Takin' Off the Training Wheels

Here are the directions for a TEP (Technique-Effect-Purpose) Paragraph. You may write about Malcolm X's allusions in "Learning to Read" or any rhetorical strategy you noticed in "'I Just Wanna Be Average.'"

Technique – Effect – Purpose Paragraph

1. In “Title of Essay,” [author] uses [rhetorical strategy] to [achieve his purpose - use this spot to directly state the author's purpose].

2. Establish the context of the first quotation.

3. Quote the text. Never use a quotation as its own sentence. When writing about diction, you might want to quote a “series” of “Words” or “phrases” instead of a complete sentence. Follow the quotation with the author’s name and the page number in parentheses (Kline 22). Artful writers might combine steps two and three in a single sentence.

4. Analyze the quotation. How does this help you prove the author’s technique achieves her purpose? No MORE than two sentences of analysis.

5. Repeat steps two through four with a second example.

6. Close your paragraph.