Transcript Lesson 21 Essentials Video: Paragraphs

GREGG: If we can learn as writers to write paragraphs well, then we ultimately can learn to write essays well, as we—because structuring the small piece makes it easier to structure the big piece, because it's just—they're parallel. It's a microcosm of the larger essay.

DEONTA: When I was in high school, I used to think papers are, like, introduction, three paragraphs, conclusion. But since I've been in college, I've learned that a paper is going to have more than three paragraphs. And in writing paragraphs, I've learned that you also need to make sure there's a connection from one paragraph to the next, and that they're well-organized in a way that makes sense for the paper, and also that makes sense to the reader.

HANNAH: I used to feel the body paragraphs were kind of the least important part of the paper because my teachers always focused on the introduction and getting the introduction right, or getting the conclusion right. Now I feel like the body paragraphs are the most important part because that's what your evidence is, that's where your thoughts are.

TALMARIE: I know how I would start. I know I would write down, these are the points I want to make, this is the order these points are going to make a better sense in and flow. I would know how to break down each paragraph, and know that there needs to be a topic sentence to the paragraph, there needs to be the meat of the paragraph. And usually, whether it takes one or two paragraphs to show an example, you have to have that supporting example that all goes back to your thesis at the beginning. You have to have the transition at the end of each paragraph into the next one. And if something doesn't fit with the topic of your paragraph, as much as you like it, you have to ditch it. You can't keep it. Just copy and paste it into another document and use it later.

MARCUS: In my first semester writing class, we were taught to use an AXES outline, which we used to organize our body paragraphs. The A part of the AXES is the assertion, which we would use to say what the whole paragraph is going to be about. The X portion would be the example, as far as, like, a scholarly source or a text from the actual book, the novel. And then the E part of it would be the explanation, which we would use to explain the quote. And then the S would be the significance, which we would use to conclude the whole paragraph all together, and say why it's significant to society or to the prompt that we were writing about.

CARA: In high school, you have to have three paragraphs, and each paragraph has to have so many sources. And it's very, very structured. But I feel like, once you get to the college level, you have a better understanding of what the purpose of that structure is, so you can tailor that structure to your subject matter, to the amount of sources you're using, and you can just make it your own, because once you understand how that structure works, you can own it and use it for powerful writing.