WRITING BODY PARAGRAPHS Advanced English 6 Mrs. Hampton

SO, WHAT DO I DO?  If you have written a thesis and an introduction, what comes next? Body paragraphs!  Body paragraphs are the meat of the sandwich  Next to the thesis they are the most important because they give your evidence DETAIL  They also prove your point through talking about why your points matter

WHEN DO I MAKE THEM?  You make them after a thesis is written  You make them after an introduction is written  You make them after you lay out your boxes and bullets  You make them BEFORE conclusion

WHAT DOES A BODY PARAGRAPH LOOK LIKE? 11st sentence: topic sentence that relates back to thesis 22nd sentence-4 sentence: support sentences (at least one of these is a quote taken directly from the book) 55th sentence: transition-leads to next sentence (also prompts)

HOLD ON, A PROMPT?  Turn to the prompt page/template page in your literary essay folder  If you have not already chosen yours, read through and choose the top 3 you like  Mark those choices now  Look at how to introduce/explain quotations as well.

HOW MANY BODY PARAGRAPHS ARE THERE?  There are 3  Each one has the same 5 sentence set up  This means you write a total of 5 sentences for the middle of your essay

HOW DO I MAKE A TOPIC SENTENCE?  Simply state one of the reasons for your thesis  The land was important to the Logans in the text because it united their family together in an effort to live, they had to fight to keep their land from the white landowners, and it stood for a metaphor for hope despite difficult times.  Example: The land demonstrates its importance through serving as a metaphor for hope despite difficult times.

FIRST COMES TOPIC SENTENCE, NEXT COMES CONNECTING SENTENCES  The land demonstrates its importance through serving as a metaphor for hope despite difficult times. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ends with Cassie reflecting on the land, “I always knew it would be a part of me” (276). Cassie shows that through the hardships and racial oppression in the book that a person can still overcome and hope to be better. This was a vital part of the text that could not have happened unless Mildred Taylor connected the land to the families values.  Ok, so there are 4 sentences here.

STOP! DO NOT PLOP THAT QUOTATION!  What do I mean by plop? Do not just put a quotation in your writing that does not make sense.  Go to the Template page Introducing/Explaining a quotation section of your packet  Let’s check out an example

EXAMPLE FROM THE PARAGRAPH  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ends with Cassie reflecting on the land, “I always knew it would be a part of me” (276).  Breakdown:  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ends with Cassie reflecting on the land, “I always knew it would be a part of me” (276).  Without the lead in, the reader would be confused with “it was a part of her”

WHAT ABOUT THAT PESKY SENTENCE #5? The fifth sentence is a transition sentence. You can use the prompt page in order to get some ideas. Thesis reminder:The land was important to the Logans in the text because it united their family together in an effort to live, they had to fight to keep their land from the white landowners, and it stood for a metaphor for hope despite difficult times. We already talked about the metaphor for hope, we need to talk about how it united their family together. So…

The final result is…  The land demonstrates its importance through serving as a metaphor for hope despite difficult times. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ends with Cassie reflecting on the land, “I always knew it would be a part of me” (276). Cassie shows that through the hardships and racial oppression in the book that a person can still overcome and hope to be better. This was a vital part of the text that could not have happened unless Mildred Taylor connected the land to the families values. In the effort to keep hope alive, the Logan family was united together to fight against the white landowners.  Next Paragraph Starts: When Papa set the cotton on fire was one example of how the Logan family came together to save TJ and remain safe.  The last sentence TRANSITIONS into the next paragraph. The next paragraph will talk about how the Logans are united.

All of these lead to…

A ROUGH DRAFT!  Use your boxes and bullets to help outline your rough draft.  Make sure you complete your boxes and bullets FIRST.  Type 3:  1. 3 Paragraph indent (5 points)  2. For each Paragraph: Topic Sentence+Evidence+Transition (15 points)  3. Third Person Only (10/-2 points)  TOTAL: 30 POINTS