Developing Body Paragraphs: Example #1
Prewriting/Planning:
I remember writing was fun for me in my first college composition class. The instructor had us write 7 essays that quarter, basically 1 every 1.5 weeks. But the topics were fun and often had to do with essays we read and talked about. We were to get our inspirations from the essays we read and talked about, or we were to write about the same thing we read about, or we had to write on the same topic, or we had to "imitate" an essay we read. My second college composition class was nowhere as much fun.
Tentative Thesis Statement(s):
Over my years in school, the times when reading and writing have excited me and have been fun have been the times when I have felt I have improved my reading and writing skills.
From elementary school through college, the times when reading and writing have excited me and have been fun have been the times when I have immersed myself in either reading or writing.
Stating a Main Idea / Topic Sentence:
One time when I immersed myself in writing was in my first college composition class.
First Draft Paragraph, mostly from the prewriting:
One time when I immersed myself in writing was in my first college composition class. I remember that the professor had us write seven essays that quarter, basically one every one-and-a-half weeks. But the topics were fun and often had to do with essays we read and talked about. We were to get our inspirations from the essays we read and talked about, or we were to write about the same thing we read about, or we had to write on the same topic, or we had to "imitate" an essay we read. My second college composition class was nowhere as much fun.
If this were a "final draft" paragraph, being a critical and inquisitive reader, I might end up writing the following questions in the margin of this paper:
What were the seven essays?
Was that pace too fast or just right?
What were the topics?
What did you read and talk about?
Why wasn't the second comp. class as much fun?
Second Draft Paragraph, with more evidence and explanation:
One time when I immersed myself in writing was in my first college composition class. I remember that the professor had us write seven essays that quarter, basically one every one-and-a-half weeks. We started out the quarter with personal writing, such as a personal narrative about a significant event and then a character sketch of an important person in our lives, but then we moved on to more informative writing and then to argumentative writing, such as analyzing a debate between the sciences and the humanities and then taking a side on the controversial issue of the military draft. Even though our essays had to do with the essays we had read and talked about from the course anthology, The Norton Reader, we were allowed to choose our own specific topics for each paper. Being able to choose our own topics made it more fun than if we had been assigned specific topics for each paper. I wasn't bothered that we were assigned "types" of papers to write, as long as we could choose our own topics for each type. In fact, this method introduced us to a variety of different types of writing, which would be useful later on in life. And it was good to read something else and get our inspirations from what we read. In fact, one of my most favorite papers from that class was an essay where I "imitated" the satirical tone and style of Jonathan Swift's essay, "A Modest Proposal." I took his lead and wrote my own modest proposal about how the U.S. might improve its educational system.
If this were a "final draft" paragraph, being a critical reader, I might end up writing the following questions or comments in the margin of this paper: