Relevant Concrete Detail
Team Teaching with Dr. Louis: Introducing JSWP®
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11m
Also known as CD, specific details that form the backbone or core of your body paragraphs. Synonyms for concrete details include facts, specifics, examples, descriptions, illustrations, support, proof, evidence, quotations, paraphrasing, or plot references. A concrete detail is one complete sentence. Concrete details come from four places: “What I have read”; “What I have seen”; "What I or someone has done"; "What I or someone has said." Just because someone says something does not make it a fact. What someone says may be used as evidence/concrete detail, but make sure that the evidence you select is relevant, specific, and appropriate to the task. Dr. Louis recommends that evidence be pulled from credible, reliable sources. Wikipedia is not acceptable, because anyone with an opinion can write in Wikipedia. Just because a person has an opinion does not make that person an expert. Be careful. Look in databases, such as Gale Research, Google Scholar, Newsela. Libraries have wonderful sources.
Up Next in Team Teaching with Dr. Louis: Introducing JSWP®
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Insightful Commentary
Also known as a CM, one commentary equals one sentence. It is your opinion or comment about something; not concrete detail. Synonyms include opinion, insight, analysis, interpretation, inference, personal response, feelings, evaluation, explication, and reflection. Commentary comes from three pla...
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Impactful Concluding Sentences
The last sentence in a body paragraph. For literary responses, the CS is all commentary; for expository and summary paragraphs, it depends on the assignment or purpose of the piece and may include concrete detail, such as: predictions, connections, inferences, clarifications, and evaluations. For...
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Understanding the Chunk and the Ratio
The Chunk: It is the smallest unified group of thoughts in a paragraph that combine CDs and CMs. The combination depends on the RATIO for each mode. A paragraph may have multiple “chunks.”
The Ratio of concrete detail (CD) to commentary (CM).
Typically, for Response to Literature, Fine Art inte...
