paragraph writing:
Your paragraph should include:
- Topic Sentence
- Evidence (Concrete Detail)
- Reasons (Commentary)
- Transition Sentence
Paragraph example:
Tupac and Sojourner Truth focus on issues of gender in their communities in order to call attention to this injustice. Tupac’s song focuses on the mistreatment of women in his neighborhood and the verbal and physical abuse they endure. For example, Tupac argues that “We all came from a woman/Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman/I wonder why we take from our women/ Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?” Tupac’s use of repetition helps emphasize the importance of women. By mentioning the fact that every person’s starting point is his or her mother, a woman, Tupac is appealing to the audience’s emotions through the use of pathos. He wants the audience to reconsider how they interact with women. In addition, Sojourner Truth faced injustices because of her race, gender, and social class. Truth demands the reader to “Look at me! Look at my arm…Ain’t I a woman?” (8-14). She uses personal experiences to reveal the injustices placed upon her. Truth breaks free of gender stereotypes and proves that although she is a woman, she is still able to do the same work as a man. Through the use of repetition and a defiant tone, Truth encourages all women to fight for their rights. Together, Tupac and Truth argue in favor of women’s rights as well as the need for racial equality.
Student example:
James Laughlin uses enjambed lines to create a fragmented poem. In the "Invisible Person," a woman struggles to define herself in a difficult world. For example, "Life kept rolling her over/Like a piece of driftwood" (1-2). This means that life was hard for her and the events were uncontrollable. This matters because the quote was separated into two lines to show the simile "like a piece of driftwood." This shows how uncontrollable her life was because it would be hard to control and redirect herself. In addition, the poem shows how broken the woman was. For example, "She made friends easily yet she wasn't able to put the pieces to-/gether into any recognizable shape" (6-9). This means that she wasn't able to make any sense out of her life. The word "together" was separated, which is ironic because it means unity but here it is broken. This reveals that the woman couldn't understand her life and the mystery of her true identity. The poem is made up of enjambed lines to show how broken the woman was and how hard it was for her to adapt to society.
