WRITING BODY

PARAGRAPHS
Prepared by:
Abdul Fattah Bin Abd. Ghani
Lecturer
Academy of Language Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
BODY PARAGRAPHS
 The main content of an essay
 Includes specific discussions, explanations,
evidence and examples on the topic
 Typically arranged as follows:
◦ Topic Sentence (main idea)
◦ Supporting Sentence 1
◦ Supporting Sentence 2
◦ Supporting Sentence 3
◦ Concluding Sentence
© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani
TOPIC SENTENCE
 Highlights the main points from Thesis
Statement; explain one after another in
one simple, complete sentence
 Include a transition word for better flow
 Examples:
◦ Firstly, ice creams are good because it can
help to reduce stress
◦ One of the many benefits of eating ice creams
is it can help to reduce stress

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

SUPPORTING SENTENCE
 Provides further elaboration from Topic
Sentence
 Can be done using various techniques:
◦ Explanation
◦ Evidence → facts, statistics or research data
◦ Further emphasis on evidence
 Make sure the supporting sentences are
connected in a logical sequence

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

CONCLUDING SENTENCE
 Signals the end of a particular body
paragraph by summarising all the
discussion already mentioned
 Easiest way to accomplish:
◦ That is why… (rephrase Topic Sentence)
◦ That is how…. (rephrase Topic Sentence)
 Do not confuse it with Conclusion
Paragraph!

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

STRUCTURE
 As shown earlier, this is the typical
structure of a Body Paragraph
◦ Topic Sentence (main idea)
◦ Supporting Sentence 1
◦ Supporting Sentence 2
◦ Supporting Sentence 3
◦ Concluding Sentence

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPH 1
Ice creams are good because it can help
to reduce stress. This may seem ridiculous to
you, but there are people who could calm
themselves by consuming food such as ice
cream. They find this to be relaxing as the
coldness of the ice cream can literally soothe
the burning emotions they have inside. You
could probably try this the next time you are
having a bad day and see the results for
yourself. That is how ice cream can be good to
us.

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPH 2
Ice creams are good because it can
help to maintain our body temperature.
Since ice-creams are made as a cold dessert,
it usually is kept in refrigerators. Therefore,
when we eat it, the coldness of the meal can
balance the heat from inside of our bodies.
This is important especially in hot seasons
like the one we are experiencing right now.
That is how ice cream can be good to us.

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 A good body paragraph is one that is
highly coherent
 This means the ideas/sentences you put in
are linked together to form a broader
understanding of the topic
 This can be achieved by using transition
markers (also known as cohesive
devices)

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To sequence your ideas in a paragraph:
◦ Firstly / Secondly / Finally
◦ First and foremost / Next / Subsequently
◦ Let us begin by… / Meanwhile / In the end

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To provide an example of your point:
◦ For example
◦ For instance
◦ Such as
◦ This can be seen by…

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To add more ideas:
◦ Moreover
◦ Furthermore
◦ Besides that
◦ In addition

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To show similarity of ideas:
◦ Similarly
◦ In the same manner
◦ Correspondingly
◦ Just as …. so too …

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To show contrast of ideas:
◦ However
◦ Nevertheless
◦ In contrast
◦ Alternatively

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To emphasise certain ideas:
◦ This is important because …
◦ Specifically, …
◦ In particular, …
◦ This is significant as …
◦ As a matter of fact …

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To show cause and effect:
◦ As a result …
◦ In consequence …
◦ Because of this …
◦ Due to the circumstance …

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
 To conclude:
◦ In short, …
◦ In conclusion, …
◦ In summary, …
◦ In a nutshell, …
◦ To sum it all up, …

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani

TRANSITION MARKERS
Firstly, ice creams are good because it
can help to reduce stress. Although this may
seem ridiculous to you, but there are people
who could calm themselves by consuming food
such as ice cream. In fact, they find this to be
relaxing as the coldness of the ice cream can
literally soothe the burning emotions they have
inside. Therefore, you could probably try this
the next time you are having a bad day and see
the results for yourself. In short, that is how ice
cream can be good for us.

© Abdul Fattah Abd. Ghani