Is Happiness the Beginning or the End?
Introductory Paragraph: As with all of your essays, the introductory paragraph should contain a hook to grab the reader’s attention, any necessary background/introductory material to establish your topic, and a thesis statement.
Thesis Statement: The thesis statement will be basically one sentence that states your opinion about the effectiveness of the article (whether or not it is effective overall–You must take one side).
(Example thesis statements: Overall, Anderson has written a very effective article about happiness. OR Anderson’s article on happiness is not written effectively enough to make its point or influence the reader.) (Remember, the purpose of your paper is not primarily to tell WHAT the author said, but to tell HOW EFFECTIVELY he said it.)
Body Paragraphs: The body paragraphs will be your argument/proof that the article is or isn’t effective. The assignment calls for 4 body paragraphs and tells very specifically what aspect of the article you are to address in each paragraph.
BODY PARAGRAPH 1: This is basically a one-paragraph summary of the main points of the article. This familiarizes the reader with the article in case he/she hasn’t read it. Your paragraph should clearly state what the article’s thesis is and the main points the author uses to support or prove the thesis idea. (Use MLA in-text citations to document the information from the article.)
BODY PARAGRAPH 2: This paragraph answers the question–How well does the article support its thesis? With this paragraph your paper switches gears. Paragraph 1 just restates what the article says. The rest of your paper is going to be your opinion about how well the article is written.
Begin with a topic sentence: The topic sentence should answer the question above. Ex: In this article, Anderson does an outstanding job of supporting his thesis. OR In this article, Anderson states a strong thesis idea but fails to support it satisfactorily.
Add Evidence: Use information from the article (paraphrases or quotes) to support the opinion you stated in your topic sentence. (Use in-text citations to document the evidence you take from the article. Direct quotations AND information from the article that you put in your own words needs to be documented. Use in-text citations in all body paragraphs to document your evidence.)
Add Analysis: Explain to the reader how the evidence you cited above proves the point of your topic sentence.
BODY PARAGRAPH 3: This paragraph answers the question –How effective is the article’s structure (organization)?
Topic Sentence: The topic sentence should answer the question above. Ex: Anderson structured this article very effectively OR The structure of Anderson’s article is haphazard and confusing.
Evidence: Use information from the article to show the article’s organization/structure.
Analysis: Explain to the reader how your evidence shows that the article is (or isn’t) effectively organized.
BODY PARAGRAPH 4: This paragraph answers the question–How effective is the article in achieving its purpose and making an impact on the audience? (Does it make the audience sit up and take notice? Does it surprise the audience? Does it make the audience want to do something? Does it make the audience think differently about something? etc.)
Topic Sentence: The topic sentence should briefly answer one or more of the questions above.
Evidence: Use information from the article to show the impact that the article has on the reader.
Analysis: Explain to the reader how your evidence shows that the article does (or doesn’t) make a strong impact on the reader.
Concluding Paragraph: As in all the essays you have written, the concluding paragraph needs to restate your thesis and leave your reader with a “so what” or an interesting thought.
IN TEXT CITATIONS ONLY, NO WORKS CITED!!
ESSAY LINK:
https://content.nroc.org/DevelopmentalEnglish/unit09/NROCActiveReader.html#:~:text=Happiness%2C%20he%20says%20in%20his,world%20that%20shapes%20your%20reality.
