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Body Paragraph Overview and Topics

Topic Listing

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.

That last sentence is so important it bears repeating: each body paragraph should be able to function as a body paragraph in an essay on the story/topic. Thus, you should think of the assignment as addressing two points – the larger point of the hypothetical essay, and the narrower point of your individual paragraph. If the point of your "essay" is that Candide could be read as a realistic novel, your paragraph should start with that basic premise, but then narrow it down to one specific aspect of the story.

Example? A topic sentence for the esssay above might read "The change in Candide's responses to adversity, while exaggerated, reflect the general pattern of pyschological growth of a bildungsroman." Another topic sentence would be "Many of the horrific events in the novel, while seemingly exaggerated, actually occured." In either case, your goal would be to write a paragraph that proves the individual points of these topic sentences. The essay itself becomes persuasive through its cumulative wight: readers see one reason for interpreting Candide as a realistic novel, then another, and another, and they become convinced your overall point is valid. These paragraphs provide practice in building an argument in this manner.

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.

Remember too that you will not be able to "say" all you want about the story in these paragraphs: they are meant to provide practice in the art of narrowing down and discussing a single aspect of a work in detail.

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.

Feel free to stop by the Writing Center to have someone review your paragraph before you submit it and to work with me as well.

Submission Requirements

You'll be copying and pasting the paragraph, along with the rest of the weekly work, into an email to me. Subject line should mention the assignment and course -- "Body Paragraph 1 ENGL 256."

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.

Topic Sentences for Body Paragraph

Below you'll find a listing of the body paragraphs. Due dates are listed in the syllabus

General Instructions
Copy and use one of the suggested sentences below as the first sentence (topic sentence) of a paragraph. Of course you'll be using quotes from the readings explaining in detail how the quote proves the argument you are making on religion. After planning, drafting, revising and proofreading paragraph, send it to me via email with number of the body paragraph in the subject line: ex - Body Paragraph #1.

Topic sentence for Body Paragraph #1
Choose one of the topic sentences below and then plan, draft, revise and proofread, and write a work cited entry for a single paragraph (two if needed) that proves it's validity.

While there's an implied thesis, you're not writing an essay: you're writing a single paragraph that would fit inside a larger essay. Because of this, there's no need to introduce the story -- it's understood that you've already "done" this earlier in the "essay."

Exaggeration is another way Voltaire satirizes the idea that we live in the “best of all possible worlds.”

Voltaire's embrace of Enlightenment ideals is also expressed by _______.

______ is another way the world of Candide connects to our world today. And in both cases, the result is ____.

Voltaire uses _____ (list a kind of humor -- and satire is too broad) to illustrate _______.

Another life lesson embedded in the novel lies in the concluding maxim to "cultivate our garden." This suggests that _______.

Another reason why the final admonition to "cultivate our garden" is a final satiric shot is _______.

_____ is another reason the novel is realistic.

Rosseau Confessions

Rosseau's status as a card carrying Romantic is also shown by Confessions's emphasis on _____.

______ is another way the world of Confessions connects to our world today. And in both cases, the result is ____.

Topic sentences for Body Paragraph #2
More to come.

Another way Tolstoy points out the futility/dangers of materialism is ________.

______ is another way Tolstoy points out the attractions/satisfaction/serenity of a spiritual life.

_____ is one way The Metamorphosis illustrates the tenets of Modernism.

Another way The Metamorphosis shows that Gregor's transformation mirrors his previous state is _______.

The Stranger's absurdity is also illustrated by _____.

____ is another game that Meursault refuses to play.

Harun also mirrors Meursault in/by/through/ _______.

______ is another way The Meursault Investgation can be read as a postcolonial work.