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THE READING-WRITING CONNECTION John Langan © 2013 Townsend Press

Longer Selections in Reading and Writing 11

Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 Reading Longer Selections Just as a paragraph has a main idea, a longer selection has a central point, also known as a central idea, or thesis.

Reading Longer Selections The longer selection might be an essay, a reading, or a section of a textbook chapter. As a reader, you can find a central point in the same way that you find a main idea— by identifying the topic (which is often suggested by the title of the selection) and then looking to see what idea is advanced about that topic, and what support is provided for that idea. Often the paragraphs within a longer reading will provide supporting details for the central point. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11

Writing Longer Selections and Essays As you know, a paragraph is a series of sentences about a main idea. An essay, on the other hand, is a series of paragraphs about a main idea. As mentioned earlier, the main idea in an essay is called the central idea or central point or thesis. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11

To see clearly the difference between a paragraph and an essay, look at the model paragraph and essay on pages 273–275 in the textbook. They were written by a student named Carla. She writes about bullies and bullying. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 Writing Longer Selections and Essays

The Parts of an Essay Each of these parts of an essay is explained in the slides that follow: —Introductory paragraph —Four Common Methods of Introduction —Supporting Paragraphs —Transitional Words and Sentences —Concluding Paragraph Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Introductory Paragraph Gain the reader’s interest by using one of several common methods of introduction. Present the thesis statement. The thesis statement expresses the central point of an essay, just as a topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph. A well-written introductory paragraph will normally do the following: Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Four Common Methods of Introduction Four common methods of introduction are: 1 Telling a brief story 2 Asking one or more questions 3 Shifting to the opposite 4 Going from the broad to the narrow Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

1 Telling a brief story An interesting story is hard for a reader to resist. In an introduction, the story should be no more than a few sentences, and it should relate meaningfully to the central idea. The story can be an experience of your own, of someone you know, or of someone you have read about. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

1 Telling a brief story Here is Carla’s introductory paragraph in the essay about bullying (page 274 in the textbook). It tells a brief story. Eric, a new boy at school, was shy and physically small. He quickly became a victim of bullies. Kids would wait after school, pull out his shirt, and punch and shove him around. He was called such names as “Mouse Boy” and “Jerk Boy.” When he sat down during lunch hour, others would leave his table. In gym games he was never thrown the ball, as if he didn’t exist. Then one day he came to school with a gun. When the police were called, he told them he just couldn’t take it anymore. Bullying had hurt him badly, just as it hurts so many other students. As Eric’s experience shows, there are three hateful forms of bullying in schools: physical, verbal, and social. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

2 Asking one or more questions These questions may be ones that you intend to answer in your essay. They may also indicate that your topic is relevant to readers—it is something they care about. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

2 Asking one or more questions If Carla had used this approach, her introductory paragraph might have looked like this: When you were a kid, were you ever pushed around by bigger children? Were you shoved aside in hallways or knocked out of your seat in classrooms? Were you ever called hurtful names like “fatso,” “worm,” “dogface,” or “retard”? Or were you coldly ignored by other students? Did they turn their backs on you, pretending you didn’t exist? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you were a victim of one of three forms of bullying: physical, verbal, or social. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

3 Shifting to the opposite Another way to gain the reader’s interest is to first present an idea that is the opposite of what will be written about. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

3 Shifting to the opposite Using this approach, Carla could have begun her essay on bullying like this: For many children, school is a happy experience. They like their teachers, they see their friends on a daily basis, and they feel comfortable and welcome. But for the victims of bullies, school is a nightmare. Every day they must face someone bigger or meaner than they are and endure humiliation in a variety of forms—physical, verbal, and social. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

4 Going from the broad to the narrow Broad, general observations can capture your reader’s interest; they can also introduce your general topic and provide helpful background information. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Four Common Methods of Introduction / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

/ Four Common Methods of Introduction 4 Going from the broad to the narrow If Carla had used this method of introduction, she might have written first about typical problems in growing up and then narrowed her focus down to one problem: bullying. Many unpleasant parts of growing up seem unavoidable. Pimples happen, voices crack, and students worry all the time about their looks and their changing bodies. In time, the pimples disappear, the voices deepen, and the worries recede. But one all-too-common aspect of growing up, bullying, can have lasting negative results. Young people should not have to put up with bullying in any of its forms—physical, verbal, or social. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Supporting Paragraphs The traditional school essay has three supporting paragraphs. But some essays will have two supporting paragraphs, and others will have four or more. Each supporting paragraph should have its own main idea (also called a topic sentence) stating the point to be developed in that paragraph. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

/ Supporting Paragraphs First of all, there is physical bullying. Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Carla’s essay on bullying (pages 274–275 in the textbook) states clear main ideas for each of her supporting paragraphs. As bad as verbal bullying is, perhaps the most painful type of bullying is social bullying. Topic sentence for Supporting Paragraph 1: Topic sentence for Supporting Paragraph 2: Topic sentence for Supporting Paragraph 3: Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Transitional Words and Sentences In a paragraph, transitional words like first, another, also, in addition, and finally are used to help connect supporting ideas. In an essay, transitional sentences are used to help tie the supporting paragraphs together. Such transitional sentences often occur at the beginning of a supporting paragraph. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Look again at the topic sentences for Carla’s first two supporting paragraphs. First of all, there is physical bullying. Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 1: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Transitional Words and Sentences / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

First of all, there is physical bullying. Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 1: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: Notice that the topic sentence for the second paragraph introduces a second type of bullying—verbal bullying. verbal bullying Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Transitional Words and Sentences / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

First of all, there is physical bullying. Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 1: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: Notice that the topic sentence for the second paragraph introduces a second type of bullying—verbal bullying. verbal bullying But it also refers to the topic of the first paragraph— physical bullying—making it a transitional sentence. physical attack physical bullying Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Transitional Words and Sentences / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Now look at the topic sentences for Carla’s second and third supporting paragraphs. Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 3: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: As bad as verbal bullying is, perhaps the most painful type of bullying is social bullying. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Transitional Words and Sentences / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

How is the topic sentence for supporting paragraph 3 a transitional sentence? Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 3: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: As bad as verbal bullying is, perhaps the most painful type of bullying is social bullying. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Transitional Words and Sentences / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

How is the topic sentence for supporting paragraph 3 a transitional sentence? Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 3: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: As bad as verbal bullying is, perhaps the most painful type of bullying is social bullying. The sentence for the third paragraph introduces a third type of bullying—social bullying. social bullying Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / Transitional Words and Sentences / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

/ Transitional Words and Sentences Perhaps even worse than physical attack is verbal bullying, which uses words, rather than hands or fists, as weapons. Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 3: Topic sentence for supporting paragraph 2: As bad as verbal bullying is, perhaps the most painful type of bullying is social bullying. The sentence for the third paragraph introduces a third type of bullying—social bullying. It also refers to the topic of the second paragraph—verbal bullying. This makes it a transitional sentence. social bullying verbal bullying Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Concluding Paragraph The concluding paragraph often summarizes the essay by briefly restating the thesis and, at times, the main supporting points. It may also provide a closing thought or two (which may include a recommendation) as a way of bringing the paper to a natural and graceful end. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays

Here is Carla’s concluding paragraph for her essay about bullying. Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, it can leave deep and lasting scars. If parents, teachers, and other adults were more aware of the types of bullying, they might help by stepping in before the situation becomes too extreme. If students were more aware of the terrible pain that bullying causes, they might think twice about being bullies themselves. Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays / Concluding Paragraph

Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, it can leave deep and lasting scars. If parents, teachers, and other adults were more aware of the types of bullying, they might help by stepping in before the situation becomes too extreme. If students were more aware of the terrible pain that bullying causes, they might think twice about being bullies themselves. Which sentence summarizes the essay? Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays / Concluding Paragraph

Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, it can leave deep and lasting scars. If parents, teachers, and other adults were more aware of the types of bullying, they might help by stepping in before the situation becomes too extreme. If students were more aware of the terrible pain that bullying causes, they might think twice about being bullies themselves. Which sentence summarizes the essay? Summary Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays / Concluding Paragraph

Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, it can leave deep and lasting scars. If parents, teachers, and other adults were more aware of the types of bullying, they might help by stepping in before the situation becomes too extreme. If students were more aware of the terrible pain that bullying causes, they might think twice about being bullies themselves. Which sentences provide closing thoughts? Summary Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays / Concluding Paragraph

Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, it can leave deep and lasting scars. If parents, teachers, and other adults were more aware of the types of bullying, they might help by stepping in before the situation becomes too extreme. If students were more aware of the terrible pain that bullying causes, they might think twice about being bullies themselves. Which sentences provide closing thoughts? Summary Closing Thought 1 Closing Thought 2 Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 / The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays / Concluding Paragraph

/ The Parts of an Essay Writing Longer Selections and Essays / Concluding Paragraph Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, it can leave deep and lasting scars. If parents, teachers, and other adults were more aware of the types of bullying, they might help by stepping in before the situation becomes too extreme. If students were more aware of the terrible pain that bullying causes, they might think twice about being bullies themselves. Summary Closing Thought 1 Closing Thought 2 Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11

Longer Selections in Reading and Writing–Summary — Just as a paragraph has a main idea, a longer selection has a central point, also known as a central idea, or thesis. Often the paragraphs within a longer reading will provide supporting details for the central point. — An essay is a series of paragraphs about a main idea. — The Parts of an Essay: Introductory Paragraph — Presents the thesis statement Four Common Methods of Introduction — Telling a brief story; asking questions; shifting to the opposite; going from the broad to the narrow Supporting Paragraphs — Two or more supporting paragraphs, each with its own main idea Transitional Sentences — Sentences that tie supporting paragraphs together Concluding Paragraph — Summarizes the essay; provides a closing thought or two Longer Selectiions in Reading and Writing 11 Reading Longer Selections Writing Longer Selections and Essays