Writing a coherent body paragraph
Below are two quotes, one from the primary source, the second from a secondary source. Use the paragraph that follows as a model for your paragraph. The works are cited at the end of the paragraph.
Below are two quotes, one from the primary source, the second from a secondary source. Use the paragraph that follows as a model for your paragraph. The works are cited at the end of the paragraph.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Primary source:
Primary source:
I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn't know Allie. My hand still hurts me once in a while when it rains and all, and I can't make a real fist any more – not a tight one, I mean – but outside of that I don't care much. I mean I'm not going to be a goddam surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway.
I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn't know Allie. My hand still hurts me once in a while when it rains and all, and I can't make a real fist any more – not a tight one, I mean – but outside of that I don't care much. I mean I'm not going to be a goddam surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway.
Anyway, that's what I wrote Stradlater's composition about. Old Allie's baseball mitt. I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the poems that were written on it. All I had to do was change Allie's name so that nobody would know it was my brother and not Stradlater's. I wasn't too crazy about doing it, but I couldn't think of anything else descriptive. Besides, I sort of liked writing about it. It took me about an hour, because I had to use Stradlater's lousy typewriter, and it kept jamming on me. The reason I didn't use my own was because I'd lent it to a guy down the hall.
Anyway, that's what I wrote Stradlater's composition about. Old Allie's baseball mitt. I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the poems that were written on it. All I had to do was change Allie's name so that nobody would know it was my brother and not Stradlater's. I wasn't too crazy about doing it, but I couldn't think of anything else descriptive. Besides, I sort of liked writing about it. It took me about an hour, because I had to use Stradlater's lousy typewriter, and it kept jamming on me. The reason I didn't use my own was because I'd lent it to a guy down the hall.
Secondary source:
Secondary source:
If Ackley does not appreciate the extent to which the death of Holden's red-haired brother informs his posturing, even less is his room-mate Stradlater aware of the chain of associations that he sets off when he asks Holden to write a composition for him. Unable to write about a "room or a house" Holden writes about Allie's baseball mitt--an object which is a complex version of a child's security blanket, a sacred relic of the living dead, at the same time that it reminds Holden of betrayal. And thus as he writes about the mitt, we learn directly for the first time of Allie's death and of Holden's self-punishing rage.
If Ackley does not appreciate the extent to which the death of Holden's red-haired brother informs his posturing, even less is his room-mate Stradlater aware of the chain of associations that he sets off when he asks Holden to write a composition for him. Unable to write about a "room or a house" Holden writes about Allie's baseball mitt--an object which is a complex version of a child's security blanket, a sacred relic of the living dead, at the same time that it reminds Holden of betrayal. And thus as he writes about the mitt, we learn directly for the first time of Allie's death and of Holden's self-punishing rage.
An example of a coherent body paragraph:
An example of a coherent body paragraph:
Salinger uses Allie’s baseball mitt as a symbol of his protagonist’s inner conflict. When Holden’s roommate at Pencey, Stradlater, asks him to write a descriptive essay, Holden writes about his beloved brother Allie’s baseball mitt. Holden treats the mitt reverently, taking it with him to Pencey and copying “down the poems that were written on it” (Salinger 38). For Holden, the baseball mitt is “an object which is a complex version of a child's security blanket, a sacred relic of the living dead” (Miller). In addition, the baseball mitt symbolizes Holden's unresolved emotions surrounding his brother's untimely death. Not coincidentally, Salinger chooses this moment to introduce Holden’s rage and guilt. Holden says that when Allie died, he “was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage.” (Salinger 37) Holden’s violent actions reveal the intensity of his emotional state. Remembering his brother through the mitt and brooding on the fact that his roommate Stadlater is on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whose absence haunts Holden throughout the novel, Holden works himself into a state of considerable emotional turmoil by the end of the chapter.
Salinger uses Allie’s baseball mitt as a symbol of his protagonist’s inner conflict. When Holden’s roommate at Pencey, Stradlater, asks him to write a descriptive essay, Holden writes about his beloved brother Allie’s baseball mitt. Holden treats the mitt reverently, taking it with him to Pencey and copying “down the poems that were written on it” (Salinger 38). For Holden, the baseball mitt is “an object which is a complex version of a child's security blanket, a sacred relic of the living dead” (Miller). In addition, the baseball mitt symbolizes Holden's unresolved emotions surrounding his brother's untimely death. Not coincidentally, Salinger chooses this moment to introduce Holden’s rage and guilt. Holden says that when Allie died, he “was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage.” (Salinger 37) Holden’s violent actions reveal the intensity of his emotional state. Remembering his brother through the mitt and brooding on the fact that his roommate Stadlater is on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whose absence haunts Holden throughout the novel, Holden works himself into a state of considerable emotional turmoil by the end of the chapter.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Miller, Edwin Haviland. "In Memoriam: Allie Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye." Mosaic. 15.1 (Winter 1982): 129-140. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 138. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 129-140. Literature Resource Center. Gale. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. 20 May 2009
Miller, Edwin Haviland. "In Memoriam: Allie Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye." Mosaic. 15.1 (Winter 1982): 129-140. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 138. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 129-140. Literature Resource Center. Gale. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. 20 May 2009
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Signet Books, 1962.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Signet Books, 1962.
With the sources provided below, write a coherent body paragraph using the following topic sentence. Then properly cite the sources below it:
With the sources provided below, write a coherent body paragraph using the following topic sentence. Then properly cite the sources below it:
Main idea: Stradlater personifies arrogance and insincerity, qualities that, for Holden, symbolize the phoniness of the adult world.
Main idea: Stradlater personifies arrogance and insincerity, qualities that, for Holden, symbolize the phoniness of the adult world.
Primary source:
Primary source:
The trouble was, I knew that guy Stradlater's technique. That made it even worse. We once double-dated, in Ed Banky's car, and Stradlater was in the back, with his date, and I was in the front with mine. What a technique that guy had. What he'd do was, he'd start snowing his date in this very quiet,sincere voice – like as if he wasn't only a very handsome guy but a nice, sincere guy, too. I damn near puked, listening to him.
The trouble was, I knew that guy Stradlater's technique. That made it even worse. We once double-dated, in Ed Banky's car, and Stradlater was in the back, with his date, and I was in the front with mine. What a technique that guy had. What he'd do was, he'd start snowing his date in this very quiet,sincere voice – like as if he wasn't only a very handsome guy but a nice, sincere guy, too. I damn near puked, listening to him.
Secondary source:
Secondary source:
The novel's central conflict is between Holden and the adult world. It is due to Holden's unwillingness to become part of this world because most adults he knows are phonies, that is, people who claim to be something they are not. This central conflict is muted because Holden has more dramatic, face-to-face confrontations with people his own age than with adults. However, those with whom he does have such confrontation are adolescents who have already achieved the phoniness of adults. One such individual is Holden's roommate Ward Stradlater. Stradlater looks like a well-groomed individual but is a secret slob; moreover, in his relationships with girls, he has only one thing on his mind, and that is sexual conquest. Another adolescent who acts like an adult is Holden's girlfriend Sally Hayes, whom he calls "the queen of the phonies" because she is extremely concerned about appearances and, above all, because she acts as though she were already an adult.
The novel's central conflict is between Holden and the adult world. It is due to Holden's unwillingness to become part of this world because most adults he knows are phonies, that is, people who claim to be something they are not. This central conflict is muted because Holden has more dramatic, face-to-face confrontations with people his own age than with adults. However, those with whom he does have such confrontation are adolescents who have already achieved the phoniness of adults. One such individual is Holden's roommate Ward Stradlater. Stradlater looks like a well-groomed individual but is a secret slob; moreover, in his relationships with girls, he has only one thing on his mind, and that is sexual conquest. Another adolescent who acts like an adult is Holden's girlfriend Sally Hayes, whom he calls "the queen of the phonies" because she is extremely concerned about appearances and, above all, because she acts as though she were already an adult.
Alsen, Eberhard. A Reader's Guide to J.D. Salinger, 53–77. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Quoted as "The Catcher in the Rye" in Bloom, Harold, ed. J. D. Salinger, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= MCVJDS010&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 9, 2011).
Alsen, Eberhard. A Reader's Guide to J.D. Salinger, 53–77. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Quoted as "The Catcher in the Rye" in Bloom, Harold, ed. J. D. Salinger, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= MCVJDS010&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 9, 2011).