How to write body paragraphs Supporting your opinion and being convincing Presented by Erika Wanczuk Based on a presentation by Gina Drago

Why do I need evidence? Your job in this essay is to convince your reader of your opinion. In order to be convincing, you need to provide evidence for your opinion from the book.

What is evidence? Evidence is made up of quotations from the book. Quotations are not just what people say— any sentence you pull from the book is a quotation because you are quoting something Steinbeck wrote.

What is evidence? Evidence is also made up of well-chosen paraphrases from the text. A paraphrase is a section of the book that you put in your own words. You MUST still cite a paraphrase with the page number.

How much evidence do I need? You will need at least one piece of evidence per body paragraph (although you may need more than one to be convincing!) That means a MINIMUM of three quotations with a MINIMUM of three body paragraphs.

Finding good evidence Good evidence relates directly to what you are trying to prove. It is your job to thoroughly investigate the book and find quotations to convince your reader of your opinion. Choose a quotation that relates to your topic sentence of that paragraph. Don’t just plop in any old sentence from the book.

Example One Topic sentence: Carlson demonstrates his mercy for Candy’s dog in several of his statements and actions leading up to the shooting. What do I need to prove? Evidence: “Look, Candy. This ol’ dog just suffers hisself all the time” (45). “Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive” (45). “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’” (47).

Example Two Topic sentence: Carlson is concerned about Candy for several reasons. What do I need to prove? Evidence: “He’s all stiff with rheumatism. He ain’t no good for you, Candy” (44). “Tell you what. I’ll shoot him for you. Then it won't be you that does it” (45). “Look, Slim’s bitch got a litter right now. I bet Slim would give you one of them pups to raise up, wouldn’t you, Slim?” (45)

Providing Context for your Evidence: It is important to tell your reader what is going on in the part of the story from which you take your quotations. Here’s an example: Example Topic Sentence: Carlson demonstrates his mercy for Candy’s dog in several of his statements and actions leading up to the shooting. Evidence: “Look, Candy. This ol’ dog just suffers hisself all the time” (45). “Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive” (45).

Providing Context They sound like good quotations…but I’m left with several questions: Who is talking? Who is the character talking to? What is the character talking about? What is going on when the character is talking?

Example Paragraph Carlson demonstrates his mercy for Candy’s dog in several of his statements and actions leading up to the shooting. Carlson tries to convince Candy that his dog is suffering when he says, "Look, Candy. This ol’ dog just suffers hisself all the time” (45). When Candy protests, Carlson again shows his mercy for the dog when he argues, “Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive” (45). Carlson makes it clear that the dog is in pain and should be put out of its misery, which is a merciful thing to do.

Example Paragraph Carlson demonstrates his mercy for Candy’s dog in several of his statements and actions leading up to the shooting. Carlson tries to convince Candy that his dog is suffering when he says, "Look, Candy. This ol’ dog just suffers hisself all the time” (45). When Candy protests, Carlson again shows his mercy for the dog when he argues, “Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive” (45). Carlson makes it clear that the dog is in pain and should be put out of its misery, which is a merciful thing to do.

How do I format my quotations? Floating quotation: Blah blah blah. “__________” (52). Blah Blah. NOT GOOD Embedded quotation: Blah blah blah “_____” (52) blah blah. GOOD.

How do I insert my quotations? Your quotations should not be floating in your paragraph—work them in! Look back at this paragraph: Carlson demonstrates his mercy for Candy’s dog in several of his statements and actions leading up to the shooting. Carlson tries to convince Candy that his dog is suffering when he says, "Look, Candy. This ol’ dog just suffers hisself all the time” (45). When Candy protests, Carlson again shows his mercy for the dog when he argues, “Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive” (45). Carlson makes it clear that the dog is in pain and should be put out of its misery, which is a merciful thing to do.

Providing Analysis What does “analysis” mean? Analysis is: the separating of any material or abstract entity into its constituent elements to deconstruct (to break down) showing relationships

Why do I need Analysis? To explain your quotations and evidence to your reader To show HOW your evidence supports your topic sentence. To show your critical thinking skills

How much analysis do I need? Enough to satisfy the purposes of analysis: To explain your quotations and evidence to your reader To show HOW your evidence supports your topic sentence. To show your critical thinking skills It should be longer than the quotation. At least three to five sentences

Example Paragraph Carlson demonstrates his mercy for Candy’s dog in several of his statements and actions leading up to the shooting. Carlson tries to convince Candy that his dog is suffering when he says, "Look, Candy. This ol’ dog just suffers hisself all the time” (45). When Candy protests, Carlson again shows his mercy for the dog when he argues, “Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive” (45). When Carlson says, “suffers hisself,” he shows that he thinks the dog is in pain. When Candy disagrees, Carlson is persistent by telling Candy that he’s not “kind to him by keepin’ him alive,” which shows that Carlson thinks that Candy is being selfish and not thinking about the dog. Carlson thinks the dog should be put out of its misery, which is a merciful thing to do.

Organization of Body Paragraphs Which body paragraph should come first, second, third? Consider the following ideas: Chronological order in the book Order of importance Order of your choice Strong paragraph first, weak paragraph hidden in the middle, strongest paragraph last Make sure paragraphs flow smoothly from one to the other by using transitions

MLA Format Header: on the right-hand side: Last Name Page Number Your paper will be: 12 point font, Times New Roman (or like font) 1 inch margins (top, bottom, sides) Double spaced Black ink Heading: on the left hand side of the page: Name Ms. Wanczuk English 9 CP Date Header: on the right-hand side: Last Name Page Number

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