PARAGRAPHS: 30. Create New Paragraphs

30. Create new paragraphs for each new topic and summary and paraphrase paragraphs to advance your thesis:

-start a new paragraph with each new speaker in dialogue

-start a new paragraph with each new topic in narration, description, and analysis

-nonfiction paragraphs usually have:

- topic sentence which organizes the paragraph around a central idea,

-a concrete detail (fact, event, example),

-two sentences of commentary about the concrete detail.

-analysis paragraphs usually have:

- topic sentence that organizes the paragraph around a central idea,

-linking sentences that link the topic sentence to the quotation,

-a sentence that introduces a quotation,

- commentary about the quotation that has the three C’s: context, condense, and connection. All textual analysis paragraphs will have at least three categories of commentary: context, condense, and connect. Some sentences of commentary will establish the context of the quotation in the text in which it was excerpted, some will condense the quotation into its essential elements, and some will connect the quotation’s significance to the thesis of the paper.

Principle: use summary and analysis paragraphs to advance your thesis. Not all body paragraphs need to have a quotation.

Example of a body paragraph with a quotation and analysis:

At first the w-h-y in the river taunted Gus and showed him that he was nothing but an “aquatic logger;” however, as Gus learns the true meaning of the w-h-y he discovers that the river is not questioning him but is simply part of a whole. Developing an understanding the nature is in equilibrium is central to the development of Gus’s faith in the world. Referring to the ecological order of the Tomahawks River, Gus states, “the Tamanawis was not questioning. It was sculpting and painting and humming seaward with all it touched and fed and carried and concealed, singing, This-all of this-is w-h-y.” (Duncan 251). At this point in the novel Gus has overcome his former belief that the world is disordered and meaningless. He discovers that the river is shaped like the word why because that is the way it has to be shaped in order to sustain the life and lives it supports. When Gus has his raven experience, when he has vision that he is a raven flying over the Tamanawis River, he discovers how everything is interconnected and part of a whole. He finally sees nature and the environment from a native’s perspective and discovers the answer to the w-h-y in the river. This helps Gus to become more aware of his actions, how they affect the world around him, and how he should be respectful of nature.

Example of the same body paragraph with a paraphrase of the moment in the text:

At first the w-h-y in the river taunted Gus and showed him that he was nothing but an “aquatic logger;” however, as Gus learns the true meaning of the w-h-y he discovers that the river is not questioning him but is simply part of a whole. Developing an understanding that nature is in equilibrium is central to the development of Gus’s faith in the world. Gus refers to the ecological order of the Tamanawis River by claiming that it flows, floods, bends and curves due to both gravity and the need to follow an order that it is prescribed to follow. It spells w-h-y because it has been organized to do so by an organizing force beyond gravity. (Duncan 251). At this point in the novel Gus has overcome his former belief that the world is disordered and meaningless. Gus discovers that the river is shaped like the word why because that is the way it has to be shaped in order to sustain the life and lives it supports. When Gus has his raven experience, when he has vision that he is a raven flying over the Tamanawis River, he discovers how everything is interconnected and part of a whole. He finally sees nature and the environment from a native’s perspective and discovers the answer to the w-h-y in the river. This helps Gus to become more aware of his actions, how they affect the world around him, and how he should be respectful of nature.

Commentary: notice how the paraphrase of the passage captures the essence of the passage but does not use the exact language of the quotation. Also, notice that the writer cited the paraphrase with (Duncan 251) to give the reader a specific reference to return to if needed. See “Avoiding Plagiarism” for more.