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Paragraph Structure

Topic Sentence – Reflective of Thesis Statement AND evidence (Same initials TS)

Evidence Section:

  • Introduce Source – A sentence or a few words to inform the reader of the title, author, qualities, and/or limitations
  • Summarize Source – Summarize the source as briefly as possible while still considering its relative difficulty and importance in your paper.
  • Provide Evidence – Data, direct quote/summary/paraphrase, a fact or statistic, etc.

Explanation – Explain how the evidence supports the topic sentence and therefore the thesis statement.

{Transition} – summarize the idea of this paragraph and hint at the content of the next paragraph (note that transitions can be at beginning or ending of paragraphs).

To successfully incorporate evidence into your writing, take the following steps:

  1. Follow the paragraph model above
  2. Improve the coherency of your writing by:
    1. Referencing the central idea of the paragraph
    2. Using transitional words and phrases or full sentences

Follow the link below to practice using this paragraph model in an immersive example:

https://rise.articulate.com/share/HJRnxUdvI1WPkdKO5S26HHNGyKsfX7d1

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Evaluating Sources – Links

https://libguides.mjc.edu/CRAAP/sift – Another take on the SIFT method.

https://www.politifact.com/ – Politifact is a resource for investigating political claims.

Here is a link to help you learn to track down metadata:

How to find the metadata in websites and images

https://www.grunge.com/247211/the-tragic-story-of-the-doctor-who-pioneered-hand-washing/ – A summary of Ignaz Semmelwei’s struggle to convince biased experts. You could also read about it in Chapter 2 of The Misinformation Age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_criticism – This Wikipedia entry on Source Criticism explains how to evaluate different types of sources, especially primary sources, to build consensus and knowledge.

Since I mentioned it in class, here is John Oliver on Sugar:

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