Name: ______________________________

English 9

Date: _________________________

PARAGRAPH CHECKLIST
Topic Sentence (TS)
1.
2.
3.
4.

The TS expresses the main idea of the paragraph _____

The TS has the subject and the controlling idea _____
The TS works UP (makes sense with the Thesis) _____
The TS works DOWN (each sentence of the body paragraph is related to the
Thesis) _____

Concrete Details (CDs)

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

There are TWO CDs in the paragraph _____

The TWO CDs are direct quotations from the text _____
They are integrated into the sentence and anchored with the writers words _____
There are no floating quotations _____
Each quotation has a page number _____

Commentary (CM)
10. There are two sentences of CM for each CD _____
11. There are AT LEAST FOUR sentences of CM _____
12. CM is not just a summary of the quotation _____
13. CM helps to show how the CD proves/relates to the TS _____
14. CM shows the writers thinking and analysis of the CD _____
Concluding Sentence (CS)
15. The CS is a summary of the main idea of the paragraph _____
16. The CS relates to each sentence in the rest of the paragraph _____
17. The CS is NOT exactly the same as the TS (it was not copied) _____
18. The CS wraps up the paragraph _____