Tiqa paragraph

TIQA Handout by Mrs. Hughes English II 1of 3

When writing a response to any prompt about a piece of literature, either fiction or nonfiction, it’s a good idea to incorporate quotes from the text to support your ideas. There’s an easy way to

remember how to complete this kind of analytical writing: ​TIQA​.

T The “T” in this acronym stands for “topic sentence.” Any paragraph one writes in an English class should begin with a topic sentence, unless it’s a creative or narrative piece. Persuasive, analytical, and expository writing should all have paragraphs with strong topic sentences. These topic sentences, in turn, should link back to the strong thesis statement found at the end of one’s introductory paragraph.

I The “I” in this acronym stands for “introduce.” Don’t just string quotes together in a paragraph and expect them to make sense. Your reader needs to be guided to your quote, and reminded of what’s going on in the text when the quote occurs. I have an example on the back of this document.

Q “Q” is the quote itself. Be sure that it’s 100% accurately quoted, and cited correctly, as well. At a minimum, one needs the author’s last name in parentheses after the quote if using an online source in MLA 8. If using a book, a student needs the author’s last name and the page number(s). See my example for help.

A “A” is for analysis. This, along with the topic sentence, is the core of the writing. The student is explaining WHY the quote supports his or her assertion, or topic sentence. It isn’t obvious to the reader once a student drops the quote in: a student has to explain WHY this quote is such a good choice on his or her part to support his or her topic sentence.

TIQA Handout by Mrs. Hughes English II 2of 3

Here’s a quick example of what TIQA might look like: The prompt is: ​How does Wiesel convey his sense of outrage and injustice in his memoir, Night​? Introductory paragraph: Holodomor. Rwanda. Cambodia. Armenia. We all have read about genocides, sometimes in yesterday’s news. For instance, yesterday, I read about Myanmar’s “slow-motion” genocide of the Rohingya --by not allowing humanitarian aid or medical care into their villages (Kristof). There is a horrible irony built into this particular, current genocide: Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is a past Nobel Prize winner. The category: World Peace (Kristof). This level of the unexpected mixed in with reality harshly washes even more horror over our realization of the situation. It’s as if someone has painted a vivid watercolor, and then painted it over with grey, tinting the whole piece with a somber darkness. A Nobel Prize-winning leader should be the exact opposite of the monster she is proving to be. A survivor of a past genocide, Elie Wiesel recounts his experience with the worst genocide of all, the Holocaust. He spent time at Auschwitz, a camp in which 75% of its inmates eventually died. Wiesel once said, “​There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ​His memoir about his experiences at Auschwitz and Buchenwald is the author’s way of speaking out against this mass slaughter of innocent human beings, and his ironic tone of injustice strongly underscores the situation's horror. In his poetically brief memoir, ​Night​, author Elie Wiesel tells his story about the darkest chapter in human history by using understatement and rhetorical questions to convey his ironic tone of justified pathos and horror.

Here’s how one of my main body paragraphs might look using TIQA:

TOPIC SENTENCE: (​T​) ​The author uses understatement effectively and nearly surreptitiously; its effect is to underscore the shock the reader experiences. ​In ​Night​, Wiesel writes in short, declarative statements that are deceptively simple. He does not describe his surroundings in detail--he merely gives the reader a sense of the weather, a quick, jagged-line sketch of his surroundings, and reports the occurences with a nearly matter-of-fact tone. One technique Wiesel uses repeatedly is that of understatement: his deft presentation of a fact or

occurrence as being less important than it really is. (​I​) ​For instance, at the beginning of chapter three, Elie uses understatement to show how the Jews had been oblivious to their reality,

holding onto false hope instead.​ (​Q​) ​He states, “The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our

illusions” (Wiesel 29). ​(​A​) Especially with these five final words, this sentence tells an entire story: the Jews ignored warnings, choosing to stay when they could have escaped, and hoping against all hope that they were not dealing with monsters, but with harsh and tyrannical humans. It

TIQA Handout by Mrs. Hughes English II 3of 3

is anathema to think that one cannot find a reasonable way to cope; it is a shock to think that one is completely powerless. In five simple words, Weiel implies the realization that their reality is not what they hoped. They might not regain their possessions. They might not return to their homes. While the Jews of this wagon might be letting go of these illusions, they still cling to the hope that their families will remain together and intact. In five words, Wiesel balances the loss of possessions with the still-believed in hope of life. Using understatement is Wiesel’s way of implying, through an ironic tone, his experience: one of attempting to explain how death was life, rather than death being an infrequent visitor to one’s life.

Works Cited

Kristof, Nicholas. “I Saw a Genocide in Slow Motion.” Sunday Review. ​The New York Times.

New York Times. com​. 2 March 2018.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/opinion/i-saw-a-genocide-in-slow-motion.html​.

Accessed 4 March 2018.

Wiesel, Elie. ​Night​. Hill and Wang, 2006.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/opinion/i-saw-a-genocide-in-slow-motion.html