1. Organizing a Formal Paragraph
English 9 Honors

2. Topic Sentence - Claim
Your topic sentence needs to address the prompt. This is the main claim you are making.
The prompt is the questions being asked of you.
For example:
Life during the Elizabethan Era is very different from today, but there are some similarities.
Not so awesome:
I’m going to tell you about life during the Elizabethan Era.

3. Supporting Sentences – Evidence and Reasoning
These sentences should directly support your claim. Every idea ideally needs to be supported with an example (evidence) and some explanation (your reasoning). You will be making minor claims that support your main claim (topic sentence).
For example:
Punishment during this time period is extremely different from today. Criminals were often punished in extreme ways. For example, execution was common, with people being drawn and quartered for their crime. This is very different from today, where we may have executions, but they are more humane and are not for public entertainment.

4. Concluding Sentence
Do not leave your audience hanging…wrap up your ideas in a final sentence. Come back to the prompt (question being asked) to ensure that you have answered the question.
You may want to restate your topic sentence

5. MLA Formatting 1” margins
Entire document double-spaced, zero point “after the line”
Times New Roman – 11 or 12 point font
Your last name and page number in the upper right header
Heading with:
Your Name
Teacher’s Name
Class Name
Due date Month Year (23 September 2013)
Title (not italicized, underlined, bolded, bigger, etc…)
Indent paragraphs
No extra spaces between paragraphs

7. Academic Writing Write in 3rd person – Do not use I, me or my
Avoid contractions – spell everything out
Keep a formal tone