GERRC+Paragraph

**Paragraph Development**
=bit.ly/mrgopara=
 * Back to Writing page
 * Chubric (Checklist/Rubric for GERRC Pargraph)
 * ** // ENG3U/4U - Senior GERRC Paragraph guide handout - // **
 * ** // ENG1D/2D: Junior GERRC Paragraph // ** // (bit.ly/gerrcjr) //
 * GERRC paragraph graphic organizer
 * Use ◙ **transition words and phrases** to guide reader, but avoid using these as a crutch. Your argument should be clear without these signal words. Use them to merely bolster the clarity of your train of thought.
 * [[file:Rubric - GERRC Paragraph.docx|Rubric - GERRC Paragraph]]
 * Integrating quotations (never use "says" or "states" to weave in a quotation)

The GERRC format is one way of organizing your paragraphs. When you encounter essay writing, the GERRC format will help you structure your body paragraphs. Although the GERRC paragraph gives you a framework from which to approach your question, it is up to you, the writer, to make sure that your sentences flow, your diction is precise, and your ideas are coherent and unified.
 * The GERRC Paragraph **

** G **** ENERALIZATION ** : One introductory sentence. - Give context to the writing piece (if the assignment is composed of a few paragraphs, provide context in paragraph 1). Provide reader with the general theme or subject matter you are addressing and the **title** (in quotations for shorter works such as poems and short stories), or //italicized// for bound works such as novels and plays) and **author's first and last name**. - usually the question phrased as a statement   - Also known as the "topic" or guiding sentence   - The introductory sentence should give a general overview of what the paragraph is about.

** E **** LABORATION ** and/or Explanations: One to two sentences. - These sentences allow the writer to elaborate or expand upon the general statement above. Explain why? or how?

**G and E can be combined. It is important to include three key ideas that preview the focus of the entire paragraph.

= **R****EFERENCES**: Two to three sentences. =
 * Use APE (argument, proof, explanation) to guide ideas. As seen in the example below, the proof should be woven into the analysis
 * Integrating quotations (never use "says" or "states" to weave in a quotation)
 * he pertinent (relevant) passages from the play to support their Elaborations and Explanations. The number of references may vary, but three would be the bare minimum.
 * There should be sufficient textual evidence to fully support your points. It is also important to use only the pertinent parts of the quotation, and not to simply "drop" full lines of text into the paragraph without explaining how they relate to your argument.
 * Remember that by using excerpts of full quotations, it is possible to include three, four or even five pieces of textual evidence in two sentences (see example).

** C **** ONCLUSION ** : One sentence.

- A synthesis that succinctly draws together the main points of the paragraph. This sentence should be phrased differently from the introductory sentence and, in an essay, the final sentence is used as a transition to the next paragraph.

Observe how the GERRC paragraph is only five to seven sentences long. Vary your [|sentence types] (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex). Basic stylistic points are to retain //formal// tone by using third person, (avoid “I”, “we”, “us”, “our”), contractions (can’t, won’t, don’t), and generally use MLA format (for citing your page or line numbers). Do not forget to **indent.**

**Question**: What does Hamlet's first soliloquy reveal about his feelings towards his mother's hasty marriage with Claudius?

** Step 1 ** Brainstorm any initial responses you have to the question. Revisit the text and search for exact quotations that support your ideas. Write the feelings and attitudes towards life that are shown in this soliloquy. Also give condensed textual support for your thoughts.

Brainstorm ideas and group them into “like groups” (at least three)
{1} He feels that she has betrayed his father:

- "But two months dead...Hyperion to a Satyr" (137-139) - "married with mine uncle....like my father than I to Hercules" (150 -152) - "with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" (158)

{2} He feels angry:

- "Frailty thy name is woman" (147) - "a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer/

{3} He feels that life is not worth living; he is severely depressed:

- " How weary, stale...all the uses of this world" (134) - "Everlasting had not ....'gainst self slaughter" (133)

** Step 2 ** Take the parts of the quotations that best illustrate your points and work them into your answer.

** G ** Hamlet's first soliloquy reveals his feelings towards his mother's hasty remarriage to Claudius. ** E ** He is {1} **enraged by** his {2} **mother’s disloyalty to his father's memory** that {3} **his perception of the world has been severely distorted**. ** R ** Hamlet accuses his mother of rushing "with such dexterity to incestuous sheets" (154) with Claudius, a man who "was no more like [Old Hamlet] than [he} to Hercules" (153) **.** ** R ** Her "frailty" (146) has caused Hamlet to fixate on all that is "rank and gross in nature" (136) and even causes him to decry the "[Everlasting's] canon ‘gainst self slaughter"(132-3) **.**  ** C ** There is no doubt that Gertrude's marriage of Claudius has left Hamlet with a great deal of anger and cynicism towards the world.

** NB: ** Five parts of quotations are included in the two reference sentences. It is often better to take smatterings of quotations to show what effect those words or phrases promote (e.g., poetic device such as consonance or close analysis of writer’s diction). Longer quotations may be required to describe the establishment of an overall tone. **Note placement of the period AFTER the citation (page numbering).**