Aphorisms on Assertions

Assertions for Launching Body Paragraphs: Body paragraphs are like rocket ships: they need to be launched with a blast of fire.

Assertions as Mini-Thesis: An assertion is the thesis statement for a paragraph or section. 

Not Topic Sentences, Assertions: Every body paragraph should begin with an assertion. Don’t write topic sentences; write assertions. A topic sentence identifies the topic to be discussed in a paragraph, but readers don't want to know the topic under consideration: they want to know your claim about that topic. At the start of a paper you don't just identify your text; you identify your text and offer a claim (or thesis statement) about that text that orients your reader to the evidence that will follow in the body of your paper. The same is true for a paragraph. Don't just give a topic; give an assertion about that topic.

Questions/Problems Instead of Assertions: If each body paragraph has an assertion that can be thought of as the thesis statement of that paragraph, each body paragraph also has a question or problem that it’s responding to (i.e., a reason that it needs to exist), just as every paper has a question or problem that it’s responding to. Obviously, the paper-level problem is bigger and more general, while the paragraph-level problem is smaller and more specific. But, just as you can begin a paper by stating an analytical question or problem to be considered, you can begin a paragraph by posing the problem addressed in that paragraph. In other words, you can start a paragraph by asking a question instead of making an assertion. If you do so, just be sure that the next sentence is an assertion that answers (or at least points to an answer to) the question.

Questions/Problems for Transitions: You can ask a question to transition from one paragraph to another, but asking a question is often a very effective way to transition from one section of the body to another. Notionally, at the end of the previous section, you summarized your analyses up to that point; now, at the start of a new section, you can pose a question that segues from that previous part of your argument to the next part.

Assertions as the Point of the Paragraph: When writing a paragraph, you should know and be able to tell someone in about five to ten words what the point of the paragraph is. Make sure that point is clearly expressed, usually in the first sentence of the paragraph (i.e. the assertion).

One Idea per Paragraph: A paragraph should address one idea. If a paragraph addresses more than one idea, it should be split into two paragraphs (effectively becoming a section with two or maybe more paragraphs).

Assertions for Sections, and for Paragraphs: When organizing a section, start the first paragraph with the assertion that states the point of that section, and then include a second sentence that offers the assertion to be demonstrated in the current paragraph. Then the second paragraph of that section should begin with an assertion about the evidence analyzed in that paragraph, and – if necessary – a third paragraph with an assertion about the evidence analyzed in that paragraph, and so on.

The Pyramid of Argumentation--Argument, Assertions, Analyses, Evidence: When you go to write an academic paper, think of the structure of your central idea (not the organization of your paper, mind you, but the structure of the idea behind the paper) as a pyramid: your argument rests upon your assertions, your assertions rest upon your analyses, and your analyses rest upon your evidence. For each analysis you make in a paper, you should be able to line up your evidence and see that your analysis is the logical conclusion of that evidence. For each assertion you make, you should be able to line up your analyses and see that your assertion is the logical conclusion of those analyses. For each argument you make, you should be able to line up your assertions and see that your argument is the logical conclusion of those assertions.

The Point--for Section, Paragraph, Sentence: That is, the operative unit of the body of your paper is the point, as in the point you’re trying to make, which operates on three different levels: the point of a sentence, the point of a paragraph, and the point of a section. There is the body of your paper, and within it there are sections, and within those sections there are paragraphs, and within those paragraphs there are sentences. Each level of thought – section, paragraph, sentence – should have a single purpose. For each section, paragraph, and sentence you write, ask yourself, “What’s the point?” It is imperative that you understand what each section is trying to accomplish, what each paragraph in each section is trying to accomplish, and what each sentence in each paragraph is trying to accomplish. Since your argument is what you need to support in the body of your paper, you should ask yourself what sections you will need to write in order to support your argument. Then, for each section you need to write, ask yourself what paragraphs you’ll need to write for it to be an effective section. Finally, for each paragraph you need to write, ask yourself what sentences you’ll need to write in order for that paragraph to be an effective paragraph.

Assertions as What is Being Accomplished: Thus, for each body paragraph you write, ask yourself, “What does this paragraph need to accomplish?” When you know how a paragraph functions as a piece of your argument, it’s much easier to know what the content of a paragraph should be – and what it shouldn’t or needn’t be. Identify the point of each of your paragraphs in your assertion for that paragraph, and then cut out everything in that paragraph that isn’t directly supporting that point.