Week 3 — Readings & Resources · The Paragraph

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective covered: Objective 3 — Develop unified, coherent, well-developed paragraphs (the paragraph as the unit of composition).

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is deliberately light: 2 short readings + 1 video, grouped by the two big ideas, plus one optional free reference. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 30–40 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① the paragraph, the topic sentence, and unity → ② coherence and development (P-I-E / MEAL).

A habit to start now: before you call a paragraph done, run the unity test from class — read each sentence and ask, does this serve the topic sentence? — and then the "so what?" test — after each piece of evidence, ask, what does this show? If you can't answer, the paragraph needs explanation, not more facts.

① The Paragraph, the Topic Sentence & Unity

Maps to Lecture Segments 2 & 4. A paragraph develops one idea; the topic sentence states it, and unity means every sentence serves it.

Reading — "On Paragraphs" (Purdue OWL)
🔗 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/paragraphs_and_paragraphing/index.html
Why it's assigned: the clearest one-page tour of the four traits we drew in class — unity, coherence, a topic sentence, and adequate development — from the most widely used writing lab in the country. Notice its basic rule, "keep one idea to one paragraph," and its warning about paragraphs that are too short to be developed.
⏱ ~8 min

Optional companion — "Paragraphing" (Excelsior OWL)
🔗 https://owl.excelsior.edu/writing-process/paragraphing/
Why it's here: a short, visual walk through what a paragraph is and how to keep it focused — a friendly second pass on topic sentences and unity before the quiz. (Excelsior OWL is a free, college-run writing lab.)
⏱ ~6 min

② Coherence & Development (P-I-E / MEAL)

Maps to Lecture Segments 3 & 5. A paragraph coheres when it flows (logical order, transitions, old-to-new), and it's developed when the point is backed by evidence and explanation. The line to carry out of this week: listing isn't developing — explain what the evidence shows.

Reading — "Paragraphing: The MAC Method" (Excelsior OWL)
🔗 https://owl.excelsior.edu/writing-process/paragraphing/paragraphing-the-mac-method/
Why it's assigned: a clean, concrete model for building a body paragraph — Make a claim, give Assertions/evidence, and Commentary/explanation — the same Point → Evidence → Explanation move we walked at the board (the cousin of P-I-E / MEAL). It puts the spotlight exactly where weak paragraphs fail: the explanation.
⏱ ~6 min

Video — "Introducing Purpose and Strategies | Rhetoric & Composition | Study Hall" (ASU + Crash Course)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phuFapCHJB0
Why it earns the click: a lively, first-year-composition tour of how writers develop and organize their ideas for a reader — useful background for the coherence-and-development half of the week. From the Study Hall Rhetoric & Composition series we use all term.
⏱ ~11 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim all term, the OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook keeps its full text free to read online — a reputable, currently-available college writing reference covering paragraphs, the writing process, every major essay type, and an MLA section we'll use later.
🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/writing-guide
Why it's here: a free, returnable reference for the whole course — entirely optional this week. (Linked as a free reference; this course makes no open-license or copyright claim about it.)

Pick-one quick path (≈14 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Read "On Paragraphs" (Purdue OWL, group ①).
2. Read "Paragraphing: The MAC Method" (Excelsior OWL, group ②).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Lindgren and use the free OpenStax reference above in the meantime. Nothing here is hosted by our course — these are all external resources, linked, not reproduced.