Week#4 Developing the Body Paragraphs & Writing a Personal Opinion Essay

Hello everyone,

Welcome again to week 4.  This week you are going to learn how to develop the body paragraphs from the thesis statement. A good technique to develop body paragraphs from your thesis statement is to change it into a question and the answer to the question will help you come up with possible topic sentences for your body paragraphs.  For example, if your thesis statement is: I prefer living in the city.  A logical question to ask that your essay should answer is: Why do you prefer living in the city? And the answers to this question could: I like  living in the city because of the availability of jobs.  I like living in the city because it has good services. I prefer living in the city because of the availability of educational resources. The reasons can each serve as the topic sentence for each body paragraph. If you also turn every sentence into a question, you will likely come up with the right supporting details for every topic sentence above. Try it out!

Here is a link to a video on how to write the body paragraphs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqODCn82wT0

Here is a link to another video on how to write a personal opinion essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqwzYoThUpg

After you view the materials posted in this blog, you will have to write a personal opinion essay that reflects your opinion about fashion.  Choose one of these statements that represent your attitude to fashion: Do you dress to make a statement about yourself? Or Do dress to feel comfortable?  Which of these questions reflect your fashion sense?

After you view the materials posted on both topics, leave a comment about what you have learned. Feel free to ask if you have a question about both topics.  

After you choose a statement that reflect your opinion, work with other classmates whom you share similar attitude about fashion.  Then go to this class Padelt page to brainstorm ideas together and develop an essay outline about either topic: http://padlet.com/ahmed_mansour/2ziuk0z079xo 

After you  have your essay outline ready, write your first draft and post it in this Padlet page. Share ideas with the rest of class about your first draft.  Look at the rubric sheet for evaluating your writing and make sure your writing meets all requirement for a good essay.

Use your classmates feedback to write a second draft and publish it in the class Padlet page.   Make sure you check your essay against the evaluation criteria in the writing rubrics.

Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any question.