9 A Literature Scholar Teaches Structuring Paragraphs in a Research Essay (9/8) -- Who Teaches Writing?

9 A Literature Scholar Teaches Structuring Paragraphs in a Research Essay Ryan Slesinger Push play on the sound bar above to listen to the chapter. 15 min read ALiteratureScholarTeachesStructuringParagraphs._print What You Will Learn in this Chapter This chapter will provide you with a template for structuring effective body paragraphs in a research essay. It will also provide instructions for an easy and organic process to create these paragraphs, and it will discuss the basics of in-text citation for quotations and paraphrases. The goal of this chapter is to help you think about developing your body paragraphs as the primary task of your writing process. Following these instructions will help you think about writing as a process—not a product—and will help you tailor a process-based approach to writing that will work for you throughout college. Key Terms - Modular Approach to writing - Rhetorical Situation - Close Reading In this chapter I will propose a method for organizing paragraphs that is built on the foundation of a modular approach to writing essays. By modular approach, I simply mean one that develops the components of the papers as modules, focusing on content development first and on sequencing later. This new way of writing—and thinking about writing—contrasts the mindset that attempts to write an essay straight through from introduction to conclusion. The “straight through” approach suited our needs in high school, but we will find it unsustainable at the college level. In contrast, our new modular approach can be used to write papers of any length and scope. In this modular approach, paragraphs develop organically out of the loci of your interest identified in your research. I suggest developing all body paragraphs simultaneously from the prewrite stage through to the final draft by first establishing the topics of your paragraphs, then determining your paragraphs’ informational component, and finally moving on to the rhetorical aspect of your paragraphs. This method of constructing paragraphs is meant to help you develop the five components of every good paragraph: - Topic sentence - Relate topic back to thesis - Observation (Can be multiple sentences) - Analysis (Can be multiple sentences) - Transition Addressing Our New Rhetorical Situation In high school, the dominant rhetorical situation—the context within which we communicate—that shaped our writing training was the standardized test. When we write for a standardized test, we often create a hasty outline and write straight through the paper from introduction to conclusion. This method suits composition within the time constraints of standardized testing but ultimately sacrifices depth and clarity of elocution as a byproduct. When we make this compromise, we tend to be less satisfied with the work we have created, and sometimes this taints our experience of writing so that we might assume we don’t like to do it. As we shift into a different rhetorical situation—writing resear