ELA6, CSS, Sferrazza

The body paragraphs are where you support your thesis reasons and examples. Each main supporting idea is in a paragraph. If you do your job properly, you will convince your reader that your position is the right one.

The body of a five paragraph essay has three paragraphs. Each paragraph has a distinct focus or "point" related to your thesis that is supported by your connections and inferences from the lessons in section 3 of this poetry unit.

Each body paragraph needs to start with a topic sentence.

For example,

The lyrics in music can spread powerful messages about causes people care about.

Make sure each body paragraph has a topic sentence that introduces the type of poetry discussed (lyrics, Rita Joe, or spoken word) and how it supports your thesis.

Make sure each body paragraph has UNITY: 

Unity: It’s important for a paragraph to have unity—for all of its parts to belong together. One way to be sure your paragraph has unity is to check that each sentence relates to your topic sentence.  Check each sentence in your draft; be sure that it relates to your main idea. If you find a sentence that doesn’t belong, either delete it or use it to start a new paragraph. 

Below is an overview again of the gist of each body paragraph:

• Body paragraph one - how music lyrics could reflect different purposes, messages, and audiences (supported by evidence from the text) related to changing the world

• Body paragraph two - How has Rita Joe's poetry helped to change the world? How have Rita Joe's poem, Order of Canada award, and the Rita Joe National Song Project helped the young people in the First Nations communities find their voices?
  

• Body paragraph three - How might the themes of the poems, Tourette's and Can We Autocorrect Humanity change the way people think about the world and people in it? How has the popularity of spoken word poetry has helped spread important messages about the world?

Copy and paste all three body paragraphs into the Writer's Workshop assignment template. They can be put in any order, but consider putting your "strongest" paragraph last.