First and foremost, a strong body paragraph should relate to your thesis statement. It should develop, explain and prove your arguments and claims. Unfortunately, not all the students know how to write and organize their body paragraphs properly. If you are one of those desperate people who do not understand what is a body paragraph, the following article will provide you with many effective tips and secrets of writing.
- Foremost, each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that is just a subtopic of the thesis statement. State your idea at the very beginning and develop it throughout the whole paragraph supporting this idea with in-text citations. If you do not understand how to write a body paragraph or how to write a good topic sentence, spend some time thinking what you are going to discuss in it. What information are you going to present? What point of view are you going to support? Why is this paragraph particularly important in your content? Indeed, relating all your topic sentences to your thesis statement you will strengthen the coherence of your piece of writing and will make it easier for your reader to follow your key ideas. Each topic sentence, as well as the thesis statement, should be arguable. Be sure to provide clear arguments to your possible opponents, and it will help you to get some additional points.
- Your topic sentence should echo your thesis statement, but you have to avoid repetitions. It is better to be subtle than heavy-handed. Your topic sentence is something more than a linking tie between the thesis statement and the paragraph. It gives the reader a clear understanding why this paragraph is crucially important in your paper. If your topic sentence just restates your thesis, and your paragraph contains meaningless information, feel free to delete it since it is redundant. However, if you want to keep it, consider reformulating your topic sentence and filling the paragraph with useful and memorable information. Although most body paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are paragraphs that do not require it. For example, you should not put a topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph that briefly narrates the series of events. Also, if the next paragraph continues discussing the previous topic sentence, be sure to leave it without a new one. However, do not forget that the vast majority of your paragraphs should have a clear topic sentence.
- If your topic sentence requires explanations, be sure to spend one or two sentences explaining it. Each research paper should have some evidence that supports or argues the ideas. The evidence could be various – statistics, figures, quotes, etc. If you need to exploit some evidence, be sure to insert it smoothly. The reader should refer from your words to your evidence without a logical jolt. Be sure to use effective body paragraph transitions. Use such transition words as additionally, what is more, equally important, it is worth mentioning, etc., and your audience will surely enjoy reading your paper. When inserting quotes, do not forget to identify their sources. You can use many synonyms to “the author says” – he opines, believes, confirms, claims, declares, explains, indicates, comments, proposes, etc. However, these terms are not interchangeable, and you should choose the right one extremely carefully. After you cite something, do not hesitate to explain why you picked up this peculiar citation. How does it support your argument? Explain what this particular quote means to the understanding of your topic.
A concluding paragraph is also vitally important to your content. In your conclusion, try to explain why this topic was worth analyzing. It would be great if you could end your content with some thought-provoking phrase. Each wise student should define body paragraphs to make the content understandable and easy to follow. Remember that a conclusion is the part of the content that leaves the impression. Will it be good or bad – the choice is yours!
