Literary-analysis essay drafting workshop — SOAP intro and device-body paragraphs

Re-read your thesis from yesterday's exit ticket. Refine if needed. Read to elbow partner; partner gives one SBAR feedback.

• Circulate to spot which students still need thesis support
• Pull 2-3 strong theses for Show Call later
• Affirm: thesis is the spine — get it right before drafting bodies

Today we DRAFT. The intro paragraph follows MG-18: HOOK (a striking opening line — could be a rhetorical question, a quote, a vivid scene) + SOAP CONTEXT (Speaker / Occasion / Audience / Purpose in 2-3 sentences) + THESIS (the device-naming sentence you wrote yesterday). Each DEVICE BODY paragraph follows: TOPIC SENTENCE (names the device + claim about its effect) + EVIDENCE (embedded quotation from the speech — use the embedded-quotation patterns from G5/G6-fall) + WARRANT (explanation of HOW the device serves the speaker's purpose for that audience). The warrant is the analytical move — it explains why the writer chose THIS device for THIS audience at THIS moment. Today we draft the intro and 1-2 body paragraphs. Tomorrow we'll Show Call a strong example for the class.

• Notice: hook (striking opening) + SOAP context + thesis. Three moves in one paragraph.

  model 'In November 1863, four months after the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln stood at the dedication of a national cemetery and spoke for two minutes. The 272 words he delivered — to families of the dead, to a nation weary of war, to soldiers facing more battles, and to future generations — became the most enduring American speech of the 19th century. In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln uses anaphora, parallelism, and antithesis to honor the dead while redefining the Civil War as a struggle to fulfill the nation's founding promise of equality.'

  prompt Sample SOAP intro for Lincoln Gettysburg Address.
• Topic sentence names device + claim. Evidence is embedded quotation. Warrant is the THIS MATTERS BECAUSE move — why the writer chose this device for this audience.

  model 'Lincoln uses anaphora — repetition at the start of successive clauses — to demonstrate the inadequacy of mere words in honoring the dead. He writes: "We cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground." The repetition of "we cannot" builds across three clauses, each verb stronger than the last (dedicate to consecrate to hallow). This anaphora serves Lincoln's audience-aware purpose: by emphasizing what HE cannot do, Lincoln redirects the audience's attention to what THE DEAD have already done. The pattern of negation makes the eventual affirmation — that the dead have already consecrated the ground — feel inevitable.'

  prompt Sample device-body paragraph for Lincoln Gettysburg anaphora.
• G6-spring's biggest writing trap: summarizing what the speech says instead of analyzing how it says it. Stay close to the LANGUAGE, not the content.

  model SUMMARY = 'Lincoln says X.' ANALYSIS = 'Lincoln says X using device Y for effect Z because the audience needs A.' Analysis explains HOW and WHY the writer made rhetorical choices.

  prompt What's the difference between SUMMARY and ANALYSIS?

• Cold Call: name the 3 moves of an intro paragraph (hook + SOAP context + thesis)
• Cold Call: name the 3 moves of a device-body paragraph (topic + evidence + warrant)
• Thumbs: I'm ready to draft (up) / I need conferring (down)

M-6-S-WR-09-A Chart

2-column comparison. Column 1 SUMMARY (yellow): 'Lincoln says the dead have consecrated the ground' (content-restating). Column 2 ANALYSIS (blue): 'Lincoln uses anaphora — repetition of we cannot — to redirect attention from the speaker's words to the dead's actions.' (rhetorical-choice analyzing). 5 paired rows showing the same content as summary vs. analysis. Bottom rule: 'Summary tells WHAT; analysis explains HOW and WHY.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Workshop time: draft your INTRO paragraph (3 moves) and 1-2 DEVICE BODY paragraphs.

  scaffold MG-17, MG-18, MG-2 anchors at desk; sentence-frame card; mentor-text excerpt on desk
• Show Call (Lemov): teacher selects 1 student draft to display on doc camera. Class identifies the 3 intro moves and 3 body moves.

  scaffold Show Call selection criteria: student volunteer with strong draft OR student whose draft demonstrates a common challenge worth discussing

• Submit your intro paragraph + 1 device-body paragraph for teacher review tonight.

• Restate: SOAP intro + device-body x 2-3 + so-what conclusion = 4-5 paragraphs total
• Preview tomorrow's so-what conclusion + 3-pass revision launch

• Draft your 2nd device-body paragraph + draft so-what conclusion (preview). Bring tomorrow.