ABSTRACT
Many years ago I sat down with a young man in a one-on-one writing conference to examine his essay. As was common, this young man’s paper lacked cohesion and substance. I remember him wanting to do well, but clearly he was lost writing a paragraph, especially one with evidence. Probably in a tone that must have revealed my frustration, I said, “Alright, look: Let me write an example for you on the board.” I took his claim and evidence and slowly wrote a paragraph on the board behind us. I then labeled the parts-or functions-of the paragraph. I turned around and asked, “Do you understand now?” His response was truthfully unexpected:
“Yeah, I get it.”
