Writing a Well-Developed Paragraph - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Writing a Well-Developed ParagraphSlide2

What does “well-developed” even mean?

“Well developed” means that every idea discussed in the paragraph is adequately explained and supported with evidence and details that work together to prove the paragraph’s controlling idea.Slide3

Step 1: The Topic Sentence

The topic sentence is the controlling idea of the paragraph. It is

what everything in the paragraph is about.

When you write a paragraph about literature that

is not a part of a larger essay, please mention the title and author in the topic sentence.

Example: “In Julia

Alvaraz’s

In the Time of the Butterflies

,

Dede

Mirabal’s

greatest weakness is her inability to speak her mind honestly.”Slide4

Step 2: Evidence

Evidence is simply the textual support that you use to prove your point. It should consist of a direct quote you find in the text which proves your point. Remember that you must introduce your text support, so that your reader can follow your thinking. Don’t forget to include a parenthetical citation for each quote.

Evidence

When the

gringa

dominicana

journalist asks

Dede

for an interview,

Dede

thinks, “But this is March… Doesn’t she have seven more months of anonymity?”

(Alvarez 3

). However,

Dede

still agrees to the interview.

When the journalist asks about

Virgilio

Morales, Minerva’s special friend,

Dede

snaps back at her,

claming

that

Lio

was a special friend of hers too. Then she thinks to herself, “There she has said it, so why doesn’t it feel good?” Fighting with her dead sister over a beau, my goodness”

(Alvarez 66).

When

Dede

begins to think about the revolution,

Jaimito

urges her to compromise.

Dede

responds, “’I see,’ …

already

beginning to compromise with the man she was set to marry”

(Alvarez 79

).Slide5

Step 3: Explanation

After every quote, you need an explanation to explain exactly

how

the quote that you chose proves your point.

Evidence

When the

gringa

dominicana

journalist asks

Dede

for an interview,

Dede

thinks, “But this is March… Doesn’t she have seven more months of anonymity?”

(Alvarez 3

). However,

Dede

still agrees to the interview.

When the journalist asks about

Virgilio

Morales, Minerva’s special friend,

Dede

snaps back at her,

claming

that

Lio

was a special friend of hers too. Then she thinks to herself, “There she has said it, so why doesn’t it feel good?” Fighting with her dead sister over a beau, my goodness”

(Alvarez 66

)

When

Dede

begins to think about the revolution,

Jaimito

urges her to compromise.

Dede

responds, “’I see,’ … already beginning to compromise with the man she was set to marry”

(Alvarez 79

).

Explanation

This shows that

Dede

doesn’t really want to do the interview, but she can’t speak her mind, so she ends up having to relive her sisters’ deaths for the interview.

It is shown here that

Dede

never expressed her true feelings for

Lio

, therefore she still harbors some resentment in her heart that Minerva developed a stronger relationship with him. If she had spoken her mind, this problem would not exist.

When

Ded

says this, it shows that she disregards her beliefs about the revolution, simply because

Jaimito

asks her to do so. She does not speak her mind, but does as her husband says instead.Slide6

Step 4: The Closing Sentence

The closing sentence simply wraps up what you have said in the paragraph before, in a different way than stated in the topic sentence.

Evidence

When the

gringa

dominicana

journalist asks

Dede

for an interview,

Dede

thinks, “But this is March… Doesn’t she have seven more months of anonymity?”

(Alvarez 3

). However,

Dede

still agrees to the interview.

When the journalist asks about

Virgilio

Morales, Minerva’s special friend,

Dede

snaps back at her,

claming

that

Lio

was a special friend of hers too. Then she thinks to herself, “There she has said it, so why doesn’t it feel good?” Fighting with her dead sister over a beau, my goodness”

(Alvarez 66).

When

Dede

begins to think about the revolution,

Jaimito

urges her to compromise.

Dede

responds, “’I see,’ … already beginning to compromise with the man she was set to marry”

(Alvarez 79

).

Explanation

Dede

doesn’t really want to do the interview, but she can’t speak her mind, so she ends up having to relive her sisters’ deaths for the interview.

Dede never expressed her true feelings for Lio, so she still harbors some resentment in her heart that Minerva developed a stronger relationship with him.

Dede

disregards her beliefs about the revolution, simply because

Jaimito

asks her to do so.

Ultimately, Dede Mirabal misses out on several opportunities and ends up unhappy due to the fact that she avoids speaking up for herself.Slide7

Step 5: Wording and Transitions

Once you have your

topic sentence

,

evidence, and

explanations

,

your paragraph is practically written!

You may have to tweak your wording a little to ensure that your paragraph flows clearly.

Don’t forget

to

add transitions between different pieces of evidence (such as: in addition, secondly, finally, etc.) to keep things flowing smoothly.

Practice reading your paragraph out loud if you’re unsure about the flow.Slide8

MLA Reminders

Place a heading in the upper left-hand corner (Name, Teacher, Class, Date).

Create a header in the upper right-hand corner (Last Name and Page

#).

http://

www.hasd.%20Format.pdf

Double-space the entire paper and use 12-point Times New Roman font.

Include an MLA citation for the book:

Alvaraz

, Julia.

In the Time of the Butterflies

. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1994. Print.

Use parenthetical citations after quotes within the paragraph: “It started with Patria wanting to be a nun” (

Alvaraz

11).Slide9

Other Reminders

Avoid first person in a literary response (no “I”, “me”, “we”, “us

”, you,

etc.)

Try to stay in the present tense.

Be sure to proofread and use the spell checker!