Building a Paragraph

Introduction (whole class, ca. 30 min): Discussion of texts by Busch and Hustvedt, with a focus on what they suggest about how an object can “live” in people, how it can tell stories, and how/why it can shape identity. Activities and questions to consider: List each of Busch’s arguments about what gives ordinary objects their value. Which do you find the most convincing? Which resonates the most with your experiences? Which possible argument does she omit?

Next, the class examines Hustvedt’s one-paragraph reflection: How does Hustvedt use an ordinary object (“unknown keys”) to give us a snapshot/portrait of her father and her relationship with him? What patterns of organization and rhetorical devices does she use to accomplish this? For example, how does she transition from object to person, from person to person, and from the particular to the general? How does she condense the portrait in a single paragraph (successfully or not)? Does the text communicate effectively the symbolic meaning of the central object? What, if anything, is confusing, feels incomplete, or raises questions? What does she do or say that inspires you the most?

In answering these questions, students are asked to draw on the other two readings assigned for the day (3 & 4 above), thus reflecting on the recommended strategies for building a solid paragraph in relation to specific examples.

Group Work (groups of three, ca. 20 min total): Instructions: Spend 5 minutes silently thinking about a physical object that matters to you. How, when, and why did you get it? What does it look like? How does having it make you feel? As you’re thinking, take notes on anything you want to convey about the object’s significance. For example, does it trigger a specific memory and, if so, why is that memory important to you? Feel free to draw on Busch’s and Hustvedt’s texts for inspiration.

Next, take turns speaking about your choices. Each of you should spend about 5 minutes talking with the others in your group about your object. As a listener, remark on anything you deem curious, confusing, relatable, incomplete, or otherwise interesting in the speaker’s description. As a speaker, take note of the others’ questions and good ideas for elaborating on your description.

In-class Writing (individual work; ca. 25 min, including “modeling” below): Students start writing a one-paragraph reflection on their object, due next class.

Modeling (ca. 10 min): Instructor reflects on an object that prompts a powerful childhood memory and outlines a paragraph that can be built around the remembered event in the form of a snapshot. The focus is on capturing details, followed by a condensed reflection on the meaning of the event at the time it happened and its long-term impact on her identity and emotional development. This outline follows the recommendations set forth in “Paragraphs” and “Building Effective Paragraphs”: focus on a main point stated in a topic sentence; develop the point; choose a suitable pattern of organization (in this case, description, narration, and possibly analogy); manage length; maintain paragraph unity; and achieve coherence. 

Closure: Students are given the rest of the class to work on their paragraphs. At the end, they are asked to revise and complete their work at home after having read texts assigned for next class, which further exemplify descriptive paragraphs and narration.