Essay Body Paragraphs

Essay Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs support the thesis statement, so it’s important that you provide enough development to make your argument believable.

There are 2 parts to the body paragraph: the topic sentence and the supporting details. The topic sentence is to the body paragraph what the thesis statement is to the entire essay. Your topic sentence should express the main idea of your paragraph so your readers know what information they will find. The supporting details then develop that topic sentence with adequate and relevant examples.

Adequate detail: Since the topic sentence is generalized because it is expressing a main idea, you need to back up this generalization with details to prove your main idea. You need to show your reader why your main idea is believable since your reader does not have to automatically accept your argument.

Relevant detail: It’s not enough to have specific details in your body paragraph; these details must clearly relate to the topic at hand. For instance, if your topic sentence is “Dr. Johnson always shows concern for his students,” a sentence such as “he is the most knowledgeable person I have ever met and has published several important articles in Newsweek” would distract your reader because that example doesn’t illustrate how Dr. Johnson shows his concern for students.

So, now that you know what kind of details you need, it’s time to think about how you go about finding these details. Some different sources for details include:

1. Your own experience and observation
2. What you learn in the classroom
3. What you view on the television or hear on the radio
4. Library materials (books or articles)

Just as the source and form of supporting details is important to your essay, so is the organization of the body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence and then follow with two or three specific supporting details. As you plan your essay, make sure that each topic sentence clearly relates to the thesis statement so you don’t disrupt the unity of your essay. Then, so you maintain the unity of each body paragraph, the supporting details in each body paragraph must clearly relate to the topic sentence.

Coherence is another important facet of the body paragraph. When your essay displays coherence, all the ideas flow from one paragraph to the next and all the paragraphs connect together into a logical whole. The following four strategies will help you to maintain coherence in your essays:

1. Use transitional words and phrases. There are a number of transitions you can use, and the transition chart in your textbook lists over 70 popular words and phrases.
2. Repeat words or ideas. By repeating key words and phrases throughout your essay, the ideas will flow better and your essay will achieve coherence.
3. Use synonyms. A third ways to improve your essay’s coherence is to use synonyms of key words and phrases (this will keep your essay from being too repetitive).
4. Use sentences that look backward and forward. You can connect your paragraphs by using topic sentences that address the topic you just covered in your previous paragraph as well state the subject of your current paragraph.