GSE English Logic and Writing – Week 2

GSE English Logic and Writing – Week 2 Week 2

Writing Paragraphs • Paragraphs are clusters of information supporting an essay’s main point (or advancing a story’s action) • Exceptions are introductions and conclusion paragraphs • Our goal for our Paragraphs: • Clearly focused • Well developed • Organized • Coherent • Neither too short or too long

Focus on a Main Point • Paragraphs should be unified around a main point • The point should be clear to the readers • All sentences should relate to the main point • State the main point in a topic sentence • Think of this as a “one sentence summary”

Example All living creatures manage some form of communication. The dance patterns of bees in their hive help to point the way to distance flower fields or announce successful foraging. Male stickleback fish regularly swim upside-down to indicate outrage in a courtship contest. Male deer and lemurs mark territorial ownership by rubbing their own body secretions on boundary stones or trees. Everyone has seen a frightened dog put his tail between his legs and run in panic. We, too, use gestures, expressions, postures, and movement to give our words point. - Olivia Vlahos, Human Beginnings

Developing and Sticking to the Point • Think of what your purpose is, and who your audience is • Develop your paragraph as much as you need • Sentences that do not support the topic sentence destroy the unity of the paragraph • These sentences can be deleted, or moved to another paragraph • Sometimes writers wander away from the main topic too, because they don’t have enough information, or lack of focus. • Find more evidence or adjust the topic sentence

Example As the result of tax cuts, the educational facilities of Lincoln High School have reached an all-time low. Some of the books date back to 1990 and have long since shed their covers. The few computers in working order must share one printer. The lack of lab equipment makes it necessary for four or five students to work at one table, with most watching rather than performing the experiments. Also, the chemistry instructor left to have a baby at the beginning of the semester; and most of the students don’t like the substitute. As for the furniture, many of the upright chairs have become recliners, and the desk legs are so unbalanced that they play seesaw on the floor.

Example and Illustration Paragraphs Pattern 1

Examples and Illustrations • Example Paragraphs • One of the most common pattern of organization • Describes a point with one or more examples • Used when the reader might ask, “For example?” • Explanations are clear and specific • Illustrations are extended examples, frequently presented in story form

What is the subject? How many examples did the author give? Normally my parents abided scrupulously by “The Budget” but several times a year Dad would dip into his battered black strongbox and splurge on some irrational, totally satisfying luxury. Once he bought over a hundred comic books at a flea market, doled out to us thereafter at the tantalizingrate of two a week. He always got a whole flat of pansies, Mom’s favorite flower, for us to give her on Mother’s Day. One day a boy stopped at our house selling fifty-cent raffle tickets on a sailboat and Dad bought every ticket the boy had left – three books’ worth. -Student

What is the subject? How many examples did the author give? Teachers today face much more diverse classrooms than ever before. For example, students in Columbia Public Schools in Columbia, Mo., speak 46 languages and represent 59 countries. For many of these students, English is a second language. “Diversity in the classroom means added responsibility for educators,” says Daniel L. Clay, dean of the MU College of Education. “We owe it to our students to prepare them for what’s out there – schools and classrooms that are a wonderful mix of ethnic, racial, cultural and language groups. - Ed Life, Fall 2012

What is the subject? How is this an example or illustration? When it comes to managing a hecticschedule, daily to-dos that don’t have tangible and immediate payoffs usually find themselves falling off your checklist. That includes exercise. “The reality is that physical activity constantly competes with everything else we do,” says Michelle L. Segar, Ph.D., University of Michigan. “For us to believe an activity is worth our time, it has to offer something very important to our daily life.” In a 2011 study, Segar and her colleagues reported that women who tracked instant results after a workout – like feeling happier, more energetic, and less anxious – exercised 34% more over the course of a year than those who focused on weight-loss or appearance goals. - Women’s Health Magazine, March 2013

Illustrations Part of [Harriet Tubman’s] strategy of conducting was, as in all battle-field operations, the knowledge of how and when to retreat. Numerous allusions have been made to her moves when she suspected that she was in danger. When she feared the party was closely pursued, she would take it for a time on a train southward bound. No one seeing Negroes going in this direction would for an instant suppose them to be fugitives. Once on her return she was at a railroad station. She saw some men reading a poster and she heard one of them reading it aloud. It was a description of her, offering a reward for her capture. She took a southbound train to avert suspicion. At another time when Harriet heard men talking about her, she pretended to read a book which she carried. One man remarked, “This can’t be the woman. The one we want can’t read or write.” Harriet devoutly hoped the book was right side up. - Earl Conrad

Activity • Each Group will get a piece of paper with a subject sentence • Write 2-3 sentences to make it an example/illustration paragraph • Example: • Sometimes my brother can be really annoying when we’re playing video games. • If he wins he will run around the room in circles, shouting “I pwned you!” at the top of his lungs. However when he loses, which is quite often, he will make every excuse as to why the match was unfair.

Homework for next week: Write an example/illustration paragraph on one of your favorite childhood memories. What is the memory of? Who was with you? What were you doing?

GSE English Logic and Writing – Week 2