Body Paragraphs

 What are they?

The body of your essay has a form and shape. After the Introduction, and before the Conclusion, the meat (or veggie-substitute if you're a vegetarian) of your essay - using sources, generating ideas, supporting your thesis - is organized according to something called Body Paragraphs: these paragraphs shape the body of your essay. A general formula for paragraphs looks like this:

  Topic Sentence (transition from the previous paragraph)

  Connecting Sentence

  Preparation Sentence (for a quotation/evidence - use signal phrases)

  Integrated Quotation Sentence (your use of quotes shouldn't stop the flow of your writing)

  Analytical Sentence (you must analyze the quotation, it isn't there for window dressing)

  Connecting Sentence

  Example Sentence

  Explanation Sentence (to remind your reader how this paragraph connects to your thesis)

Now, good writing isn't always formulaic, but this is a good pattern to get used to. Sometimes you will be writing an essay in which you need to compare and contrast or otherwise use evidence and arguments from multiple sources, which would change this formula a bit. In that case you'd use your second connecting sentence to make the connection between the sources very clear.

What do they do?

Body paragraphs do different kinds of work - therefore paragraphs have different functions, such as:

    Comparison paragraphs - exploring 2 ideas or examples.

    Example paragraphs - discussing an example that supports your thesis.

    Analysis paragraphs - analyzing the ideas that shape your essay.

    Contrasting paragraphs - contrasting two ideas, examples, sources, essays.

    Development paragraphs - developing a previous point or reading.

    Textual paragraphs - exploring the arguments and issues raised by one or more author.

How do I make them?

1.)  Begin with a topic sentence. This sentence should tell us what point you intend to make in this paragraph.

• Thus, it should not be so broad that it could apply as well to a paragraph about the strangely unnatural quality of Oreo cookies as to a paragraph about how Great-Uncle Mark was sent off to the funny farm because he kept stealing the next-door neighbors’ china.
• As it is telling us something, it should be a statement, not a question.
• This should be your point, not your authors’ point(s), and as such, ought not have a quotation or declare something about what one of your authors is saying.

2.) Introduce the first author/text you intend to use. You did this in your introduction, so now you only need the author’s last name. You’ll need a signal phrase to lead into the quotation, and you also must provide enough context for your reader to understand what’s happening in the quotation. Don’t forget to correctly cite your quotation, and remember, if you were having a conversation, you’d need to give context for your listener to understand. This is the same thing.

3.) After you use the quotation, explain what it means in your own words. (This way, your reader can’t misinterpret the quotation and has to use it the way you want her to.)

4.) Use a connecting sentence to lead into an example, which you can then use to discuss both the quotation and your main point (from back in our topic sentence).

5.) Repeat the introduction and use of a quotation from your second author, then explain what it means. You may want to begin by drawing the connection between the example and the quotation you’re about to use.

6.) At the end of your body paragraph, explain how the point you’ve made relates to your thesis.