The Topic Sentence and the Conclusion are tan to represent two slices of bread seen as if you are looking at their bottom edges lying down flat on a plate . Both the Topic Sentence and the Conclusion cover the three TREEs in the middle of the sandwich. The ideas in these sentences are bigger than and different from the ideas in the TREEs.
The Background is gold, like butter. Just as you put butter on bread to make a sandwich tastier, you give your readers background to help them get interested in your topic. Note that the butter is different from any of the TREEs.
The Transition Words are brown to represent the trunk of each TREE. Just as trees grow out from a trunk, the TREEs in a paragraph start once you have given your Transition Words. They are flags or markers for a new TREE. They provide roots to keep your ideas in place.
The Reasons are green. Green in a traffic light means Go! In a paragraph, it means you have just
started to develop an idea and need to keep going. It is the most general sentence you will
write for each TREE. The reason is the largest circle in the TREE because it
gives the “big picture.” Think of it as
a wide-angle shot in a movie. At the beginning of The Sound of Music, for
example, the screen is filled with shots of the Alps taken from a distance.
The Explanations are
orange. Orange in a traffic light means
Caution! Slow down! In a
paragraph, it means you need to slow down and describe your reason in more
vivid detail so that your readers have a better idea of what you are talking
about. It is on the middle level of the TREE because it is more specific. Think
of it as a more focused, regular shot in a movie. In The Sound of Music, the camera after a
while rests on one valley in the Alps of Austria. We are no longer lost in the
haze or seeing the general setting of the movie.
The Examples are red. Red in a traffic light means Stop! Don’t
go any farther! In a paragraph, the
examples are the most detailed, specific level.
The writer does not need to go any farther. If the writer does a good job on the example,
it will stop the readers in their tracks and make them really experience the
subject! It is the smallest circle in the TREE because it focuses most closely
on the details that make a paper interesting. In The Sound of Music, the camera
finally gives us a close-up of Maria in the middle of the valley. We see her “up close and personal” as a
distinct human being. Although she is
dwarfed by the Alps, she holds our attention completely because we are so close
to her. Without this close-up shot, we would not feel the emotional connection
to her that we do. Examples use the most vivid, specific details in the paper
to help make that emotional connection to the topic. If you put TREEs together
well, your ideas will be automatically well-developed.
Note that the biggest and best TREE is last. Start with an obvious idea for your first TREE. Be sure it is big and strong, but don’t let it be your best idea. If you use your best idea first, the rest of the paper will feel as if it has run out of gas. At the end of the paper, the readers will feel let down. Your second TREE is usually the weakest idea you have to support your topic. Hide it in the middle of the paper where your readers won’t notice that it might not be as good as the first and last ideas. Keep your best idea for last so that the end of the paper reads like a song that ends on a high note.
Also note that the circles in the TREEs are concentric. They all focus, in progressively closer levels, on the same idea. The TREE is not loosely organized. You do not simply make a point and then add any two ideas on that subject that occur to you. This feature of the TREE will keep your papers unified.
Finally, notice that the TREEs do not touch or overlap. Give three different reasons for believing your topic sentence. These reasons cannot be the same or overlap.
End a basic paragraph with the transition words For these reasons, and repeat your topic sentence. If you wish, you may restate your topic sentence in a different way. This conclusion is the bottom piece of bread for the sandwich that keeps all the filling inside.