A Body Paragraph

Where does a body

paragraph fit into the
research paper process?
 1
Brainstorm Make it more Write down
2 3
the topic specific your topic
4
Research
5
6
Source cards Note cards
7

8
MLA citations Outline
10

11
Works cited page Thesis
sentence Body
13

paragraphs

12
Parenthetical citations
14 Introductory
Copy & paste works & concluding
cited page to back of paragraphs
research paper
• A body paragraph is the basic
paragraph of a research paper or an
essay.
• Body paragraphs are all the paragraphs
between the introductory paragraph
and the conclusion.
• Body paragraphs support and prove
your thesis.
• You learned about them in middle
school:
 Introduction

Body paragraph #1

Body paragraph #2

Body paragraph #3

Conclusion
We’re going to learn how to write an
effective body paragraph for a
research paper.
The body paragraph’s structure may
remind you of a certain food.
Which of these three is your
favorite?
The McParagraph
logic:
Topic sentence
Topic
sentence Support sentence 1

Support reason 1 Proof sentence 1

Support reason 2 Support sentence 2

Proof sentence 2
Support reason 3
Support sentence 3
Conclusion
Proof sentence 3

The McParagraph Concluding

sentence
sentences:
 Topic Sentences
• Topic sentences state the main idea of
the paragraph.
• The rest of the paragraph must expand
on, describe, or prove what the topic
sentence states in some way.
• A good topic sentence make a point
and suggests the logical structure of
the rest of the paragraph.
• In handout 1, match each topic
sentence with its logical structure.
 Which are good topic sentences?
• Texas has 267,000 square miles.
• Texas is so big that you can find many
things to do.
• There are several ways of accurately
telling how old fossils are.
• The animal dies and sinks to the sea
floor.
Do the exercises under “Practice 2” on
pages W-27 and W-28 in your notebook.
 Topic sentence

Support sentence 1

Proof sentence 1
Now we’ll look Support sentence 2
Now
at we’ll look
support and
at support
proof and
sentences Proof sentence 2
proof sentences
Support sentence 3

Proof sentence 3

Concluding
sentence
• A topic sentence is the first sentence in
your body paragraph.
• A support sentence gives a reason in
support of the paragraph’s topic
sentence.
• A proof sentence proves a support
sentence by providing a detail or
quotation from a source.
• A conclusion (one sentence) refers
back to the topic, provides a logical
closing, and may provide a transition to
the next body paragraph.
What makes each sentence in the
following body paragraph what it is:
a topic, support, proof, or
concluding sentence?
 The political success of Lincoln's speech - the last speech
in a series sponsored by the Young Men's Central Republican
Union of New York that winter (Holtzer 13) - had something to do Topic
with timing and luck. A sizable number of Republican leaders
were worried that the front-running candidate, New York Senator Support
William Henry Seward, was perceived by the Northern electorate
as too close to the unpopular abolitionist movement (Holtzer 32). Proof
“Lincoln’s best ally in the winter of 1860 was his lack of
association with the abolitionists in the mind of New Yorkers,” Support
according to Holtzer (32). Republicans were worried also that Proof
Seward has little appeal in the West (Illinois, Ohio, etc.) (Burris
126). Burris asserts that “Indiana and Illinois Republicans Support
perceived Seward as an Eastern liberal” (127). Lincoln also
benefited from the political machinations of the speech series’s Proof
sponsors. The Young Republicans planned the speech series
ostensibly to introduce alternative candidates to Seward, but the
real motivation of the group's leader, James A. Briggs, was to
damage Seward enough to promote his favorite alternative, Ohio
governor Salmon P. Chase (Holtzer 34). The Republican party’s
soul-searching and the secret motivations of the series sponsors
gave Lincoln the opening he needed.