Structuring Your Writing

1. Structuring Your Writing Area of Study Belonging

2. PETAL Paragraphs • Point – this is your topic sentence/thesis statement, where you state the idea/argument that you are going to extend upon and explore in the paragraph • Evidence – this is a quotation taken from the text that substantiates your point • Technique – the language/visual device used by the composer in your specific example • Analysis – extend in detail on how the technique communicates a particular idea to the audience • Link – a concluding sentence that links your analysis back to the point you made at the beginning of the paragraph

3. Thesis Statements These need to establish a clear point that explores your personal understanding of belonging • Individuals can define a sense of belonging by what and who they include and exclude. You can consider: - The relationship between the Salem community and the forest - Abigail and Tituba - Proctor’s relationship with Parris • A desire to belong can be driven by the fear of isolation and the unknown. • The need to belong is so strong that it can lead those who are marginalised or excluded from society to create alternative groups • Establishing a sense of belonging can empower the individual as it affirms their self worth through the act of sharing common values and beliefs

4. Choosing Textual Evidence It is not necessary for you to include entire quotations to support your arguments. You need to be precise in what you select to substantiate your argument in the most succinct and effective way. These are the quotes that I chose initially to support the topic sentence: • Massachusetts tried to kill off the Puritans, but they combined; they set up a communal society • United from top to bottom by a commonly help ideology whose perpetuation was the reason and justification for all their suffering • Forced to fight the land like heroes • Conquest of this space so antagonistic to man As you’ll see in the next paragraph, I have only taken what is absolutely necessary from these

5. An Example Paragraph The need to belong is so strong that it can lead those who are marginalised or excluded from society to create alternative groups. This is seen in the play’s opening commentary of the Salem community’s choice to leave England in pursuit of their religion. Miller personifies the ferocity of the Massachusetts’ natural landscape as a force that “tried to kill off the Puritans” to depict their vulnerability and exclusion from civilisation. However, as belonging is a fundamental need which motivates human behaviour, the Puritans unite to create an alternative society in which they can share and practice common beliefs and values. Miller’s use of heroic imagery powerfully conveys the way the Puritans brandished together to form their community, “fight[ing] the land like heroes” to “conquest” it and establish their sense of belonging to the Massachusetts landscape. Similarly, the girls of Salem, marginalised by their community for their gender, marriage status and age, form a connection through their shared sense of mistreatment. In his stage directions of their physical appearances, Miller establishes a sense of oppression about their characters. Susanna Walcott is “nervous” and “hurried” while Mary Warren is “subservient, naive [and] lonely”. However, it is this vulnerability which unites them and gives them strength and validation as a group. A biblical allusion to Moses parting the Red Sea is used to capture the girl’s elevated status and power to part a crowd “like the sea for Israel”. Thus, through The Crucible, Miller demonstrates how the need to belong can motivate marginalised and excluded individuals and groups to form their own societies.