Kim Woods

Turn the Chart into a Paragarph

Using the Chart to Create a Paragraph

The chart is a tool to help you write a strong analysis body paragraph. Remember that analysis breaks down a subject and then reassembles it. Where most students go wrong in analysis is not breaking down enough and jumping straight into explanation. The chart helps remind you to include all the steps. Note that you don't always use the steps in order.

For example, read the following two paragraphs below that were written from the example chart. Notice how the topic sentence is usually part of the explanation. This makes sense because if you recall from ENG 100, the topic sentence states the paragraph's main point. Inferences and explanation usually come in the middle of the paragraph because they are both elements of support. And the paragraphs usually end with explanation because that is where we show why our support matters and proves our point. But writing is not an exact science, so don't worry if you follow the pattern perfectly, just make sure you have all of the parts. Below are two examples that show how the patterns are not always the same, but notice that each paragraph contains all three elements and that explanation usually comes at the beginning and end of the paragraphs.

Please use the chart you created in the last activity to write one body paragraph. If you can, please color code the observations, inferences, and explanation in your paragraph. You may use the colors in the example or those of your own choosing as long as you label them. Post your paragraph below.

Examples of Analysis Body Paragraphs:

Observation:

Inference:

Explanation:

The ad "Fine?" uses an "interview" style that creates characters who feel "realistic" and honest and lends credibility to their testimonials. The interviewees are filmed in black and white. The camera that films them is wobbly, as if hand held. The audio is scratchy and at a lower volume than the music. These film techniques help create the narrative in the ad that these interviews were conducted on the fly in the homes and towns of the interviewees. For example, one woman is filmed in an unidentified parking lot, as if the interviewer just found her there. Whether or not these actually are real people and their real plights is irrelevant, for the choices in how to present them were deliberate and well chosen to create a sense of realism in the ad. This realism enhances the ethos of the people and makes their testimonials more believable to the audience.

The interview style also helps add to the pathos of the stories. In the ad, a series of people list various hardships that they went through. One woman relates layoffs. A disheveled, unshaven man says, "All said and done, I'm making two hundred dollars a month." Another woman says, "I have been looking for work for two years and I haven't found any." These tales of sadness are highlighted by the fact that the testimonials are filmed in black and white. Black and white film is often used to convey a sense of sadness. Though the audio is grainy, the video is not. The subjects are filmed in close up so their facial expressions and tired visages are clear and heighten the pathos of their stories. The somber, yet worrying piano music is the final touch to heighten the sense of the sad stories and create an appeal to pathos.

· "Turn the Chart into a Paragraph."