Formula for the Perfect Paragraph

 Mini claim (topic sentence)  Elaboration of the mini claim  Link to text  Explanation of the link  Link to text a second time  Explanation of the second link  Closing statement

 Mini-claim or topic sentence: State the mini- claim (debatable point) that you will prove in your paragraph  If this is part of an essay it should tie back to your thesis  EX: “The Three Little Pigs” by nursery rhyme author James Orchard Halliwell Phillips reveals the importance of planning projects thoroughly to ensure our success in the future.

 Elaborate on your mini-claim: give your reader a more thorough definition with more details, explanation or context. Elaborate on why the reader should care about what you have to say.  EX: We should consider our resources so that we can make the best use of them, as well as avoid the variables that might throw us off track, so we can ensure our achievement of whatever we set out to do.

 Link your mini-claim to the text  Quote  Specific Detail  EX: As a consequence for building their houses out of straw and sticks, respectively, the first two pigs are eaten by the Big Bad Wolf. But when the wolf goes to the third pig’s house of bricks, “he huffed and he puffed but he could not blow down the brick house” (pg.6).

 Explain your first link to the text: How does this support prove your mini-claim?  EX: Thus, the third pig had planned for the worst, even going so far as to leave a kettle of boiling water under the chimney, into which the Wolf falls to his death. The third pig successfully survives the wolf’s invasion.

 Link your mini claim to the text again with:  Another important quote  Different specific details  Explain your second link to the text: How does this support and prove your mini-claim? How does it contribute to what you have said in the first “LE?”

 EX: At the end of the story, the third pig’s mother comes to congratulate her third pig son. She says, “You see, it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can” (pg. 16). The third pig is triumphant over the Big Bad Wolf when he plans the building of his house as well as he can, considering all resources and variables.

 Close your paragraph with a strong, final, restatement of your mini-claim.  Show your reader how your made your point (from the M)  Remind your reader why this point matters (from the first E) EX: The story of “The Three Little Pigs” reminds us we can achieve our goals when we plan and make good choices along the way. This is especially salient to young adults with dreams for where we want to go in the future: the more thoughtful our decisions, the better chance we have at realizing those dreams.