Thoughts on body paragraphs

Here are some ideas about how to develop topic sentences for body paragraphs in your essay.

So here is the thesis statement we proposed in class on Thusrday: Love is an emotion that is often in conflict with society's demands.

We discussed one method of proceeding on Thursday: You analyze the concepts in the thesis statement without immediately linking it to the book. We'll call this Method 1. Another way is to mention the book but not by giving an example. We'll call this Method 2. Here are examples of each method. Each sentence can become the topic sentence of a paragraph in your essay (although bear in mind, the topic sentence can more than one sentence):

Thus you might start one paragraph:
Method 1:
* Love is a private emotion that is a deep expression of our most basic individuality. [Follow this by examples.]

OR you could write:
Method2:
* The novel draws a picture of love that emphasizes its private nature and the way it expresses individuality.

A second body paragraph might begin:
Method 1:
* Society makes its own demands of the individual, and is interested in maintaining stability and the status quo. [Followed by example}

OR it might read:
Method 2:
In the novel society is portrayed as a force destructive to indvidual liberty or freedom.

Again, note the difference between Method 1 and Method 2. Method 1 doesn't specifically reference the novel, and only gets into what the novel has to say in the examples that follow. Method 2 references the novel but doesn't jump right into the examples from the novel, which it only gives after first making the point the examples will help prove. Make sense? I hope so.

Next add here a third body paragraph that develops a counterclaim, meaning how might someone argue against the views you've developed so far.

* Some people would disagree with Hawthorne's analysis. They would suggest that society's rules are actually meant to protect the indvidual and society from relations that may harm others. The individual is not always right, and his or her feelings may be false or based on falsehood.

Conclusion: The body paragraphs should flow into the conclusion naturally. A good phrase to help put this into context is: "As you can see ..."

Essay Assignment

You will write a 2-3 page literary response essay on theme. This essay should be double-spaced in 12-point type with one-inch margins. It should follow the format we've discussed in class. (Introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Take special care in your body paragraphs to have a clear topic sentence, and examples from the text. Also make sure, your body paragraphs develop your arguments and that one of the paragraphs develops a counter-claim.

As we’ve discussed, The Scarlet Letter is a novel whose themes are often presented in the form of dichotomies. Choose one of the following paired concepts (dichotomies) and write your essay on the theme you develop:

1. society and the individual
2. individual freedom and societal law
3. guilt and innocence
4. holiness and sin

Remember, developing a theme from these topics requires you to really think about what the book says about the topic. This can't be a simple thought that could apply to any book on the subject; it needs to really reflect what Hawthorne is saying in The Scarlet Letter. For example, it won't be sufficient to say that society has rules that limit the individual. Or that the law and individual freedom are often in conflict. Instead, you need to get at how society and the individual are in conflict, according to Hawthorne; what kind of conflicts arise between freedom and law and how does this affect people’s lives, again, according to Hawthorne.

This paper is due on Monday, January 3. It must be uploaded to turnitin.com by that date and must be sent as an attachment to me in your engrade account. Attach the file as a Word document or, if you don't use Word, attach it as an .rtf file.