Example of a History OneChunk Paragraph River valleys played an important role in the beginning of ancient civilizations by providing the resources needed to help people survive and thrive. For example, in Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers provided water and fertile soil for people to grow crops and establish civilizations. In Egypt, the Nile River’s yearly inundation provided fertile soil and water for Egyptians to establish the farming needed for Egypt to grow. This is important because These civilizations depended on the rivers to provide the much needed water and soil that allowed early man to develop the food surplus needed to develop civilizations. As a result Civilizations were able to thrive and prosper from the valuable resources that the rivers provided the people to grow the crops necessary for survival and growth. TS = Topic Sentence ● ● ● ● tells what your paragraph is about the first sentence in a paragraph Must have a SUBJECT and an OPINION (commentary) for the paragraph It does the same thing for a body paragraph that the thesis does for the whole essay CD = Concrete Detail ● ● ● □ □ □ □ □ The “what?” Stuff from the story; you will paraphrase or quote a CD (cite the source, if directly quoted) Can be: Facts Examples Illustrations Evidence Support CM = Commentary Sentence (“ This shows that …” or “ This is because …”) ● ● ● □ □ □ □ □ □ Stuff from your head – your thoughts about the CD The “so what?” Can be: Argument Analysis Interpretation Inference Insight Reasons CS = Concluding Sentence “As a result…” • Wraps up your paragraph • The last sentence in a body paragraph • It is ALL commentary • Does not repeat key words • Gives a “finished feeling” to the paragraph
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