SEMINAR 3 Writing a strong paragraph

Unit 3 Project—An Overview  Choose an historical figure who showed courage in “crossing the threshold.”  Be creative! Try to choose someone others might not think of right away. This an opportunity to share your knowledge of a threshold-crossing hero who is important to you in particular and to the world in general.

Unit 3 Project  This assignment is a paragraph (it should be 1 paragraph only).  For this assignment, aim for about 300 words, double-spaced and in 12-point Times New Roman font

In the paragraph, cover the following:  Provide a definition of courage and what it means in your own words to cross the threshold.  Identify an historical figure who is an example of courage. Explain how he or she embodies your definition of courage. Use specific examples and details to illustrate your point.  Identify what thresholds he or she had to cross. Explain how this person overcame adversity with specific examples and details to illustrate your point.  Finally, in one sentence, summarize the main idea of your response.

What is a paragraph?  Let’s hear some ideas from you on what a paragraph is.

What is a paragraph?  The paragraph is a group of unified sentences that are 4-7 sentences long and generally express one main idea.  paragraph is a collection of sentences which all relate to one main idea or topic. Effective paragraphs have four main characteristics: a topic sentence, unity, coherence, and adequate development.

Topic Sentence  Beginning a paragraph with a topic sentence is one of the best ways to achieve clarity and unity in one's writing. The function of a topic sentence is to describe what the paragraph will be about, such that the reader has clear expectations about what will follow. An effective topic sentence typically contains only one main idea.

Unity  Unity refers to the extent to which all of the ideas contained within a given paragraph "hang together" in a way that is easy for the reader to understand. When the writer changes to a new idea -- one which is not consistent with the topic sentence of the paragraph -- the writer should begin a new paragraph.

Coherence  Coherence refers to the extent to which the flow of ideas in a paragraph is easily understood by the reader. For this reason, coherence is closely related to unity.

Adequate Development  A paragraph is adequately developed when it describes, explains and supports the topic sentence.

Organization  Where do you usually find the topic sentence?  Consider transitions between sentences and between paragraphs. What are transitions? What role do they play within a paragraph?  How should we conclude a paragraph?

An Exercise in Paragraphing  Let’s build a paragraph together!  Some possible topics: contemporary slang Facebook friendships Twitter the most useful (or useless) invention online college courses best or worst job (real or imagined)

Prewriting Strategies  Why is prewriting necessary?

Prewriting Strategies  Prewriting is necessary to overcome writer’s block. What is writer’s block?

Why we use prewriting  We use prewriting to overcome writer’s block and to generate ideas. Writing is a process and involves several steps. The first step is prewriting.

Some prewriting strategies  What prewriting strategies have you read about and attempted?  Let us talk a little about each of them  Freewriting  Listing  Questioning  Clustering

Now let us practice using some of them  How do we use freewriting?  What is listing and how can it be used?  Clustering?  How can we use questioning?

Any questions?  Questions about the material we have discussed today  Questions concerning the Unit 3 Assignment and discussion question this week  The criteria for the Unit 3 assignment