Paragraphs

The boss of every paragraph (no matter which one) is...

• the transitional words and phrases

• the chunking

• the topic sentence

• the concluding sentence

Tags

CCSS.W.8.4

The following can help a paragraph flow and become more high level

• slang words

• improperly used transition words and phrases

• inventive and informal spelling

• properly used transition words and phrases

Tags

CCSS.W.8.1C

CCSS.W.8.2C

CCSS.W.8.3C

CCSS.W.8.4

After the topic sentence, the next immediate part of an effective paragraph is...

• a concluding sentence

• evidence or support

• analysis

• transition words and phrases

Tags

CCSS.W.5.1A

CCSS.W.5.2B

After a paragraph provides support and evidence for a claim in its topic sentence...

• next comes analysis of the evidence

• next comes the conclusion

• next comes more examples

• next comes counterarguments

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.W.8.1E

Analysis means that one

• restates the thesis statement of an essay in a more authoritative way to make it stronger

• restates the supporting evidence that will be used in the future paragraphs

• provides original thought of how the support and evidence illustrates the topic sentence's claim

• provides a high-level summary of the topic sentence's claim and immediately provides another example

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.W.8.9A

Chunking, as it relates to paragraph writing, is

• the imbalance of a abundance of evidence and a small amount of analysis

• the presence of a series of examples that support the topic sentence

• the use of two or more transition words or phrases

• the balancing of equal parts (impact) of evidence and analysis

Evidence is...

• facts, opinion, statistics, personal observations...anything

• true statements and proven facts only

• a mixture of a person's thought and your analysis the thoughts

• the presence of an argument and equal treatment of a counterclaim or aounterargument

A good way to end a body paragraph is to...

• tie up your thoughts by restating your topic sentence word for word (verbatim)

• tie up your thoughts with a thought-provoking question

• tie up your thoughts by using a transition word or phrase

• tie up your thoughts with a restatement of the topic sentence

The best way to provide supporting evidence is to try to

• provide a hint of what you will discuss in the next paragraph

• provide analysis of the example of the topic sentence

• provide two examples of the topic sentence's claim

• provide statistics only and focus on percentages

You know you have enough sentences in your well-developed paragraph...

• when there are at least five sentences

• when every part is represented

• when your hand starts to hurt

• when there are at least six sentences