How a Key Sentence or Paragraph Fits the Whole

Explain the role a particular sentence or paragraph plays in a text's structure and meaning.

Questions often ask why an author included a particular paragraph or sentence. Each part of a text has a job. Common jobs include introducing the topic, providing background, giving an example, presenting evidence, shifting to a counterpoint, explaining a cause, and drawing a conclusion. To figure out a part's role, read what comes just before and just after it, then ask what would be lost if it were removed. Imagine an essay arguing that schools should start later.

Paragraph 3 begins: 'Some parents worry that a later start would make afternoon sports run too late. ' This paragraph's job is to acknowledge a counterargument. Paragraph 4 then explains how other schools adjusted their sports schedules, which rebuts it. Without paragraph 3, the essay would seem to ignore an obvious objection and would be less convincing. A good answer names the job and explains how it helps the whole text achieve its purpose.

• 1Every part of a text has a job.
• 2Read before and after, then ask what would be lost without it.
• 3Name the job and how it helps the whole text.