The Breadwinner – example of body paragraph for essay

Thesis – Even though Parvana is not allowed to attend school, she has many great “teachers” who help her learn about life and the world.

Introduce with topic sentence – Parvana learns a lesson from an unlikely teacher, a young Taliban solider in the market who cannot read.

Expand – Parvana is dressed as a boy and working in the market to support her family after her father has been taken to prison. She sells small items and reads letters for people.

Introduce quote from book – One day, a Taliban soldier asks her to read a letter that was written to his wife. Parvana sees him cry and learns his wife has died.

Quote – “Up until then, she had seen Talibs only as men who beat women and arrested her father. Could they have feelings of sorrow, like other human beings?” p. 80

Explain how quote connects to thesis – Parvana learns that people are more complicated than they seem. Even people who seem bad have families they care for, have feelings and are going through difficult times. Parvana realizes that people can learn meaningful life lessons from unlikely sources.