Organizing a Formal Paragraph English 9 Honors

Topic Sentence - Claim Your topic sentence needs to address the prompt. This is the main claim you are making. The prompt is the questions being asked of you. For example: Life during the Elizabethan Era is very different from today, but there are some similarities. Not so awesome: I’m going to tell you about life during the Elizabethan Era.

Supporting Sentences – Evidence and Reasoning These sentences should directly support your claim. Every idea ideally needs to be supported with an example (evidence) and some explanation (your reasoning). You will be making minor claims that support your main claim (topic sentence). For example: Punishment during this time period is extremely different from today. Criminals were often punished in extreme ways. For example, execution was common, with people being drawn and quartered for their crime. This is very different from today, where we may have executions, but they are more humane and are not for public entertainment.

Concluding Sentence Do not leave your audience hanging…wrap up your ideas in a final sentence. Come back to the prompt (question being asked) to ensure that you have answered the question. You may want to restate your topic sentence

MLA Formatting 1” margins Entire document double-spaced, zero point “after the line” Times New Roman – 11 or 12 point font Your last name and page number in the upper right header Heading with: Your Name Teacher’s Name Class Name Due date Month Year (23 September 2013) Title (not italicized, underlined, bolded, bigger, etc…) Indent paragraphs No extra spaces between paragraphs

Academic Writing Write in 3rd person – Do not use I, me or my Avoid contractions – spell everything out Keep a formal tone