Writing an essay is a challenging task. Students have to master the skill of writing, complete research, and bring out unique ideas and thoughts to the table. Most of these processes happen in the main body of the text, which makes this stage of writing particularly hard. Let’s see how you can do it as a professional.
How to Write a Body Paragraph for an Essay?
In order to write a good body paragraph, you have to know how to do it, what its purpose is, and how you can deliver it. Overall, the middles section of the paper should take the most space. Hence, it is the largest part of work that you have to endure. Understanding how to do it is crucial for the success of your paper. You need to learn how to structure the main body and how to approach your work with each paragraph individually.
What Are the Parts of a Body Paragraph?
To know how to write a good main body paragraph, you need to know what belongs in it and what does not. So what does a good paragraph consist of? The structure of the body paragraph is more or less the same in any academic writing. The purpose of each paragraph is to deliver the main idea that can eventually help to prove the claim state in the thesis. A proper structure, in this case, will help to deliver that idea in the most efficient way.
Here is the body paragraph example of a structure that you should strive to follow:
- A topic sentence;
- background (unpacking the main idea);
- evidence to support topic sentence;
- analysis of the evidence;
- connecting a topic sentence to the thesis statement;
- transition to the next section.
Let’s analyze each of those elements.
Topic Sentence
There is no other way of how to start a body paragraph in an essay than to state your topic sentence. This sentence is the most important part of the entire item. Without the main idea that holds everything together, you can't have a logical or meaningful section. By reading your topic sentence, your readers learn what to expect from the particular section.
Background
Provide some additional information to your topic sentence. This part will create a better picture of what you are trying to say. Your readers will learn about the thought process behind the topic sentence and understand why this particular main idea is important to the essay’s overall theme.
Evidence
Whenever you think of how to write a body paragraph for a research paper, you should think of evidence that can prove your point. Overall, research is the most important element of any research paper (surprise-surprise). Hence, you have to find and pick the most relevant and reliable references. They can be anything from data to citing theories and news. However, your evidence should provide an insight into your topic and add weight to your research.
Analysis of the Evidence
Once again, when we speak about the research paper body paragraph, we have to mention the importance of evidence provided and the necessity to analyze them after we have inserted them. Never leave a quote or data without explanation. That’s just all-around bad. You should add your analysis of the evidence you provide. Say how it proves your topic sentence. Link it to the research done in the previous section. Explain why this evidence is important for your essay.
Link a Topic Sentence to the Thesis Statement
You should never forget about your thesis statement. Once in a while, you also have to remind your readers about it as well. Simply demonstrating how your topic sentence adds, confirms, or expands the thesis statement should be enough. After all, your whole purpose of writing is to answer the expectation set in the thesis statement.
Transition
Last but not least, you should always end with a nice transitional sentence. A good transition does many things for you. First, it helps form a wholesome text where your flow of thought moves effortlessly between different ideas and sections. Thus, a good transition helps your readers to stay engaged throughout the whole process. Secondly, your readers will have an easier time understanding your writing and the direction of your thoughts. As long as you connect your different topic sentences’ main ideas with a transition, each sentence looks like the continuation of the previous one. It all looks consequential and logical now.
Final Tips
Once you know what belongs in the main body, you can start plotting how you can use it in your next paper. Knowing the structure of the paragraphs will surely help. However, you also need to know how to craft all those elements into a beautiful text. So let’s see.
First, you have to learn how to find the topic sentence and what evidence it will require. Once you have the main idea, think of how much support it actually needs. If the main idea seems too complex to you and requires much additional evidence, please break it down into two separate but connected topic sentences. This way, you’ll have an easier time supporting your statement with evidence.
Next, make sure that you don’t repeat yourself throughout the text. As long as you can provide enough evidence and build a strong case around your main idea, you don’t need to repeat that same idea ever again. Your goal here is to be concise. The less is more should be your philosophy here.
