraph to keep readers, uh, focused on your argument(this is an important point that writers often neglect)
  • Revise by deletion: take out whatever doesn't fit with argument
  • Revise by addition: explain how a particular word makes your point; use an analogy to make your argument clearer
  • Proofread! (commas, basics done - double space lines, cite properly, include question, etc.)

Follow these steps, bake at 350° for 2 hours (or however long it takes you work on the paragraph) and viola' a completed body paragraph, suitable for company.

Incorporating Quotes

Three parts to setting up a quote

  1. introduce quote and provide context so reader can understand why you're using it -- state the "who said it" and "where/when" of the quote (a word from the verb list above can really help);
  2. "insert quote and" (citation);
  3. explain how/why quote proves your point -- focus on individual words or actions: repetition helps.
It takes planning and revision to get the swirl of ideas

Example:

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck's reaction towards his father kidnapping him is another way the novel rejects domesticity.. Although Miss Watson and the widow try their best to raise Huck in a quality environment by providing him with clean clothes, a warm bed, and an education, Huck demonstrates how their efforts go unappreciated when his father kidnaps and takes him into the woods.<<<NICE SET UP Here, Huck describes his time in the woods as "lazy and jolly" (122) and is delighted in the fact that he didn’t have to "wash", "eat on a plate",<<<COMMAS GO INSIDE THE QUOTES or "go to bed and get up at regular"(122) as he did when he was living in a more civilized environment. Instead of missing the comforts of his old<<"CITIFIED"? lifestyle<<<COMMA he embraces the wilderness and does not want to go back to his old house to be "camped up and sivilized"(123). This shows that Huck does not want to be domesticated and is willing to stay in unfavorable circumstances with his father, even at risk of being beat with "the cowhide"(121), to do so. Therefore, by having the main character demonstrate a strong desire to be uncivilized and undomesticated proves that the novel rejects domesticity and allows the reader to see this as well.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Nina Baym, et al., W.W. Norton & Company, 2007, pp. 108-294. 

Breakdown of sentences:

•  A main point stated in one sentence: make it an argument/statement that needs to be backed up -- the topic sentence

Another rung on the ladder of respectability in Ragged is education.

•  An definition/explanation of any general words in your main point. In this case, what do you mean by a "education"? What kind of education?

Dick doesn't lack intelligence: his ready wit and cool headedness illustrates his "street smarts." The education he needs is found in the "book smarts" that are essential to rising up in society.

• Examples or details that support your point (use descriptions of characters or setting, quotes from the literary work, commentary by literary critics, etc.). Remember that instead of just sticking in a quote, you need to provide a context so the reader can understand -- even before they read the quote -- its purpose in the paragraph.

Alger makes the connection between education and success clear through the advice of Mr. Whitney. The epitome of the American ideal of "the self-made man," he tells Dick "in order to succeed well, you must manage to get as good an education as you can. Until you do, you cannot get a position in an office or counting-room, even to run errands" (36).

•  The reader cannot read your mind: after each quote, you have to tell him or her exactly what you want it to prove/show. Ask the following question in your head "how does this example prove my point?" and "why is this quote important in this paragraph?" and then it answer in your essay. This is where you prove your argument. As a sentence starter, try "This" or a restatement of your example

Mr. Whitney makes it clear that even entry level positions in "respectable" white collar occupations require schooling, which Dick currently lacks. The rewards of pursuing an education are exemplified by Mr. Whitney himself; he informs Dick that he too was once poor, but rose up the ladder of success because of his "taste for reading and study" (49), two activities that are intimately tied to education.

•  A sentence or two to sum up.

While money is necessary to move up in the world, Alger is intent on showing that if you stack up enough books, you can reach rather high.

Submission Requirements

You'll be copying and pasting the paragraph, along with the rest of the weekly work, into an email to me. Follow instructions for what to include in the subject line.

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.