ESSAY & PARAGRAPH STRUCTUREINTEGRATING SOURCESORGANIZATION & TRANSITIONSAVOIDING PLAGIARISMSMARTHINKING

Composition

ESSAY & PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Essay & Paragraph Structure

Introduction Includes Thesis

Statement

Body Paragraphs

Conclusion

Topic Sentence

Supporting Sentences Includes supporting

details

Concluding Sentence (Relationship)

ESSAY PARAGRAPH

Paragraph Structure

A basic paragraph contains 3 main parts: Topic Sentence

States the main or “controlling” idea Supporting Ideas

Provide evidence to support Topic Sentence Include specific examples and details Create meaning for the Topic Sentence by

examining the relationship between it and the specifics

Concluding Sentence Sums up the main idea and supporting ideas

Paragraph Structure

The Study Skills Center offers students a variety of free services designed to improve basic skills.

Those who discover their study habits are poor, for instance, may enroll in a six-week mini-course

in study skills that offers advice on such topics as how to read a text, take notes, and organize

material for review. Students whose math or writing skills are below par can sign up for free

tutoring sessions held five days a week throughout each semester. In addition, the Center

presents weekly seminars on special topics such as stress management and overcoming test

anxiety for those students who are finding college more of a nerve-wracking experience than

they expected; other students can attend evening seminars in such worthwhile endeavors as

vocabulary building or spelling tips. Finally, the Center offers a series of tests to identify the

presence of any learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, that might prevent a student from

succeeding academically. With such a variety of free services, the Center can help almost any

student.

Key:• Topic Sentence • Specific Details• Supporting Ideas • Concluding

Sentence

Paragraph Structure

M• Main

Idea

E• Exampl

e

A• Analysi

s

L• Link

The M.E.A.L. Plan: An Alternative ModelWe could go on to third- and fourth-guess the list of heroes in

textbook pantheons. My concern here, however, is not who

gets chosen, but rather what happens to the heroes when

they are introduced into our history textbooks and our

classrooms. Two twentieth century Americans provide case

studies of heroification: Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller.

Wilson was unarguably an important president, and he

receives extensive textbook coverage. Keller, on the other

hand, was a “little person” who pushed through no

legislation, changed the course of no scientific discipline,

declared no war. Only one of the twelve history textbooks I

surveyed includes her photograph. But teachers love to talk

about Keller and often show audiovisual materials or

recommend biographies that present her life as exemplary.

All this attention ensures that students retain something

about both these historical figures, but they may be no

better off for it. Heroification so distorts the lives of Keller

and Wilson (and many others) that we cannot think straight

about them.

From “Handicapped by History” by James Loewen

Paragraph Structure

Main Idea (Topic Sentence) Statement of Opinion/Debate

Opinion, feeling, belief, point of view, etc. Focus

Not too broad or narrow in scope Placement

Usually occurs at beginning of paragraph Sometimes occurs at end of paragraph

Purpose Answers the reader’s “so what?” question

Paragraph Structure

Example Evidence used to reinforce truth of main

idea/topic sentence Use various kinds of evidence

Pathos Ethos Logos

Evidence is good, but you also don’t want it to overwhelm your piece

Paragraph Structure

Analysis Explores relationship between evidence

presented and main idea/topic sentence Emphasis on how and why You want ideally a 2:1 ratio of analysis to

evidence (1:1 at least) Allows you to restate evidence in own

words and give it meaning, based on your objective

Paragraph Structure

Link Reminds the reader of your main idea

before moving on Provides a stepping stone between

supporting ideas and a new main idea Provides you a place to re-infuse your

voice/style/ tone into the piece

Activity

Time out! Do MEAL Plan Activity

In small groups, identify which parts of each paragraph are M, E, A, and L

As large group, discuss why you chose your answers

INTEGRATING EVIDENCE

1. You always should introduce a quote with your own words.

◦ (Note: if you want to use a quote to open your paper, it’s often better to make it an epigraph).

◦ WRONG = “Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.” These words, from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, signify the importance and ubiquity of time.

 ◦ RIGHT = In Mansfield Park, Jane Austen indicates the

importance and ubiquity of time, writing, “Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.”

The Top Ten Rules

2. In APA, textual references always should be made in past (or present perfect) tense.

  WRONG = In his Analects, Confucius writes, “I am not

one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.”

RIGHT = In his Analects, Confucius wrote, “I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.”

The Top Ten Rules

3. The quoted material always should fit grammatically, so that the sentence reflects a complete thought.

 ◦ WRONG = In Beyond Good and Evil, when Nietzsche wrote, “he who

fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster; and if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”

 ◦ RIGHT = In Beyond Good and Evil, when Nietzsche wrote, “he

who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster; and if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,” the author was expressing the concept of justice, or vengeance, as a double-edged sword: you’re definitely damned if you don’t fight, but you might become damned if you do.

The Top Ten Rules

4. Once your quotation hits four lines, you always should format it as a block (indented) quote.◦ Note: when you use a block quote, you obviate (nullify) the need for quotation

marks. Additionally, you can capitalize the first word of the quote.

◦ WRONG = D’Ambrosio wrote, “rebuilding began in a rudimental, dark, superstitious state where blind luck or chance either saved or did not save. Later it turned out that God was with the people who survived and the people who perished were now with God, a tautological tidiness that always breaks my heart, tearing at an old longing for universal justice.”

 ◦ RIGHT = D’Ambrosio wrote:

 Rebuilding began in a rudimental, dark, superstitious state where blind luck or chance either saved or did not save. Later it turned out that God was with the people who survived and the people who perished were now with God, a tautological tidiness that always breaks my heart, tearing at an old longing for universal justice.

The Top Ten Rules

5. With the previous rule in mind, you should quote only what is necessary and paraphrase—or omit, using (…)—the rest. What constitutes necessary? When the author…

◦ Explains the subject more clearly/succinctly than you would be able to by using your own words

◦ Writes about the subject more lyrically/beautifully than you would be able to by using your own words

 ◦ RIGHT = D’Ambrosio depicts post-9/11 America as though in a

regressed state, where the primal urge to make sense of tragedy reawakens the people’s belief in an omnipresent God. The author calls this phenomenon “a tautological tidiness that always breaks my heart, (…) an old longing for universal justice.”

The Top Ten Rules

6. For every line you quote, you should write at least two lines of your own in explanation/analysis.

RIGHT = D’Ambrosio depicted post-9/11 America as though in a regressed state, where the primal urge to make sense of tragedy reawakens the people’s belief in an omnipresent God. The author called this phenomenon “a tautological tidiness that always breaks my heart, (…) an old longing for universal justice.”

The Top Ten Rules

7. Before you introduce a quote and/or after you conclude a quote, you must write either a clause or new sentence restating the author’s argument in your own words.

◦ RIGHT = As Sandra Silberstein argued in her article “From News to Entertainment: Eyewitness Accounts,” there is an “increasing conflation of news and entertainment. Increasingly, news reports cover the emotional reactions of people (…) rather than the events themselves.” This focus on emotional experience and the visual often takes priority over the delivery of information.

The Top Ten Rules

8. Once you restate the argument in your own words, you always must connect the quote to your own argument, as well as hi-light its relevance and/or implications.

◦ RIGHT = As Sandra Silberstein argued in her article “From News to Entertainment: Eyewitness Accounts,” there is an “increasing conflation of news and entertainment. Increasingly, news reports cover the emotional reactions of people (…) rather than the events themselves.” This focus on emotional experience and the visual often takes priority over the delivery of information. As news approaches entertainment, the effect for readers and viewers is that they encounter a product packaged for their consumption rather than perceive a collective identity to which they can connect.

The Top Ten Rules

9. Punctuation Review

A. Only capitalize a quote mid-sentence if the quote is a complete sentence.

◦ WRONG = President Kennedy famously said, “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

 ◦ RIGHT = President Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country

can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

◦ WRONG = According to President Kennedy, America “Has tossed its cap” over the wall of space.

◦ RIGHT = According to President Kennedy, America “has tossed its cap” over the wall of space.

The Top Ten Rules

B. Periods and commas (at the end of a quote) belong inside the quotation marks. Colons and semi-colons belong outside of the quotation marks—regardless of the context of the quoted material.

 ◦ WRONG = Also, President Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have

to fear is fear itself”.

 ◦ RIGHT = Also, President Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to

fear is fear itself,” which sounds true to me.

◦ WRONG = Also, President Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself;” I fear he may be right.

 ◦ RIGHT = Also, President Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to

fear is fear itself”: a stroke of genius.

The Top Ten Rules

C. On the other hand, the placement of exclamation points and question marks is conditional. When the quoted material is an exclamation/question, the punctuation belongs inside the quotation marks. However, when the exclamation/question is issued by you (the paper writer), the punctuation belongs outside the quotation marks.

◦ WRONG = Who said, “I don’t want to do that?”

◦ RIGHT = I can’t believe George said, “I don’t want to do that”!

The Top Ten Rules

D. The in-text citation occurs after you conclude your quote, but before you punctuate your sentence. In APA format, the custom is to include the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number.

◦ WRONG = The public nature of workshops may “nudge students into working harder because they have more at stake (Ransdell, 2001, p. 4)”.

◦ RIGHT = The public nature of workshops may “nudge students into working harder because they have more at stake” (Ransdell, 2001, p. 4).

The Top Ten Rules

10. If you mention the author’s name in your introduction to the quote, you do not need to include the name in your in-text citation.

◦ WRONG = As Ransdell argued, the public nature of workshops may “nudge students into working harder because they have more at stake (Ransdell, 2001, p. 4)”.

 ◦ RIGHT = As Ransdell argued, the public nature of

workshops may “nudge students into working harder because they have more at stake” (2001, p. 4).

The Top Ten Rules

11. You should try to integrate multiple sources within paragraphs as much as possible so they are “in conversation” with one another.

Ex. The consensus among the youth seems to be that the power of the N-word lies in its context and that it isn't a matter of forgetting; it is a matter of taking what is rightfully owed.  Bryan Monroe, in his editorial "Enough! Why Blacks--and Whites--should never use the 'N-word' again," cited Damon Wayans, who was fined $320 for using the N-word 16 times in a comedy routine. Wayans explained his actions by saying, "I'll be damned if the White man uses that word last. This is part of our culture now. Don't take that from us" (2007, p. 199). There is a mixture of both emotional and intellectual claims that young, black Americans have tapped into and clasped onto.  They follow the argument of Stanley Fish in his essay "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One" in its fullest sense when he wrote that "interpretation is not the art of construing but the art of constructing" (1980, p. 361). Not only would they take the power out of the word for whites, but also they would use it to empower themselves.  It does seem, however, that there is one issue that both generations can agree on, however.  And that is that a white person should never use the N-word colloquially, ever. Period.  

The (Extra) Eleventh Rule

Do Integrating Textual Evidence Activity

Activity

ORGANIZATION & TRANSITIONS

Organization & Transitions

Ways to Order Information: Within Paragraph or Paper

Order of Space Order of Time Deductive Order

General to Particular Inductive Order

Particular to General Order of Importance

Organization & Transitions

Unity Through Transitions:

Giving Examples For example, specifically, namely, etc.

Comparison Similarly, also, in comparison, as well as, etc.

Contrast Even though, despite, although, however, etc.

Sequence First, next, after, in addition, moreover, etc.

Results Resultantly, hence, thus, consequently, etc.

Organization & Transitions

Repeat key words Aim for variety in your word choice—unless a word is

central to the theme of your essay

Ex. The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed--for lack of a better word--is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms--greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge--has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed--you mark my words--will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.

From Wall Street

Organization & Transitions

Repeat key pronouns Provides unity similar to that found in repeating key

words Beware of confusing different pronouns, though! Once you start introducing new subjects, the technique

no longer works (i.e. use with one main subject)

Ex. this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a buttonhole for the button you have

just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming

down and to prevent yourself from looking like the slut you are so bent on becoming;

From “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

Organization & Transitions

Grammatical Parallelism Uses similar types of words

(gerunds or prepositional phrases, for example) and/or similar lengths of words/phrases to provide unity

Also involves playing with word order

Ex. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

President John F. Kennedy

Ex. You just slip out the back,

Jack. Make a new plan, Stan.

You don’t need to be coy, Roy.

Just get yourself free. Hop on the bus, Gus. You don’t need to discuss

much. Just drop off the key, Lee. And get yourself free.

From “50 Ways to Leave You Lover” by Paul Simon

Organization & Transitions

Organization & Transitions

Known-New Contract Start a sentence with information that is

known from previous sentence End the sentence with information that is

new The two words or phrases that act as

synonyms create the “idea bridge”

Ex. Sue is afraid of open spaces. Therefore, Montana is not a place she should live.

#1 Organizational Pitfall

Not all supporting details in your paragraph directly support your topic sentence OR

Not all paragraphs in your paper directly support your thesis statement

Three fixes: Move the information to

another paragraph or paper Modify the topic sentence or

thesis Rewrite your supporting

statements or paragraph

Example:

Thesis: Providing children with a pet teaches them responsibility at a young age.

T.S. #1: Pets take time to care for

T.S. #2: Pets take energy to care for

T.S. #3: Pets take money to care for

T.S. #4: Pets are fun to care for

Activity

Do “cut-up essay” activity Put the paragraphs back into the correct

order

Answer question: What transitional devices does this essay

employ that enabled you to figure out the proper order?

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

Most plagiarism is unintentional and happens when a writer fails to or incorrectly cites a source

This presentation concerns two types of this kind of plagiarism:

Word-for-Word Plagiarism Paraphrasing Plagiarism

Avoiding Plagiarism

This is the kind of plagiarism with which most people are familiar

It involves preserving a majority of the original language of passage and not crediting the author.

If you are using over fifty percent of the same words as the author, change up additional language or opt for a direct quote. EITHER WAY YOU WILL HAVE TO CREDIT THE AUTHOR.

Word-for-Word Plagiarism

Source Mark Twain's use of a boy as narrator

in Huckleberry Finn provided American writers one important entry to the language and homely particulars of American life . In that story we hear no condescending adult voice by which Huck can be judged insufficient. His idiom is the standard. And because Huck is a boy, not only is his language natural to him, but his attitude toward the world of particulars around him is one of unremitting interest. His quiet concentration upon all that surrounds him invests the commonplace world with dignity, seriousness, and an unforeseen beauty that radiates through the very words he uses. An adult is tainted with stylistic original sin-double vision, awareness of tradition, vanity. Huck's style is prelapsarian in its innocence and single-minded directness . That is its excellence, but its limitation too, for although Huck saw deeply, his was a narrow vision. After the example of Huckleberry Finn, writers had to learn how to overcome the limits of his restricting viewpoint (Bridgman 9).

Word-for-Word Plagiarism

American writers were given an important entry to the language and homely particulars of American life when Mark Twain used a boy as narrator in Huckleberry Finn . In that story we hear no condescending adult voice by which Huck can be judged insufficient. His idiom is the standard. His quiet concentration upon all that surrounds him invests the commonplace world with dignity , and his innocence and single-minded directness lends truth to his observations.

Word-for-Word Plagiarism

Students are less familiar with this type of plagiarism

This is when a student changes the language and/or phrasing from his/her source, but still fails to credit the author with the idea or information.

This kind of plagiarism can occur on a small scale (individual lines) or on a large scale (throughout paragraph/paper)

Paraphrasing Plagiarism

Source (Original)

Mark Twain's use of a boy as narrator in Huckleberry Finn provided American writers one important

entry to the language and homely particulars of American life. In that story we hear no

condescending adult voice by which Huck can be judged insufficient. His idiom is the standard. . . .

Plagiarized

Mark Twain utilized a boy as a narrator in his classic, Huckleberry Finn, and gave native writers an

opening wedge into the language and particulars of ante-bellum America. In that novel there is no

condescending adult voice to judge Huck by. On the contrary, his way with words is the standard.

Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Line

Source (Original)

Mark Twain's use of a boy as narrator in Huckleberry Finn provided American writers one important entry to the language and homely particulars of American life. In that story we hear no condescending adult voice by which Huck can be judged insufficient. His idiom is the standard. And because Huck is a boy, not only is his language natural to him, but his attitude toward the world of particulars around him is one of unremitting interest. His quiet concentration upon all that surrounds him invests the commonplace world with dignity , seriousness, and an unforeseen beauty that radiates through the very words he uses. An adult is tainted with stylistic original sin-double vision, awareness of tradition, vanity. Huck's style is prelapsarian in its innocence and single-minded directness. That is its excellence, but its limitation too, for although Huck saw deeply, his was a narrow vision. After the example of Huckleberry Finn, writers had to learn how to overcome the limits of his restricting viewpoint (Bridgman 9).

Plagiarized

Unlike that other book by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , there is no condescending adult voice in Huckleberry Finn . The words are all Huck's, and because he is young and inquisitive, what he tells us has an interest and freshness all its own. His quiet concentration makes the commonplace world a thing of dignity and beauty . It is as if everything is seen for the first time (Bridgman 9).

Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Paragraph

Biggest Tips:◦ Make sure you have listed sources in two places:

In-text References Page

◦ If you are ever in doubt whether you should cite something or not, cite it.

◦ If you ever need to double-check a source before you write something, cite it.

◦ You may feel like you have too many citations. If you do, work on your analysis. Connecting your information to your thesis will yield the majority of your original writing.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Take IU Plagiarism Quiz

Time Out

SMARTHINKING DEMO

1. Log into your Campus Connect account.

2. Click on the “Courses” button. Then, click on the “Composition 121” course link.

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3. Once you are at the Composition 121 homepage, click on the “Tools” link, which is located in your control panel sidebar on the left side of the screen.

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4. Once you are within the “Tools” menu, scroll down to find the “Smarthinking Login” link. Click on it.

5. The Smarthinking window will pop up (make sure you enable pop ups for the site)

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6. Under “submit your writing,” select “Essay Center”

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7. Fill out the e-form

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8. Continue filling out e-form

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9. Choose “First Available e-structor,” upload your essay, and click “Submit Your Writing”

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10. Click “Continue” when you see the form below. A confirmation email will be sent to you.

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11. The e-structor should send a response within 1-5 business days.

This will appear in your Smarthinking Inbox.

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12. Click on “Inbox” to open it. You will see your reviewed essay under “Essay Incoming”

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11. See Sample Comments.

Make sure you turn these in with your final essay.

If you don’t, you will lose out on 25 points.

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