The Jane Schaffer paragraph (commonly known as a Schaffer paragraph, Schaeffer paragraph, or Schæffer paragraph) is a five-sentence paragraph developed by Jane Schaffer, used to write essays. The paragraph only makes up one of many paragraphs in an essay, most of which have a non-Schaffer-like introduction and conclusion. The Schaffer paragraph is utilized in some U.S. middle school

Middle school

Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

s and in early high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 classes as it is thought to help students better formulate ideas. When students have fully learned the Schaffer paragraph or move on to a higher grade level, the Schaffer paragraph generally is not preferred any longer since using it hinders students from formulating their ideas to an extent and does not allow critical thinking.

Format

A quick overview of the default Schaffer paragraph:

• Topic sentence
  Topic sentence
  The topic sentence is a primarily prescriptive grammatical term to describe the sentence in an expository paragraph which summarizes the main idea of that paragraph. It is usually, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the...
  
   (TS)
• Concrete Detail (CD)
• Commentary (CM)
• Commentary (CM)
• Closing/Concluding sentence (CS)

Note: Some Schaffer paragraphs may have additional CD's and CM's before the CS while following the 1:2 ratio as follows:

• Topic sentence (TS)
• Concrete Detail (CD)
• Commentary (CM)
• Commentary (CM)
• Concrete Detail (CD)
• Commentary (CM)
• Commentary (CM)
• Closing/Concluding sentence (CS)

Topic sentence or statement (TS)

This sentence should state the main point of the paragraph and be straight to the point.

Examples:

Global warming is a world problem and needs to be stopped.

Concrete detail (CD)

This sentence is the "what" sentence and is a fact that shows "what" is happening. It should be either facts, examples, illustrations, evidence, support, plot references, paraphrase

Paraphrase

Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages, using other words. The term "paraphrase" derives via the Latin "paraphrasis" from the Greek , meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis."...

s, citations, quotations, plot summary, etc. It should be a concrete detail and should start with 'for example' or a different transition

Transition words

Transitions, transition words, or transitional expressions, et cetera, are certain words, expressions, or other devices that give text or speech greater cohesion by making it more explicit, or signaling, how ideas are meant by the writer or speaker to relate to one another...

.

Examples:

If it is not stopped, statistics show that the world will be drastically hurt.

Commentary (CM)

There are two or three commentary sentences in each chunk. They contain no facts; rather, comments from the paragraph writer elaborate on the fact presented in the CD. This sentence contains analysis, interpretation, character feelings, opinions, inference, insight, reasons, or color comments. It is important that the commentary explains how the concrete detail helps prove the writer's point (the TS).

Examples:

CM1: Global warming should be man's greatest worry.

CM2: This is because the Earth can become negatively and drastically affected worldwide.

Concluding or closing sentence (CS)

The Concluding Sentence (CS) is the closing sentence that wraps up the TS and sums up the paragraph. It closes up the thoughts and gives insight to the next paragraph. Again, it is a good idea to use as many (at least two) feeling, emotional, or connotative words as possible. It usually begins with "As a result" or another concluding phrase.

Examples:

Therefore, global warming is a top priority and cannot be ignored.

Requirements

• It must not be written in first person
  First-person narrative
  First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
  
  
• Every paragraph must be five sentences long, however there can be more as long as the same ratio of two CM's to every CD is kept
• Each section (TS, CD, CM, CS) is only one sentence in length
• Each section should also avoid past tense and only be written in present tense

External links

• More details on the Schaffer paragraph