Introduction to Using Sources
For your assignment in this module, you're going to write an argument essay. This will be a little different from the
argument essay you may have written in the previous course because now you're going to learn to make your essays
more academic.
One of the new things you're going to start learning is how to use outside sources to support the ideas in your body
paragraphs. Doing this will make your essays more complex and academic.
To get started, watch the following video lecture on using sources. After you watch this video, you will be able to:
use quotations to add support to your body paragraphs
use one type of MLA citation to give credit to your source
integrate your own words with a quotation
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This lesson is about writing longer essays.
Play video starting at 6 seconds and follow transcript0:06
You've already learned about writing a five-paragraph essay.
Play video starting at 10 seconds and follow transcript0:10
This is a common format for students who are learning to write essays.
It's often taught in American high schools.
Play video starting at 18 seconds and follow transcript0:18
But a five paragraph essay is really only useful for writing a couple of pages.
Play video starting at 25 seconds and follow transcript0:25
In college classes, students are asked to write much longer essays, so
a five paragraph essay won't do.
Play video starting at 33 seconds and follow transcript0:33
It's necessary to learn to write longer essays.
Play video starting at 37 seconds and follow transcript0:37
And to do this, you need to learn to write more body paragraphs in your essay.
This was an example of an argument essay, and
it had five paragraphs, with three body paragraphs.
Because it was an argument essay,
each body paragraph was a reason that supported the thesis.
Play video starting at 58 seconds and follow transcript0:58
Let’s look at how we can make this a longer essay.
Play video starting at 1 minute 2 seconds and follow transcript1:02
To make this a longer essay,
were going to need to use different types of body paragraphs.
Play video starting at 1 minute 10 seconds and follow transcript1:10
One type of body paragraph that you can use is a cause and effect paragraph.
Play video starting at 1 minute 17 seconds and follow transcript1:17
Here's an example of a cause and effect paragraph.
Play video starting at 1 minute 21 seconds and follow transcript1:21
It follows the same structure that you've learned about writing body
paragraphs before.
Play video starting at 1 minute 28 seconds and follow transcript1:28
It has a topic sentence shown in green.
And it has three supporting ideas shows in red.
And then a couple of details for each of the supporting ideas.
Play video starting at 1 minute 40 seconds and follow transcript1:40
In a cause and effect paragraph, you would have three causes or three effects.
This one has three causes.
And you should already know how to write this kind of paragraph.
Play video starting at 1 minute 54 seconds and follow transcript1:54
Another type of paragraph that you could use for a body paragraph is the compare
contrast, where you would compare things or you would contrast things.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 5 seconds and follow transcript2:05
Here's an example of that.
In this compare contrast paragraph the writer is contrasting high school and
college.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 15 seconds and follow transcript2:15
And just like with the cause and effect paragraph, the compare contrast paragraph
Would have three supports with details and examples, all supporting a topic sentence.
Here the writer gives three differences in the supporting ideas, and
they are shown in red.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 33 seconds and follow transcript2:33
So you should start to see that these paragraph types
follow the same structure that you already learned for body paragraphs.
You need a topic sentence that supports the thesis, and
you should have several supporting ideas.
Then you should have several details and
examples that are very specific and help develop the paragraph.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 56 seconds and follow transcript2:56
That same structure is used for cause/effect, compare/contrast,
illustration, which is sometimes called exemplification,
argument paragraphs, and classification paragraphs.
These five types all have a topic sentence with probably three supporting
ideas and then details and examples for each of those supporting ideas.
The structure of those paragraphs will all be the same.
It's just a difference of whether your support is causes, or
if your support is comparisons or
if your support is examples, like you would use in illustration.
So the supports are different, but the structure for
those five types are all the same.
Play video starting at 3 minutes 43 seconds and follow transcript3:43
On the right side here, we have 3 other types of body paragraphs.
Description, narration and process.
Play video starting at 3 minutes 51 seconds and follow transcript3:51
Don't follow the exact same pattern, they're a little bit different.
Description describes something, and so it doesn't unusually have three supports.
The structure of this kind of paragraph would be maybe geographical,
describing a place from left to right or from top to bottom.
Or it could describe a person, and if you were describing a person,
you would be describing them maybe from their head to their toe.
So the structure of this paragraph is a little bit different.
Play video starting at 4 minutes 23 seconds and follow transcript4:23
Narration and process both use time order.
Play video starting at 4 minutes 27 seconds and follow transcript4:27
In a narration, you're telling a story about something.
And so you tell about the first thing, and then the second thing, and
then the third thing.
It uses time order.
Process also does that,
because you telling how something happens or how it's done.
And so you would tell the first step, the second step, the third step.
That’s a process.
So those three types are a little bit different, but
all of these types of body paragraphs can help you to write longer essays.
You can use one of these types of paragraph
in your argument essay to help develop your thesis statement.
Play video starting at 5 minutes 7 seconds and follow transcript5:07
Let me show you how you would do this.
Let's say we're outlining an argument essay.
Play video starting at 5 minutes 13 seconds and follow transcript5:13
A typical five paragraph essay would have an outline like this.
We have our thesis statement College education in the US should be
free for everyone.
That's our argument.
Play video starting at 5 minutes 25 seconds and follow transcript5:25
And in a typical five paragraph essay,
you would use three body paragraphs to support that thesis.
So these are all three reasons that support my thesis statement for
the argument essay.
Play video starting at 5 minutes 38 seconds and follow transcript5:38
But if I want to write a longer essay, I can use other types of paragraphs.
Play video starting at 5 minutes 45 seconds and follow transcript5:45
So lets take that first reason,
colleges should not be making a profit from students.
Play video starting at 5 minutes 52 seconds and follow transcript5:52
Well before I get to that, I might want to write a paragraph using narrative style,
and I could write a narrative paragraph of background information.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 3 seconds and follow transcript6:03
I might show how colleges started making a profit off of students.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 9 seconds and follow transcript6:09
This background information would be helpful before I get to my first reason
about colleges should not be making a profit from students.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 19 seconds and follow transcript6:19
So that's one way I could add a different type of paragraph
to help make my essay longer.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 25 seconds and follow transcript6:25
Maybe before I make my third reason,
I might want to add a paragraph comparing or contrasting.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 34 seconds and follow transcript6:34
Because I'm arguing for American universities having free education for
everyone, I might make a paragraph that contrasts other
countries who do have free college education, and who have better societies.
I could show a contrast between those countries and the US.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 57 seconds and follow transcript6:57
This would also help support my thesis, and it would add another body paragraph.
Play video starting at 7 minutes 4 seconds and follow transcript7:04
So now I have five body paragraphs for my argument essay.
I have my original three reasons, but I’ve added a narrative paragraph for
background information, and I’ve added a comparison paragraph to
show other countries and how they use free college to have a better society.
Play video starting at 7 minutes 26 seconds and follow transcript7:26
All of these body paragraphs still support my thesis statement.
And now I have a longer essay, and it's more developed.
So this is making it more academic, which is our goal.
Play video starting at 7 minutes 39 seconds and follow transcript7:39
So when you write your next essay,
try to go beyond the traditional five paragraph essay.
Try having six or seven paragraphs.
And you'll do this by adding different types of body paragraphs.
Play video starting at 7 minutes 53 seconds and follow transcript7:53
Every essay will be different, so you might not always be able to
use a cause and effect paragraph, or a description paragraph.
So think about your topic and use the kind of paragraph that is most useful for
that topic.
I hope you'll work on making your essays longer and more academic.
