Week 3 — Readings & Resources

Your primary reading is Chapter 3 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 71–81 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more practice, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (19–21 min total)

• Paragraph Writing in English: Paragraph Unity and Coherence — Writing Better
• How to Structure a MEAL paragraph — English with Beth B
• Paragraphing — Writing Center Quick Guides

① What is my paragraph proving? The topic sentence and unity

Chapter 3, Section “State the controlling idea: the topic sentence” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Topic sentences and the controlling idea” · Remember: a topic sentence states one claim a reader could answer with prove it, and every other sentence has to help prove it.

• Writing Strong Topic Sentences: Add IMPACT to your Writing — High-Value Writing — a clear case for topic sentences that tell the reader what the paragraph is about and why it matters, in college papers and in workplace email alike. This builds on Week 2's work with separating a writer's claim from its support: here the claim is yours. (video, 10 min) (captions: creator)
• Paragraph Writing in English: Paragraph Unity and Coherence — Writing Better — a short walk-through of a paragraph whose sentences all connect to one main idea, with the topic sentence doing the steering. Watch for the moment a sentence drifts off the main idea; that is the breaker. (video, 6 min) (captions: automatic)
• Paragraphing — Writing Center Quick Guides — a list of the jobs a body paragraph's sentences can do, followed by two annotated sample paragraphs that label each sentence's job. Read the annotations the way you would read a reverse outline. Use it while working through the Week-3 module overview. (reading, 5–7 min)

② How do my sentences connect? Coherence, transitions, and old-to-new flow

Chapter 3, Section “Make the sentences hand off: coherence” · Session 1, Segment 4, “Coherence, transitions, and two commas” · Remember: open each sentence with something the reader already knows, and use a transition only when it names a real relationship.

• Make Your Writing Flow (Ideas): Cohesion, Coherence, and Organization — Writing with Andrew — what writing that flows actually means, broken into three parts: how sentences link, how ideas stay on one track, and how the order of ideas helps a reader. The middle sections line up with the chapter's coherence section. (video, 16 min) (captions: creator)
• How to Use Transition Words & Phrases to Help Your Writing Flow — David Taylor — a quick tour of transitions sorted by the job they do, such as setting up an example or adding a point. Check each one against the chapter's rule: the relationship has to be real. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)
• Cohesion — Study Skills: Reading and Writing — a study-skills guide with six techniques for writing that holds together. Read the techniques on putting old information before new and on pairing this or these with a noun, the same move as the running draft's "That pattern." Skip the part on headings and subheadings. (reading, 8–12 min)

③ How do I prove the point? Development with PIE and MEAL

Chapter 3, Section “Develop the point: evidence plus explanation with PIE and MEAL” · Session 2, Segment 1, “Development with PIE and MEAL” · Remember: evidence alone proves nothing until a sentence explains what it proves.

• PIE Paragraph Structure — Amery Bodelson — the point, illustration, and explanation pattern walked through one part at a time, with attention to the explanation that writers most often skip. (video, 6 min) (captions: automatic)
• How to Structure a MEAL paragraph — English with Beth B — examples of building a paragraph from its main point through evidence and analysis to a link. The video calls the M "meaning"; it is the same job the chapter calls the main idea. (video, 8 min) (captions: automatic)
• Creating Effective Paragraphs Using the MEAL Plan — Writing Center Resources — a guide to the four MEAL parts with a sample paragraph whose sentences are labeled by part. Cover the labels and try to name each sentence's job before you check. (reading, 5–7 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

• On Paragraphs — Online Writing Lab (OWL) — a compact reference page on what a paragraph is, the one-idea rule, unity, coherence, the topic sentence, adequate development, and transitions; the whole page is short enough to read at one sitting. (reading, 5–7 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com