For Tuesday, May 28th, you, my little freshmen, need to have completed your introductory paragraph and 1st body paragraph. We will be doing peer-editing during class on Tuesday--DO NOT BE UNPREPARED!
Now then, a word about your introductory paragraph: at this point, it should be polished and as perfect as you can make it. This means that the hook is interesting and is relevant to your claim statement, and your claim statement has been reworked to the point that it is clear, concise, and states exactly what you intend to write about.
As far as your body paragraph is concerned, recall that it must contain several elements:
- A topic sentence. This sentence is derived from your claim statement and clues me, the reader, into what I about to read in the paragraph. The topic sentence is located in the first few sentences of the paragraph.
- For example: Human beings are built physiologically to need the chemical dopamine, which is related to, among other things, feeling good and, interestingly enough, learning. Brownies, by the very nature of of its ingredients--namely chocolate--aids in the release of dopamine in the body.
- Notice how my topic sentence DOES NOT repeat my first piece of evidence in my claim statement (see previous blog post) verbatim. I have reworded my topic sentence, changed it up a bit, to convey the same meaning in a different way. No one wants to reread the same sentence over and over. Trust me. It's boring in every way.
- Evidence. You MUST back up everything you have to say with evidence from the text. Evidence includes direct quotes and indirect quotes, or paraphrasing. Evidence is vital to validating your argument.
- Commentary, which is your analysis, is your voice explaining your thoughts and line of reasoning (after all, this is an argumentative essay). Commentary is needed to explain quotes (why you are pointing something out from the text), and to bring the reader along with your thinking. Your argument is only as good as your ability to explain it and validate it with evidence.
- MAKE SURE YOU STICK WITH YOUR TOPIC. Do not go off on a tangent. Focus on your topic sentence and you will find your commentary will say what it needs to say.
- Warrants. You must explain why your evidence is relevant--why you are telling me, the reader, about it. Warrants are the unspoken laws or general rules that make up the human condition--the logic behind why we do what we do, or how we think.
- To help explain, I am going to give you a piece of evidence and its warrant. I am going to write it as if what I am writing is part of an argumentative essay. Hear I go: ...recall Arthur and Queenie. When we come onto the scene, Arthur is lying face up at the bottom of the stairs holding a drink glass. He is quite dead. A coffin nail could not be more dead than Arthur. Queenie, in a slight hysteria, claims Arthur fell down the stairs while going to refresh his drink; in so doing, he struck the back of his head, which killed him. However, as can clearly be seen, the evidence shows otherwise. Is Queenie really suggesting that Arthur fell down at least ten steps holding onto his glass as he went? Highly unlikely. Most people accept the fact that when falling down a flight of stairs, a person is going to let go of anything that is not of great importance in order to try and thwart the fall by grabbing a hold of something, like the bannister, or sticking out his/her hands to break the fall. Arthur, drunk or not, in all probability would not keep holding his glass as he fell--no matter how much he wanted another drink.
- Notice how I did not say, "As a rule, blah blah blah..." I incorporated the warrant as a natural part of my writing.
- A transition that leads into the next paragraph (which will the counterpoint paragraph).
You ALL can do write this paper! You are smart, articulate people who have the ability to convey your thoughts. I know. I have heard you. Spend the time that you need to do your very best. Refer to the rubric often to help in guiding your writing process.
See you Tuesday :)
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