The Multi-Paragraph Essay

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The Multi-Paragraph Essay

• Arp I.S.D. English Language Arts Dept.

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Terminology
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Essay

• A piece of writing that gives your thoughts
  (commentary) about a subject.
• All essays you will write in this unit will have
  at least four paragraphs an introductory
  paragraph, two body paragraphs, and a concluding
  paragraph.

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Introduction

• Also called the introductory paragraph.
• The first paragraph in an essay.
• It includes the thesis, most often at the end of
  the paragraph.

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Body Paragraph

• A middle paragraph in an essay.
• It develops a point you want to make that
  supports your thesis.

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Conclusion

• Also called the concluding paragraph.
• The last paragraph in your essay.
• It may sum up your ideas,
• reflect on what you said in your essay,
• give more commentary about your subject,
• or give a personal statement about the subject.

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Conclusion (cont.)

• Your conclusion is ALL commentary and does NOT
  include concrete detail.
• It does NOT repeat key words from your paper and
  especially NOT from your thesis and introductory
  paragraphs.
• It gives a finished feeling to your whole essay.

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Thesis

• A sentence with a subject and opinion.
• (opinion commentary)
• This comes somewhere in you introductory
  paragraph and most often at the end.

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Pre-Writing

• The process of getting your concrete details down
  on paper before you organize your essay into
  paragraphs.
• You can use any or all of the following bubble
  clusters, spider diagrams, outlines, line
  clustering, or columns.

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Concrete Details CD

• Specific details that form the backbone,
  skeleton, framework, or core of your body
  paragraphs.
• Synonyms for concrete detail include facts,
  specifics, examples, descriptions, illustrations,
  support, proof, supporting evidence, quotations,
  paraphrasing, or plot references.

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Commentary CM

• Your opinion or comment about something NOT
  concrete detail.
• Synonyms for commentary include opinion, insight,
  analysis, interpretation, inference, personal
  response, feelings, evaluation, explication, and
  reflection.

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Topic Sentence TS

• The first sentence in the body paragraph.
• This must have a subject and opinion (commentary)
  for the paragraph.
• It does the same thing for a body paragraph that
  the thesis does for the whole essay.

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Concluding Sentence CS

• The last sentence in the body paragraph.
• It is ALL commentary,
• does not repeat key words,
• and gives a finished feeling to the paragraph.

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Shaping the Essay

• The step that is done after pre-writing
• and before the first draft of an essay.
• It is an outline of your thesis,
• topic sentences,
• concrete details,
• and commentary ideas.

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First Draft

• The first version of your essay.
• Also called the rough draft RD.

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Final Draft

• The final version of your essay.
• The last step before publishing.

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Peer Response

• Written responses and reactions to a partners
  paper.

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Chunk

• One sentence of concrete detail (CD)
• and two sentences of commentary (CM).
• It is the smallest unified group of thoughts that
  you can write.

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Weaving

• Blending concrete details (CD) and commentary
  (CM) in a body paragraph.
• You can do this AFTER you master the format.

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Ratio

• The ratio of one part concrete detail (CD) to two
  parts commentary (CM).
• At least two points of commentary for every point
  of concrete detail in a body paragraph.
• CDCM
• 1 2

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Ratio

• If a body paragraph has a 11 ratio, teachers say
  that the student got off to a good start but did
  not elaborate enough on the commentary.
• If a literature paper has a 10 ratio, we call
  that a book report
• or an and then paper.
• And then I went to the mall, and then I bought a
  pair of jeans. Then I went out with my friends.

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Ratio

• And then papers are the dullest kinds of
  narratives to read.
• As soon as students use a 12 ratio, teachers
  are happier with the results.

And Then
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Word Counts

• The minimum length per paragraph to earn a C.

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CD vs. CM

• The same as FACT vs. OPINION

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Commentary

• Writing commentary means giving your opinion,
  interpretation, insight, analysis, explication,
  personal reaction, feelings, evaluation, or
  reflection about a topic.
• Commentary is the higher level of thinking that
  makes an essay interesting to read.

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Restrictions of Literature Commentary

• Students may not use I, me, my, we, us would,
  should, could, may or might in their essays.
• These words encourage them to leave the story and
  become preachy.
• Example I hope I have a friend like George some
  day.
• Or, They should have just gone on their separate
  ways.
• Such commentary does not strengthen student
  writing.

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This shows that

• Need help producing commentary?
• Start your commentary with
• This shows that _________________.
• The result is always commentary.
• You can always change your phrasing during
  revision!

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This shows that

• In Of Mice and Men, George Milton looks out for
  Lennies welfare. For example, he tells Lennie
  not to say anything to Curley in the ranch house.
  This shows that he understands how easily Lennie
  gets into trouble without realizing it. This
  shows that he wants to keep Lennie out of harms
  way by shielding him from contact with strangers.

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Writing a Thesis

• A thesis is a general sentence with a subject and
  an opinion (commentary).
• Example Australia is the best country of all for
  a vacation.
• In this sentence, Australia is the subject.
• The rest of the sentence tells the writers
  opinion, or commentary, about itthat its the
  best country for a vacation.

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Writing a Thesis Practice

• For each of the following sentences, underline
  the subject once and the opinion (commentary)
  twice.
• Fishing is fun to do when Im with my dad.
• English is my favorite class.
• Its exciting going to a new school.
• Tacos are my favorite food.
• I like radio station Q106 the most.

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Writing a Thesis Practice

• Fishing is fun to do when Im with my dad.
• English is my favorite class.
• Its exciting going to a new school.
• Tacos are my favorite food.
• I like radio station Q106 the most.

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Writing a Thesis Practice

• Write a thesis sentence of your own.
• First you need to think of some subjects you know
  something about.
• --getting braces
• --bicycling
• --homework

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Writing a Thesis Practice

• The next step is to write a thesis for your
  subject.
• Getting braces was one of the best things that
  could have happened to me.