Body Paragraphs

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Body Paragraphs

• Support and Expand your THESIS

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Body Paragraphs

• Contain topic sentences sentences that
  introduce the paragraph and its connection to
  your thesis statement.
• Provided support for your thesis this can be in
  examples, quotes, statistics, etc.
• Connect back, through elaboration, to the thesis
  statement and the introductory paragraph.

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Organization and flow

• Each body paragraph and its topic sentence refer
  directly back to the thesis statement.

Introduction Thesis Statement
Body Paragraph 3 _____________
Body Paragraph 4 _____________
Body Paragraph 1 _____________
Body Paragraph 2 _____________
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Body Paragraphs Connection and Conciseness

• Within each of your body paragraphs, examples,
  evidence, etc. support the topic sentence and
  thus refers back to or connects to your essay
  thesis.

NOTE Each sentence in a body paragraph should
support the topic of the paragraph and thus the
thesis.
Topic Sentence
Elaborate on and explain support.
Quote Story Statistic other
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Body Paragraphs FORM

• Most paragraphs contain between five to ten
  sentences. The first line of a paragraph is
  usually indented (begin a few spaces to the right
  of the margin) to show that there is a new
  paragraph.
• Begin with a single tab or five spaces
  (indent), before you begin the paragraph.

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Key Features of the body paragraph

• Topic sentence
• Supporting sentences
• Elaborating or Explanatory sentences
• Concluding or transition sentence

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Topic Sentences

• This sentence contain the controlling and
  connecting elements of the body paragraph.
• It tells the reader what the paragraph will be
  about and connects back to the thesis statement
  from the introductory paragraph.

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Example Body Paragraph

• Family vacations can bring people closer
  together. I remember a time when my sister and I
  were not getting along. When we first left on
  family vacation, she and I hardly spoke, but
  being forced together made us have to interact.
  Positive situations like this forced or
  otherwise can create closer bonds, important to
  forging good relationships. According to Dr. John
  Smith PhD., people who are open to counseling or
  group therapy have stronger, healthier
  relationships (89). Communication in a variety
  of forms can improve personal interaction. This
  demonstrates one of the countless ways to open up
  vital avenues to quality communication.

Family vacations can bring people closer
together. I remember a time when my sister and I
were not getting along. When we first left on
family vacation, she and I hardly spoke, but
being forced together made us have to interact.
Positive situations like this forced or
otherwise can create closer bonds, important to
forging good relationships. According to Dr. John
Smith PhD., people who are open to counseling or
group therapy have stronger, healthier
relationships (89). Communication in a variety
of forms can improve personal interaction. This
demonstrates one of the countless ways to open up
vital avenues to quality communication.
Family vacations can bring people closer
together. I remember a time when my sister and I
were not getting along. When we first left on
family vacation, she and I hardly spoke, but
being forced together made us have to interact.
Positive situations like this forced or
otherwise can create closer bonds, important to
forging good relationships. According to Dr. John
Smith PhD., people who are open to counseling or
group therapy have stronger, healthier
relationships (89). Communication in a variety
of forms can improve personal interaction. This
demonstrates one of the countless ways to open up
vital avenues to quality communication.
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Supporting Sentences

• These sentence are used by the author to provide
  support to the paragraph and the essay thesis.
• They can be quotes from researched sources,
  personal anecdotes, statistics, stories or
  examples.
• NOTE These must be in complete sentences or
  woven into complete sentences.

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Explanatory or Elaborating Sentences

• Every paragraph has sentences that relate to the
  ideas in the topic sentence. These sentences are
  called supporting sentences.
• These are the sentences in which the author
  explains or elaborates on the connections between
  the supporting sentences and the overall topic.

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Concluding sentence

• It is sometimes helpful to have a concluding
  expression in your last sentence to signal the
  end of your paragraph.
• Some common expressions used in concluding
  sentences are listed below.
• It is apparent
• This is just one
• Consequently,
• This demonstrates that

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Sample Body Paragraph

• One more time
• Family vacations can bring people closer
  together. I remember a time when my sister and I
  were not getting along. When we first left on
  family vacation, she and I hardly spoke, but
  being forced together made us have to interact.
  Positive situations like this forced or
  otherwise can create closer bonds, important to
  forging good relationships. According to Dr. John
  Smith PhD., people who are open to counseling or
  group therapy have stronger, healthier
  relationships (89). Communication in a variety
  of forms can improve personal interaction. This
  demonstrates one of the countless ways to open up
  vital avenues to quality communication.