Basic Elements of a Body Paragraph

for Analysis of a Personal Essay

1.) From your analysis of the MR essay you have chosen, identify an element to concentrate on (WHAT?). For example:

• Alexie's pride in his ethnicity and heritage

• Alexie's anger at white stereotypes of Indians drinking

• Didion's references to her husband

• Didion's view of marriage as the classic betrayal

• Sedaris's use of humor and satire

• Sedaris's references to teachers

• Thurber's humor and satire

• Thurber's use of clear structures / organization patterns

• Walker's references to losing her eye

• Walker's obsession with the ideal of female beauty

• White's use of religious references / allusions

• White's focus on sounds and other senses

• These are "the main ideas supporting your thesis" (Aaron 458).

• These will "[form] the main divisions of your paper" (Aaron 458).

2.) Show and explain that particular element. For example:

• Give an example of the element -- through summary, paraphrase, and/or quotation (SHOWING).

• Explain HOW and WHY the writer might be using that element in the essay (TELLING).

3.) Introduce a research source that is both reliable and relevant to the element you are discussing.

• "A link between sources" (Aaron 457).

• Re-present the idea from the research source -- through summary, paraphrase, and/or quotation.

4.) Connect or SYNTHESIZE the sources together.

• "Forging a relationship for your own purpose" (Aaron 457).

• "As you infer [and imply] connections -- say, between one writer's opinions and another's or between two works by the same author -- you create new knowledge" (Aaron 457).

• "Conclusions you have drawn from your synthesis of sources" (Aaron 458).

NOTE: "When drafting the paper, make sure each paragraph focuses on an idea of your own, with the support for the idea coming from your sources" (Aaron 458).