Editing tips for body paragraphs

o Consider using a mnemonic device, such as ISIS or the 4Fs to think about the
function of each sentence in the paragraph.
 To use ISIS, for each paragraph, consider your Introductory sentence, the
Supporting detail, your Interpretation and the “So what?” of your
paragraph. This quick check can help you write paragraphs that are
concise, controlled and well focused.
 ISIS checkpoints:
• Have you have Introduced your point in a clear topic sentence?
• Have you offered enough Supporting detail in a form appropriate
for your audience and purpose? In other words, have you offered
your readers evidence for the conclusion you make at the end of
the paragraph?
• Have you Interpreted your evidence for your readers? In other
words, have you told the reader the implications and conclusions
you have drawn, or have you left your quotes and other supporting
details bare of interpretation?
• Have you answered the “So what?” for your readers? In other
words, have you delivered the main point, based on your evidence
and clearly connected the point to your thesis?

 To use the 4Fs consider your Focus (topic sentence and control of
viewpoint), Fine points (specific details dedicated to support and
interpretation), Flow (effective organization of points and use of
transitional language to connect points), and Finality (a conclusion that
entrenches the controlling idea of the paragraph AND suggests its
connection to the thesis of the larger paper). This device can also be used
to write coherent, unified and well developed paragraphs.
 4F checkpoints:
• Focus: Have you crafted a topic sentence that serves as a
controlling idea for the rest of your paragraph? Are your
supporting details, concluding sentence, and all other sentences
focused on the single, unifying idea expressed in your topic
sentence? Are your tone and point of view consistent throughout
your paragraph?
• Fine points: Are your supporting details arranged in a pattern that
suits your purpose? Are there enough of them? Are the details
you’ve chosen convincing and appropriate to your purpose?
• Flow: Are your ideas logically organized and effectively connected
by transitions, pronouns and judicious use of key words and
synonyms? Is your paragraph self-contained; that is, could it stand
as an independent development of the idea presented in your topic
sentence?
 • Finality: Do you have a concluding sentence that sums up the topic
sentence and advances the thesis? Does your concluding sentence
signal readers that you are wrapping up? (Adapted from Brundage
and Lahey, Acting on Words: An Integrated Rhetoric, Reader, and
Handbook, 2nd Ed..)

o Make sure, when selecting your supporting details, to select quotations that
emphasize your conclusion and integrate them grammatically into your sentence
rather than “dropping” them in, unannounced.
 Correct: In fact, as Smith points out, “the hostility of the French banking
community was pervasive and deeply rooted…” (1995, p.553).
 Incorrect: It is a fact that the French banking community was hostile. “The
hostility of the French banking community was pervasive and deeply
rooted,” (Smith, 1995, p.553).
 For more information on effective use of quotations, see The Basics of
Documentation

o Start with a topic sentence that focuses on one part of your thesis statement, then
offers some supporting details (this is usually where quotations or paraphrases go)
and, finally, concludes with a statement that develops your thesis.

o Avoid using a quotation as a topic sentence. Remember that a topic sentence

should be your idea and should give some indication of how you think the topic
connects to the thesis.

o Avoid using a quotation as a concluding sentence. Instead, interpret/sum up the

quote for your readers, making the relationship between the quotation and your
topic sentence clear.

o Use your concluding sentence to sum up the paragraph material AND make a
point that develops one aspect of the thesis.