Sample Body Paragraph with Integration of the Secondary Source

Valdrada’s inhabitants are deprived of privacy in every aspect of their lives as the mirroring images in
the lake reproduce all their actions, making them almost immortal. The consequence of this
phenomenon is the impossibility to forget (Calvino 3) which can haunt the citizens of the urban
environment beside the waters, especially when the gestures reflected in the second Valdrada are of
gruesome nature. “When murderers plunge the knife into the back veins of the neck,” (Calvino 4) the
violence of their criminal acts may be transfixed for eternity in their minds. The bloody imagery of
Calvino’s description in the text makes most readers wonder why anyone in Valdrada would still commit
brutal acts of extreme violence. The citizens of the fictional city are aware that everyone will witness
their awfulness: why does this not prevent them from committing crimes? Such conundrum allows the
book’s audience to consider the inevitability of cruelty even within an overly transparent city such as the
one described in “Cities and Eyes”. The unsettling questions raised by this chapter of Invisible Cities
may be the reason why literary critic Joseph McElroy described Calvino’s urban settings as “disturbing,
and distinct as if possessing the significance of a Kafka parable.” (McElroy 472)

In blue : TOPIC SENTENCE

In yellow: EXAMPLES AND STYLISTIC DEVICES

Underlined : ANALYSIS AND SPECIFIC CONTEXT

In bold: INTEGRATION OF THE SECONDARY SOURCE