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Robert Cutillo

Paragraph Structure ... Again

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Edited by Robert Cutillo, Sunday, 19 Aug 2018, 16:05

I still struggle with paragraph structure in my essays, but I am getting better. To begin, make your claim. Then present your evidence. Finally, explain why the evidence you have chosen supports your claim. If the paragraph is too long, add a sentence summarising the paragraph. I know I've blogged about this before, but for some reason I seem to forget this structure. I think I get carried away with what I'm writing, to the point where it becomes uncontrolled.

I also use too many quotations in my essays. I have to remember to use quotes only when they have been worded in such a perfect way that it shouldn't be paraphrased or summarised. Ideally, the quote should be short and be introduced in some way. For example, John Smith said 'keep it short and sweet' when he was writing about evidence. Of course, remember to reference.

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Robert Cutillo

Assignment Methods and Paragraph Structuring

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Edited by Robert Cutillo, Sunday, 17 Jun 2018, 13:14

For the latest assignment, I decided to do what I said I was going to do a few posts ago about note-taking: use my own words. And it's worked out OK so far. Next to each note, I wrote the page number. After I had all my notes, it was just a matter of arranging the most relevant ones into a plan. After that I went back through the module book, typed out all the potential quotes I might need, and printed them out. It's worked very well. So far I have written 800 words of the 1,500-word essay in no time at all. So for anyone reading this, this might be a good method to use when writing essays.

Something that has been letting me down a little in my assignments is the structuring of my paragraphs. Luckily, my tutor posted a word document on the forums explaining how we should structure them. First, introduce what the topic of the paragraph. Second, provide the evidence. And third, explain your interpretation of the evidence. If the paragraph is very long, then you could also offer a conclusion. It's been fantastic to have that resource. As a result, this current assignment is coming along nicely. Whether I'm demonstrating that I possess enough knowledge about the topic is another matter.

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