The evidence-based paragraph
Monday, February 26, 2007
Our first MEA persuasive essay prompts were pretty good. Some are exceptionally good. For interested students (and others), some of the best essays will be pinned to the board in room 241.
Overall, the essays suffered from organizational glitches that centered upon use of the evidence provided with the prompt. Many students, when writing under pressure, were so interested in using the evidence provided that they lost track of the prompt or became mired down in a “fuzzy” train of logic.
In persuasion, logic is everything. We clearly need some focused practice. For this reason, we will be working for 2 class periods on the specific task of writing evidence-based paragraphs.
These paragraphs, in a persuasive piece or speech, take on a pattern:
1. Topic sentence using key words from the general prompt AND key or summary words from the evidence.
One way Freeport can fight global warming is to replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL bulbs.
2. Retate, quote, paraphrase or summarize the key evidence, being sure to tell where it is coming from.
According to the US Department of Energy, CFL bulbs use one-third of the energy used by incandescent bulbs.
3. Discuss the evidence, expanding upon it and remembering the topic. The techniques for doing this are:
a. Use a specific example
b. Draw a conclusion for the reader (This means that...)
c. Make a connection for your reader (If...then...)
d. Provide an anecdote from your own experience
e. Prediction possible outcomes if the situation does not change (If the problem is not solved, then...).
f. Add a 2nd, connected piece of evidence.
4. Conclude the paragraph by returning to your first sentence. You may want to use key words from your Discussion in this sentence - What point did you make in your paragraph??
Today we wrote one paragraph in the Journal and another on lined paper. The 2nd will be graded. There will be another practice evidence-based paragraph next class.
The .doc files for this and other classwork will be posted this week to the Literacy 8 Student Resources web page.
