How to Write Effective Body Paragraphs

Remember to avoid plot summary!

4 Key Steps

1)      Always re-read your thesis before taking on a new body paragraph. This is to make sure that you are continually addressing the argument in your thesis, rather than just providing the reader with a chronological summary of your topic. Example: Through Juliet’s depiction in Romeo and Juliet as a mature and composed young woman even in the face of absolute misery, Shakespeare challenged the 16^th century gender stereotypes of his time and ushered in a new way to consider spousal relationships.

Insert your thesis (with purpose) here:

 

 

 

2)     Write a Topic Sentence that doesn’t just state background information, it must address the argument from your thesis. Example: It is after Romeo is ordered to be banished from Verona that Juliet’s inner strength is especially visible as she is forced into the much darker and complicated conclusion of the play.

Possible first topic sentence:

 

3)     Then you can transition into your quote by providing some background information and inserting a quote from the text.

a.      When quoting lines in this particular essay, make sure that it does not go beyond three lines in your own writing. If you need to shorten it to make it fit to three lines of writing, choose what is essential and use a “[…]” to represent a break in the lines you are quoting.

b.      Please note that your references at the end of your quotations should refer to Act, scene and line numbers, not to page numbers.

Example: After hearing of Romeo’s banishment from the nurse, Juliet certainly has reason to lose control, like her husband does; but instead she finds a way to hold herself together: “‘Shame come to Romeo.’ ‘Blister’d be thy tongue/ […] Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?/ […] But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?/ That villain cousin would have kill’d my husband’” (III.ii.89-90, 97, 100-101). Write out your background content and quote:

 

 

 

4)     Now analyze the quote you chose. Do this by doing either step a and/or b of the following:

 

a.      Consider what is said in the actual quote through its subtleties of the imagery and ideas expressed. Basically, what is the author saying without saying? (What can you infer from this? Is there symbolism, a deeper meaning, figurative meaning? What is Shakespeare really trying to say? What is being shown without it being stated?)

b.      Assess how the quote is said, considering how the word choice, the ordering or ideas, sentence structure, etc., contribute to the meaning of the passage. What specific words is that character using? What is important about that word choice?

Example: Striking back at her nurse for condemning Romeo, Juliet takes a stand and decides that it is her husband who deserves her sympathy. Although Juliet is portrayed as a woman verbally assaulting her most reliable friend by telling the nurse to shut her “blistered” mouth, a phrase that Juliet would never have uttered prior to meeting Romeo, her maturity in the remainder of the quote shows an adult woman rationalizing the fact that Romeo had no other choice than to kill Tybalt.

Then you must perform the most important step of analyzing a quote: Connect it back to your thesis!!!

c.       Connect this analysis of the passage back to the significance of the text as a whole. What were you originally trying to say in your thesis statement, and how does this point you are making with the quote help contribute to your original argument?

Example: Juliet even goes as far as to suppress her hurt feelings over the matter when she orders to herself “Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring,” demonstrating her commitment to stay composed and focused as her world begins to fall apart. By portraying the young heroine as a mature woman who refuses to let emotions drag her further into misery, Shakespeare holds Juliet up as the stronger spouse in the play, thus demonstrating the writer’s intention to challenge the accepted notion that men should be considered superior to their wives.

Now add in your own analysis: