As the title suggests, I will be teaching how to write a body paragraph. Keep in mind this is for literary analysis, and it is built around using evidence to support the thesis of your paragraphs.
This is the correct format:
-A topic sentence that helps prove the thesis.
-Two to four sentences that lead up to a quote, also known as setting the scene.
-A sentence that integrates the quote you chose into your sentence.
-Two to four sentences that tell how the quote proves the topic sentence.
-A sentence that wraps up the paragraph.
This is more or less the correct way to write paragraphs. As you write more advanced paragraphs, you could make some modifications, but this will always be the base. This format is also high school level, so if writing essays isn't your thing, this might be helpful.
Now to break it down:
A topic sentence starts off your paragraph. It should pull in the reader, but also give information. It should state information that relates to the thesis, which is a claim or argument or the point you're trying to prove. It's much like bullet points when you're writing the outline. This should also be very clear.
Leading up to the scene was and still is very difficult for myself to write. This sets the scene usually telling the reader what is going on, and what the problem is. It is much like a summary to a novel.
The third part is integrating a quote into your sentence. The quote integration is, plainly, writing a part of the sentence while adding quotations and, if needed, brackets. It should look like:
Thoreau suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says that "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us" (38). The word "that" replaces the comma, and brackets were not used. Brackets are used if the word the character or person used, usually the verb, does flow grammatically. (I used the sentence from a credible source that explains exactly how to integrate quotes, more clearly. The website is here.)
Next is explaining why the quote you used supports your thesis. This should be self-explanatory, since it is more or less explaining why the quote explains the thesis.
Lastly is the sentence that wraps everything up. I personally like retelling everything I went through in this paragraph while summarizing every sentence into a short sentence. It should ultimately agree with everything the paragraph was written about.
One more tip: The number at the end of the sentence corresponds to the page which the quote was taken from. In literary analysis, the page number should always be clear. How do you write page numbers? Here's an example:
Thoreau suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says that "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us" (38). All you do is end the quote with quotations, but take out the period. After the writing the page number in parenthesis, place the period after the number.
I hope you all enjoyed this explanation. Comment below if I should continue, or if you guys have anything you want me to go over. If not, I will pick a random lesson to write about. Thanks for reading!
This is the correct format:
-A topic sentence that helps prove the thesis.
-Two to four sentences that lead up to a quote, also known as setting the scene.
-A sentence that integrates the quote you chose into your sentence.
-Two to four sentences that tell how the quote proves the topic sentence.
-A sentence that wraps up the paragraph.
This is more or less the correct way to write paragraphs. As you write more advanced paragraphs, you could make some modifications, but this will always be the base. This format is also high school level, so if writing essays isn't your thing, this might be helpful.
Now to break it down:
A topic sentence starts off your paragraph. It should pull in the reader, but also give information. It should state information that relates to the thesis, which is a claim or argument or the point you're trying to prove. It's much like bullet points when you're writing the outline. This should also be very clear.
Leading up to the scene was and still is very difficult for myself to write. This sets the scene usually telling the reader what is going on, and what the problem is. It is much like a summary to a novel.
The third part is integrating a quote into your sentence. The quote integration is, plainly, writing a part of the sentence while adding quotations and, if needed, brackets. It should look like:
Thoreau suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says that "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us" (38). The word "that" replaces the comma, and brackets were not used. Brackets are used if the word the character or person used, usually the verb, does flow grammatically. (I used the sentence from a credible source that explains exactly how to integrate quotes, more clearly. The website is here.)
Next is explaining why the quote you used supports your thesis. This should be self-explanatory, since it is more or less explaining why the quote explains the thesis.
Lastly is the sentence that wraps everything up. I personally like retelling everything I went through in this paragraph while summarizing every sentence into a short sentence. It should ultimately agree with everything the paragraph was written about.
One more tip: The number at the end of the sentence corresponds to the page which the quote was taken from. In literary analysis, the page number should always be clear. How do you write page numbers? Here's an example:
Thoreau suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says that "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us" (38). All you do is end the quote with quotations, but take out the period. After the writing the page number in parenthesis, place the period after the number.
I hope you all enjoyed this explanation. Comment below if I should continue, or if you guys have anything you want me to go over. If not, I will pick a random lesson to write about. Thanks for reading!
