English essay ( need by 3pm! text yes if can)
dajahrogers0114
RWCCh13TopicSentencesandParagraphs.pptxTopic Sentences and Paragraphs Read Write Connect Chapter 13
Thesis Review
What is a thesis?
The Thesis is the central, controlling idea in a piece of writing; it states the writer’s main point or purpose.
What are the characteristics of a good thesis? A thesis should…
be an arguable claim and not a fact.
be a statement and not a question.
address the question of the task or assignment.
use key words from the prompt.
not directly announce the thesis.
be a strong claim.
explain how the writing is organized.
What is a topic sentence and what do good topic sentences do?
A topic sentence is a sentence that states the main point of a paragraph.
Good topic sentences …
make one point that the paragraph will cover.
are the most general sentence of the paragraph.
are appropriately focused – not too broad or too narrow.
have a direct relationship to the thesis.
use key words (or synonyms of key words) from the thesis.
progress logically (chronologically, spatially, etc.).
are usually the first sentence in a paragraph but they can also be in the middle or the end of a paragraph.
Ready to practice finding some topic sentences? Let’s do practice it 13.1 Identifying Topic Sentences on pp. 275-276. Hint: Not all of the topic sentences will be the first sentence, and some may not even be whole sentences.
The Topic Sentence and the Thesis
Once you identify the topic sentences, you can see how they work together to link the thesis with the paragraph information to support the thesis.
Each topic sentence states the main point of the paragraph and clearly relates back to the thesis.
Each body paragraph explains, develops, or supports the topic sentence and the thesis.
Let’s look at the example from a student essay on murals on p. 277. How do the blue topic sentences related to the yellow thesis?
Now, let’s look at the two examples in practice it 13.2.
Do all of the topic sentences relate back to the thesis?
Writing Topic Sentences
To make good topic sentences, you need to know the points you want to make in the body of the essay. You can find these points in your prewriting and the rough thesis.
Let’s look at an example from the textbook on page 279.
The student starts by looking at his working thesis.
Then, the student writes a list of topics and ideas that support his thesis and picks the topics that he thinks will give his thesis the strongest support. (p. 280, top)
Next, he makes the strongest topics and changes them into topic sentences. (p. 280 bottom)
Once he has some rough topic sentences, he checks to see if each topic sentence follows the criteria from the beginning of the chapter, and if they do not, he revises them. (p.281)
Using the methods we have talked about, write a thesis on the a topic related to “Sports.” Then, do practice 13, writing a rough list of topics for your thesis and changing your strongest topics into good topic sentences which support your thesis.
Paragraphs
The purpose of each body paragraphs is to give information that proves the thesis is valid using a topic sentence with sufficient evidence to support the topic sentence and the thesis.
A well written paragraph has …
Purpose – a clear, arguable point is stated in the topic sentence.
Unity – all of the sentences relate to and address the main point, topic sentence, of the paragraph.
Development – the paragraph provides sufficient information and explanation to make the point that the topic sentence promises and also to support the thesis.
One way to understand how a good paragraph is written is by using the PIE Paragraph Structure.
PIE is an acronym for Point, Information, and Explanation/Elaboration. Each body paragraph should have one sentence for point, several sentences for information and several sentences for explanation/elaboration.
Point = your topic sentence
Information = evidence in the form of observations, facts, statistics, examples, anecdotes, quotes, etc.
Explanation/elaboration = analysis in the form of reasons why the information supports or explains the topic sentence and/or thesis, discussion of what the information means, and why the information is relevant and important.
Examples and Practicing the PIE paragraph structure
The PIE structure helps you to analyze each paragraph to see if the information and explanation are well balanced and to develop paragraphs where the topic sentence is not sufficiently supported.
Let’s look at Ruben’s Paragraph at the bottom of p. 283. The P is highlighted in yellow. The I is highlighted in blue, and the E is highlighted in green.
Now, let’s look at two student sample paragraphs, p. 284-285 Practice it 13.4, and label each sentence with P, I, or E.
If a classmate or your professor cannot find the topic sentence (i.e., s/he cannot tell you the main point) in a body paragraph or feels a topic sentence is weak, check the topic sentence criteria on p. 273 and review pp. 279-282.
If a classmate or your professor suggests a body paragraph needs more information, go back to your prewriting (or write some additional ideas) to see what evidence, examples, etc. that you found interesting but did not include in the paragraph. You can also use a variety of examples, facts, etc. to make your support stronger.
Let’s look at an example of a body paragraph that needs more information: Martha’s Paragraph on p. 286-287. How would you add information to make this paragraph better?
Example of Explanation/Elaboration (E)
In college writing, you are expected to explain or elaborate on information in paragraphs.
Review every piece of information in the paragraph and ask if each supports the point.
Ask why you included the information in the paragraph. The answer is the E.
We often think it is obvious how the information proves the point, but what is obvious to you, the writer, is not always obvious to the reader.
Let’s look at an example of a paragraph that needs more explanation: William’s Paragraph on p287. This paragraph makes perfect sense to him, but is it clear to you?
How would you add explanation to his paragraph?
Let’s compare your additions to William’s Revised Paragraph on p. 288
By actively looking for the topic sentence/main point, information, and explanation/elaboration, you can make your body paragraphs stronger and more effective.
One Last Suggestion
Another way to check whether body paragraphs are well developed, unified, and coherent is to turn each topic sentences into a question.
Based on the question, what do you expect the paragraph to discuss.
You may need to try a few different questions to see which question best fits the purpose of the paragraph.
Scan the paragraph to see if it adequately answers the question.
If it doesn’t, you probably need more information, explanation, and/or evidence.
What part(s) of the question did the paragraph not answer?
What additional information, explanation, or evidence would help answer the question?
Let’s practice using this technique to evaluate Jabal’s paragraph on p. 288.
How would you turn his topic sentence into one or more questions?
Does the paragraph answer the question we made from the topic sentence? Why/Why not?
What can we do to improve this paragraph?
A look ahead…
Next week, we are going to start prewriting, outlining, and writing our 2nd typed essay using the information we learned this week about thesis statements, topic sentences and main ideas that we learned this week.
