tuff-stuff - first support - parents divorce

Estimados Estudiantes,

This week, we share our first support on the discussion board.

Here is how I want it to look - Use Jay's Four-Step Model:

* topic sentence - express your CAUSE or EFFECT

* explanation/clarification – two or three sentences

* meaningful example – five or six sentences

* conclusion – two or three sentences.

Jay’s Tip: Use the model I provide below. It will help you develop an effective support paragraph for a cause and effect essay. Remember that your supports should focus upon a specific CAUSE or a specific EFFECT.

I wrote this one to help a student the other night. I imagined how would I develop a paragraph to explain the effects of my parents’s divorce:

Topic Sentence- make a one-sentence statement that emphasizes CAUSE or EFFECT(for example, if I'm writing about my parents' divorce, I could write something like this:

The sudden news of my parents divorce shocked and confused me (EFFECT)

Explanation- take 2-3 sentences to clarify what you mean with your topic sentence.( for example, If I continue with this divorce idea, I write something like this:)

I just didn't see it coming. They never really argued or fought in front of us. I thought we were one big, happy family. I didn't know how to handle it. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the deciding which parent to live with. Everything I thought I knew turned out to be a lie.

Example- take 4-5 sentences to provide a vivid example. Can you paint a picture for your reader.(for example, if I continue with this divorce idea, I might write something like this:)

For weeks, none of my brothers or sisters would even talk about it. I mean, the more we thought about it, the more distant we became. I remember eating dinner together like we always did, but no one would say a thing. We ate in total silence. It's like our house was underwater. A sadness just drowned us out.

Conclusion- take 2-3 sentences to share your thought based on what you just(for example, if i keep going with this divorce idea, my conclusion might look something like this:)

When I look back now, I realize I must have been very naive to think I lived in the perfect family. Statistics say 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce.

When I put the sentences together, my four-part paragraph looks like this:

The sudden news of my parents divorce shocked and confused me . I just didn't see it coming. They never really argued or fought in front of us. I thought we were one big, happy family. I didn't know how to handle it. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the deciding which parent to live with. Everything I thought I knew turned out to be a lie. For weeks, none of my brothers or sisters would even talk about it. I mean, the more we thought about it, the more distant we became. I remember eating dinner together like we always did, but no one would say a thing. We ate in total silence. It's like our house was underwater. A sadness just drowned us out. When I look back now, I realize I must have been very naive to think I lived in the perfect family. Statistics say 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce. But, that doesn't make me feel any better.

This is going to be great. You will see.

Paz,