Assignment Instructions This assignment is a take-home essay consisting of 3 questions, 2 pages total, to test knowledge and assimilation of the course objectives. Please exclusively use the course materials to support each answer. Please answer all thre

 the link h t t p : / / u w p . a a s . d u k e . e d u / w s t u d i o Paragraphing: The MEAL Plan Effective paragraphing is a central skill in academic writing. Many writers have been told a paragraph should contain a single idea; many have heard paragraphs have to be a minimum  length—three sentences, for instance. In reality, paragraphs come in different shapes and sizes, and some so­called “rules” may put writers in a straightjacket that unnecessarily hampers their ability to convey their ideas as needed in a particular piece of writing. Nevertheless, grasping the  general form of a paragraph provides a good foundation. Once you have this basic building block  at your command, you can vary from it by conscious choice when needed. One way to envision a body paragraph is as a “complete MEAL,” with the components being the  paragraph’s Main idea, Evidence, Analysis, and Link back to the larger claim. The Main Idea The main idea is the paragraph’s central thrust. In academic writing, that thrust is often  argumentative—a paragraph makes an assertion that’s part of the writer’s larger claim. Often the  main idea appears in the paragraph’s first sentence, where it is sometimes called the “topic sentence.” However, some paragraphs offer their main idea in the second, third, or last sentence;  some don’t have a single sentence that encapsulates the main idea. That said, your reader should  come away from each paragraph with a clear understanding of its main idea. He or she shouldn’t  have to stop and reread the paragraph, trying to figure out what it’s saying. It’s true that a paragraph should usually focus on a single idea—paragraphs are, after all, the bite­ sized chunks into which you break your argument so that your reader will be able to digest it  easily. But keep in mind that, to some degree, you can bring unity to a paragraph that seems to  contain two or three ideas by showing how those ideas really fit under the same umbrella. The way a paragraph conveys its claim, in other words, dictates whether your reader will see it as a coherent idea or as a hodge­podge of different points. Evidence and Analysis Evidence and analysis are a paragraph’s main course; they are what allow you to prove that your paragraph’s main idea is plausible. Your evidence could be information from journal articles  you’ve found in the library; it could be data from research or interviews you’ve conducted  yourself; it could be a quotation or paraphrase from a work of literature; it could be an image; it  could be a chain of logical reasoning you have developed; in some types of papers, it might be an  anecdote or personal experience. However, evidence shouldn’t be plopped down in a paragraph  and left to “speak for itself.” If you leave your evidence unexplained, your reader may interpret it  differently than you intended, and if that happens, your main idea doesn’t get the support it needs. Therefore your paragraph should carefully analyze the evidence it provides; it should, in other words, explain exactly how the evidence you’ve cited proves what you think it proves. Often a paragraph’s “E” and “A” are hard to separate: you might provide some evidence, analyze it, and  then provide more evidence and analysis. Sometimes individual sentences will contain both