Thread by @raulpacheco, One of the components of writing that my students struggle with the [...]

One of the components of writing that my students struggle with the most is CREATING PARAGRAPHS. This thread is intended to serve as a showcase of various frameworks and methods to craft good paragraphs.

As I always do, I'm going to use examples of other scholars' writing.

I had intended to write this thread a while ago but reading this article by Anindita Sarkar really cemented in me the importance of showing how to write good paragraphs.

The paragraph I highlighted has a central idea: to understand water access you need a gendered lens.

In this paragraph, Sarkar outlines the core idea of her paragraph, by sequentially and carefully making her argument:

1) everyday practices of women accessing water are defined by physical/economic access, but also mediated by the social spaces within which these women operate.

Note how Sarkar starts with her first idea and then carefully provides scaffolding for her argument - explaining the characteristics of social spaces, the gendered nature of water fetching, and thusly, the importance of understanding lived experiences of women in accessing water.

Personally I found Sarkar's writing beautiful and compelling. I also found this paragraph rich with ideas, concepts and analytical power. These types of articles are the kind of papers that I really need a long time not to understand, but to absorb the richness of ideas.

THESE types of articles that require very, very deep engagement and thought are the ones that I not only highlight, scribble on, and digitally capture in my Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump (CSED) but I also write notes in my Everything Notebook http://www.raulpacheco.org/2020/01/what-kinds-of-things-do-we-i-write-in-the-everything-notebook/

What kinds of things do we (I) write in the Everything Notebook?

I'm often asked to discuss one of my most popular techniques, the Everything Notebook. I

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2020/01/what-kinds-of-things-do-we-i-write-in-the-everything-notebook/

Personally, I find writing a paragraph a good "work packet". Instead of worrying about writing 2,000 words a day, or write for 3 hours in a row, my simple target is: FINISH ONE PARAGRAPH.

I try to design my paragraphs in a way that there is ONE IDEA. http://www.raulpacheco.org/2015/04/my-acwri-strategies-fill-up-paragraphs-one-idea-per-paragraph/

My #AcWri strategies: Fill up paragraphs, one idea per paragraph

Sometimes I get random emails asking me "but, how do you do what you do?".

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2015/04/my-acwri-strategies-fill-up-paragraphs-one-idea-per-paragraph/

With my students, I tell them to create paper outlines by using either Triggering Questions (questions that trigger their memory/or make them want to answer them) or "Topic Sentences" http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/03/two-methods-for-writing-a-paper-outline-answering-questions-and-listing-topic-sentences/

Two methods for writing a paper outline: Answering questions and listing topic sentences

Since I usually write blog posts by request, unless there's a pressing thought that I

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/03/two-methods-for-writing-a-paper-outline-answering-questions-and-listing-topic-sentences/

Each paragraph usually starts with a Topic Sentence or a Triggering Question http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/10/writing-topic-sentences-and-crafting-paragraphs/

Once we have the outline with Topic Sentences and/or Triggering Questions, we can start filling up those paragraphs one by one, sentence by sentence.

Writing topic sentences and crafting paragraphs

Two of the questions I get asked most often not only by my own students

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/10/writing-topic-sentences-and-crafting-paragraphs/

I find that using small goals for my writing sessions (125 words, 15 minutes, 3 sentences, 2 paragraphs) helps me feel less stressed about the overall writing project. I am finishing up 4 book manuscripts, you can imagine how stressed I feel. http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/04/125-250-words-15-minutes-setting-small-writing-goals-to-build-an-academic-writing-practice/

125-250 words, 15 minutes: Setting small writing goals to build an academic writing practice

I have been travelling non-stop since January 2018 even though I had promised myself I

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/04/125-250-words-15-minutes-setting-small-writing-goals-to-build-an-academic-writing-practice/

I am going to now suggest blog posts by several scholars who also write about academic writing and whom I respect enormously.

1) @rachaelcayley suggests writing ideas in continuous flow, and THEN use Breaking Points to break up paragraphs https://explorationsofstyle.com/2014/02/21/breaking-points/

Breaking Points

When I teach paragraphs, I always talk about how paragraph breaks should be dictated by textual demands rather than length. Sometimes that approach works out perfectly for a writer: each particular…

https://explorationsofstyle.com/2014/02/21/breaking-points/

2) @ThomsonPat offers the MEAL approach to writing paragraphs

- Main Idea
- Evidence
- Analysis
- Link back - link forward https://patthomson.net/2018/11/05/getting-to-grips-with-the-paragraph/

getting to grips with ‘the paragraph’

I was recently asked how I felt about paragraphs. “Well you know, all the feels” I might have replied. But I didn’t, largely because I don’t usually think about the paragraph. The question made me …

https://patthomson.net/2018/11/05/getting-to-grips-with-the-paragraph/

3) @PJDunleavy on his @write4research website offers another structured method to write paragraphs

- Topic sentence
- Argument/body
- Token sentences (evidence)
- Wrap sentence ("end of paragraph" marker) https://medium.com/advice-and-help-in-authoring-a-phd-or-non-fiction/how-to-write-paragraphs-80781e2f3054

How to write paragraphs

in research texts (articles, books and PhDs)

https://medium.com/advice-and-help-in-authoring-a-phd-or-non-fiction/how-to-write-paragraphs-80781e2f3054

I find some of the rules of paragraph writing that you get in classes somewhat idiosyncratic. For example, I do apply some of these to my writing and that of my students:

- say no to 2-sentences' paragraphs (3-7 is readable, >9 becomes almost impossible to clearly comprehend )

4) @thesiswhisperer likes Hayot's strategy to analyse and write paragraphs https://thesiswhisperer.com/2019/05/22/how-to-harness-the-power-of-semantic-gravity-in-your-writing/

If I have to be 100% honest with you all y'all, I really DO NOT LIKE Hayot's paragraph inverted U structure.

How to harness the power of semantic gravity in your writing

A month or two ago, I wrote a post called ‘The Uneven U’ which outlined ideas about paragraph structure from Eric Hayot’s book “The elements of academic style: writing for the hum…

https://thesiswhisperer.com/2019/05/22/how-to-harness-the-power-of-semantic-gravity-in-your-writing/

I have, in fact, read Hayot's Elements of Academic Style http://www.raulpacheco.org/2019/09/the-elements-of-academic-style-eric-hayot-my-reading-notes/

But I found different insights, and to be quite frank, I am not sold on the inverted U.

The Elements of Academic Style (Eric Hayot) - my reading notes

I have read A TON of books on writing over the past few years, and

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2019/09/the-elements-of-academic-style-eric-hayot-my-reading-notes/

Now, which other models do we have to help us craft paragraphs? I think this is where the whole "rhetorical moves" elements of academic writing is useful.

We need to consider two components:

1) the STRUCTURE of the paragraph

and

2) the CONTENT of the paragraph.

You can use any of the models I have mentioned before (Cayley, Pacheco-Vega, Hayot, Dunleavy) to structure your paragraph. And THEN to fill up the paragraph you need to provide content organized in a sequence that provides evidence, argument, etc. That is, "argumentative".

For example, you can use the CREW model to write your paragraph.

Booth, Coulomb and Williams' original CREW model (claim, reasoning, evidence, warrant) has evolved, but it is very helpful. http://www.raulpacheco.org/2019/07/the-craft-of-research-booth-colomb-williams-3rd-edition-my-reading-notes/

The Craft of Research (Booth, Colomb, Williams) - 3rd Edition - my reading notes

Every few weeks, somebody asks me for recommendations of books on academic writing, "how to

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2019/07/the-craft-of-research-booth-colomb-williams-3rd-edition-my-reading-notes/

Or you can use the Toulmin style of argumentation https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/historical_perspectives_on_argumentation/toulmin_argument.html#:~:text=Developed%20by%20philosopher%20Stephen%20E,the%20grounds%2C%20and%20the%20warrant.

Or you can use the Graf & Birkenstein "They Say/I Say" set of templates to develop your argument http://www.raulpacheco.org/2017/05/they-sayi-say-the-moves-that-matter-in-academic-writing-my-reading-notes/

They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing (my reading notes)

When I wrote my blog post on how to properly teach our students how to

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/historical_perspectives_on_argumentation/toulmin_argument.html#:~:text=Developed%20by%20philosopher%20Stephen%20E,the%20grounds%2C%20and%20the%20warrant

In the end, my writing target goal is A PARAGRAPH.

In this thread, I've provided a few different strategies to STRUCTURE and develop the argument that will form the CONTENT of your paragraph.

Hopefully this approach will be useful.

END OF THREAD.

NEW BLOG POST: A few structured strategies that we can use to craft paragraphs http://www.raulpacheco.org/2020/08/a-few-structured-strategies-that-we-can-use-to-craft-paragraphs/

This thread in handy blog post format.

Remember: you can use the social buttons at the end of each post to reshare on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

A few structured strategies that we can use to craft paragraphs

Reviewing my students' theses, and talking with them about their writing processes, they always tell

http://www.raulpacheco.org/2020/08/a-few-structured-strategies-that-we-can-use-to-craft-paragraphs/

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