1. Body Paragraph
Please have out all your writing materials: white instruction page, yellow graphic organizer, selected text for comparison, mentor text

2. Topic Sentence
If this were your thesis/claim, here’s what your topic sentence might look like:
Thesis:
In her memoir, Janus Houston does follow the advice that William Zinsser gives in his article “How to Write a Memoir.”
Topic Sentence:
Throughout the memoir “Hungry Places,” Janus Houston follows Zinsser’s advice to use her “own voice, speak freely, and think small” (Zinsser, page 1).

3. Topic Sentence
If this were your thesis/claim, here’s what your topic sentence might look like:
Thesis:
In her memoir, Janus Houston follows only part of the advice that William Zinsser gives in his article “How to Write a Memoir.”
Topic Sentence:
In the memoir “Hungry Places,” Janus Houston follows Zinsser’s advice to use her “own voice” and “speak freely,” but she does not follow his recommendation to “think small” (Zinsser, page 1).

5. Write your own topic sentence on your essay template.
Throughout the memoir “Hungry Places,” Janus Houston follows Zinsser’s advice to use her “own voice, speak freely, and think small” (Zinsser, page 1). Or
In the memoir “Hungry Places,” Janus Houston follows Zinsser’s advice to use her “own voice” and “speak freely,” but she does not follow his recommendation to “think small” (Zinsser, page 1).

6. In the story “Thank You, Ma’am” Langston Hughes follows Zinsser’s advice to “think small” and “speak freely,” but he does not follow his recommendation to “own voice” (Zinsser, page 1).

7. Evidence and Reasoning
Now that you have written your topic sentence, find evidence in the memoir or in your notebook charts that supports your thesis and topic sentence.
Make sure you:
Select your strongest pieces of evidence in the form of
direct quotes (exact words from the text in quotes)
Cite your sources (author, paragraph number)
Explain your reasoning of how the evidence supports your claim. (so what?)

8. Your evidence and reasoning might look something like this:
There are many places in Houston’s story where she uses her “own voice” (Zinsser, page1). For example, Emma is constantly thinking about her mother coming home in the beginning of the memoir and she even cries out happily that “Mummy is home, mummy is home!” when her mother arrives (Houston, paragraph 12).
Reasoning 1:
It is clear that the emotion in the story rings true. This little girl
was jubilant even though she knew that she would go hungry
again that night. This is the author’s voice showing the joyful
emotions of that moment.

9. Begin finding evidence for your body paragraph and
writing that evidence and reasoning into your rough
draft template.
You will have Tuesday in class to finish your body
paragraph. We will move on to writing conclusions and
peer editing on Wednesday.
Typing second drafts will commence on Thursday!

10. Happy Tuesday, Lions!
Please be in your assigned seat with the following:
Notebooks
Group folders
Yellow template
White instructions
Pencil

11. Evidence 1 – own voice (don’t try to be a writer – be yourself)
Evidence 2 – speak freely
Evidence 3 – think small

12. Your evidence and reasoning might look something like this if your evidence does not meet the recommendations of Zinsser:
Evidence 1:
There are no places in Soto’s story where he uses his “own voice” (Zinsser, page1). For example, (insert evidence here)
Reasoning 1:
It is clear that although the story line comes through, it doesn’t come through in a manner that sounds like a typical seventh grader. Instead ….

13. Introducing the evidence
There are many places in Houston’s story where she uses her “own voice” (Zinsser, page1).
Gary Soto seems to follow Zinsser’s advice of “speak freely” to a great extent.
Clearly, Sandra Cisneros meets Zinsser’s recommendation of “think small” when she…