Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

What, Why, and How?

9

PARAGRAPHS

Definition and rationale
PIE paragraphs
Creating Paragraphs Using the PIE Paragraph Approach
Peer Response for PIE Paragraphs
Topic sentences
Transitions

WHAT ARE PARAGRAPHS?
Paragraphs group related sentences around one main point, so the paragraphs can work
together to prove the larger argument (the thesis) in an essay
...


WHAT KINDS OF PARAGRAPHS ARE THERE?
In an essay, you’ll have the following types of paragraphs:


Introductions capture your reader’s interest, establish a context for your topic, and smoothly
lead your reader into your topic and thesis
...




Body paragraphs develop each of the main points and sub-points needed for your thesis to
be credible
...
You will read
more about them in this chapter
...
You can read more about them in Chapter 8: Conclusions (227-231)
...


WHY USE PARAGRAPHS?
●

RELEVANCY: Paragraphs help your reader to follow the logic of the essay and clearly see
how each of your body paragraphs is related to your thesis
...

● ORGANIZATION: Along with transitions and topic sentences, paragraph breaks help your
reader understand you are moving on to a new point or aspect of your essay
...

 VOICE: Paragraphs are a place where you get to say what you think and prove why you’re
right
...


I = Information
The “I” fills out the body of your
paragraph with concrete
evidence that supports the main
claim
...


Another way to look at it:
Tell me what your main

Show me, with evidence

“So what?”

point is
...


Help me understand so what is the
significance of the information
...

Write this point out as a
sentence and this will be
your topic sentence
...

After you write the
paragraph, look again at
your topic sentence to be
sure that it “fits” the
paragraph
...

Examine some consequences,
results, implications,
ramifications of the information
you just gave your audience
...

Clarify any ambiguous ideas or
information
...

Relate the information explicitly
to your thesis
...
Malcolm X in his autobiography tells us that
when he went to prison, he could hardly read or write
...
He said to copy just the
first page alone took an entire day
...
Malcolm X carried on until he copied the entire dictionary cover to
cover
...
The dedication to his
own education and how he strengthened his own intelligence and abilities through sheer
force of will is impressive but unfortunately is the exception rather than the norm
...
Twenge states: “They are less likely to work hard today to get a reward
tomorrow—an especially important skill these days, when many good jobs require
graduate degrees” (157)
...
With a lack of education we won’t be strong critical
thinkers so will be easily taken in by people who want to exploit us for profit like
advertisers and corporate America
...


Of course, PIE paragraphs don’t always need to look exactly like this; while you
want to start a paragraph with your main Point, you might alternate between
Information and Explanation, so that your paragraph could look like this:
P I  E  I  E
...


P

I

E

First, select a topic:
immigration
rap music
legalizing all drugs

P oint

the president
the health care system
the minimum wage

reality shows
police profiling
a topic raised in your
current class reading

Second, using the topic you selected, write a topic sentence that states the main
claim (your specific opinion) that you want to argue that fits the size of the paragraph:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Third, brainstorm concrete evidence/information you can use to prove your main claim:

I nformation

Fourth, analyze and explain the significance, importance or impact of your evidence and claims:

E xplanation

Finally, using all the advice in this chapter, put it all together into a complete paragraph
...
Based on this sentence alone, what do you
predict this paragraph will have to say about the topic? What is the writer’s point?
Is it arguable? Is the main point narrow enough to be proven in one paragraph?

________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

I

nformation

Now, read through the entire paragraph once and jot down what you think
the main point of the paragraph seems to be
...


WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF A TOPIC SENTENCE?
The main point (claim) of a paragraph is often indicated in a single sentence called the topic
sentence
...

While it is true that in published writing you’ll sometimes find topic sentences in the middle or even at
the end of a paragraph, placing your topic sentences at the beginning of each of your paragraphs is
useful because:


A strong topic sentence can help you, the writer, to focus each paragraph on one main point
...


WHY USE TOPIC SENTENCES?
A strong topic sentence connects back to your overall thesis and connects forward to the specific
supporting point you are making in the paragraph to prove and illustrate your thesis and this makes
the paragraph focused and unified
...
Your reader is
left wondering, “What is the point
of this paragraph? What is the
writer trying to prove with this
piece of information?”

 Like a thesis statement, it sets up
the controlling idea of the
paragraph, clearly indicating the
point or claim the writer will
illustrate, describe, explain, analyze
in the body of the paragraph

 Does not seem clearly related to
your thesis

 Helps your reader see how this
paragraph relates to and
advances/supports your thesis

SOME GUIDELINES FOR WRITING STRONG TOPIC SENTENCES:

A topic sentence must predict or promise what follows, so it cannot be a question
...

Weak: Should schools provide free computers for their students?
Strong: Schools must provide free computers for their students to assist them in their studies and
prepare them for their future careers
...
Your
writing is always your opinion, so you don’t need these phrases unless they are central to the
idea that you are trying to convey
...

Strong: As violent criminals take over the city streets, women must carry pepper spray to protect
themselves
...

Weak: Historians record only dry statistics; we should read novels
...


A topic sentence needs to be clear and specific, so that it can predict and summarize the rest
of the paragraph for the reader
...

Strong: Incapable of providing reliable, comfortable service, the San Francisco Municipal Transit
System is failing its ridership
...
Read them carefully and then choose the best
topic sentence among the four choices below
...


Paragraph 1:
_________________________________________________________________________________________
...
Like weightlifters, football players
consume too much protein, expecting it to produce additional muscle energy
...
Nutritionists point out that muscle cells grow not from excess protein but from
exercise: when a muscle is used, it pulls in protein for its consumption
...
If athletes want to increase their muscle mass, then they must exercise in addition to following a
well-balanced, normal diet
...
Many athletes have false ideas regarding proper nutrition
...
My brother, a weightlifter, is an example of someone who consumes a lot of protein because he thinks it
will make him bulky
...
Many athletes falsely believe that protein improves athletic performance by increasing muscle mass
...
The public is often confused by the seemingly conflicting advice nutritionists give us about our health
...

Lately parents and critics across the country have been making a bigger fuss about the number and content of
commercials aimed at children, and it seems as though the media has become a scapegoat for adults who have
set questionable health guidelines for their children
...
Recent
studies from the Institute of Medicine found that the easiest and most reliable measure of understanding a
child’s health and diet is to look at the health and diet of the parents
...
Even if advertisements became restricted or
more limited, if parents do not enforce healthy diets or teach nutrition, the children will have learned nothing
...
Muris of The Wall Street Journal realizes that without addressing the issues of parental control, the
ban on child food advertisements are “appealing on the surface, but ultimately useless
...
Despite increasing rates of childhood obesity, we should not ban junk food ads aimed at children
...
According to Andrew Martin of the Chicago Tribune, “… the rates of obesity among 6 to 11-year-olds more
than tripling during the last three decades, doubling for children ages 2 to 5 and increasing even more for
adolescents 12 to 19 years old
...
The staggering figures regarding childhood obesity alone are alarming enough to generate a stir
...
Although junk food advertisements are being blamed for children’s poor dietary habits, regulating these ads
would not address the real source of the problem: lack of parental guidance
...
Similarly, Henry Ford, the father of the auto industry, had
trouble in school with both reading and writing
...
Einstein's high school record was poor in everything but math, and he failed his college
entrance exams the first time
...


2) Eating disorders afflict as many as ten million women and one million men in the Unites States
...
These images leave an indelible mental imprint of what society
believes a female body should look like
...
”

3) From Deborah Blum’s “What’s the Difference between Boys and Girls?”
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Boys tend to gather in large, competitive groups
...
Girls, early on, gather in small groups, playing theatrical games
that don’t feature hierarchy or winners
...


WHAT ARE TRANSITIONS?
Transitional words can signal levels of importance, connections, and the direction of thoughts
...
On the other hand, "however" signals a change of thought,
so brace yourself for a negative remark
...
Such words are transitions and
lead readers to anticipate the direction of a writer's thoughts
...


In short, transitions…


are phrases or words used to connect one idea to the next
...




show the relationship within a paragraph (or within a sentence) between the main idea and the
support the author gives for those ideas
...
We all think differently, so it is
helpful to use transitions to signal the direction of your thoughts
...


HOW CAN I BEST USE TRANSITIONS?
Being familiar with different transitions and the logical direction each signals is the first step in using them
effectively in your writing
...

(2) I didn’t finish my homework, I’m behind in the reading, and I didn’t study for the exam today;
____________________ I think I’m going to fail the class and have to take it again
...

(4) Today, college women are finding many acceptable alternatives to the "graduate and get married" pattern of the
past
...

(5) She had acquired some bad habits over the years of impatience and procrastination; ______________________
she started smoking and stopped working out
...

You don't need to change the sequence of sentences:
Obstetricians perform too many cesareans
...
They can avoid
sleepless nights and canceled parties
...
Cesareans involve larger fees and hospital bills than normal deliveries
...


The National Institutes of Health confirmed that doctors were performing many unnecessary cesarean sections
...
The recommendation was widely publicized
...
In 1985, the operation was performed in 16
...
In
1992, 24
...


TRANSITIONS COME IN PHRASES TOO:
Transitions can be in the form of words like however, furthermore, meanwhile but they can also come in the
form of phrases like: Not only x, but also y and If x, then y
...

Here are some examples of transitional phrases:

PRACTICE

IDENTIFYING TRANSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES:

Using one of the body paragraphs from the essay on Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass, underline all the transitional words AND the transitional
phrases:

After secretly learning to read and write on his own, Douglass discovered that freeing
his mind led to anguished torment as he was unable to free himself from the entrenched
institutions of slavery but change was set in motion
...

Once Douglass’s eyes were opened, he invariably suffered: “… I would at times feel that
learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing
...
It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon
which to get out
...
So
is ignorance bliss? The answer for us to live in a fair and decent world has to be no, never
...
Not knowing the factors and people who shape your life, enables those in power
to act in their own self-interest and have no accountability when doing so
...
After Douglass understood the
evils of slavery, he suffered initially and even entertained thoughts of suicide, but later he
escaped to the north and became an influential leader in the abolitionist movement and spent the
remainder of his life fighting for the equality and rights of blacks as well as women
...
Many athletes falsely believe that protein improves athletic performance by increasing muscle mass
...
Although junk food advertisements are being blamed for children’s poor dietary habits, regulating these ads
would not address the real source of the problem: lack of parental guidance
...

2) On eating disorders:
The images of beauty we are surrounded by are unrealistic and impossible to attain and make many women feel
unattractive and deeply unhappy with themselves
...


INSERTING APPROPRIATE TRANSITIONAL WORDS:

ANSWERS

Possible answers:
(1) Many people think that heavy fishing of a lake will eventually cause a serious depletion of the stock of fish;
HOWEVER (contrast) in a lake with a limited food supply, heavy fishing often increases the fish supply
...

(3) The torrential rains in the Los Angeles area were highly destructive to the economy; EVEN THOUGH
(concession) the rains brought much needed water to the farmers, the destruction to property and crops was
enormous
...
Many women FOR EXAMPLE (illustration) are pursuing graduate degrees or joining the military
...


MAKING PARAGRAPHS COHESIVE AND LOGICAL USING TRANSITIONS:
Possible answers:
Obstetricians perform too many cesareans, SO they can schedule deliveries for their own convenience, AND they
can avoid sleepless nights and canceled parties
...
MOREOVER, cesareans involve larger fees and hospital
bills than normal deliveries BECAUSE cesarean patients spend about twice as many days in the hospital as other
mothers
...
The recommendation was widely
publicized; NEVERTHELESS, the obstetricians apparently failed to take note
...
5 percent of United States' births, YET in 1992, 24
...


ANSWERS

IDENTIFYING TRANSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES:
Using one of the body paragraphs from the essay on Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass, underline all the transitional words AND the transitional
phrases:

After secretly learning to read and write on his own, Douglass discovered that freeing
his mind led to anguished torment as he was unable to free himself from the entrenched
institutions of slavery but change was set in motion
...

Once Douglass’s eyes were opened, he invariably suffered: “… I would at times feel that
learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing
...
It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon
which to get out
...
So
is ignorance bliss? The answer for us to live in a fair and decent world has to be no, never
...
Not knowing the factors and people who shape your life, enables those in power
to act in their own self-interest and have no accountability when doing so
...
After Douglass understood the
evils of slavery, he suffered initially and even entertained thoughts of suicide, but later he
escaped to the north and became an influential leader in the abolitionist movement and spent the
remainder of his life fighting for the equality and rights of blacks as well as women

---