Exercise #1: Insert the necessary paragraph breaks in the following descriptive essay:

THE MEN IN THE STORM.

by STEPHEN CRANE.

At about three o'clock of the February afternoon, the blizzard began to swirl great clouds of snow along the streets, sweeping it down from the roofs and up from the pavements until the faces of pedestrians tingled and burned as from a thousand needle-prickings. Those on the walks huddled their necks closely in the collars of their coats and went along stooping like a race of aged people. The drivers of vehicles hurried their horses furiously on their way. They were made more cruel by the exposure of their positions, aloft on high seats. The street cars, bound up-town, went slowly, the horses slipping and straining in the spongy brown mass that lay between the rails. The drivers, muffled to the eyes, stood erect and facing the wind, models of grim philosophy. Overhead the trains rumbled and roared, and the dark structure of the elevated railroad, stretching over the avenue, dripped little streams and drops of water upon the mud and snow beneath it. All the clatter of the street was softened by the masses that lay upon the cobbles until, even to one who looked from a window, it became important music, a melody of life made necessary to the ear by the dreariness of the pitiless beat and sweep of the storm. Occasionally one could see black figures of men busily shoveling the white drifts from the walks. The sounds from their labor created new recollections of rural experiences which every man manages to have in a measure. Later, the immense windows of the shops became aglow with light, throwing great beams of orange and yellow upon the pavement. They were infinitely cheerful, yet in a way they accented the force and discomfort of the storm, and gave a meaning to the pace of the people and the vehicles, scores of pedestrians and drivers, wretched with cold faces, necks and feet, speeding for scores of unknown doors and entrances, scattering to an infinite variety of shelters, to places which the imagination made warm with the familiar colors of home. There was an absolute expression of hot dinners in the pace of the people. If one dared to speculate upon the destination of those who came trooping, he lost himself in a maze of social calculations; he might fling a handful of sand and attempt to follow the flight of each particular grain. But as to the suggestion of hot dinners, he was in firm lines of thought, for it was upon every hurrying face. It is a matter of tradition; it is from the tales of childhood. It comes forth with every storm.

Exercise #2: Insert the necessary paragraph breaks in the following poetry explication essay. Look for Transitional Topic Sentences as an indicator of a new paragraph.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963

Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a poem that expresses the paradoxical positive and negative qualities of nature's short-lived beauty. The speaker longs for the beauty of nature to slow down and linger. In the first line of Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" the speaker states, "Nature's first green is gold." (line 1). In essence, the reader is presented with a paradox and a metaphor that green is gold. . Green is obviously not gold, but it works because it is not saying the green is the color gold or a gold stone; it is saying that the green is precious. In that sense, it could be verbal irony too, for the speaker is not saying what he means. After establishing the value of signs of early spring, the poem then focuses upon the ephemeral qualities of beauty in spring. The poem continues on by saying that this color is "her hardest hue to hold." (line 2). This line explains what happens to the precious color. Nature can't keep that first prime green, for it changes quickly. By focusing upon the first leaf of spring, Frost's speaker develops the early beauty of the season. He also develops the universal truth that beauty is more valued becasue it is short-lived. The speaker states, "her early leaf's a flower / But only so an hour. / Then leaf sunsides to leaf." (lines 2-4). Once again this is a paradox. A leaf is not a flower, but strangely enough, that is what it starts out as. Just like a frog is not a tadpole, but it started out as one. The speaker's comment "But only so an hour," tells you that, in fact, the precious thing can't stay for long and the next line "Then leaf subsides to leaf" expresses that every leaf is hitting the ground and dying. (lines 4-5). They cannot stay, they are not immortal. Similar to his imagery of the early leaves of spring, the poem also refers to man's brief time in Paradise to evoke the impermanence of bliss. The speaker invokes a biblical allusion when he says, "So Eden sank to grief." (line 6). This evokes the story of Eden and man's fall. When they were told not to, Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and because of that, Eden disappeared. This biblical allusion enhances the feeling of loss when nature's beauty passes, for it is another example of the ephemeral qualities of the beautiful and the blissful.

ANSWERS:

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Paragraph Breaks are in bold:

"THE MEN IN THE STORM." STEPHEN CRANE.

At about three o'clock of the February afternoon, the blizzard began to swirl great clouds of snow along the streets, sweeping it down from the roofs and up from the pavements until the faces of pedestrians tingled and burned as from a thousand needle-prickings. Those on the walks huddled their necks closely in the collars of their coats and went along stooping like a race of aged people. The drivers of vehicles hurried their horses furiously on their way. They were made more cruel by the exposure of their positions, aloft on high seats. The street cars, bound up-town, went slowly, the horses slipping and straining in the spongy brown mass that lay between the rails. The drivers, muffled to the eyes, stood erect and facing the wind, models of grim philosophy.

Overhead the trains rumbled and roared, and the dark structure of the elevated railroad, stretching over the avenue, dripped little streams and drops of water upon the mud and snow beneath it. All the clatter of the street was softened by the masses that lay upon the cobbles until, even to one who looked from a window, it became important music, a melody of life made necessary to the ear by the dreariness of the pitiless beat and sweep of the storm. Occasionally one could see black figures of men busily shoveling the white drifts from the walks. The sounds from their labor created new recollections of rural experiences which every man manages to have in a measure.

Later, the immense windows of the shops became aglow with light, throwing great beams of orange and yellow upon the pavement. They were infinitely cheerful, yet in a way they accented the force and discomfort of the storm, and gave a meaning to the pace of the people and the vehicles, scores of pedestrians and drivers, wretched with cold faces, necks and feet, speeding for scores of unknown doors and entrances, scattering to an infinite variety of shelters, to places which the imagination made warm with the familiar colors of home.

There was an absolute expression of hot dinners in the pace of the people. If one dared to speculate upon the destination of those who came trooping, he lost himself in a maze of social calculations; he might fling a handful of sand and attempt to follow the flight of each particular grain. But as to the suggestion of hot dinners, he was in firm lines of thought, for it was upon every hurrying face. It is a matter of tradition; it is from the tales of childhood. It comes forth with every storm.

Each paragraph of nonfiction is organized around related details.

-First paragraph is focused on the blizzard and it effects

-Second paragraph is focused on the sounds of the train and the shovelers

-Third paragraph is focused on the light from the shop windows and it effects

-Fourth paragraph is focused on what the narrator infers from the faces of the passers-by.

Exercise #2: Paragraph breaks are in bold:

Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a poem that expresses the paradoxical positive and negative qualities of nature's short-lived beauty. The speaker longs for the beauty of nature to slow down and linger. In the first line of Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" the speaker states, "Nature's first green is gold." (line 1). In essence, the reader is presented with a paradox and a metaphor that green is gold. . Green is obviously not gold, but it works because it is not saying the green is the color gold or a gold stone; it is saying that the green is precious. In that sense, it could be verbal irony too, for the speaker is not saying what he means.

After establishing the value of signs of early spring, the poem then focuses upon the ephemeral qualities of beauty in spring. The poem continues on by saying that this color is "her hardest hue to hold." (line 2). This line explains what happens to the precious color. Nature can't keep that first prime green, for it changes quickly. By focusing upon the first leaf of spring, Frost's speaker develops the early beauty of the season. He also develops the universal truth that beauty is more valued becasue it is short-lived. The speaker states, "her early leaf's a flower / But only so an hour. / Then leaf sunsides to leaf." (lines 2-4). Once again this is a paradox. A leaf is not a flower, but strangely enough, that is what it starts out as. Just like a frog is not a tadpole, but it started out as one. The speaker's comment "But only so an hour," tells you that, in fact, the precious thing can't stay for long and the next line "Then leaf subsides to leaf" expresses that every leaf is hitting the ground and dying. (lines 4-5). They cannot stay, they are not immortal.

Similar to his imagery of the early leaves of spring, the poem also refers to man's brief time in Paradise to evoke the impermanence of bliss. The speaker invokes a biblical allusion when he says, "So Eden sank to grief." (line 6). This evokes the story of Eden and man's fall. When they were told not to, Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and because of that, Eden disappeared. This biblical allusion enhances the feeling of loss when nature's beauty passes, for it is another example of the ephemeral qualities of the beautiful and the blissful.

-each analysis paragraph has:

-topic sentence

-introduction to the quote

-quote(s)

-context of passage

-condense the passage (or summary)

-connection of passage to the thesis

*The second paragraph has multiple quotes, but each quote develops the same concept: the ephemeral qualities of spring, so they should all be contained in one paragraph.