Poem Essay
vanessabrazao
ParagraphOrganization1102.pdf
Paragraph Organization
A paragraph, like an essay, should have a beginning, middle, and end. A strong body paragraph
focuses on one main point and provides specific evidence and analysis to support that point.
Remember the mnemonic device SEAL:
S: Sub-topic (introduces central idea, may be in same sentence as the transition) E: Evidence (specific facts, quotations, or details) A: Analysis (what those facts, quotations, and details mean!) L: Link Sentence (a sentence that ties or links the paragraph to the thesis; how does this information support the paper’s main point?)
Example:
Kincaid hints that, despite the preponderance of the mother’s instructions, the girl is developing
a voice of her own. She interrupts her mother twice. After being accused of singing benna in
Sunday school, the girl attempts to defend herself: “but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and
never in Sunday school” (Kincaid 1). Though this line comes five lines after the original
accusation, which indicates the girl hesitates to contradict her domineering mother, she
nonetheless defends herself from false accusation. By using words such as “at all” and “never,”
the girl leaves little ambiguity in her defense and demonstrates independence from her mother.
Later, she questions her mother’s instructions: “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the
bread?” (Kincaid 1). The mother replies, “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be
the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?” (Kincaid 1). The mother is trying to
prepare her daughter to become a respectable housewife, the kind of woman a baker would trust
around his goods, but she is not teaching her to be independent or intelligent. The mother’s
instructions center around pleasing a man, whether that be her father, her future husband, or
the village baker. By resisting the mother’s script of gender norms, the girl demonstrates an identity of her own, beyond the expectations of family and society.
Identify the following:
S: Sub-topic E: Evidence A: Analysis L: Link Sentence
Breakdown:
Kincaid hints that, despite the preponderance of the mother’s instructions, the girl is developing
a voice of her own. She interrupts her mother twice. After being accused of singing benna in Sunday school, the girl attempts to defend herself: “but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and
never in Sunday school” (Kincaid 1). Though this line comes five lines after the original accusation, which indicates the girl hesitates to contradict her domineering mother, she
nonetheless defends herself from false accusation. By using words such as “at all” and “never,”
the girl leaves little ambiguity in her defense and demonstrates independence from her mother.
Later, she questions her mother’s instructions: “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the
bread?” (Kincaid 1). The mother replies, “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be
the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?” (Kincaid 1). The mother is trying to prepare her daughter to become a respectable housewife, the kind of woman a baker would trust
around his goods, but she is not teaching her to be independent or intelligent. The mother’s
instructions center around pleasing a man, whether that be her father, her future husband, or
the village baker. By resisting the mother’s script of gender norms, the girl demonstrates an identity of her own, beyond the expectations of family and society.
S: Sub-topic E: Evidence A: Analysis L: Link Sentence
A satisfied seal has well-organized paragraphs.
