Responding to Texts

English 1: Basics of Writing

How do I write a paragraph about a text?

Multiple Choice

Which of these is a well-developed main idea that answers the question, How is Shrek the movie different from Shrek the book?

• Shrek by William Steig.

• I think Shrek by William Steig isn’t as good as Shrek the movie.

• The film version of Shrek is better than the book version of Shrek by William Steig.

• Shrek by William Steig isn’t as good as Shrek the movie because Shrek is mean and has powers also he doesn’t name the donkey and calls the donkey a bad name.

A main idea of a paragraph:

• Restates the question. The reader should be able to know what the question was just by looking at your main idea.

• Includes the name of the text.  Remember that short works such as short stories and articles are put in “quotation marks” while books, movies, and plays are italicized.

A main idea of a paragraph:

• Includes the author’s name, if this information is available.

• Is the umbrella for the whole paragraph; all of the details in the paragraph relate back to this.

  
  

A main idea of a paragraph:

• Avoids “I think,” “in my opinion,” or “I believe”; the reader can recognize when you’re stating your opinion and it weakens your argument to include that

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Multiple Choice

If the main idea of your paragraph was that Shrek the book isn’t as good as Shrek the movie, which detail sentence could you include?

• In the book, Shrek can shoot lasers from his eyes and breathe fire.

• In the book, Shrek meets a witch and a peasant.

• Shrek is mean.

• When Shrek encounters the peasant, he takes his dinner and heats it with his laser vision.

Supporting Details of a Paragraph:

• Relate directly to the main idea

• Include specific facts or events from the text you read

• For example, describe what Shrek looks like if you think that he's uglier in the book or what he does or says if you think he's meaner in the book

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It's easy to rush, but please proofread!

• has been proofread to make sure that there are no errors and everything makes sense

  
  

• has been proofread to make sure that

  proper nouns are capitalized, run-on sentences are avoided, and typos have been fixed.

  
  

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Practice time!

1. Check your Shrek review questions and paragraph. Revise, edit, and resubmit for the final 50 points!
2. What is considered to be the WORST naval disaster in U.S. history? Read about it, answer review questions, and then write the best paragraph of your life to explain the factors that led to this event. This is in Google Classroom.
3. I'll be on the Google Meet all period, but you don't have to stay on unless you have a question.